Seniors

A new UBC speaker series aims to answer questions around what people can do to live long, happy lives. (Credit: Pixabay/Pasja1000)

UBC promises to go beyond eating well and exercising in healthy aging speaker series

First lecture kicks off Jan. 23, with a discussion around daily stressors

A new UBC speaker series aims to answer questions around what people can do to live long, happy lives. (Credit: Pixabay/Pasja1000)
Joe Sommer has completed 190 jigsaw puzzles, all of which are on display in the basement of his Chilliwack home. Seen here are about half of the puzzles. (Jenna Hauck/ Chilliwack Progress)

VIDEO: This B.C. man, 89, has spent 57 years completing 200 jigsaw puzzles

All given to him as gifts, Joe Sommer has spent 57 years doing jigsaw puzzles and then mounting them

Joe Sommer has completed 190 jigsaw puzzles, all of which are on display in the basement of his Chilliwack home. Seen here are about half of the puzzles. (Jenna Hauck/ Chilliwack Progress)
A team of experts have released a highly anticipated set of standards to prevent the spread of infection in Canada’s long-term care homes. A man looks out the window at the Camilla Care Community centre overlooking crosses marking the deaths of multiple people that occured during the COVID-19 pandemic in Mississauga, Ont., on Tuesday, May 26, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette

Liberals mum on bill to codify standards in long-term care, despite new guidelines

Pandemic-fed crisis in long-term care prompted a feds to promise safety legislation in such settings

A team of experts have released a highly anticipated set of standards to prevent the spread of infection in Canada’s long-term care homes. A man looks out the window at the Camilla Care Community centre overlooking crosses marking the deaths of multiple people that occured during the COVID-19 pandemic in Mississauga, Ont., on Tuesday, May 26, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette
At 82, Bruce Ives from Daajing Giids broke the Guinness World Record as the oldest male to perform a headstand. (Photo: Megan Romas’ Facebook)

VIDEO: Haida Gwaii man breaks world record for oldest male to do headstand

Bruce Ives was 82 years and 43 days old on the day he broke the record

At 82, Bruce Ives from Daajing Giids broke the Guinness World Record as the oldest male to perform a headstand. (Photo: Megan Romas’ Facebook)
A family member holds Ruth Harris’s hand in Vancouver General Hospital. (Submitted)

Questions about care after Abbotsford woman’s burns not taken seriously

Third-degree burns on elderly woman’s legs not given priority at ARH, but they were at Vancouver General Hospital

A family member holds Ruth Harris’s hand in Vancouver General Hospital. (Submitted)
A customer loads lumber into the back of a pickup truck in Maple Ridge, B.C., on Friday, June 12, 2020. Canadians are now eligible for a tax credit that will help pay for renovations to build a secondary suite for family member who is a senior or an adult with a disability.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

Federal tax credit for multi-generational home renovations now available to Canadians

Credit will provide a 15 per cent tax refund on expenses of up to $50,000

A customer loads lumber into the back of a pickup truck in Maple Ridge, B.C., on Friday, June 12, 2020. Canadians are now eligible for a tax credit that will help pay for renovations to build a secondary suite for family member who is a senior or an adult with a disability.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
Stuart Westie has been tracking his fitness and environmental impact each year since 2011, and his efforts add up. (Ruth Lloyd photo - Williams Lake Tribune)

B.C. senior tracks his shrinking environmental impact for over a decade

Stuart Westie started monitoring physical activity for health, then pivoted to environmental reasons

Stuart Westie has been tracking his fitness and environmental impact each year since 2011, and his efforts add up. (Ruth Lloyd photo - Williams Lake Tribune)
First Link® Dementia Helpline can provide you with the support and answeres you need.

Stand up against dementia stigma this Alzheimer’s Awareness Month

Jana Schulz of Cranbrook, B.C. – a registered social worker, working as…

  • Jan 9, 2023
First Link® Dementia Helpline can provide you with the support and answeres you need.
This image made from video, provided by KCCI 8 News in Des Moines, Iowa, shows Bessie Laurena Hendricks celebrating her 115th birthday in November 2022. Hendricks, an Iowa woman who was believed to be the oldest living person in the U.S., died Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2023, at the age of 115. (KCCI 8 News via AP)

Iowa woman believed to be oldest person in US dies at 115

Bessie Hendricks was alive to witness news of the sinking of the Titanic

This image made from video, provided by KCCI 8 News in Des Moines, Iowa, shows Bessie Laurena Hendricks celebrating her 115th birthday in November 2022. Hendricks, an Iowa woman who was believed to be the oldest living person in the U.S., died Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2023, at the age of 115. (KCCI 8 News via AP)
Name-changing rules in B.C. have been eased slightly, following a report from the Ombudsperson that showed the requirements were, at times, too stringent. (Credit: Pixabay/ Sabinevanerp)

B.C. name-changing rules eased following finding of discrimination against senior

Woman in 70s faced barriers when trying to correct misspelled name on birth certificate

Name-changing rules in B.C. have been eased slightly, following a report from the Ombudsperson that showed the requirements were, at times, too stringent. (Credit: Pixabay/ Sabinevanerp)
Claire of Burnaby took part in the survey conducted by the Office of the Seniors’ Advocate in 2016-17. She found the experience very rewarding, as she connected with Cantonese-speaking seniors in their own language. (Special to The Star)

