Ilaina Edison

Following a stroke, 80-year-old Mr. Stuart had trouble balancing, was weak on his right side and could not move around safely inside his home. But when physical therapist Jonathan Weiss arrived for a session, Mr. Stuart adamantly refused. He was fine, he insisted. He needed no help.

Jonathan, who works...

Mrs. Arnow loved her morning coffee cake. But her diabetes did not. My colleague, Kathleen Olsen, a registered nurse and clinical nurse specialist for Visiting Nurse Service of New York, made a deal with her patient: "Let's try no cake for two weeks," Kathleen told her. "And I'll give you...

Fall. Back to school. New beginnings. New projects. For many of us, fall's clear air and triumphal colors serve as a last gasp of outdoor activity before winter drives us inside.

But what about those with limited mobility or other physical challenges? Or those isolated by depression and anxiety? Even...

At age 86, Cleo L. is a survivor. She has outlived three children and her husband. She has beat back a drug addiction and remains clean and sober. She has been in and out of the hospital more times than she can count and, about as many times, has come...

One Step at a Time

A journey of 1,000 miles begins with a single step, says the ancient Chinese philosopher Laozi.

This is how 72-year-old Mimi W.'s journey out of the grip of depression began, with a single step -- that first step out of bed, which led...

Evelyn Newman's part of a new generation. An engine of the St. Louis arts and culture scene, she runs an organization that helps nonprofits boost revenues. She's becoming conversant in social networking and marveling over Facebook's power to bring down Egypt's dictatorial regime. She plans to start a blog that...

For 91-year-old Ptolemy Usher Grey, time moves not forward, but in all directions. A face, a passing siren, a clock are enough to send him backwards over the course of a century, to other chapters of his life, other people and places. The world outside his home is frightening to...

When I turned 50 (not too long ago), I felt a marked shift in my life--a real, visceral connection to the process of aging. It wasn't exactly that I felt old, but rather, I saw for the first time the path of aging ahead of me. I understood in a...

A Nurse-Driven, Community-Based Approach to Aging Independently

As a registered nurse caring for elder residents who live in a windswept apartment complex along the Far Rockaway boardwalk in New York City, Joann Walsh has a distinct advantage: she passes them in the hallway and elevators every day.

"Sometimes you...

My father had a stroke last year. Fortunately, everything went right in those critical early hours: He was immediately taken by ambulance to a stroke center and received tPA, which greatly improves prognosis in ischemic stroke victims if administered within a three-hour window.

While he was lucky, he still faced...

'A Showstopper' of a Question

Last spring, I received a call from my friend Susan, who was standing in the corridor of a New York City hospital. Her 90-year-old mother, who was critically ill with cancer and had suffered a fall, was about to be discharged from the hospital.

The...

Fixing Depression in the Elderly: Reforming the Health Care System One Barrier at a Time
by Ilaina Edison

As the Senior Vice President of Operations for the nation's largest not-for-profit home health care organization, The Visiting Nurse Service of New York (VNSNY), I oversee programs in Behavioral...