"Everybody's thinking about it. They have it on their minds. But they don't want to talk about it."Brian Kennedy is a financial advisor who runs clients through various life scenarios and asks "What if...?" If the scenario is your spouse having a car accident and needing extensive long-term care, he has provided a model of what that does to your finances and it's not pretty. It's not even just the cost. There's a real emotional difference between having your Mom live in the same home with your child and having to drive thirty minutes to see Mom in a nursing home where three nurse's assistants are assigned to fifteen residents. If you never think it through, your plan is to go broke in institutional care, and there's a legal solution for you. Running the scenarios and the strategies, however, you may be able to have all family members under one roof with financial reserves and insurance covering the costs.Don't just have it on your mind that your health or your parent's health will decline. Develop a strategy. Build a shield.

If you're over the age of 65 and you are discharged from the hospital, there is a 1 in 5 chance that you will be back in the hospital in the next 30 days. Going to the hospital is an intense experience. Older adults are especially vulnerable to problems that arise from hospitalization. They see more health care providers, have more complicated chronic health conditions, take more medications, and are more likely to experience cognitive decline. Hospitals navigate many obstacles to make successful discharges and transition each patient's care to the next provider. It helps to understand those obstacles within the healthcare system, but also to know how you can be an effective advocate for yourself or your family member.Dr. Nicole Osevala, the Chief of Geriatric Medicine at the Penn State College of Medicine and the Hershey Medical Center, explains in this episode the elements of a safe care transition from the hospital.

Whether it's your banking, your shopping, your calendar, or how many steps you took today, so much personal information depends on a device and the internet. Keeping up to date with rapidly evolving technology can be perplexing!You not only need to know how to use the device, but you also need to know how to keep your personal information secure. When the device needs to be replaced, what do you do with the old one? If you plan appropriately for incapacity, how can your family access your information on the device without knowing all your passwords? Even how you interact with technology is changing from typing to voice commands.In this episode, Barry Gordon from Senior Tech Tutor goes through challenges and solutions that people need to know when it comes to personal technology.

Do women have different planning considerations than men? Absolutely. Women generally live longer than men by over five years. Women are more likely to experience dementia and other chronic illnesses than men. While most people need long-term care and support during their lifetimes, women need that care and support for longer periods of time than men do.But there's more, and it's worth noting demographic trends and cultural trends. The current crisis in our institutional resources for older adults means that more family members will be called on to be caregivers. And guess who historically has borne that responsibility of caregiving? Women! What does that mean for a woman's ability to further her own career? What about the woman's savings for her own retirement? What effect will family caregiving have on her future Social Security or pension?

What does it mean to be a good ancestor? We have a clearer idea of what it is to be a good parent or grandparent. Seeing the impact of your decisions over generations requires a long-term vision.People may answer this question by describing money saved. They call it "generational wealth." But studies have showed how massive family wealth is lost by the third generation. What lasts hundreds of years are the personal habits that become culture. What was once a tradition of the village or the tribe becomes the norm for the family in your neighborhood. Anyone can become a good ancestor by being intentional about their lifestyle or emotional habits. Your response to conflict may dictate the divorce rates in future generations. Your food choices may affect the longevity of your great-grandchildren. How to be a good ancestor may start with writing the story of your life. It begins with really challenging yourself to understand what is most important to a good life for you. Doing so will allow you to change your present-day behavior for long-term positive effects.

There is a dizzying array of taxes standing between people and their goals to make life better for the next generation. We work hard to make a living, but we have to play defense when it comes to taxes. When people make estate plans, the two most common tax issues involve inheritance tax and capital gains tax. Trying to avoid one of them may cause a mistake with the other. The best strategy for one person may not be the best strategy for another. Different family makeups and different intentions for property mean that each person has to weigh options. There are tradeoffs and risks to these decisions. This episode explores the tax questions -- and questionable public policy -- that should be considered when estate planning.

A grandchild sits with rapt attention listening to his grandfather describe the feeling of World War II anti-aircraft fire hitting the grandfather's plane. A grandmother describes what living during Prohibition was like. Family traditions, where a person lives, and talents the person has make much more sense as the person learns from older family members about the people who came before and what they did with their lives.Meanwhile, the grandchild adds to the safety, functional abilities, and general wellbeing of the grandparent. We are all interdependent. This often takes the form of multigenerational households or family caregiving. This episode examines the factors that will make that interdependence go well and what might derail peaceful coexistence under the same roof.

