Paula Spencer Scott

Caring.com senior editor Circle Paula Spencer Scott on Google+

About

Paula Spencer Scott, senior editor, works on Caring's Health and Caregiver Wellness channels, including writing the Steps & Stages Alzheimer's resource, FYI Daily, the Self Caring blog, and other medical and caregiving content. She's specialized in women's life-stage concerns (baby care, family care, self care, elder care) from her first job as an editor at 50 Plus Magazine through stints as a Woman's Day columnist, a Parenting Magazine contributing editor, the author of Momfidence, and the co-author of five books with doctors at Harvard, UCLA, Duke, and Arizona State. She's a 2011 Met Life Foundation Journalists in Aging fellow, awarded by the Gerontological Society of America and New American Media, and serves on the board of the University of North Carolina Science and Medical Journalism Program. A mother of four, she lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.

In the late 2000s, she lost both her parents, in their 80s, to cancer; her father also had dementia and stroke. "In short order during that phase," she says, "I experienced just about everything that's on this site, from dealing with their illnesses to selling the family home and moving Dad, plus advance directives, end-of-life planning, hospice, death -- and stress."

Paula Spencer Scott can be reached at paulaspencerscott@caring.com.

Recently Published on Caring.com

  1. Tuesday May 22, 2012

    1. Who Gets Shingles?

      Article - Shingles, a painful skin rash related to chicken pox, hits as many as one in three adults. Find out if you're among those most at risk for shingles.

    2. Nix Routine PSA Test Once and For All?

      Blog Post - In a major development, the U.S. Preventative Services Task Force has recommended that no man of any age be routinely screened for prostate cancer using the common PSA test. The reason: Its risks -- many false positives and over-treatment that leads to impotence, incontinence, and even death -- outweigh...

  2. Friday May 18, 2012

    1. David Cassidy: A Son's Take on Alzheimer's

      Blog Post - Everyone has his or her own story of how Alzheimer's disease or another dementia entered their family's life, but there are often common themes: First, memory and personality changes sneak up on you. Then there's a crisis, and an "uh-oh" moment... 22 Comments

  3. Thursday May 17, 2012

    1. How Art Enriches Alzheimer's

      Blog Post - A growing trend at museums around the country is to offer art-appreciation programs for people with Alzheimer's disease. The Kreeger Museum in Washington, D.C., for example, pairs Alzheimer's sufferers with middle school students, reports NPR's "Morning Edition" program. 3 Comments

  4. Tuesday May 15, 2012

    1. No More Alzheimer's by 2025, Government Says

      Blog Post - It's a big week for Alzheimer's disease, reports USA Today: 2 Comments

    2. First-of-Its-Kind Alzheimer's Prevention Trial

      Blog Post - Maybe you've heard of the cursed clan in Columbia thought to have more members with Alzheimer's than any family on earth, thanks to a genetic mutation that causes cognitive impairment in the 40s and full-blown dementia by 51. All eyes in the Alzheimer's research community are on a new, $100 million,... 7 Comments

  5. Friday May 11, 2012

    1. Sense of Purpose Seems to Slow Alzheimer's

      Blog Post - Having a sense of meaning and purpose about your life, especially beyond age 80, seems to slow the rate of cognitive decline in those who go on to develop Alzheimer's disease. So finds an innovative long-term study at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, reported in the Archives of General Psychiatry... 1 Comment

  6. Thursday May 10, 2012

    1. Using Taser Force to Get Alzheimer's Cooperation?

      Blog Post - A man with Alzheimer's grew alarmed and agitated at the prospect of being transferred to medical care in a British village. So six police officers aimed 50,000-volt stun guns at 59-year-old Peter Russell -- and shot him. 4 Comments

  7. Tuesday May 08, 2012

    1. How Long to Live Alone With Alzheimer's

      Blog Post - Caregivers know well that living with someone who has Alzheimer's can be stressful -- but so can having a loved one with the disease who prefers to live alone. Fully one in seven Americans with Alzheimer's disease lives alone, according to new Alzheimer's Association data, reports the AP. 40 Comments

    2. Aspirin or Warfarin? Cheaper Option Proven Fine

      Blog Post - Does your loved one with heart failure take Coumadin? Aspirin has been found to be as effective as the drug warfarin (brand name Coumadin) in preventing strokes in people with heart failure, and is therefore a better choice, according to a study in The New England Journal of Medicine. 15 Comments

  8. Friday May 04, 2012

    1. 6 Foods That Fight Pain

      Article - Chronic pain can be caused by inflammation -- and some top cures are in the kitchen cupboard, not the medicine cabinet. Know 6 foods that fight pain. 11 Comments

