September is Healthy Aging Month
The theme of National Adult Day Services Week, September 20-26, “Enhancing Lives and Empowering People,” is directly aligned with the celebration of September as Healthy Aging® Month. Healthy Aging® Month, is an annual health observance month designed to focus national attention on the positive aspects of growing older. The month, created by Educational Television Network over 15 years ago, is part of the Healthy Aging®, a national, ongoing health promotion designed to broaden awareness of the positive aspects of aging and to improve their physical, mental, social and financial health.
There are 3 aspects I would like to talk about, healthful eating, physical fitness, and mental fitness.
First, healthful eating. Seniors need to make sure they are eating right and making the choices that will improve their health and zest for life. Their diet needs to be adequate enought to help imiprove the comm0n health problems faced by older adults.
As a result of bodily changes that occur with aging, people over the age of 70 have:
1 – A need for nutrient density in daily food selections
2 – An increased need for fiber – 20 grams per day reccomended
3 – An increased need for calcium, (1200 to 1400 mg per day) vitamin D recommended and vitamin B-as (from fish, milk products, eggs, meat, poultry and fortified breakfast cereals.
4 – An increased need for adequate fluids. (8 cups per day are recommended)
Now lets talk physical fitness. Elderly people who are physically active are much more likely to live longer than elderly people who are not physically active, according to a six-year study carried out by researchers at the US National Institute on Aging.
For elderly people, the researchers found, 600 calories means about 2 hours’ worth of physical activity. This could be structured gym work or a variety of routine activities such as vacuuming the house, gardening or washing the dishes.
There are various ways elderly people can clock up those extra 600 calories. You can add lots of little things to your daily routine, such as:Lastly, mental fitness. You’ve probably heard that phrase “use it or lose it.” As it turns out, it’s more than just a cliché. Research confirms it’s true.
1. Don’t have a lawn mower you sit on, have one that you push.
2. Walk your dog. Get one if you don’t have one and walk it regularly.
3. Park your car at the far end of the supermarket.
4. Walk up a flight of stairs a little more often each day.
5. Get yourself a remote phone and walk about each time you are chatting.
6. If your local store is nearby leave the car at home and walk to it.
7. Cancel your daily newspaper delivery and go out on foot each morning and buy it.
8. If you find long walks boring or cumbersome, break them up into little ones. Walk around your block once four separate times a day. If each walk takes 7 minutes, times four means 28 minutes of extra walking each day.
9. Every time there are adverts on TV get up and walk about for a couple of minutes. If you do that for two minutes each time, and do it just ten times a day, that’s an extra 20 minutes’ walking.
10. Hold on to doing as many household chores as you can. Only bring in paid help when you are really incapable of doing it any more.
If fact, these ten tipsapply to people of all ages.
It has been found that even a late-life surge in mental activity could ward off the effects of dementia.
Here are some suggestions to help seniors keep their minds active:
* Interactive video games have become popular for family members of all ages.
* Help a senior you know learn how to play Solitaire on the computer or how to join an online bridge game.
* Board or card games offer a great avenue for mind stimulation. Encourage your senior loved one to get a few friends together to join in the fun.
* Many seniors were avid musicians in earlier years and some may still have instruments in their homes. Ask them to play you a tune or challenge them to learn an instrument.
* Bridge and Scrabble tournaments for seniors are springing up around the country. Check with the local senior center or Home Instead Senior Care office to learn of any activities in your area. Or encourage your older adult to join a bridge group.
* Large-piece jigsaw and large-type crossword and Sudoku puzzles are great pastimes for seniors who need a mind-stimulating activity when they’re alone.
* Most communities have concerts, lectures and other pursuits that can interest seniors and their families.
* Many seniors maintain their interest in politics and current events. For their next birthday (or another special date), why not renew a subscription to a newspaper or popular news magazine. Or, you can organize a news-discussion group.
* When it’s just you and your senior loved one, remember there are more things you can do than just watching television. For instance, play a classic board game.
* Companionship Counts: Companionship is an important part of stimulating seniors’ minds.
Barbara Robinson, Director of Marketing and Community Outreach
Comfort Keepers® Non-Medical Interactiving Caregiving
www.daphnealinhomecaregiving.com
Get involved – www.seniorresourcesroundtable.com
1 comment September 14, 2009
10 Amazing Facts About American Health Care
Found some interesting information on the web site for National Center for Policy Analysis. It’s amazing that with this information at hand that there is legislation attemped to be force fed to us that would destroy what is the best health care system in the world. Changes need to be made to the system but not at the expense to our wallets and our citizens. Rather amazing don’t you think?