While estate planning is the safety net when a person's health declines, there are emergencies that require immediate attention. Making sure that smoke detectors and carbon monoxide alarms are functioning is good preventative planning. But when the alarm sounds, there are steps you can take to make it easier for first responders to help. Fires, floods, and falls happen. In this episode, Jerry Ozog from the Hampden Township Volunteer Fire Company shares the kinds of calls his department goes out on and he offers tips to keep your home safe.

William is having difficulty finding common words when he speaks. His friends have noticed that he cannot follow a conversation. He can't remember people he's known for decades.William's friends and family all want to support William. What if William resists their efforts? Maybe William even resents them for being in cahoots to take over his life.This resistance to help often happens with older adults who lose physical mobility or cognitive function. The problem is even worse when dementia is involved, as the person may be unaware of the impairments that are so obvious to other people.This episode explores the challenges and solutions that go with helping an older adult who does not want help.

Compared to a generation ago, information and strategies to maximize health and longevity are widely available. Is your primary care physician working those strategies with you?Most primary care practices are driven by accountants and insurance companies for efficiency. But determining the unique needs of each patient really requires more time. Prevention of illness may require tools that are not covered by insurance.The concierge model of primary care aims to build a partnership between the patient and the physician. Dr. Theresa Burick of the Burick Center for Health and Wellness explains how her concierge practice identifies priorities for patients and uses a wider range of tools to achieve greater health and wellness. The health care industry has changed over time. Concierge medicine is growing to get people out of the Sick Care System and into the Health Care System.

How you plan for decision-making if you get sick, how your life savings is distributed, how much tax you pay, and how you protect assets are all issues fixed by law.Elected officials gather information and make decisions that impact your life. Understanding who they are as people and how they think about their responsibilities is important to planning in the later years of life. In this episode, the Democratic candidate for Attorney General of Pennsylvania, Eugene DePasquale, explains who he is as a person, what he achieved and learned as a state representative and as Auditor General, and why he is running for Attorney General.

This is your whole life. It's improving the lives of family members with your hard-earned savings. It's managing incapacity if you get sick.There are many moving parts to protecting what is yours and having a seamless transition for decision-making if you get sick. At Keystone Elder Law, we break it all down into plain English so that people can make better plans. During weekly webinars and seminars, we teach the concepts and answer questions. People show up eager to learn, and they ask great questions. In this episode, we share some commonly asked questions and demystify the language of estate planning.

Imagine owning a business and wanting to retire, but you can't. You're stuck, without a buyer in sight. This is a failure of planning.Later in life planning starts before you're old, and an exit plan for your business starts as soon as you start it. Whether it's training your successor, ensuring that revenue does not depend on you, or modernizing your operations to increase the profit margin, these are all aspects of planning that must be done for a valuable asset -- your business. In this episode, Mark Sussman (StrategicBizGroup.com) discusses how he helps business owners make the most of their family business or other closely held business. Voluntarily or otherwise, 100% of business owners will exit the place where they spent a lot of time, money, and energy. How that goes depends on how well you plan.

While any illness in the later years of life can cause emotional turmoil for family members, none seems to cause as much anguish as dementia. Relationships are never the same. The loss of memory and rational thinking skills disrupts the person's ability to socialize in the same way, to reminisce or plan for the future, and even to recognize spouses and children. The focus on these lost competencies, however, ignores the skills that are retained. These retained abilities offer opportunities for connection and fulfillment. The way we communicate with a person living with the brain changes of dementia must change for it to be successful. Social interactions and enjoying beauty in the world are not only possible, but a necessary component of dementia care.This episode looks at five broad categories of understanding that will empower both the person with dementia and the people who provide support and care. The skills of dementia caregiving are not obvious. They require learning and practice. But a better, if different, life with dementia is worth putting in the effort to acquire the skills.

