Once every quarter at Premier Homecare Services, we publish a newsletter that finds its way into the hands of thousands of people throughout the cities and communities in which we operate; industry professionals with whom we work alongside, the clients and the families to whom we provide our care. One of the articles in our latest edition – Spring 2009 – resulted in a curious coincidence.

An article in our newsletter titled, “Parenting your Parents: When the Roles Reverse”, provided some quick advice on caring for your aged parents. It was brought to our attention after we had already distributed the newsletters that a book existed with the same title.

The book, Parenting Your Parents, is coauthored by Dr. Michael Gordon and Bart J. Mindszenthy. Premier Homecare Services had never intended to plagiarize content for its newsletter so it was fortunate that I was able to speak to Dr. Gordon himself and clear things up after a short conversation.

It’s no surprise that he is an expert on the senior care topic. A practicing geriatrician at Toronto’s very own Baycrest Geriatric Health Care System and a Professor of Medicine at the University of Toronto, Dr. Gordon also writes and speaks extensively on the increasingly complex issues of aging in our contemporary society. I asked whether he would like to field some questions for the blog and he happily agreed. The short exchange follows:

Q. How would you categorize the increasing numbers of the aged in Canadian society?

A. One could categorize it in many ways but first I have so say it is one of the great successes of modern society and modern medicine. We must learn to not look at the phenomenon in a negative light, which is a common practice in the media. Although a challenge to all modern societies, the fact is that individuals can expect a good chance at a long life with a great deal of independence, enjoyment and productivity and human satisfaction for many years – something that was relatively unheard of when I started my medical studies almost 50 years ago.

Q. In your practice what do you see as some of the greatest challenges in promoting the well being of seniors?

A. There are a number of challenges. The first is to help individuals at all ages fulfil their life goals as much as possible within the limits of their genetic, environmental, psychological and social make-up. Each of us receives our individual qualities and it is with these that we have to work. To promote good lifestyle practices is always worthwhile at all ages – of course within reason. For those with medical problems it is important to make sure whenever possible to identify them and determine the best combination of medical interventions that might be available to promote well being and personal satisfaction. Steps toward achieving the latter goal include that everyone involved understand their medical conditions, their medications and what they might do to achieve their personal goals.

Q. What would you say to the patients you treat and their families about how to achieve important late-life goals?

A. The single most important thing is to communicate openly and honestly about what it is you would want should things happen in the future when it might be possible that you can no longer care for yourself or make personal decisions. This does not have to be in a written form but in some way that those who will care for you know what matters most to you and that you can trust them to – as much as feasible – carry out your wishes to the best of their ability. After that is done, enjoy every minute that you have and make the best of what is going for you – a long life, for the most part, is an unbelievable blessing to all concerned, even when there are difficult problems and challenges.

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To learn more about Dr. Michael Gordon’s work, including other books he has written, visit his personal website at http://www.drmichaelgordon.com/.

Parenting Your Parents has its own website too – http://www.parentingyourparents.ca/ – where visitors are invited to share their personal stories of care-giving.

Find a copy of Parenting Your Parents online for purchase at Indigo.ca – available here.

If you would like to subscribe to the newsletter or request a copy of the ‘Spring 2009’ issue, please email us at info@homecarephs.com, or phone us at (416) 510-8848 or 1-877-884-1181.