Fact No. 1: Americans have better survival rates than Europeans for common cancers. Breast cancer mortality is 52 percent higher in Germany than in the United States, and 88 percent higher in the United Kingdom. Prostate cancer mortality is 604 percent higher in the U.K. and 457 percent higher in Norway. The mortality rate for colorectal cancer among British men and women is about 40 percent higher.
Fact No. 2: Americans have lower cancer mortality rates than Canadians. Breast cancer mortality is 9 percent higher, prostate cancer is 184 percent higher and colon cancer mortality among men is about 10 percent higher than in the United States.
Fact No. 3: Americans have better access to treatment for chronic diseases than patients in other developed countries. Some 56 percent of Americans who could benefit are taking statins, which reduce cholesterol and protect against heart disease. By comparison, of those patients who could benefit from these drugs, only 36 percent of the Dutch, 29 percent of the Swiss, 26 percent of Germans, 23 percent of Britons and 17 percent of Italians receive them.
Fact No. 4: Americans have better access to preventive cancer screening than Canadians. Take the proportion of the appropriate-age population groups who have received recommended tests for breast, cervical, prostate and colon cancer:
- Nine of 10 middle-aged American women (89 percent) have had a mammogram, compared to less than three-fourths of Canadians (72 percent).
- Nearly all American women (96 percent) have had a pap smear, compared to less than 90 percent of Canadians.
- More than half of American men (54 percent) have had a PSA test, compared to less than 1 in 6 Canadians (16 percent).
- Nearly one-third of Americans (30 percent) have had a colonoscopy, compared with less than 1 in 20 Canadians (5 percent).
Fact No. 5: Lower income Americans are in better health than comparable Canadians. Twice as many American seniors with below-median incomes self-report “excellent” health compared to Canadian seniors (11.7 percent versus 5.8 percent). Conversely, white Canadian young adults with below-median incomes are 20 percent more likely than lower income Americans to describe their health as “fair or poor.
Fact No. 6: Americans spend less time waiting for care than patients in Canada and the U.K. Canadian and British patients wait about twice as long – sometimes more than a year – to see a specialist, to have elective surgery like hip replacements or to get radiation treatment for cancer. All told, 827,429 people are waiting for some type of procedure in Canada. In England, nearly 1.8 million people are waiting for a hospital admission or outpatient treatment.
Fact No. 7: People in countries with more government control of health care are highly dissatisfied and believe reform is needed. More than 70 percent of German, Canadian, Australian, New Zealand and British adults say their health system needs either “fundamental change” or “complete rebuilding.
Fact No. 8: Americans are more satisfied with the care they receive than Canadians. When asked about their own health care instead of the “health care system,” more than half of Americans (51.3 percent) are very satisfied with their health care services, compared to only 41.5 percent of Canadians; a lower proportion of Americans are dissatisfied (6.8 percent) than Canadians (8.5 percent).
Fact No. 9: Americans have much better access to important new technologies like medical imaging than patients in Canada or the U.K. Maligned as a waste by economists and policymakers naïve to actual medical practice, an overwhelming majority of leading American physicians identified computerized tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) as the most important medical innovations for improving patient care during the previous decade. The United States has 34 CT scanners per million Americans, compared to 12 in Canada and eight in Britain. The United States has nearly 27 MRI machines per million compared to about 6 per million in Canada and Britain.
Fact No. 10: Americans are responsible for the vast majority of all health care innovations. The top five U.S. hospitals conduct more clinical trials than all the hospitals in any other single developed country. Since the mid-1970s, the Nobel Prize in medicine or physiology has gone to American residents more often than recipients from all other countries combined. In only five of the past 34 years did a scientist living in America not win or share in the prize. Most important recent medical innovations were developed in the United States.
Conclusion. Despite serious challenges, such as escalating costs and the uninsured, the U.S. health care system compares favorably to those in other developed countries
Add a comment August 4, 2009
Tags: Health Care Reform, Senior Services
Senior Tsunami in Alabama
I recently ran across an article talking about the pending “senior tsunami”. Here in Alabama, agencies that work on behalf of older residents are expecting that storm to hit, likely within the next 10 years.
It’s anticipated that within the next decade, as baby boomers age, the demand for the services they require won’t be adequately met. Pretty scary!
Kaleigh Flatt, public information manager for the Alabama Department of Senior Services, said state officials are concerned about issues facing the elderly and services for that population being adequate. Right now, she admits, they are not.