A 100 year old woman is given some supplies and general directions. She creates art that brings forth a cherished memory of picking mushrooms with her grandmother in Poland.As a lesson on overcoming limitations, a group of older adults take a page from bed-bound Henri Matisse, who satisfied his drive to create by using a six-foot bamboo rod with charcoal in the tip to draw on his walls. The older people come up with an idea, pick up their bamboo rods, and get to work. Some have poor eyesight and others have limited mobility, but Matisse's example shows that there are few limitations on creativity. Funded by grants from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, there are teaching artists like Cheryl Kugler challenging older adults to express memories, make social connections, and reveal their unique experiences in art. Creating art in the later years of life is meditative and reduces stress while maintaining fine motor skills. Pushing through occasional frustrations in the process, the older adults develop a sense of self-empowerment and accomplishment.In this episode, Cheryl Kugler paints a picture of the value of artistic expression for aging people.

Mount Athos is a mountain on the Athos peninsula in northeastern Greece where monastic communities have existed for a thousand years. The inhabitants live long and healthy lives. Their secret?According to Dr. Pete Patitsas, there is science to explain why religious traditions and wisdom have allowed the inhabitants of Mount Athos to live into their 80s, 90s, and 100s with little or none of the chronic diseases that plague Americans. Dr. Pete wrote The Athos Diet (TheAthosDiet.com) to give people a very low cost pathway to longer and healthier lives. The diet involves three pillars: intermittent fasting, a plant-based diet, and walking. As an emergency room physician, Dr. Pete says that 74-80% of diseases come down to diet and lifestyle that could be adjusted. Americans spend $70 billion every year on countless diets, but we lose our loved ones to diabetes, cancer, Alzheimer's disease, heart disease, and strokes. We are a nation of snackers engaged in constant consumption, and it is killing us prematurely.This episode explores the Athos Diet, a simple solution that will add healthy years to your life.

Every professional working with older adults is a social worker at least part of the time. We ask questions about family dynamics. We ask "What if..." and find solutions and resources for people. We educate people about our health care system and the legal planning necessary to navigate that system. Having an experienced guide is the best way to spot potential problems down the road and to solve the problems that arise. In this episode, you'll hear stories from an experienced guide. Brittany Klinger is the Care Coordinator at Keystone Elder Law (KeystoneElderLaw.com). She draws on many years of experience working in personal care communities. Brittany has always been a professional problem solver with all the compassion you would want your family members to receive.

You may have a parent or a neighbor who has been sidelined by a stroke, a fall, or a surgery. You know that person has travelled the world, read lots of books, or has a passion for music. Now what?Our library system has evolved to provide much more than books. They offer classes and music and movies and direction to resources. What happens when a person who wants to experience the world can no longer leave his or her house? Across the country, there are programs to bring the library's resources to the homebound person. The reasons for this are important. A person's physical health depends on their mental well-being. Isolation is a public health hazard. Bringing books, music, and movies to that person will improve the person's outlook on life. In this episode, we hear from Christa Bassett and Sandi Koehler from the Cumberland County Library System. They bring not only the stories and music of the world to homebound people, but it's done in a way that includes companionship. This program not only improves the lives of homebound older adults. It provides purpose and meaning to the volunteers.

Certain decisions get made for you. How much control do you want over your life? If you know who you want to receive property from you when you pass away, you could make a choice and draft a will. If there are potential challenges that stand between you and achieving that goal, you can make different planning choices, probably involving a trust.People are walking around without making these choices for themselves. So the government makes decisions for them.Even for those who make decisions for themselves, the government still makes decisions that affect your future. A state budget was just passed that makes decisions about the resources that will be available if your health fails. Bottom line: know the system you are aging into, and know what decisions you can make for your family's circumstances.

When a former colleague called me from her nursing home bed, it was out of the blue. We hadn't spoken in years. The conversation covered a maze of legal issues. Here was a smart person being pressured by a non-attorney "Medicaid company" to sign an agreement for Medicaid planning. The Medicaid planning seemed to overlook important issues like my colleague's real estate and her goals for her estate. There are nursing facilities that partner with these "Medicaid companies" or directly tell residents that the residents do not need to hire an attorney. My colleague, and many like her, needed an attorney.Other aging adults need an advocate. What if a relative is using the power of attorney to steal money from your loved one? Should the relative with the power of attorney inherit any money when your loved one dies? If our long-term care system leaves you with no income and no money in savings, what should be the amount you get to keep for personal needs? These are legal issues that our state legislature has considered, but not resolved.Getting older is a walk through a legal maze while wearing a blindfold. Only a guide who knows that maze from beginning to end will be able to get you through it.

