Welcome to the SandwichINK Boomers and Seniors: News You Can Use blog carnival for April 13, 2010. We've got several interesting and intriguing articles to educate, inform, and encourage you, from updates for those dealing with dementia symptoms to trips for grandparents and their grandchildren to ways to simplify landscaping designs for our elderly parents and ourselves and so much more. Join us as we travel around the blogosphere with interesting Baby Boomer and Senior Citizen news and articles of interest to the Sandwich Generation caring for elderly parents and helping with their grandchildren.

SENIOR HOME CARE / CAREGIVING:

Matt Johnson presents How to Pick 8 Types of Dementia Out of a Crowd at HealthBridge In-Home Care. Very useful information for the Sandwich Generation wrestling with the issues and concerns of dementia symptoms.  

Many of us in the Sandwich Generation can easily relate to the interesting Start of Our Story, a daughter’s transition into the Sandwich Generation of caring for an elderly parent along with her own children at I Want To Go Home.   

Dale Carter presents 3 Survival Tools for a Caregiver posted at Transition Aging Parents, saying, "Here are 3 simple but powerful tools to address the emotional and personal well-being of the caregiver."

Denise Brown from Caregiving has a great resource article, National Underinsured Resource Directory Assists Americans Struggling with Health Insurance Costs and Access to Care, which helps underinsured individuals and families locate important resources and seek alternative coverage options or methods to cover their healthcare needs.

While most of us hope and pray we can continue caring for elderly parents in their home or ours, circumstances don't always allow for it. Following the great motto of the Boy Scouts, "Be Prepared," Patty Grace has some good insights in Finding a Good Nursing Home found at Aging with Grace CareConnection.

Encouraging news from Kirsten Whitten for those caring for elderly parents and concerned about dementia symptoms. Her article, Identifying Alzheimer’s in Its Earliest Stage, at The Alzheimer’s Care Blog, discusses new findings dealing with neuroimaging and an increased ability to ‘see’ Alzheimer’s disease at its earliest stage! 

IDEAS AND ACTIVITIES FOR GRANDPARENTS AND THEIR GRANDCHILDREN

Kaye Swain from SandwichINK presents Memory Activities and Tips for The Baby Boomers Generation of Grandparents and Their Grandchildren. As members of the Baby Boomers Generation caring for elderly parents and grandchildren, elderly memory loss is at the top of our minds. Here are some tips and ideas for Baby Boomers and their grandchildren to help protect our older memories while cultivating their younger memories. 

Shelley Webb, from The Intentional Caregiver, has written a great post featuring a wonderful parable for all of us in the Sandwich Generation caring for elderly parents while helping with our grandkids! I have to say, The Wooden Bowl always brings tears to my eyes! How about you? It definitely is an excellent reminder to set a good example that we want our grandchildren and children to follow!

Elizabeth Thielke has written a fascinating article, Spotlight on a Unique Senior Lifestyle: RVing, at Seniors for Living. As she wrote, "A mobile lifestyle can be a way to simplify life, be near family and friends, see the country and it can be affordable with a little creativity." And yes! She has some great ideas to help with that. I'm definitely saving this article in case I ever get brave enough to give it a try. It sounds great for all of us Baby Boomers Generation with grandchildren all over the country! And wouldn't the grandkids have fun on a trip with the grandparents! Which is why I put it right between the Grandparenting section and the Senior Citizen Housing section.  

SENIOR CITIZEN HOUSING AND LANDSCAPING DESIGNS:

SandwichINK Real Estate Info has some suggestions for easing some of the Sandwich Generation issues of stress in the article, Landscaping Designs Can Ease Stress from Sandwich Generation, recommending that we use the great spring weather as an opportunity to have a chat with our elderly parents about simplifying their landscaping designs, making things easier for both the seniors and their care givers!

Tom Bills, at In-Law Suite, presents Geriatric Care and Assessment, saying, "Having the counsel for a geriatric care manager can be extremely beneficial in helping one care for an aging parent or elderly loved one. A geriatric assessment test is an effective tool in helping to determine eldercare needs." 

HEALTH AND WELLNESS ISSUES FOR THE BABY BOOMERS GENERATION CARING FOR ELDERLY PARENTS

Colin Timberlake writes in his article, The Training Log: The Wrong Advices, about a member of the exercise-instead-of-aging Baby Boomers Generation, Eddie Izzard. Definitely an encouragement to all of us. 

I loved the great analogy Colin Timerlake used in his article, Fitness and Aging: The Body as a Hinge. This is an excellent reminder of how important it is for all of us, particularly those in the Baby Boomers Generation, to stay active and keep exercising to keep our “hinges” in good shape!

Edna Bhacker presents 9 Little Known Secrets to Living Past 90 posted at Nursetini , saying, "In a world of technological advancements, in which medicine benefits a great deal from new developments, it is little surprise that the human lifespan is increasing. However, it is not as long as it could be." 

SMART FINANCIAL INFO FOR THE BABY BOOMERS GENERATION AND THEIR ELDERLY PARENTS:

If you've been wondering how the much talked about health reform will affect your elderly parents, Six Ways Health Care Reform Will Impact Seniors is an interesting and timely news update for seniors from Matt Johnson at HealthBridge In-Home Care. 

"For some, a fixed annuity becomes more attractive when combined with long term care benefits," writes Mr. ToughMoneyLove in Annuities with Long Term Care Benefits at Go To Retirement. 

Consumer Boomer presents When Should You Sign Up for Medicare posted at Consumer Boomer, saying, "Here’s a look on the how and when to start your Medicare benefits."  Definitely important information as you can really get penalized if you don’t sign up at the proper time!

Kelly presents Tax Strategies for Canadian Seniors – Part 1, writing "Tips for Canadian Seniors on preparing their income taxes. The 3 part series covers tax deductions, tax shelters and tax credits." You'll find this useful information at imPOWERage.

And for those of us in the U.S. pulling our hair out as we try to get our taxes done while juggling the Sandwich Generation issues of caring for elderly parents while babysitting grandchildren, here’s something to give you a bit of a smile. Madeleine Begun Kane presents Taxing Times posted at Mad Kane's Humor Blog. 

I just watched a Numb3rs episode where the senior dad was exiting retirement and busy job hunting because of the economy. And he’s not the only one in the Baby Boomers Generation thinking about that. Justin Milano presents McDonalds Applications Are A Great Choice For Seniors posted at McDonalds Applications. Having worked there in my youth, I can say McDonald's is an excellent employer in many ways.

Well, there you have it. The Boomers and Seniors: News You Can Use blog carnival for January 26, 2010. We hope you enjoyed all these great articles and look forward to seeing you at the next edition. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page. Also, we'd love for you to submit your blog article to the next edition of Boomers & Seniors – News You Can Use using our carnival submission form.