February 14, 2013 (PRBuzz.com) New Brunswick, NJ – The staff at Expert Home Care, a New Jersey home care agency that provides caregivers to aging seniors, is celebrating the 8th birthday and dedicated service of one of it’s most treasured members: Lola the therapy dog. Continue reading
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NJ Home Care News: Keep The Brain Active
New Jersey Senior Care Activities
Lifting weights can make you stronger. Now, there is every reason to believe that giving your brain a workout can also help seniors block distractions and improve concentration.
As we age, our brains change. Older adults experience changes in how they perceive information their eyes and ears gather from the environment. This is called sensory integration – a tendency to combine information from different senses – which older adults experience it more readily than younger ones. Sensory integration can make it harder to block out distracting sights and sounds when you are trying to focus on a task.
A recent study was designed to determine if eight hours of brain exercise can improve healthy older adults’ (65 – 75 years old) ability to filter out unwanted sights and sounds. Using MRI technology, visualizing blood flow and brain activity, researchers found that a growing number of activities, from crossword puzzles to Sudoku, reduced these subjects’ susceptibility to distracting stimuli and improved concentration. The training involved either a structured one-on-one mental work-out program or a group brain exercise program.
How can you improve your concentration and block out distractions? Just as you exercise your body, make time to exercise your brain. The recommendation is to set aside 15 – 20 minutes every day to complete a crossword puzzle or other brain game. ~
By Frank Esposito, of Expert Home Care, which provides professional, dependable home health care and companion care for NJ elderly, helping them with their daily living activities since 1984. Call toll free at 1-800-848-2336 to have your questions answered or if you are in need help for a loved one. Free NJ Home Care Assessment (a $375 value!) when you mention this post.
Planning For Your Elder Years
New Jersey Elder Planning Tips
Recent surveys among NJ elderly, find that their biggest concerns are:
1. Remaining independent in the home without intervention from others;
2. Maintaining good health and receiving adequate health care;
3. Having enough money for everyday needs and not outliving assets and income.
Pre-planning can help address these issues. No other life event can be as devastating to an elderly person’s lifestyle, finances and security as needing long term care. It can drastically alter or eliminates the three principal lifestyle concerns above. The majority of the American public does not plan for this crisis of needing elder care. The lack of planning also has an adverse effect on the older person’s family, with sacrifices made in time, money, and family lifestyles. Due to changing demographics and potential changes in government funding, the current generation needs to plan for long term care before the elder years are upon them.
Here are some facts.
- The population of the “very old,” – older than age 85 – is the fastest growing group in America. This population is at highest risk for needing care. (Statistical abstract of the United States,
2008, population) - Medical science is preventing early sudden deaths, which means living longer with impaired health and greater risk of needing long term care.
- The Alzheimer’s Association estimates the risk of Alzheimer’s or dementia beyond age 85 to be about 46% of
that population. - It is estimated that 6 out of 10 people will need long-term care sometime during their lifetime.
- Children moving far away from parents or parents moving away during retirement makes long distance care giving difficult or impossible.
- Government programs— already stretched thin for long term care services— will experience even greater stress on
available funds in the future.
One of the important things for planning is how to maintain your lifestyle as you age. You may be healthy enough to stay in your own home with help provided for the following activities of daily living:
- maintaining a home
- providing meals
- supervision
- companionship
- transportation
- shopping services
This type of care at home is non-medical and must be provided free of charge by family, friends, or volunteers or the care must be paid for out-of-pocket by the family. Government programs, in most cases, will not pay for this kind of care. It is estimated that 80% of all long term care is non-medical, with 90% of that care provided in the home.
Plan now how you will pay for care when it is needed. In evaluating your future income you may find it necessary to add some resources such as long term care insurance to pay for assisted living or nursing home costs. Long term care insurance must be purchased while you are younger and healthy. Failing health, stroke or other aging issues will not allow you to qualify for this insurance. A reverse mortgage will also help pay for home care if staying in your home is an option.
Consider where you may want to live in your elder years. Many assisted living facilities offer complete care alternatives with a nursing home wing if needed. Senior retirement communities also offer many amenities with some including home care options. Now is the time to do estate planning. A professional estate planner will give you direction on how best to protect your assets for future needs and for Medicaid planning. Now is the time to create your trusts, will, medical directives in a living will and any other documents you want noted for future use. Gather insurance policies and bank records where they can be found by family members in case you are not able to get them yourself.
The process of long term care planning involves the following four
principles:
1. Knowledge and preparation are the keys to success.
2. Having funds to pay for care expands the choices for care
settings and providers.
3. Using professional help relieves stress, reduces conflict, and
saves time and money.
4. Success is assured through a written plan accepted by all
parties involved.
(The above excerpt is quoted from “The 4 Steps of Long Term Care Planning,” National Care Planning Council)
The National Care Planning Council’ s website — www.longtermcarelink.net — provides over 700 pages of information for long term care planning and lists services of professional care providers in estate planning, long term care insurance, reverse mortgage, home care and many other important long term care services.
The National Care Planning Council’ s book, “The 4 Steps of Long Term Care Planning,” provides information on what Medicaid and Medicare will cover as well as an overview of professional long term care service providers and how their services can help you create and execute your long term care plan. A check list of what to do to create a plan and forms for creating necessary paperwork are also included in the book.
Posted by: Frank Esposito, Vice President of Expert Home Care. New Jersey’s Expert Home Care provides professional and reliable home health care and companion care for NJ elderly, helping them with their daily living activities since 1984. Please call us toll free at 800-848-2336 when you have home care related questions or need assistance for a loved one. Get a Free Home Care Assessment (a $375 value!) when you mention this post.
NJ Elders Living Longer – Live in Home Care
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.”
September is Healthy Aging Month – NJ Elder Home Health
September is Healthy Aging Month – Because there’s lots of living left to do…
Visit Healthy Aging often for quality healthy aging information – September is an annual observance month designed to focus national attention on the positive aspects of growing older.
http://www.healthyaging.net/index.htm
Healthy Food – for those who want to age healthfully and enjoy good food.
How many times do you think.. yuk, healthy food? It gives the connotation that healthy food is bland and flavorless.. rather than thinking it is better for us. Healthy food can inspire us and motivate us to cook with exciting, great tasting recipes that please our palate! For healthy eating recipes and more, go to healthyagingfood.com. http://www.healthyagingfood.com/
In addition to eating healthy habits is adding more activity and exercise into one’s daily routine. New Jersey Seniors know it’s good for us but avoid it like the plague. The reasons being we are familiar with being sedentary or afraid that exercise has to be vigorous and painful to be worth the effort given.
But what is beneficial to know is movement is movement -  the more you do, the healthier you’ll be. Even doing moderate activities like chores, gardening and walking can make a big stride in gaining a healthy body.
Just adding a little movement to your life can:
Reduce the risk of stroke, diabetes &Â heart disease
Have a positive effect on our joint stability
Improve range of movement
Maintain flexibility
Help maintain bone mass
Prevent osteoporosis and fractures
Improve our mood and reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression
Enhance self esteem which makes us happier people
Increase and improve memory in elderly people
Reduce stress
Even the small changes, adding movement to your day, and adjusting to a more modest weight, you will gain many benefits. One study exists that shows just a 10% weight reduction helps obese patients to reduce blood pressure, cholesterol and increase longevity.
For help when caring for an aging relative at home go to Expert Home Care and call 800-848-2336.