“We have a minimal number of gerontologists in the state, and schools are actually now trying to encourage more students to pursue that field,” Flatt said. “This 65-and-up group is aging quickly and we’ve tried to plan, but it’s like anything else – you wonder if you’ve done enough forward planning. I’d have to say probably not.”
By the year 2030, based on calculations from the 2000 Census, it is estimated there will be more people 65 and older in the state and nation than in the birth-to-18 age range. That’s amazing.
Locally, there are concerns along many lines regarding older residents.
Keith Jones, executive director of the Northwest Alabama Council of Local Governments, said everything from senior citizen-conducive infrastructure in their communities to health care is under consideration.
As of the 2000 Census, 20 percent of the population in Colbert, Franklin and Lauderdale counties was 60 or older. Lawrence County was at 17 percent.
Statewide, of the 4.4 million residents, 17.3 percent are 60 or older.
“There are so many issues that you don’t ordinarily think of, like senior-friendly sidewalks and traffic lights that have beepers for the visually impaired,” Jones said. “And the physician issue is a big problem, too, because so many of the new doctors coming out aren’t going into internal medicine – so will we have a sufficient number of doctors for general health care? Not if doctors continue specializing.”
Nathan Willingham, a community planner at NACOLG, said the agency is working to expand its ability to try to meet the needs of seniors not only now, but especially in the near future when the numbers are even greater.
“We know there’s more demand for services, even now, than we can accommodate,” he said.
And there’s another factor: Lack of public transportation statewide.
“Seniors aren’t retiring at 65 anymore,” Flatt said.
“With the economy and the financial losses they’ve incurred, they’re having to go back to work, but at a stage in their lives when they have limitations. We don’t have public transportation infrastructure in place in Alabama to help them get to work, especially at night when they’d need assistance.
“We’re trying to pool our transportation services to coordinate this effort.”
Projections of the number of elderly residents by county from 2005-2025 show significant increases, according to the Census and the Center for Business and Economic Research at the University of Alabama.
“There are untold needs to be met for our older population, and we’re certainly trying to do all we can before the ‘storm’ hits, but the needs are also ever-growing,” Jones said.
One thing we know is for sure, it’s going to take everyone working together from the federal, state and local level agencies to weather this particular storm.”
1 comment July 17, 2009
Tags: crisis, elderly, health care, Senior Citizens
Petition to Pass the Elder Justice Act
In a previous blog I spoke about the National Elder Abuse Awareness Day. Since then I have received some information about an online petition to pass The Elder Justice Act. You can participate at: http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/call_to_action_weaad/index.html Elder Financial Protection Network (EFPN) http://bewiseonline.org has launched a national campaign to help get the EJA passed
I thought it would help we all knew a little more about this.
This is a Summary of the Previous Elder Justice Act introduced in 5:
Elder Justice Act (S.2010) - Amends the Social Security Act (SSA) to add a new title XXII (Elder Justice) to establish:
- within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) an Office of Elder Justice (OEJ);
- within the Office of the Secretary the Elder Justice Coordinating Council to make recommendations to the Secretary and the Attorney General for the coordination of activities of HHS, the Department of Justice, and other relevant federal, state, local, and private agencies and entities, relating to elder abuse, neglect, and exploitation and other crimes against elders; and
- the Advisory Board on Elder Abuse, Neglect, and Exploitation.
The Elder Justice Act provides for uniform collection, maintenance, and dissemination of national data relating to elder abuse, neglect, and exploitation, including an Elder Justice Resource Center in the Office of Elder Justice (OEJ).
The Act funds the initiatives by authorizing the HHS Secretary to award grants for the following:
(1) prevention of elder abuse, neglect, and exploitation;
(2) five Centers of Excellence nationwide specializing in research, clinical practice, and training relating to elder abuse, neglect, and exploitation;
(3) six diverse communities to examine various types of elder shelters and test various models for establishing safe havens;
(4) nonprofit organizations and faith-based organizations to establish or continue volunteer programs focusing on the issues of elder abuse, neglect, and exploitation, or providing related services; and
(5) various multidisciplinary elder justice activities.
The Office of Elder Justice will be established within the Department of Justice. The Act authorizes the Attorney General to award: (1) victim advocacy grants; and (2) grants for specified support to local and state prosecutors handling elder justice-related cases.
Intended to protect the elderly in long term care and others considered “at risk”, the Elder Justice Act provides for:
(1) reporting to law enforcement of crimes occurring in federally-funded long-term care facilities;
(2) revising the quality of long-term care; and
(3) increasing consumer information about long-term care, including an HHS long-term care consumer clearinghouse.
