Category Archives: Assisted Living Alternative

Steps to Fight Age-Related Memory Loss

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Loss of memory from Alzheimer’s is a big fear for a lot of people – but it’s not the only cause of memory loss. Some memory loss can be combated by methods used to protect ourselves from other diseases, such as hypertension and diabetes.

A recent issue of Harvard Men’s Health Watch offered nine steps to fight age-related memory loss:

Get mental stimulation. Brainy activities stimulate new connections between nerve cells and may even help the brain generate new cells. Draw, read, learn and explore new hobbies.

Exercise increases the number of blood vessels that bring blood to the brain and spurs development of new nerve cells. In one study, for every mile a woman walked each day, her risk of cognitive decline dropped by 13 percent.

Improve your diet. Reduced-calorie diets have been linked to a lower risk of mental decline. Also remember your Bs: folic acid and vitamins B6 and B12 can help lower homocysteine levels, and high homocysteine has been linked to an increase in dementia.

Improve your blood pressure. High blood pressure increases the risk of cognitive decline.

Improve your cholesterol. High levels of LDL (“bad”) cholesterol increase the risk of dementia, as do low levels of HDL (“good”) cholesterol.

Avoid smoking. One study said smoking doubles the risk of dementia.

Don’t abuse alcohol. Excessive drinking is a major risk factor for dementia. Limit yourself to two drinks per day if you choose to drink.

Protect your head. Moderate to severe head injuries early in life increase the risk of cognitive impairment.

Build social networks. One study linked frequent social interactions with a 42 percent reduction in dementia risk.

NJ Holiday Gifts for Seniors

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New Jersey’s Expert Home Care for Elders and Seniors provides care for your aging loved ones since 1984. Please call us when your loved one needs help – 800-848-2336.

Holidays are approaching.. are you grappling with gift ideas for the senior in your life. Let us help you with that! We found several articles that you might want to check out before going to the mall.

Some ideas “Gifts for Seniors” mentioned here are:

  • Blankets, robes, slippers
  • Personal items; hand & body lotions, shower & bath gels, scented candles
  • Gift certificates for gas, restaurants, or super markets
  • Books & magazine subscriptions
  • Towels, Wash cloths
  • Read the full article

Another good article offering senior gift ideas – Christmas Gift Ideas 

It suggests:

  • Offer to clean their house once a week or help them to maintain their yard. 
  • Do you have a child in your household who always needs extra money? Is the child old enough to wash dishes? Discuss the idea with the elderly and the child - You pay the child.
  • Do you love to bake or cook? Bake a cake, pie or prepare a meal for the person.
  • Give a gift basket filled with bath supplies.
  • Give food baskets filled with anything from cookies, candies, meats, breads, wines, and crackers and cheeses and everything in between.

Great gift ideas for your elderly loved one at Christmas!

Giving Thanks to New Jersey Seniors

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New Jersey’s Expert Home Care for Elders and Seniors provides care for your aging loved ones since 1984. Please call us when your loved one needs help – 800-848-2336.

The feeling of thankfulness is quite different from all other emotions. Gratefulness is a complex and powerful emotion that is inherently connected with the condition of faith. The word grateful comes from the latin root gratus, which is also the root word of gratis and grace.

To be thankful requires an acknowledgement of two important aspects of our lives; 1) that we have something for which to be thankful and 2) that we have someone or something to which to be thankful. We cannot have one without the other for they are indivisibly linked.

As we take stock of our good fortune and many blessings, we find that the most impressive wonders of life seem far from our conscious control… the beauty of a fall sunset, the majesty of a mountain vista at dawn, the radiant warmth of the sun on a clear, cool morn, the awesome site of a rainbow.

These simple, yet amazing phenomena bless all those who take the time to notice and appreciate them. More personally, if we review most impressive blessings of our lives, virtually all of them seem to have been beyond our control… perhaps gratis or grace inspired.

http://www.earthchannel.org/Peace/Thanks.htm

Senior Activities

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New Jersey’s Expert Home Care for Elders and Seniors provides senior care, home care & live-in care for your aging loved ones since 1984. Please call us when your loved one needs help – 800-848-2336.

Increase Mental Clarity & Concentration – Keeps the Mind Alert

Here are a few tips that help seniors in New Jersey maintain a sharp brain:

• Play pool/billiards – engaging in an activity of this type requires you to plan and create a strategy. It also requires you to ignore environmental distractions, and incorporates aspects of physics and geometry, though it’s use of angles and shapes.

