Social Life for Seniors: Why Assisted Living is Better

Social Life for Seniors

As baby boomers continue to retire in record numbers — a group that includes my own parents — more and more of us will face the question of how to handle their changing health needs. However, many of us will also face an even more urgent request from our parents themselves: “Please don’t put me in a home.”

The problem is this: when mom and dad start to need more daily care, it can put pressure on caregivers and strain relationships in the family.

Learn more about why it’s important to consider how assisted living could be better than living at home when it comes to quality of life, wellness and a social life for seniors. We strive to provide the best quality assisted living in Denver, having access to the benefits listed below is important to our residents. 

1. Access to Physical Activity and Fitness

With the latest in gym equipment, group exercise classes like Tai Chi and Zumba, and personal trainers well versed in the needs of older adults, assisted living communities offer opportunities for physical fitness that go far beyond what family caregivers can easily provide at home.

2. Plenty of Opportunities for Social Activity

Living at home can be isolating, particularly if a senior resides alone. It can be difficult for the elderly to maintain their social relationships when they are no longer working. In assisted living, residents can easily socialize with peers, not only in common areas but also through planned, structured activities like field trips, dancing, and cultural events.

3. A Safe Living Environment

For seniors to remain living safely at home, a wide range of home modifications might be needed if their physical health begins to wane —such as shower railings and medical alert systems, to name just two — and the expenses can quickly add up. Assisted living facilities are designed for mobility and accessibility, helping seniors avoid falls and accidents and providing rapid access to assistance.

4. Intellectual Stimulation

Among the various activities that assisted living communities provide are plenty of chances for lifelong learning, from computer classes to book clubs to art classes. Many facilities even offer guest lectures from visiting scholars and professionals. Those communities located on or near a college usually enable residents to take advantage of the nearby campus resources, including courses and cultural events.

Read the full article here: Social Life for Seniors: Why Assisted Living is Better http://bit.ly/2tpOd0I

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Friends Can Boost Health, Well-Being Among Older Adults

These relationships can benefit you even more than family

In the first study of 271,053 adults, valuing friendships was related to better functioning, particularly among older adults, whereas valuing familial relationships "exerted a static influence on health and well-being across the lifespan." In the second study of 7,481 older adults, only strain from friendships predicted more chronic illnesses over a six-year period. We want to ensure that senior living in Denver is healthy and friendly for all of our residents. 

If friendships last through older adulthood, "clearly these are good friendships," Chopick tells Health Day News, adding: "As we age, we prune away at some of the friendships that are more superficial and acquaintance-like" and are left "with the ones that are deeper and make us happy." The study reports that older participants identified only their friendships as reliably strong predictors of how happy and healthy they felt. 

Read the full article here: Older Adults Benefit from Strong, Happy Friendships - AARP http://bit.ly/2sWbaIu

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Are You Prepared for the Summer Heat?

With temps rising, make sure you know how to stay cool and healthy

Being prepared for rising summer temperatures should be a priority for Denver nursing homes this season. 

Although June 21 is the official first day of summer, temperatures have been rising around many areas of the country for weeks now. A record-setting heat wave in Arizona, California and Nevada even grounded airplanes in the region, and several weather-related deaths have already been reported.  

Heat is the number one cause of weather-related direct fatalities, according to the National Weather Service, and more than 600 people die from complications related to extreme heat every year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports. People over the age of 65, those living alone and people with chronic medical conditions are particularly at risk.

Heat exhaustion vs. heatstroke

Heat exhaustion, which occurs when the body overheats, is the precursor to heatstroke. Symptoms include muscle cramps, headaches, and nausea or vomiting. When heat exhaustion is not treated, the person becomes at risk for heatstroke, which, without emergency assistance, can lead to death.

You are in heatstroke if your body temp rises to 104 degrees Fahrenheit or higher, which can cause damage to the brain, heart, kidneys and muscles. Symptoms include altered mental state and behavior, nausea and vomiting, flushed skin, rapid breathing and racing heart rate, according to the Mayo Clinic.

Elevated risk factors

People with chronic medical conditions are at elevated risk for heat exhaustion, according to the CDC. They may be less likely to sense and respond to changes in temperature and could be taking medications that worsen the impact of extreme heat. 

Outdoor workers or those in high-temperature indoor areas are also at increased risk. These include firefighters, bakery workers, farmers, construction workers, miners, boiler room workers and factory workers. At even greater risk are workers who are 65 or older, are overweight, have heart disease or high blood pressure, or take certain medications, according to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH).

The NIOSH website offers resources for workers, including its heat-safety-tool app, for planning outdoor work activities based on how hot it feels throughout the day.