The Act amends: (1) the Older Americans Act of 1965 with respect to the long-term care ombudsman program; (2) part A (General Provisions) of SSA title XI to establish an adult protective services grant program; (3) SSA titles XVIII (Medicare) and XIX (Medicaid) to assure safety of residents when nursing facilities close; and (4) part E (Miscellaneous) to apply skilled nursing facility preventive abuse requirements to long-term care facilities and providers.
In 2003, there was another attempt to pass “The Elder Justice Act” in Congress but that effort stalled.
In introducing The Elder Justice Act (S. 2010) to Congress, Sen. Hatch stated, “Few pressing social issues have been as systematically ignored as elder abuse. In fact, 25 years of congressional hearings on the devastating effects of elder abuse have found this problem to be a ‘disgrace’ and a ‘burgeoning national scandal.’ Yet, to date, no federal legislation has been enacted to address elder abuse in a comprehensive manner.”
An estimated 500,000 to 5 million seniors in our country are abused, neglected, or exploited, according to estimated from the Department of Health and Human Services. Sadly, most cases of elder abuse go unreported. It is not even possible to accurately estimate the actual number of seniors affected.
1 comment June 18, 2009
Tags: Elder Abuse, Elder Abuse Awareness Day
Hurricane Evacuation Tips for Seniors
Many of us will spend thousands of dollars each year to insure our property and possessions in the event of a disaster or natural emergency. For seniors, this is particularly important given the probability that many are living on their own and often populate areas vulnerable to natural disasters, particularly hurricanes.
While it’s good to have a plan for all emergencies, here are some basic things for seniors to consider who may be faced with a hurricane emergency.
For seniors living alone with no family in the area, and who may need assistance to evacuate, it is important to locate the disaster preparedness agencies in your area and register with the agencies in advance. These agencies should be able to arrange for transportation to a local shelter when an evacuation is declared. Here in Baldwin County the number is 251-972-6807.
Those with serious health problems may be able to seek shelter in a hospital and arrange for transportation to the hospital. Be sure to check with your health care physician who may be able to assist with hospital placement.
For seniors who are able to drive and are in good health, it is important to locate the evacuation routes designated for your area. If you have a place to stay in another location, plan the driving route for getting there and determine how far in advance you will need to leave to avoid traffic congestion. Plan in advance for airplane travel, as well, since many airports close down prior to the approach of the storm.
During the months of June to December, pack an evacuation suitcase or duffle bag and have it ready, especially if you are planning to stay at a shelter or hospital. Here are some items to include:
(1) Traveller’s checks in an amount to hold you over for at least two weeks (this is better than keeping cash, since the checks can be replaced if lost or stolen). Many people wait until the last minute to withdraw money during an emergency and use ATM machines which may run out of money or fail during a power outage.
(2) Several changes of comfortable, cool clothing and plenty of extra underwear if you plan to stay in a shelter or hospital. The electricity may be down for days or weeks, and the outdoor temperatures are usually very hot and humid after a hurricane.
(3) Take bottled water for drinking but use only when no water is available. Pack some nutritional, high energy snacks. If you have special dietary restrictions that would adversely affect your health, you should consider seeking shelter at a hospital or with a distant relative.
(4) Remember to keep an extra supply of prescription medication. Check with your pharmacist or health care physician about obtaining an extra month’s supply.
(5) Pack basic personal hygiene supplies such as toothbrush, toothpaste, hand sanitizer, shampoo, soap, hair brush, wash cloth and towel.
(6) Make arrangements for your pets in advance. They will not be able to come to the shelter or hospital.
(7) Include a map and directions to your destination if you will be driving to evacuate. Keep a full tank of gas in your vehicle when news reports indicate a potential storm approaching since many gas stations run out of fuel during an evacuation. May or June is a good time to have your vehicle maintained, serviced and prepared in the event of a travel necessity.
(8) Bring along a good reading book or some knitting to occupy the time spent in the shelter since it may be a day or two, at a minimum, before you are able to return home.
(9) Keep important documents and records in a safe deposit box at your banking institution. This is the safest place for them, even during a storm. You may want to use a large vacuum-sealed storage bag to store your family photographs. These bags are designed to use a vacuum cleaner to suction the air out of the bag and seal it. These are water-tight and should provide a measure of protection in the event that water or rain enters your home. For added protection, place the vacuum-sealed photos in a plastic bin that has a tight fitting lid and place these bins in a storm secure area within your home such as a bathtub or interior room. You may also want to wrap the bins in duct tape to further secure the lids. Label these with your name and address in the event that your home receives significant storm damage and your items become scattered.
