"Age Matters," that's the name of the new monthly column by Center for Healthy Aging geriatrician Dr. Mike Camardi. The column is an opportunity for readers to ask the doctor anything they want about geriatric matters, from how to know your parent is getting the appropriate memory treatment to how to coax a very old relative into getting help.
Knowing Dr. Camardi as I do from interviews for this series, I know you'll get a candid, thoughtful and quick response.
You can send your questions directly to Dr. Camardi by e-mailing extra@roanoke.com with "Age Matters" in the subject line.

You've noticed Dad's acting strange. You can't quite explain it but things are different somehow.
When is it time to consider a change in your parents' living situation/lifestyle?
Martha Anderson with the Carilion Center for Healthy Aging, gave me the following tips, a list of signs that mean you may need to talk to your parents about making a change:

• Not taking medications correctly.
• Normally meticulous house is suddenly cluttered and dirty.
• Significant weight loss.
• Change in sleep patterns.
• Prolonged sadness. ...

Read the Nieman Foundation interview with me about the story on caregiver Linda Rhodes and her husband, Tommy.

That will be the subject of our last article in the series, scheduled to run Aug. 24. How do you broach the subject of long-term care, caregiving and end-of-life issues with your parents?

Some recent stats I've run across from MetLife AARP:
47 percent of adult children caregivers are in the workforce and have to balance working with caring for their elderly parents.
70 percent have never once discussed finances with their parents.

Our story on planning for long-term care, the last in the series, will run until Aug. 24. In it, we'll profile three area people in various states of planning and talk about what worked for them, what didn't. We'll also be giving tips from experts — CPA's, elder law attorneys and advocates for area seniors.

The thrust of the advice seems to be: Get the best quality you can afford. Ask a lot of questions. Make sure your attorney understands the public-benefits system — and even has a copy of the 400-page addendum Medicaid puts out on a regular basis.

Here are some tips I picked up today at “Accepting the Challenge,” a two-day seminar sponsored by the LOA Area Agency on Agency, the Adult Care Center of Roanoke Valley and the Roanoke area Alzheimer’s Association.
The speaker was Teepa Snow, a Raleigh, N.C.-based occupational therapist who lectures nationally — and quite dynamically — on the topic of dementia care.

For an upcoming and final story in our series, we want to give readers tips for long-term care planning, including how to navigate the Medicaid spend-down maze. We're talking to area experts in the subject as well as some families who've gone through the process recently.

One common theme seems to be: People don't want to think about the possibility of nursing home until it's far too late to have planned (financially, emotionally) for it.

Dementia education specialist Teepa Snow will present a two-day conference for caregivers and community helalth providers July 2 and 3 at the Quality Inn Salem.

Sponsored by the LOA Area Agency on Aging, along with the Adult Care Center of Roanoke Valley and the Alzheimer's Association, the conference is designed for learning new ways to successfully interact with people who have dementia, dealing with difficult behaviors and gaining understanding about the latest research and treatments for the disease.

Feedback on Sunday's story on the house-call doctor Alice Inouye has been full of praise for the doctor who sees bedbound patients -- whether she gets paid for it or not.

Several readers have wanted to know how to make donations to Inouye's Jubilee Housecalls, which has not been reimbursed by Medicare during its five years in existence. Here's the mailing address:

Jubilee Housecalls
P.O. Box 3126
Roanoke, VA 24015

Some have just called or written to share their own experience working with Inouye, such as this e-mail from Vinton reader Mary Zirkle:

Ms. Macy,

A caller from Roanoke who read the geriatrician shortage story suggested that seniors having a hard time being properly treated get an assessment at the Carilion Center for Healthy Aging. "It seems like we're truly not going to have enough resouces to deal with the doctor shortage for some time," he said. "But I learned with my own mother that the Center" is a wonderful resource for family doctors across the region, he said. "Of course, I had to coordinate the care myself, but the Center was overall a great help for us."
To schedule a geriatric assessment, call the Center at 981-7653.