The 2024 Presidential debate and the commentary that followed was discouraging for many reasons. One of the more disturbing aspects of the experience was how casually and heartlessly people lobbed the words "dementia" and "elder abuse" as insults at political opponents. A person living with dementia is undergoing brain changes. Skills are lost, but their humanity is not. When famous people have experienced dementia in the past, a more productive and educational conversation followed. That's what this episode is all about: knowing more about the experience of dementia and how to support a person whose brain is changing. Dementia is simply brain change; it is not an insult.

When a co-worker announces that she will be taking maternity leave, there's a celebration. Of course her job is safe and there's a plan to cover for her while she's out. What happens when your Dad has a stroke and needs you for support and care?Employees are choosing in record numbers to retire early, pass up promotions, or find part-time work so that they can care for aging parents or spouses. Others cannot afford to stop working, so they burn the candle at both ends while juggling work and caregiving. While unpaid leave may be available at large companies, employers will have to get more creative with accommodating family caregiving responsibilities if they want to retain talent. This changing need of the workforce is growing against the backdrop of care facilities under great strain. This episode focuses on those who are still working while caring for an older family member.

Going to the hospital is relatively common in the later years of life. If you fall and break a hip, you may have surgery and be admitted for a few days. What happens next? Can you recuperate at home, or do you need skilled rehab? Will you need home health or a home care agency to help you in your home? Just because a physician prescribes a medication or orders follow-up care does not mean that your insurance will automatically pay for it.There are many questions that arise about the next step for you after your hospital stay. Fortunately, you don't have to anticipate challenges or find the solutions yourself. Social workers and care managers in the hospital will guide you along the way.In this episode, Andy Cruzan of the Penn State Hershey Medical Center explains how social workers plan the next steps for patients who will be discharged from the hospital. They navigate challenges relating to the patient's health status, less-than-ideal support network, and a larger health care system under strain. Social workers are the bridge from your acute care to your full recovery.

Your feet can send signals about a larger problem in the body. They can be the entryway for germs and infections. With good maintenance, your feet can keep you independent. In this episode, Dr. Jason Sweeley of Silver Spring Foot and Ankle discusses how to take good care of your feet in the later years of life.

Adult Child: "Dad, you're not safe to drive. We're taking away the car keys."Dad: "Like hell you are! I'm fine to drive!"Aging often comes with changes in eyesight, hearing, reaction time, memory, and the ability to multi-task. Certain conditions, such as diabetes or heart issues, can lead to sudden loss of consciousness. Adult children want to protect the safety and health of aging parents, and driving is a big concern. But driving is also a crucial part of a person's independence, dignity, and autonomy. Having the conversation with an aging parent about the parent's ability to safely operate a vehicle should be handled carefully. Maintaining empathy and mutual trust should be a high priority. There are legal issues and a health care professional may need to be involved. This episode explores the issue of driving in the later years of life.

Adults are busy every day working, paying bills, planning for retirement, thinking about how their children are doing, and maintaining a relationship with their spouse or significant other. How many plan for the commitment of time, energy, and money to support an aging parent?If you ask your friends, the chances are good that some of them have had to help a parent to manage medications and doctor appointments, pay bills, and even to bathe and use the bathroom. Parentcare is so seldom discussed or considered until adults are in the thick of it. By then, it can be overwhelming.So many adult children are spread thin while addressing the parent's needs. The adult child neglects his own health, relationships, and employment just to keep up with Mom or Dad's needs. Like anything else in life, having a plan for parentcare turns out far better than winging it. This episode examines the mindset that will be important for the child to have, some challenges to expect, and how to start the journey of parentcare in a way that gives the parent the best life possible without compromising the sanity and health of the adult child.

There comes a point for many older adults when maintaining a property is a burden they would prefer not to have. Maybe a person is concerned about safety when using stairs is necessary every day. Loneliness is reason enough for some people to make a transition to living in a community. With all of these good reasons for downsizing to a community setting, what holds people back? Stuff! Their personal belongings, furniture, holiday decorations, and all the other stuff in the house seem so overwhelming. People don't know where to start. It helps to know that there are people who manage these transitions all the time. They know the most efficient way to re-home your belongings, often through charitable organizations looking for donations. They arrange the movers, measure your new space, and help you plan what belongings will go to your new home.