• Play chess or cards – you’ll be required to use your memory for recall, and also benefit from the social aspects of playing with a friend

• Sign up for an informative newsletter – as long as the topic has some element of education, for example “world of the day”, “quote of the day” or “this day in history” there are benefits to the mind. The mental stimulation increases your comprehension skills and adds to your knowledge

• Learn something new – take a class, learn to cook or register for a new activity. Your mind benefits from the retention skills and memorization that are involved

• Speak a foreign language – learning a new language and engaging in conversation, watching TV, or reading that requires your new skill keeps your brain flexible

NJ Elders Living Longer – Live in Home Care

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New Jersey’s Expert Home Care for Elders and Seniors provides care for your aging loved ones since 1984. Please call us when your loved one needs help – 800-848-2336.

There are roughly 70,000 centenarians in the United States. About one-third are doing quite well and living without any cognitive impairment or other functional disability. Estimates are that by the middle of this century, 800,000 Americans will be centenarians.

The increased scientific attention to longevity has uncovered some common characteristics among centenarians:

Geography may play a role. Growing up in harsh physical environments may be an advantage. Scientists have observed a prevalence of centenarians in a belt running through the Dakotas and Minnesota up through Nova Scotia. Sardinia and Okinawa also have disproportionate pockets of centenarians, yet no one knows why.

It helps to be female: 85 percent of centenarians are women, but male centenarians tend to be in better shape than women. Women who have children after age 40 stand a greater chance of living to 100.
People who live to the age of 100 are born to relatively young parents.

Genetics is a big factor, but lifestyle is critical, too. The Adventist Health Study at California’s Loma Linda University found that members of the Adventist faith with good lifelong habits such as healthy diets, exercise and not smoking had an average life expectancy of about 10 years longer than the U.S. population as a whole.

A sense of humor is important. “We wonder if that’s part of some interesting personality traits that are conducive to managing stress well,” according to Perls. When he asked a husband-centenarian how he kept his centenarian wife happy, the husband said, “If I told you, you’d lose your job.”

NJ Seniors Worried About Retirement & Health Costs

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New Jersey’s Expert Home Care for Elders and Seniors provides care for your aging loved ones since 1984. Please call us when your loved one needs help – 800-848-2336.

Americans Much More Worried about Retirement, Health Costs

Americans’ confidence in enjoying a comfortable retirement has dropped to its lowest level in seven years, according to the 18th annual Retirement Confidence Survey® (RCS) conducted by the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI). The percentage of workers who were very confident about having enough money for a comfortable retirement decreased sharply, from 27 percent in 2007 to 18 percent in 2008, a decline of 9 percentage points and the biggest one-year drop in the 18-year history of the survey.

More than half of retirees (54 percent) say they are now more concerned about their financial future than they were right after they retired, a 14 percentage-point increase from a year ago (40 percent in 2007).

In addition, health-care costs are a big concern for retirees. Among those who left the workforce earlier than planned, more than half (54 percent) say they did so because of health problems or disability. Almost half of retirees (44 percent) say they have spent more than expected on health-care expenses.

Long Term Care Insurance – Long Term Care Planning

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New Jersey’s Expert Home Care for Elders and Seniors provides care for your aging loved ones since 1984. Please call us when your loved one needs help – 800-848-2336.

More Younger People Buying Group LTC Insurance

Sales of group long-term care insurance policies jumped in 2007, while the average age of buyers dropped.

More than 62 percent of group LTC insurance buyers are now under age 55, the American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance’s 2008 sourcebook reveals. Nearly 10,000 employers groups now offer some form of employer-sponsored long-term care insurance.

The research also examines group LTC insurance claims and finds that four of the nation’s largest group long-term care insurers paid a cumulative $172.1 million in claims during 2007, a 16.9 percent increase over their benefit payments the prior year.

Interestingly, nearly 12 percent of those receiving first-time benefit payments from their group long-term care insurance were under the age 60, the report shows. Payments for home care accounted for nearly 40 percent of claims, while payments for nursing home care equaled 44.5 percent.

Reproduced with permission of CD Publications’ “Selling to Seniors.”

For more information, visit www.seniorsnews.net or call 1-800-666-6380.

