Category Archives: Home Health Care

Brain Fitness…Exercising Your Mind

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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.

It’s long been assumed that memory loss, slower thinking and eventual dementia are the natural results of aging.

Dr. Michael Merzenich, a neuroscientist from the University of California at San Francisco, disagrees. The human brain, he says, doesn’t need to decline with age. It, like the body, responds to exercise and stimuli.

Merzenich founded Posit Science, which is developing brain fitness programs designed to improve the thinking abilities of seniors. These self-paced computer programs are like video games, only these are designed to stimulate certain brain functions such as listening and memory. One hour a day, five days a week may increase cognitive functioning by as much as 10 years.

While the Posit Science Brain Fitness Program offers exciting possibilities for enabling an aging population’s minds to keep pace with ever increasing longevity, we’re not dependent upon a computer program to stretch and strengthen our brains.

Engaging in a range of activities that spur new learning as well as participating in physical activities that require an ongoing mastery of motor control will strengthen the brain.

Examples of such activities include:

learning to play a musical instrument or a new language
juggling
dancing
solving jigsaw puzzles
playing ping pong

In the not-so-distant future, senior centers, nursing homes and assisted living facilities may include “brain gymnasiums” along with recreation and exercise areas.

New Jersey Live in Care for Elders

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Caregivers provide assistance to other people who because of physical disability, chronic illness or cognitive impairment are unable to perform certain activities on their own. So-called informal care can be offered by family members or friends, often in a home setting. Or paid or volunteer professional care, so-called formal care, can be obtained at home, in the community or from institutions such as nursing facilities or government institutions.

Roughly, 11.1 million Americans of all ages are receiving formal or informal care at any given time. This represents about 4% of the population and is comprised of about 9.5 million receiving care at home or in the community and another 1.6 million residing in nursing or intermediate care facilities. About 25.8 million family caregivers provide personal assistance to individuals 18 years or older who have a disability or chronic illness. And nearly one out of every four households (22.4 million households) is involved in giving care to persons aged 50 or older. About 43% of those receiving care are under the age of 65 and are evenly spread between ages 18 to 64. Children under 18 and receiving assistance because of disability are often characterized under different criteria of caregiving.

Sometimes human caregivers can be replaced or assisted by mechanical devices. These might include special computer systems for communication, special locomotion equipment, remote vital sign monitoring devices or remote oversight monitoring. Continued technology advances may help relieve the time commitment of human caregivers.

Senior Fitness

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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 National Institutes of Health recommend four types of exercises for seniors who want to stay healthy and independent (and who doesn’t?). Sharon O’Brien reports on them for About.com

Strength exercises build older adult muscles and increase metabolism, which helps to keep weight and blood sugar in check.

Balance exercises build leg muscles, decreasing the chance of falls (leading cause of admission into nursing homes).

Stretching exercises give you more freedom of movement. It’s particularly important that older drivers do stretching exercises because not being able to turn your head adequately, for instance, will limit your range of vision.

Endurance exercises are any activity – walking, jogging, swimming, biking, even raking leaves – that increases your heart rate and breathing for an extended period of time. Build endurance gradually, starting with as little as five minutes of activity per session.

For details on the exercises and how to get started, go to http://seniorliving.about.com/od/exercisefitnes1/a/4seniorexercise.htm.

Remembering the Deceased

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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.

Q1 – Why is it important to remember those who have passed away?
A1 – After the death of a loved one, some feel like to cope, they should push aside the memories. Families need to honor the memories of those they’ve lost out of respect, and to aid the healing process.

Q2 – How can families honor those they have lost?
A2 – Families can create memorials, maintain rituals, and adopt causes that were important to the deceased. They can also make sure to carry on the legacy, by continuing on with their lives and chasing their dreams.

Q3 – What types of memorials can be used to remember seniors who have passed?
A3 – More typical memorials include photo collages, plaques, and flowers left at the resting place or other significant locations. Families and friends can also light candles, write a poem or story in their honor, or make a quilt.

Q4 – How can families maintain rituals?
A4 – Families should think about the things that their loved one liked to do and honor their memory by taking on the activities themselves. They can cook and enjoy a favorite meal as a family, visit a favorite location, or listen to music that the senior loved.

Q4 – What does it mean to adopt causes that were important to the decreased?
A4 – Think about which good causes, like charities or community organizations, were important to the person who has passed on. Make a donation or volunteer to help with these causes. Buy a gift for your loved one during special occasions and make a donation to a charity that was significant to them. You can also start a memorial trust or scholarship on their behalf, even making it out in their name.

http://ezinearticles.com/?How-to-Remember-Those-Who-Have-Passed-Away&id=397777

Nutrition for Seniors

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You Are What You Eat – By Senior Daily Living

Our eating changes as we age. When we’re young, we gravitate towards foods that are fun, fast, and satisfying. Our lives are hectic, our pocketbooks are light, and our stomachs are never satisfied. You grab some hot wings when drinking at a bar with friends, you reach for pizza on your lunch break, and you indulge in your banan walnut muffin the morning. We often don’t think twice about these choices when we’re healthy and have our whole lives ahead of us.

