Paula Spencer Scott

Caring.com senior editor

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. Friday February 03, 2012

    1. 5 Ways to Outfox a Know-It-All

      Article - Know-it-alls who take over conversations are a trial to be around. Here, 5 ways to get a word in -- or at least not be bothered by what they say.

    2. 3 Ways to Foil a Fault-Finder

      Article - People who constantly level criticism can wear down those around them. Learn the constant critic's insecurities, and how to protect yourself.

    3. Normal Memory Loss or Problem? New Easy Test Helps You Decide

      Blog Post - Forget why you walked in a room? Ever had a word lost on the tip of your tongue? Every caregiver of someone with dementia -- indeed, probably everyone somewhere in midlife -- has, at some point, worried about whether his or her own memory glitch is "normal" -- or not.

  2. Thursday February 02, 2012

    1. 5 Wordless Ways to Communicate Love and Affection

      Article - How can you get along better with your loved one? Let your body language do the talking. Humans read nonverbal communication far more quickly and strongly than they believe words they hear.

    2. Dementia Battle's Latest Face: "Mr. Hockey" Gordie Howe

      Blog Post - Hockey Hall of Famer Gordie Howe is on the campaign trail -- no, not for president, but to raise awareness about dementia and funds for research, reports USA Today. "Mr. Hockey," now 83, has a personal stake in the disorder because Pick's disease, a rare type of dementia, killed his wife, Colleen. Howe himself now shows signs of possible dementia...

    3. Researchers Uncover How Alzheimer's Spreads

      Blog Post - For all the research on Alzheimer's disease taking place, true breakthroughs are relatively rare. Here's a big one: Scientists have finally figured out how Alzheimer's disease advances within the brain. It spreads like an infection, reports The New York Times, moving from brain cell to brain cell, like a virus or bacteria...

  3. Tuesday January 31, 2012

    1. Two New Databases Help You Find Drug Side Effects Info

      Blog Post - Say you or a loved one has been given a new drug prescription or recommended a new medical device. How many people have reported side effects, what are they, and how does that compare to side effects of other options? This information used to be hard to ferret out -- most people would go online and troll bulletin boards for random comments...

  4. Friday January 27, 2012

    1. The Special Loneliness of the Male Caregiver

      Blog Post - The number of men who are Alzheimer's caregivers has doubled in the past 15 years, from 19 percent to 40 percent, according to surveys by the Alzheimer's Association and the Family Caregiver Alliance. And that trend is expected to skyrocket upward with rising Alzheimer's rates, according to the Alzheimer... 2 Comments

  5. Thursday January 26, 2012

    1. Is Grief a Disorder?

      Blog Post - No one argues that grief triggers dramatic changes in emotional state, sometimes including horrible sadness. But does that make it a mental disorder? 1 Comment

    2. What's It Like to Be Old?

      Blog Post - My 90-something grandmother used to crochet lap blankets "for the old people." My dad, in his 80s, poked fun at slow drivers: "Another old man with a hat on" (even though he himself had given up driving by then). If it's hard to see yourself as old when you're so late in life, it's harder still to imagine...

  6. Wednesday January 25, 2012

    1. 5 Surprising Ways to Show Your Love

      Article - Actions speak louder than words -- that old saying is always fresh in the language of love. Here, 5 nonverbal but effective ways to show your love.

    2. 9 Wordless Ways Someone Says, "I Love You"

      Article - Trying to figure out someone's feelings toward you? Use your ears less and your eyes more. Learn the body language that communicates, "I love you."

  7. Tuesday January 24, 2012

    1. Doc Visits: It's Good You Came Along

      Blog Post - Caregivers accompany their loved ones to doctor appointments for many different reasons: to provide transportation, to see the patient safely from the car to the waiting room to the exam --- and to be a second pair of eyes and ears in giving and receiving medical information. That last reason can make a real difference in medical care, researchers say... 2 Comments

  8. Friday January 20, 2012

    1. Doctors Don't Die Like the Rest of Us

      Blog Post - The end of a physician's life typically looks different from his or her patients' dying days. "Doctors don't die like the rest of us," writes physician Ken Russell in Zocalo Public Square. 1 Comment

  9. Thursday January 19, 2012

    1. How to Handle Difficult Behaviors

      Slideshow - These 15 behaviors can challenge any family caregiver.

    2. Skip the Bone Density Test?

      Blog Post - Here's one test that many caregivers can scratch off their To-Do list, whether for themselves or their loved ones: Frequent bone-density scans.

    3. How Realistic Is National Alzheimer's Plan?

      Blog Post - Expect to hear more in the coming weeks about the National Alzheimer's Project Act (NAPA), whose final draft is due on the desk of U.S. Health and Human Services director Kathleen Sebilius before early February, 2012. President Obama signed NAPA -- a multi-agency blueprint for battling Alzheimer's Disease -- into law in early 2011... 3 Comments

  10. Tuesday January 17, 2012

    1. Paula Deen Reveals Type 2 Diabetes

      Blog Post - Paula Deen -- blockbuster TV chef, cookbook author, and poster girl of high-fat, high-sugar Southern cooking who never met a stick of butter she didn't like -- has revealed that she was diagnosed three years ago with type 2 diabetes. But she doesn't seem to blame her high-cholesterol diet, her excess... 4 Comments

  11. Monday January 16, 2012

    1. 5 Surprising Reasons to Drink Tea

      Article - Tea is increasingly popular in the U.S., and it can also be good for you. Here are the 5 best health reasons to drink tea -- black, green, or white.

    2. 5 Surprising Reasons to Drink Water

      Article - Water is essential to life -- but it also just makes you feel better to drink more of it. Learn why with these 5 surprising reasons to drink water. 8 Comments

  12. Friday January 13, 2012

    1. Caregivers Top List of Most-Stressed, Psychologists Say

      Blog Post - From the Department of News You Already Know All Too Well: Caregivers are among three of the most particularly stressed groups of Americans right now, according to the American Psychological Association's new Stress in America report. 3 Comments

  13. Thursday January 12, 2012

    1. 5 Surprising Reasons to Drink Coffee

      Article - Coffee lovers may worry about how much they're drinking. But recent research indicates many good reasons to reach for a daily cup -- or cups. 5 Comments

    2. Tale of a Death-Defying Dad

      Blog Post - Here's a story that's growing increasingly common -- with no end in sight. As modern medicine keeps the old and sick alive longer and longer, they need more care just as resources dwindle and their scattered, recession-wracked families struggle to ride the fiscal, practical, and emotional rollercoaster...

    3. Good Kidney Transplant Candidates Turned Away Due to Age

      Blog Post - What if a new kidney were pretty likely to save or improve your life -- but nobody would let you have one, solely because of your age? Outdated medical biases are keeping perfectly good kidney transplant candidates off transplant lists, say investigators at Johns Hopkins University. 3 Comments

  14. Wednesday January 11, 2012

    1. 7 Ways to Handle a Hothead -- Without Blowing Your Top

      Article - Dealing with an angry person is difficult at best. Try these 7 tips for handling a hothead without getting sucked up into their bad mood yourself. 18 Comments