The actor Bradley Cooper is producing a documentary called "Caregiving." He shares the lifelong admiration that he had for his father. When his father was dying from cancer, Bradley was a caregiver, even bathing his own father. Many adult children can identify with this stage of life. Some adult children will be unable to provide care for aging parents because of geographical distance, family or job responsibilities, or the extensive needs of the parent. While there are levels of care and support available in a facility setting, policy makers in the government are placing great stress on an already fragile system. Grossly irresponsible policies will likely mean that more adult children will have to find a way to provide care in the home as Bradley Cooper did.

Mom lives alone in her home. After Dad died, Mom is lonely, getting confused, and prone to falls. Dad managed the bills and household finances, and Mom is at a loss. For those of us who serve older adults, the red flags are piling up.The adult children may also be concerned, but they have no idea where to start with resources or living arrangements to support Mom. In this episode, Angela Merkel of Country Meadows Retirement Communities discusses the risks of living alone in the later years of life, the benefits of senior living options, and some ways to think about objections to a move.

As the weather warms up and the shorts come out of storage, there will be a common sign of older adulthood on display: varicose veins. Those dark purple or blue lines on your legs have a fascinating story behind them. They are probably linked to your age because of what happens to valves inside the veins. They may be linked to your gender, your occupation, or your lifestyle.But for some people, the mind races to poor health outcomes. Do these veins mean that a heart attack or stroke is coming? Vascular health is nothing to mess around with. In this episode, Dr. Bryan Kluck of Cardiovascular Experts of PA explains why these veins become noticeable, some lifestyle changes to address them, and the ways that vein experts can diagnose serious problems and treat them.

The so-called Sandwich Generation has a lot on its plate. They are adults who tend to their job responsibilities while raising children and giving those children the best start in life possible. They look after their parents who are getting older and becoming less independent as they used to be. When the parent starts needing a great deal of support, the adult child scrambles to monitor medications, pay the parent's bills, and ensure that the parent is safe and eating. The adult child in the Sandwich Generation can easily burn out under such responsibilities. They need someone to assess the situation, help them find available resources, intervene when an emergency happens, and help the adult child to make difficult decisions.There is help available. Life Care Managers are the hub of the wheel, and they know the many spokes that might make the caregiving journey go more smoothly. In this episode, Ellen Platt of the Option Group explains how Life Care Managers can help with proactive planning for an aging adult and be a partner along the journey.

A fascinating study in England has found a significant link between performance on a simple visual exam and the eventual diagnosis of dementia. With emerging treatments to halt the progression of dementia being dependent on early detection, the most astounding part of the English study is that it detected patterns of dementia twelve years before a memory test would detect the disease. If the future will bring testing for dementia a decade or two before the symptoms become life-altering, an important question arises: what would you do differently if you knew for sure that you will lose your memory, your identity, your independence, and your ability to interact with people? Given the rates of dementia diagnosis and the number of people who will need long-term care, what should we be doing as citizens to prepare for this inevitable demand for resources? This episode examines some personal and philosophical questions and the difficult decisions that policy makers are facing about a future with dementia.

Planning for the later years of life is building a shield for yourself and your family. Building a shield necessarily means that you think about a threat or a challenge coming your way, you think about how you would like to protect yourself from that threat or challenge, and you take action to build something that will protect you.The costs and challenges of the later years of life are mostly predictable. There are tools in the legal toolbox that you can use to build your shield against these predictable challenges. But there are some challenges that are unpredictable. That is when you reassess your shield and ask whether it will continue to offer the same protection.What does this look like? It involves spending a short amount of time to think creatively, especially about the obstacles that could show between you and the achievement of the goals you have for your family. When a family member's health changes or their availability to be a key decision-maker changes, you ask whether everyone would be better off if you re-built part of your shield.Some shields are stronger than others. Yours will be stronger if you figure it out now.

For most of our lives, we have employer-based health insurance. It's how we pay for doctor appointments, hospital visits, and labs. When you approach the end of your working years, there are some very important factors to consider because Medicare becomes your health insurance. The timing of your enrollment in Medicare is critical. Even after enrolling in Medicare, there are times during the year when you may wish to make a change in your coverage. The type of Medicare plan you choose may depend on where you intend to live, how much you intend to travel, known health problems, or the cost of prescription medications now or in the future. Bob Pease from the Alera Group returns to the show to break down these factors to consider.

