Who are some good experts on Sage to ask questions about aging?
My parents are getting up there in age and I would like to learn more about aging to make sure I can help them. Who would be a good expert that I could ask questions as they become relevant for my parents?
Answers ( 5 )
You might want to look at Sage Jae Starr right now, who's worked for years with people in nursing homes, and with some age-related issues. I'd trust Jae to give sound advice. And further, if she doesn't have direct experience, she would research to find the best information possible.
This suggests a good feature for Sage, the ability to search using a topic or a term and have it return a list of writers who have answered questions tagged with that topic or questions that contain that or a very similar word.
Perhaps the list could be ordered by the number of answers the person has in that topic or possessing that keyword, or by the number of answer views the user has for that term, or by general Reputation score. Ideally, the searcher could choose any of these criteria from a drop down list and sort the list in thst way.
I have over a quarter century working directly with those who must be in assisted or skilled care facilities, even Hospice, as a Therapeutic Recreational Activities Director. I specialized in working with folks who had dementia of any type, and I hold a Bachelor's degree in pre-med. If I do not know the answer, I will research the subject, reach out to friends still in the business (including my step-daughter RN-becoming-and-NP) and I will give you an honest answer without sugar coating it but with more empathy than you may realize. Please, feel free to reach out in a public question if you need to, or privately if you feel your must.
I have considerable personal experience with in Ontario, Canada, but I hesitate to give advice over the internet in response to questions about unseen strangers with regards to health and aging, whether physical or mental. I can give generalized tips based on my experience but I am not a professional. Nor do I believe that any professional can make diagnoses about strangers on the internet. Only trained personnel can make diagnoses in face to face meetings with clients and patients. So often I read questions asking whether this or that is a sign of Alzheimer's. But I was with my friend when she was administered the test by a professional at the hospital. No one can tell over the internet.
In the 1990s, I was part of the circulating group that helped my mother care for Grandma when senility/dementia stole her mental abilities. My parents were aged and failing in the next two decades. More recently I was involved with the care of a friend who had Alzheimer's. This was when I became keenly aware of the programs locally available for seniors. Using a government program in the area, I was involved in finding a nursing home for her, deciding when it was time for her to go, and moving her in. Ever since, we are involved with the team of her caregivers. I am also in close contact with various other seniors accessing local programs in healthcare and homecare.
Sage will be adding an experts list page that will allow you to filter by topic, reputation score, and other critical metrics. This will help you understand who the top tiers of experts are in particular topics, and then I'd recommend you spend time looking at each of their profiles, their top answers, and their answer fees to see who might be the best fit for you.
hth,
Peter