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Thomas Goldsmith

A church that's empty because of prohibitions against gatherings because of COVID-19

NC faith leaders forge creative paths as COVID-19 closes traditional services

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NC faith leaders forge creative paths as COVID-19 closes traditional services - North Carolina Health News

North Carolina’s centers of faith face unprecedented challenges from the COVID-19 virus. Churches, mosques and synagogues built on strong senses of community must find new ways to worship now that circumstances have forbidden congregating.

By Thomas Goldsmith  When disaster strikes, North Carolinians often flock to churches or other faith centers to experience worship, support each other, and help the broader community. But the lowering threat of COVID-19 in North Carolina has mostly shut the doors of churches, synagogues and mosques to gatherings of any size. The crisis is directing […]

Hand of a senior in black and white

As guidance on COVID-19 shifts, NC nursing homes and assisted living centers fight for residents’ safety

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As guidance on COVID-19 shifts, NC nursing homes and assisted living centers fight for residents’ safety - North Carolina Health News

Nowhere in North Carolina is there more at stake in the fight against COVID-19 than in nursing homes and assisted living centers. Residents are more likely to die from it if they contract the virus. Facilities are adopting new means of protection as the disease spreads worldwide.

By Thomas Goldsmith Like others around the globe who are battling the COVID-19 virus, residents and staffs of North Carolina’s long-term care centers are dealing with the threat of disease amid a shifting landscape of risks, guidelines, fears and hopes. However, the mostly older long-term care residents are more susceptible than the general population to […]

shows a purple light over the door of a hospital room to signify the presence of someone with dementia inside

NC hospital patients with dementia get support from new UNC Health Care initiative

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NC hospital patients with dementia get support from new UNC Health Care initiative - North Carolina Health News

Hospital patients with dementia typically fare less well than those who are neurotypical, but help is arriving via new, dementia-friendly approaches that stress empathy and communication.

By Thomas Goldsmith In a Goldsboro hospital hallway, purple lights shine from about half the doorways to patients’ rooms. Each unusual glow informs staff and visitors that the person inside has dementia and will benefit from something other than the standard bedside manner. The lights are part of a health-care movement that focuses on the […]

A support group participant for people caring for loved ones with memory loss and dementia

With dementia at flood tide in NC, person-to-person support groups address problems

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With dementia at flood tide in NC, person-to-person support groups address problems - North Carolina Health News

North Carolina faces a flood of people with dementia that will reach 300,000 by 2030. Responses as simple as person-to-person support groups address gaps that big medicine has yet to fill.

By Thomas Goldsmith Stan Eskridge learned about sundown syndrome not long ago when his wife of 54 years showed shocking anger toward him near the end of the day. Eskridge recalled his experiences last week as part of his check-in among a room of people in a Chapel Hill support group for dementia caregivers. Group […]

Millie Veasey stands in the doorway of her home, a smiling man in the doorway looks in. Some programs such as these are not getting as much support because of the budget standoff.

Some NC senior services left in the dust after budget feud between governor, legislature

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Some NC senior services left in the dust after budget feud between governor, legislature - North Carolina Health News

Advocates for older people in North Carolina were looking forward to some long-sought victories in funding for aging services. But a budget standoff nixed some of those priorities.

By Thomas Goldsmith Brad Allen runs Senior Games events in 52 North Carolina locations on a little less than $500,000 a year, but last year, as the group’s CEO, he had every reason to think there was an extra $125,000 coming from state coffers. However, when the General Assembly and Gov. Roy Cooper butted heads […]

Two women sit near a table and talk. One of them is a volunteer caregiver

Volunteer caregiving for seniors, already vital in NC, gets $19M push from feds

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Volunteer caregiving for seniors, already vital in NC, gets $19M push from feds - North Carolina Health News

Cary’s Center for Volunteer Caregiving has built expertise during 28 years of recruiting, training and monitoring people who will volunteer to help seniors and people with disabilities. Now a federal push proposes spending millions to do the same thing with innovative methods.

By Thomas Goldsmith Regular help with household chores and an hour of friendly conversation can represent a gift beyond price for an older North Carolinian living alone. And for some isolated seniors and people with disabilities, that returning visitor or a dependable ride to a medical appointment can mean the difference between living independently and […]

A look inside the former Dorothea Dix Chapel, which features dark wooden pews and ornate panels.

Former chapel on NC’s Dorothea Dix campus to reopen, welcome visitors, events

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Former chapel on NC’s Dorothea Dix campus to reopen, welcome visitors, events - North Carolina Health News

All Faiths Chapel of Dorothea Dix Hospital in Raleigh will become a multi-purpose and welcome center after a $2 million renovation that’s just getting underway. Spiritual gatherings may still take place there, but it will also house concerts, meetings and educational events.

By Thomas Goldsmith The chapel that patients and staff at Raleigh’s Dorothea Dix Hospital attended for almost 60 years is getting a $2 million facelift and will greet visitors to Dix Park as well as offer concerts, community meetings, educational programs, spiritual events and more. The All Faiths Chapel opened in 1955 as a brand […]

Participants in a falls prevention workshop look at photos of common household hazards around a white table.

To prevent senior deaths from falls, NC providers turn to exercise and home-proofing

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To prevent senior deaths from falls, NC providers turn to exercise and home-proofing - North Carolina Health News

Deaths following falls is on the rise among seniors. But keeping up strength and mobility can prevent falls, as can making homes safer for those at risk, say North Carolinians working to counter the trend.

By Thomas Goldsmith The family tragedy often unfolds something like this — Cousin Lily, who’s 88, falls at home in August and enters the hospital with a broken hip. By Thanksgiving, Lily is gone; dead following complications. People sometimes don’t realize that Lily could still be living and that older people, in general, can increase […]

Two women interact at an adult day care canter in Raleigh

NC Adult day care centers serve vital purpose, but face stagnant rates

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NC Adult day care centers serve vital purpose, but face stagnant rates - North Carolina Health News

Adult day care centers don’t have as high a profile as assisted living and nursing homes, but provide a level of care that can allow an older person to stay at home instead of at a residential center.

By Thomas Goldsmith Time spent at an adult day care center can make major life differences for older North Carolinians who have trouble staying at home alone, and for those who look after them. For thousands of caregivers of an older person or someone with disabilities, such a center serves a place of safety and […]

Dorothea Dix Hospital was known for almost a century as a lunatic asylum, as seen here in the inset to the 1872 "Bird's Eye View" map of Raleigh.

As a new Dix park gathers momentum, site’s history provides complex context

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As a new Dix park gathers momentum, site’s history provides complex context - North Carolina Health News

As planning continues for a destination park on the site of the former Dorothea Dix Hospital, former employees looked back on what made the facility special and how it should be remembered.

By Thomas Goldsmith As the 308-acre Raleigh campus of Dorothea Dix Hospital is being transformed into a destination park, former employees remember it not only as a haven for people with mental illness but also as a nearly self-sufficient small town. Their memories detail many instances of caring treatment by Dix professionals. But the Dix […]