In challenging times, personal responsibility and political courage can prevent a catastrophe. What challenges are we facing? The population of people over the age of 65 is swelling. It is very likely that older adults will need long-term care. Long-term care is expensive and generally not covered by Medicare. So the hard-working Middle Class faces a financial disaster if a member of the household has a stroke, dementia, or any number of mobility-limiting conditions. Medicaid is the social safety net, but few people understand its rules. People lose their homes to Medicaid estate recovery, a program that further sets the Middle Class back from forward progress while doing little to recoup costs for the government. If the depressing statistics are accurate, most people do no estate planning, let alone the kind of planning that protects the hard-earned savings of the Middle Class from long-term care costs. Until the political class demonstrates some courage and creativity, this is the system we have. So personal responsibility becomes essential. Challenging times are upon us. Build a shield with good planning.

Psychologists call it "role theory." For every role you have -- parent, coach, friend, coworker -- there is a source of purpose and meaning in your life. Older adults tend to lose roles as they see children move out, they retire, and they become less involved in their community. Volunteering not only provides a new role and a new purpose for older adults, but also research shows that volunteers report lower levels of stress and greater amounts of life satisfaction. Volunteers report less discomfort than non-volunteers in the population of people dealing with chronic pain or illness.But where can older adults find their new role and their new purpose in service? Enter the United Way. A long-standing pillar of service, the United Way vets every nonprofit organization to determine that funds will be well spent and volunteers will provide impactful service to those who are truly in need. In this episode, Jason Maddux of the United Way of Carlisle & Cumberland County discusses the wide array of service opportunities that are available.

Legal planning should address incapacity and protect your life savings from costly long-term care. But life planning should aim to extend the years of your independence and enjoyment of everything that brings you joy. It is very common for older adults to lose muscle mass and bone density, leaving them prone to life-altering injuries and unable to perform simple tasks like carrying groceries or laundry. Having the physical stability and strength to golf or play with grandchildren is just the start. There is a well established connection between physical fitness and positive mental health. And the good news is that it is never too late to start making progress to combat the loss of muscle mass, bone density, and cognitive clarity. Katie Martz from Fox Rehabilitation explains these challenges and solutions in this episode.

In the practice of elder law, there is a long parade of people with chronic illnesses, cognitive decline, and impairments to their mobility. Good legal planning can make the necessary support and care much easier. But what if people could invest some time and energy in a program that prevented the decline in health from ever happening?In this episode, Amy Jacobs from the YMCA Center for Healthy Living explains the various programs that are offered free of charge to the community. These programs are evidence-based, meaning that careful research and testing went into the curriculum to make sure that the programs work. They are done in group settings, which helps each participant maintain the drive to get better even when motivation is lacking. From lowering blood pressure and getting off of medications to preventing diabetes and all its complications, these programs are easily available to the public and make an extraordinary impact on public health. You should have good legal planning for the later years of life, but it's even better if the common threats to your life savings never happen because you made a positive lifestyle change.

Every older adult needing nursing home care has a legal right to protect assets and pay for that care with Medicaid. But for every resident on Medicaid, the nursing homes lose money every day. As the ranks of older adults swell, care facilities are under pressure. Care facilities provide a vitally important service in our aging communities and many are closing their doors. In this episode, Zach Shamberg, President and CEO of the Pennsylvania Health Care Association, explains Medicaid rates, workforce challenges, government mandates, and solutions that he brings to policy makers.

When it comes to estate planning, people rarely understand the full scope of the project. They've seen gatherings on TV where there's a ceremonial reading of a will. Unless they've supported an aging parent, however, their understanding stops there. How do we protect the interests of each spouse's children in a blended marriage? What if everything I've spent decades earning and saving vanishes because of long-term care costs? My deed seems to be written in Greek -- do I even own this property?There are so many questions to be answered to arrive at a good plan that will work for your family's unique circumstances. In this episode, the focus is on common mistakes and misunderstandings when it comes to critically important planning for the later years of life.

In early 2023 millions of people watched intently as a young and healthy NFL player named Damar Hamlin took a hit to the chest and went into cardiac arrest on the field. The likelihood of surviving a sudden cardiac arrest is under 10%. Cardiac arrest takes the lives of over 600,000 Americans every year. It is the leading cause of death of student athletes, but people of all ages die of cardiac arrest with no involvement in athletics. Damar Hamlin was lucky. He had highly trained professionals on two sidelines who immediately knew how to save his life. Julie Walker, the guest in this episode, believes that surviving cardiac arrest should not depend on luck. Julie tells her personal story with cardiac arrest and the mission she has been on for a decade to make heart screenings, CPR training, and AED devices available wherever lives might be saved. She founded the Peyton Walker Foundation, and what began as local efforts in Pennsylvania are spreading across the country. And lives are being saved.

