Navigating the winter holiday season can be challenging for anyone. Despite the best of efforts, it is possible to find ourselves navigating the season on our own. Planning ahead is one of the best ways for solo agers to live a dynamic life. Enhancing our connections with others is always useful, especially as we approach the holiday season. While many articles this time of year focus on navigating “family dynamics” and other complexities of the holiday season (especially while still navigating a pandemic), my lens is focused on unique needs of solo agers during this time

National Healthcare Decisions Day (NHDD), April 16 each year, educates and empowers the public and providers about the importance of advance care planning.

It is extremely important that adults 18 years of age and older (married/partnered, single, someone who has adult children or adult relatives to rely on and those who do not) have these documents in place! People often think of these documents as needing to be in place as part of one’s estate plan, but the reality is, they are critical to have in place today and every day going forward.

I spend my professional life helping clients navigate the complexities of our healthcare system. Not only do I work with clients one on one, but I also offer educational talks on a variety of topics such as being your own best advocate, compiling a “go plan” in case of emergency, how to organize all your important documents, etc.

On the morning of November 6, 2021, I had the opportunity to use many key points and suggestions I offer in many of my talks.

Technological innovations impact every aspect of our lives and access to them has been invaluable while we navigate life during a pandemic. People all along the age continuum have learned to incorporate new technological resources into their daily lives