I have been a Family Medicine Doctor in Washington state for 35 years in the North Seattle area including being the Medical Director for the Evergreen Hospital Primary Care Department for 5 ½ years.

I cared for many Seniors and for many adults with elderly parents during my time in practice. I have seen both what went well and too often what didn’t go well with the planning for the health and lifestyle challenges that often come with aging.

I also had my own personal experience. My dad had Alzheimer’s dementia for 15 years. He got a clear diagnosis early, and we were able to be proactive and make the necessary changes to his living situation to help us all deal better with the challenges of the progression of that disease. We were able to move him from the 5-bedroom, 5-acre house in the country with many steps to a smaller one level home in town with 2 steps to get into the house where my parents were able to live independently for 10 more years. Later they moved into an Adult Family Home when he needed more care. He had a fall at the age of 87 and had a hip fracture. He made it through surgery and Rehabilitation, but didn’t do well when he returned to the AFH and passed within 2 months.

I want to take what I learned in the last 35 years to help Seniors live more safely by preventing falls and be able to live in the best living situation for them.