    2. No Time to Work Out? No Problem!

      Blog Post - It's no secret that caregivers have little time and little opportunity to take care of their own health. And yet research endlessly touts the benefits of exercise, possibly more than any other single thing you can do to help ward off excess weight, diabetes, heart disease, arthritis, depression and a score of other health problems... 2 Comments

  9. Thursday May 03, 2012

    1. "Like" This? Organ Donations Up Thanks to Facebook Idea

      Blog Post - Anybody who's watched a loved one wait for an organ transplant or experienced the need for one in a crisis knows there aren't always enough organs to go around. Eighteen people die every day from the lack of available organs. Now the social media site Facebook has introduced a new feature that allows users to share their decision to be an organ donor... 2 Comments

    2. Smell Test Can't Predict Alzheimer's

      Blog Post - You may have heard that if a loved one has a failing sense of smell, he or she is headed for Alzheimer's disease. Not necessarily true, according to a new report in the journal The Laryngoscope. 20 Comments

  10. Tuesday May 01, 2012

    1. Mayday! This "Job" Costs Caregivers Plenty

      Blog Post - Caregiving at home is fraught with financial risks and personal sacrifices -- the magnitude of which family caregivers have little inkling before they take on the responsibility, notes the latest report in an ongoing, eight-week "Family Matters" series on NPR. 8 Comments

  11. Friday April 27, 2012

    1. 7 Early Warning Signs of Arthritis

      Article - The earlier you diagnose arthritis, the better. And some signs of arthritis are surprising. Learn 7 early warning signs you may not expect. 12 Comments

    2. Is Your Loved One's Doctor Letting You Down?

      Blog Post - Doctors are falling short in providing many simple, potentially lifesaving and quality-of-life-preserving geriatric care measures to patients over 65, finds a new poll from the John A. Hartford Foundation, a philanthropy that focuses on healthcare and aging. 4 Comments

  12. Thursday April 26, 2012

    1. Quibbling Siblings: Eldercare's Hidden Toll

      Blog Post - Remember competing for a parent's attention, bickering over who said what, and backseat fights over who had more space? Oh, and the good stuff, like swapping clothes and conspiring together. Sibling relationships are life's longest, lasting more years than our relationships to our parents or life partners... 5 Comments

  13. Tuesday April 24, 2012

    1. Guide Dogs for Dementia Care

      Blog Post - You've heard of guide dogs for the blind and the disabled. How about a trusty Golden Retriever or lab to guide your loved one with dementia? That's the premise being tested in Scotland. 7 Comments

  14. Friday April 20, 2012

    1. What Your Nails Say About Your Health

      Article - Your fingernails and toenails can be surprising monitors of health. Learn 9 clues your nails can tell you about your overall well-being. 20 Comments

    2. Pat Summitt's Big Changes Post-Alzheimer's

      Blog Post - She's “the all-time winningest” NCAA coach (male or female) and “someone who is willing to speak so openly and courageously about her battle with Alzheimer’s,” said President Obama in announcing that he'll bestow the Presidential Medal of Freedom on University of Tennessee women's basketball head coll head coach Pat Summitt later this year... 2 Comments

  15. Thursday April 19, 2012

    1. Time for Another Alzheimer's Stamp?

      Blog Post - You either loved it or hated it when it debuted in 2008, but if you cared about Alzheimer's disease, you were probably glad it existed: the 42-cent U.S. postal stamp issued for World Alzheimer's Day in 2008. Now a campaign is underway promoting a new Alzheimer's semi-postal stamp, reports Alzheimer's Daily News... 3 Comments

  16. Wednesday April 18, 2012

    1. Dick Clark's Death and New "Happy Heart" Research

      Blog Post - He's been called "the world's oldest teenager," "the original Ryan Seacrest," and "the face of New Years Eve" -- ironic, then, that the perpetually sunny rock-and-roll titan Dick Clark died of a massive heart attack at 82, in the same week that it was reported by USA Today that being upbeat and optimistic may boost heart health...

  17. Tuesday April 17, 2012

    1. Quick! How Many Meds in Your Pillbox?

      Blog Post - Is your loved one a "walking pharmacy"? That's how writer Jane Brody describes her 92-year-od aunt in a New York Times "Personal Health" column on new guidelines for managing medications in older adults that were published in The Journal of the American Geriatrics Society recently. 2 Comments

    2. Warren Buffett's Prostate Cancer: A Common Diagnosis

      Blog Post - Forget the Buffett Rule, which was blocked in the Senate this week. Berkshire Hathaway chief executive Warren Buffett pushed those headlines aside when he announced that he's been diagnosed with Stage 1 prostate cancer. It's "not remotely life threatening," he said in a news release.