Asking long-term care residents their views

Comprehensive survey from Seniors’ Advocate seeks volunteers to connect with residents

  • Dec 5, 2022
Claire of Burnaby took part in the survey conducted by the Office of the Seniors’ Advocate in 2016-17. She found the experience very rewarding, as she connected with Cantonese-speaking seniors in their own language. (Special to The Star)
FILE - Jamie Lee Curtis appears at the Governors Awards in Los Angeles on Nov. 19, 2022. Curtis is this year’s recipient of AARP The Magazine’s Movies for Grownups Awards career achievement honor. The group announced Thursday that Curtis is receiving the honor at the AARP’s annual Best Movies and TV for Grownups ceremony. The event is hosted by returning host Alan Cumming and is premiering on PBS on Feb. 17, 2023, at 9 p.m. E.T. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP, File)

Jamie Lee Curtis to receive award for overcoming ageism in entertainment

‘Curtis’ longstanding, ever-increasing career shatters Hollywood’s outmoded stereotypes about aging’

FILE - Jamie Lee Curtis appears at the Governors Awards in Los Angeles on Nov. 19, 2022. Curtis is this year’s recipient of AARP The Magazine’s Movies for Grownups Awards career achievement honor. The group announced Thursday that Curtis is receiving the honor at the AARP’s annual Best Movies and TV for Grownups ceremony. The event is hosted by returning host Alan Cumming and is premiering on PBS on Feb. 17, 2023, at 9 p.m. E.T. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP, File)
A White Rock senior says current government representation doesn’t go far enough when it comes to regulating rent increases at some retirement homes in B.C. Unsplash.com image

B.C. senior says more protection needed for rental rates at retirement homes in the province

Private facilities may raise rent, hospitality costs as inflation rises

A White Rock senior says current government representation doesn’t go far enough when it comes to regulating rent increases at some retirement homes in B.C. Unsplash.com image
Michael Marshall, 25, UBCO physics student living at the Vinyards. (Jacqueline Gelineau/Capital News)

UBCO students rent affordable units at senior’s residence in exchange for fun

Two students in their 20s are living at the Vinyards residence for seniors

Michael Marshall, 25, UBCO physics student living at the Vinyards. (Jacqueline Gelineau/Capital News)
Frank Duralia, 82, waited in a hospital bed at the Boundary District Hospital in Grand Forks with a broken hip for 59 hours before an ambulance transported him to Trail for surgery. (Credit: Marion Duralia)

‘Excruciating pain’: B.C. man waited 59 hours with broken hip for ambulance transfer

Rural hospital lost its in-patient services in March due to a staffing shortage

Frank Duralia, 82, waited in a hospital bed at the Boundary District Hospital in Grand Forks with a broken hip for 59 hours before an ambulance transported him to Trail for surgery. (Credit: Marion Duralia)
Penticton Regional Hospital (File photo)

COVID-19 outbreaks declared at multiple Interior Health facilities in the Okanagan

Interior Health has declared the outbreaks in Penticton, Summerland and Kelowna

Penticton Regional Hospital (File photo)
Residents are shown at Idola Saint-Jean long-term care home in Laval, Que., February 25, 2022. In B.C., long-term care residents and their family members are being promised a stronger voice with the creation of new regional councils and a provincial committee. CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes

B.C. long-term care residents, family promised greater input with new councils

Ministry of Health creating provincial committee to address concerns

Residents are shown at Idola Saint-Jean long-term care home in Laval, Que., February 25, 2022. In B.C., long-term care residents and their family members are being promised a stronger voice with the creation of new regional councils and a provincial committee. CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes
A bottle of Prozac is pictured at a company facility in Plainfield, Ind., Jan. 11, 2008.THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Darron Cummings

Seniors in long-term care 3 times more likely to receive antidepressants than others

Just over 65 per cent of seniors living in long-term care were prescribed antidepressants in 2021

A bottle of Prozac is pictured at a company facility in Plainfield, Ind., Jan. 11, 2008.THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Darron Cummings
Pamela Garrity, 77, has been confined to a wheelchair since falling out of bed in late September, and relies on a Sarastand (right) to get in and out of bed, get on and off the toilet and do other things. (Eric J. Welsh/ The Progress)

Chilliwack senior felt ‘absolute despair’ after Fraser Health no-show

Confined to wheelchair, woman was twice left sitting in incontinence underwear for 20-plus hours

Pamela Garrity, 77, has been confined to a wheelchair since falling out of bed in late September, and relies on a Sarastand (right) to get in and out of bed, get on and off the toilet and do other things. (Eric J. Welsh/ The Progress)
Terry Dance-Bennink speaks to seniors during a rally in support of a senior-friendly park at the former S.J. Willis Junior High School field in Victoria, B.C., on Tuesday, Sept. 27, 2022. The protesters say they are being shut out of open green space near their homes, while the city recently opened a new skateboard park for youth in the area. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad Hipolito

VIDEO: B.C. seniors stage protest at vacant school field, seeking fair share of park space

100 Victoria area seniors, many using walkers and scooters, point to emphasis on rec space for youth

Terry Dance-Bennink speaks to seniors during a rally in support of a senior-friendly park at the former S.J. Willis Junior High School field in Victoria, B.C., on Tuesday, Sept. 27, 2022. The protesters say they are being shut out of open green space near their homes, while the city recently opened a new skateboard park for youth in the area. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad Hipolito