New Jersey Home Care – Helping Senior Clients Get Quality Sleep

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New Jersey’s Expert Home Care for Elders and Seniors provides care for your aging loved ones since 1984. Please call us when your loved one needs help – 800-848-2336.

Q. Senior clients tell me they have difficulty sleeping. What can they do to get a better night’s sleep?

A. No matter what your age, getting the proper amount of sleep is essential to physical health and emotional well-being; it is just as important for seniors as it was when they were younger.

Difficulty getting to sleep and staying asleep (insomnia) is a frequent concern for seniors. Levels of growth hormone, which promotes deep sleep, and melatonin, which regulates sleeping and waking cycles (circadian rhythm), decrease with age.

Other causes of sleep difficulties may include certain health conditions, medications, consumption of alcohol or caffeine and a decrease in bladder size. A reduction in activity and exercise levels, not spending enough time in the sun, psychological stress, and sleep disorders such as Restless Leg Syndrome (RLS), may also be challenges to getting and staying asleep.

Try the following suggestions for a good night’s sleep:

  • Keep to a regular sleep schedule, every day; even on weekends.
  • Expose yourself to sunlight. At least two hours of bright sunlight each day increases the body’s production of melatonin.
  • Separate yourself from noises. Try earplugs.
  • Adjust your bedtime to concur with when you feel like going to bed.
  • Develop bedtime rituals. Try a relaxing bath.
  • Check with your doctor to see if your medications may be interfering with your sleep.
  • Take care of your psychological health. Try meditation or relaxation techniques.

For more information check out the following; http://www.helpguide.org/life/sleep_aging.htm and http://www.statssheet.com/articles/article29583.html.

NJ Live-in Caregiver tips for Elder Care in New Jersey

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New Jersey’s Expert Home Care for Elders and Seniors provides care for your aging loved ones since 1984. Please call us when your loved one needs help – 800-848-2336.

MAKE CAREGIVING A POSITIVE EXPERIENCE

  • While it may seem easier to push your feelings aside, acknowledge them and let yourself experience the emotions. The best thing to do is to ask yourself why you are feeling that way, address the issues, and then you’ll be able to move on.
  • Alter or modify your environment to boost your mood, you don’t need to make drastic changes to make a difference. A small change like lighting a candle, burning some incense or putting on great music or a movie can help relax you and change your mood from negative to positive.
  • Admit what you’re dealing with to the people you work with. You don’t need to keep it to yourself, and may find that other co-workers may be able to provide you with much needed support and could even have gone through similar things. Your boss may be more understanding if they recognize your situation in advance, although you shouldn’t take advantage of any kindness extended.  It’s better to talk about what you’re dealing with, then to try and keep in a secret.
  • Ask for help from your family, friends and professionals. These people can be great resources for information, and can also help you out when you’re in a bind. Asking for help is the first step towards establishing a support network.
  • Recharge your batteries by engaging in activities you enjoy, whatever they may be. You need to remember to take care of yourself, or you won’t be much good to anyone else!

New Jersey Elders at Home – Avoid Stroke & Heart Disease

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New Jersey’s Expert Home Care for Elders and Seniors provides care for your aging loved ones since 1984. Please call us if your elder lives alone, we provide quality and fulfilling senior care companionship in New Jersey - 800-848-2336.

One is the loneliest number for NJ seniors and elders…and unhealthy, to boot.

Loneliness is a major risk factor in increasing blood pressure in older people, and because of this could increase the risk of death by stroke and heart disease.

In a paper titled, “Loneliness is a Unique Predictor of Age-Related Differences in Systolic Blood Pressure,” published in the journal Psychology and Aging, researchers Louise Hawkley and John Cacioppo found lonely people between the ages of 50 and 68 had blood pressure readings that were as much as 30 points higher than non-lonely people, even when other contributing factors were taken into consideration.

“Loneliness is a complex physiological phenomenon that incorporates feelings of dysphoria (opposite of euphoria) and stress, dissatisfaction with social support and hostility toward others,” according to the paper. It already has been associated with higher incidences of other health issues, including alcoholism, depression and insomnia, and even impaired immune functions.

Expert Home Care recommends that elders living alone – create more activity outside the home. Rrequent visits to your local senior center can help and it’s not costly. Ask us! We can help - 800-848-2336.

Glen Hast, Certified Senior Advisors