(10) Bring a small address book with personal and family contact information, and a well-charged cell phone. Keep the cell phone turned off until you need to use it to conserve the battery. Electricity may not be available after the storm, so it may not be possible to recharge your cell phone for a few days. One good idea is to record a voice mail message that identifies your location during the storm to concerned friends and family members. That way, if they are unable to reach you by cell phone in person, they will know where to find you after the storm passes. You can update this message after the storm to let people know you are safe.
(11) Locate family, friends, neighbors, volunteer agencies or local companies who will help to secure your home and property prior to an advancing storm. You may need the physical help to bring patio furniture indoors, install hurricane shutters, board windows with plywood and trim dangerous branches or limbs from trees. If this is a consideration, put together a plan of action in advance so that this help is available in the hours before the storm approaches.
Become aware of your neighbors and make special note of those who are seniors, living alone and unable to transport themselves. Check to see that they have evacuation plans in place.
By taking the time to put some thought into emergency planning and taking a few basic steps to prepare in advance, it will increase your chances of riding out the storm in relative safety and comfort.
If you have any additional tips or have any other local contact info. for your area please post.
Barbara www.comfortkeepers.com
Add a comment June 15, 2009
GPS shoes for Alzheimer’s patients
GPS assisting Alzheimer’s patients, amazing! A shoe-maker and a technology company have teamed up and developed footwear with a built-in GPS device what could help track down wandering seniors seniors suffering from Alzheimer’s Disease. The technology will provide the location of the individual wearing the shoes with 30 feet anywhere on the planet.
Andrew Carle, an assistant professor at George Mason University who served as an advisor on the project said, “sixty percent of individuals afflicted with Alzheimer’s disease will be involved in a critical wandering incident at least once during the progression of the disease – and some many more.
The shoes are being developed by GTX Corp., which makes miniaturized Global Positioning Satellite tracking and location-transmitting technology, and Aetrex Worldwide, a footwear manufacturer.
Embedding a GPS device in a shoe is important because Alzheimer’s victims tend to remove unfamiliar objects placed on them but getting dressed is on of the last types of memory they retain.
Carle said a “geo-fence” could be placed around a person’s home and a “Google Map” alert would be sent to a cell phone, home or office computer when a boundary is crossed.
The companies developing the shoe plans to begin testing the product by the fourth quarter of this year.
2 comments June 10, 2009
Senior Round Table
Yesterday I attended a Senior Round Table here in Daphne, AL. It was a real enlightening experience. As I mentioned in another one of my blogs, over 13% of our population is over 65 and it appears that aging market seems to be recession proof. I was amazed at the number of services out there that are geared to help seniors. From in-home dialysis, medicare programs ,to senior fitness centers. If you are not part of a networking opportunity like this please try to get involved. You can find more about these opportunities at www.seniorservicesroundtable.com.
On another note I have been following some of the proposed cuts in 2010 to home care and hospice services. These cuts are being proposed in spite of the research that indicates that home care is more cost effective than institutional care. An average in-home visit costs Medicare $150 and the average hospital day costs $1500. Anyone can do this simple math. Another interesting fact is that nine out of 10 senior citizens say they would prefer to receive health care in the comfort and familiar surroundings of home rather than in an institution. These cuts will jeopardize the ability of Americans, including 78 million baby boomers who are entering retirement age to choose in-home care. Virtually every one of us knows of loves someone who is ill, in declining health or living with a chronic medical condition who wants to stay in his or own home while receiving treatment.
4 comments June 5, 2009
World Elder Abuse Awareness Day
Just a reminder to mark your calendars! The International Network for the Prevention of Elder Abuse ((NPEA) announces the 4th Annual World Elder Abuse Awareness Day (WEAAD) on June 15, 2009.
The day is in support of the United Nations International Plan of Action which recognises the significance of elder abuse as a public health and human rights issue. Its purpose is to promote a better understanding of abuse and neglect of older persons. It’s a sad statistic, but over 300,000 elderly individuals are abused or neglected each year, and is largely under-recognized or treated as an unspoken problem. Unfortunately, no community is immune from this costly public health and human rights crisis.
I found a web-site you can visit to download a free copy of the Community Guide World Day Tool Kit. www.inpea.net
If you have any stories to or ideas to get the world out, please share .
Barbara Robinson, Comfort Keepers
5 comments June 3, 2009
Tags: Elder Abuse Awareness Day, Health
Non-Medical In-Home Interactive Caregiving
In-home caregiving, non-medical in-home caregiving, seniors, aging population
Continue Reading 5 comments June 3, 2009
Tags: Health