However, when we age and our bodies become ill or just more susceptible to illness, it’s necessary to create a different relationship to food and our bodies.

The concept of “health food” can be a confusing one. Everyone seems to have a different notion about what foods heal and promote life, and which foods do not. But the answer could be as simple as getting the facts, and experimenting with your own body to find what’s satisfying, nourishing, and creates your own personal state of well-being.

Tips to Build Strong Family Bonds for Caregivers

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Reinforcing Family Bonds

Caregiving responsibilities can get in the way of family relationships because new roles are formed; stresses may cause strain in family and bonds between caregivers and their care recipients may feel clinical. Whether it is a spouse providing care for their elder partner or an adult child providing care for a parent, families need to make the effort to maintain ties that do not relate to care duties.

The following methods will help caregivers maintain strong bonds with their care recipients that stem beyond their responsibilities as a provider.

• Sit down and look over family photos and reminisce about past memories
• Get together with other members of the family regularly
• Make time for activities that you once enjoyed together
• Discuss your relationship regularly, and do not hesitate to voice any concerns
• Continue to offer your care recipient as much independence as possible, you are there to help them with their care, but don’t want to make them feel like you are interfering in their life
• Maintain intimacy with your spouse or partner
• Don’t remain in a relationship that has survived out of obligation
• If the care structure is creating too much tension, step back and allow another relative, friend, or professional to take over
Source: http://arthritis.about.com/cs/sex/a/sicknesshealth.htm

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.

Exercise Slows Alzheimer’s Disease

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Use it or lose it? 

Exercising the body helps the brain. That’s the conclusion of a new study that reviewed the effects of exercise on brain functioning in humans and animals.

Based on a wide-ranging review of existing studies, researchers found a significant relationship between physical activity and later cognitive function and decreased occurrence of dementia. Better yet, the evidence suggests that the benefits may last several decades.

Studies of persons over age 65 found that those who exercised for at least 15-30 minutes at a time three times a week were less likely to develop Alzheimer’s Disease, even if they were genetically predisposed to the disease.

The exercise doesn’t have to be strenuous. One study of 62- to 70-year-olds who continued to work and retirees who moderately exercised, showed they had higher sustained levels of cerebral blood flow and superior performance on general measures of cognition as compared to the group of inactive retirees.

The review covered 40 years of research.

Cardio Exercises 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.

If you’ve been inactive for awhile, it’s best to start with a small amount of cardio exercise, and to limit your exercise to activities that require a moderate amount of endurance.

Here are some examples of moderate endurance activities for the average older adult:

  • Walking briskly on a level surface
  • Swimming
  • Gardening, mowing, or raking the lawn
  • Cycling on a stationary bicycle
  • Bicycling outdoors on a level surface

Vigorous Cardio Activities for Older Adults

If you have some experience with cardio exercise and have increased your endurance to at least a moderate level, these activities may be safe for you to do.

People who have been inactive for a long time or who have certain health risks should not start with these activities. Remember to get your health care provider’s approval before beginning any form of exercise.

  • Climbing stairs or hills
  • Shoveling snow
  • Brisk bicycling up hills
  • Digging holes

Remember to get your health care provider’s approval before beginning any form of exercise.

http://seniorliving.about.com/lr/endurance_exercises/116693/5/

Ten Expectations for Elder Care and Quality of Life

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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.

10 Real Expectations for Quality of LIfe in a Well Managed Long Term Care Facility, by Jill B. Thomas RNC, LNHA is the Vice President and Founder of Advance Care Planning, Inc

Advising Your Client How to Recognize Ten Real Expectations for Quality of Life in a Well Managed Long Term Care Facility

Long term care facilities will become home to millions of “Baby Boomers,” in the coming years. Many people fear the move from their own home to a long term care faciliy.. they just don�t know what to expect. Every person has a right to good care under the 1987 Federal Nursing Home Reform Law. 

The law, which is part of the Social Security Act, states that a long tem care facility must help each resident ‘attain or maintain’ his or her highest level of well being – physically, mentally and emotionally. This report sets the expectations of those needing to address the long term needs of their family members. Through the use of the Advancer Care Plan, a family member can count on these expectations, and more importantly, can be assured that the care is specifically tailored to the loved one’s needs.

Read the full 10 Expectations of Long Term Care