The stories of music as a therapeutic tool are breathtaking. A dying person alleviates worry for everyone in the room as music brings the family together. A person with advanced dementia who rarely speaks or shows any awareness of the world sings clear words in perfect melody and plenty of emotion. The patient recovering from painful surgery escaping the pain and struggle by playing simple chords on an instrument. Music therapists are trained to assess a person's challenge and use some form of music to aid the person in overcoming the challenge. In this episode, Melanie Walborn and Kristyn Beeman of WB Music Therapy (https://www.wbmusictherapy.com/) explain the settings and the process of music therapy.

Consider someone with a challenging diagnosis. Not only may the medical condition limit the activities that brought the person joy, but so may the treatment for that condition. What if there were a medical specialty that focused on the goals you have for a good life and made a plan to deal with any limits on your goals? This is palliative care. In this episode, Kristi Altice from UPMC explains how palliative care works.

We all do it. We accumulate stuff. What happens when we need to move out of our homes, we need a higher level of care, or we pass away? Someone has to do something about all that stuff. Shannon Costill from Soldiers Hauling (https://soldiershauling.com/) joins us in this episode to describe what she sees: family members who wish they had downsized personal belongings sooner, the stress that family members face when they wish they weren't dealing with belongings in a house, and, the ways that this stuff may actually help other people who really need it. Soldier's Hauling is a veteran-owned business that helps people who have stuff they need to unload while keeping that stuff out of a landfill.

Life is all about transitions. From school to your first job, from single to getting married, having your first child, planning for retirement, etc. Every stage of life comes with transitions. But what if you can find a living arrangement with all of the benefits with none of the downsides?In this episode of the Later in Life Planning Show, we speak with Maria Sapio about Life Plan Communities. You can travel, exercise, take in movies or the arts, and socialize with your friends. It is a plan for life in the later years, knowing that there are people looking out for for you . It's a change in thinking. But there are people who will walk you through it to make sure it's the right decision for you.

About ten years ago, Dr. Atul Gawande published Being Mortal and it became a New York Times bestseller. A trained surgeon, Dr. Gawande was trained to target a specific problem and fix it. In this book, however, he uses a mix of facts and stories to reveal a truth we must all accept. The body and the mind break down. Gawande skillfully captures the way people age and the ways we have supported older adults over time. More important, he issues a challenge. Over time, medicine, safety, and health standards have been given a supreme role in the care and support of older adults. Being Mortal warns against the over-medicalization of care for older people at the expense of finding what truly makes each adult's life worth living. Being Mortal is not just a reflection on the ideal form of caring for older adults. It's a call to accept that we will all become frail, to plan for that inevitable stage of life, and to consider what a good life will look like for us at that time.

Maybe you have listened to all of the guests on this show and it has you thinking about your goals and concerns for the future. Cardiovascular disease, dementia, accidental falls -- these can be incapacitating medical conditions. With incapacity will likely come big expenses for long-term care. How your life savings will be distributed when you're gone is important, but it's crucial to address incapacity planning and asset protection to ensure that there will be something to distribute. That's what this episode is all about. For those who are updating their estate planning, this episode will give you the guideposts leading you to a complete plan.

Are you making a New Year's Resolution? Maybe something related to your health? You can make this resolution, this promise to yourself, at any time to improve your life. The long-term benefits for your independence and dignity and even your financial status can be incredibly important.Whether you have heard episodes of the Later in Life Planning Show about long-term care, estate planning, or specific health issues like cardiovascular health or dementia, one theme has become clear. Exercise is medicine.What stops people from being able to lift themselves out of a chair or from no longer being able to use the bathroom themselves? The loss of muscle mass or range of motion. The loss of bone density leads to fractured hips and horrendous recovery periods. In this episode, Jesse Swoyer (jesseswoyer.com) explains the importance of physical fitness for longevity and functional ability. He discusses the loss of muscle mass and how anyone can implement changes to improve their future ability to remain independent and functional.