Read the original article here: Summer Heat Warning Signs - Heatstroke, Heat Exhaustion - AARP http://bit.ly/2soFkUq

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3 Easy Moves for Stronger Knees

Prevent injury and reduce tightness with Denise Austin's three moves

Hamstring Stretch

This will stretch the back of your knee and knee joints. Stand tall, and place one foot in front of you. Bend your supporting knee slightly, and lean forward from your hips. Use a chair for added support.

Hold for 20 to 30 seconds. Switch sides and repeat.

Calf Raise

This exercise will strengthen the entire calf region. Using a chair for balance, lift one leg and bend your knee so your calf is parallel to the floor. While keeping that position, lift up high on your other foot, bringing your heel up and down.

Complete 10 on each side. Relax and repeat.

Quad Strengthener

To strengthen the muscles surrounding the knee, sit up straight in a chair and elevate one foot parallel to the ground. Lift the straight leg up and down.

Do 10 on each side. Relax and repeat.

It's something that simply comes with age, but our assisted living residents in Denver can practice these exercises to protect their knees from injury. 

Read the full article at: Exercise Video For Increased Knee Strength - AARP http://bit.ly/2s51xH3

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Live to 100. Plan on It

We think it is a good day when senior living residents in Denver are talking about living to 100! 

Jeanne Calment was a typical woman of her time. Born in Arles, France, in 1875, she lived a rather unremarkable life by most accounts — except for one thing. When she died in 1997 at the age of 122, she was on record as the oldest person to have ever lived. "I just kept getting older and couldn't help it," she once said.

So what does the extraordinary life of this ordinary woman have to do with us today? More than you might think. In her day, living to 100 was extremely rare. But today in the United States, people 100 and over represent the second-fastest-growing age group in the country. The fastest? People over 85. Many 65-year-olds today will live well into their 90s.

Think of it another way: A 10-year-old child today — maybe your grandchild — has a 50 percent chance of living to age 104. Some demographers have even speculated that the first person ever to live to be 150 is alive today.

I'm not suggesting that we should expect to live to 122, but as individuals and as a society, we need to prepare for a time when it is common to live to 100. We have to create a new mind-set around aging and solutions for helping us to live better as we live longer — what I call Disrupt Aging. There are three areas where this is really important: health, wealth and self.

Read more here: Plan to Live to Age 100 - AARP http://bit.ly/2rBR2e7

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How older adults can recover from loneliness

Transitioning into an independent living community in Denver can sometimes come with overwhelming emotions, including loneliness. But new research shows it can be alleviated. 

It’s widely believed that older age is darkened by persistent loneliness. But a considerable body of research confirms this isn’t the case.

In fact, loneliness is the exception rather than the rule in later life. And when it occurs, it can be alleviated: It’s a mutable psychological state.

Only 30 percent of older adults feel lonely fairly frequently, according to data from the National Social Life, Health and Aging Project, the most definitive study of seniors’ social circumstances and their health in the U.S.

The remaining 70 percent have enough fulfilling interactions with other people to meet their fundamental social and emotional needs

“If anything, the intensity of loneliness decreases from young adulthood through middle age and doesn’t become intense again until the oldest old age,” said Louise Hawkley, an internationally recognized authority on the topic and senior research scientist at the National Opinion Research Center (NORC) at the University of Chicago.

Understanding the extent of loneliness is important, insofar as this condition has been linked to elevated stress, impaired immune system function, inflammation, high blood pressure, depression, cognitive dysfunction and an earlier-than-expected death in older adults.

A new study, co-authored by Hawkley, highlights another underappreciated feature of this affliction: Loneliness is often transient, not permanent.

READ MORE: How older adults can recover from loneliness http://to.pbs.org/2rJFfO4 

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Earlobe Crease May Signal Increased Risk of Stroke

Health experts often say that your body offers telltale signs that something is wrong, such as changes in your skin and nails indicating serious internal illnesses. But even your earlobes could be sending you a crucial message about your cardiovascular health, according to a new study published in the American Journal of Medicine.

Health experts may have just found a new way for Denver nursing home residents to recognize the signs of risk related to strokes. 

The condition, known as Frank’s sign, is a diagonal earlobe crease that was found to have a relationship to risk of stroke. The researchers, who are based in Israel, studied 241 patients who were hospitalized with a stroke and found that 79 percent had Frank’s sign.

Additionally, 66 of the patients who suffered the most common type of stroke, acute ischemic (where a blockage cuts off blood supply to the brain), had previously experienced a heart attack. In this group, almost 9 out of 10 had the Frank’s sign marker.

From these findings, researchers concluded that Frank's sign could predict ischemic cerebrovascular events (strokes) and that patients with classical cardiovascular risk factors had the ear crease in higher numbers.

Frank’s sign is named after Sanders T. Frank, M.D., who discovered it in the 1970s while examining a patient with heart disease. The crease may signal poor blood supply to the earlobes, or could be a symptom of weakening in the blood vessels. It could also be related to aging.

Earlobe Crease May Signal Increased Risk of Stroke - AARP

 

 

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