© September 16, 2010 by Imelda Maurer, cdp
Corporations bag billions in profits each year with “anti-aging” solutions – creams, oils, supplements, surgery , books – successfully playing to American’s fear and denial of aging.
While we cannot avoid aging, and while there are no true “anti aging “ solutions, an article in the New York Times describes how the skill of balance CAN BE ENHANCED with appropriate exercise! Why is this so important?
“Unintentional falls among those 65 and older are responsible for more than 18,000 deaths and nearly 450,000 hospitalizations annually in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. Most of these falls are caused by a decline in that complex and multidimensional human skill known as balance.
To remain upright and sure-footed, explained Dr. David Thurman, a neurologist with the center and a spokesman for the American Academy of Neurology, “there are several components of the nervous system, as well as motor or movement functions that need to be intact.” These include the vestibular system of the inner ear, vision and proprioception, the ability to sense where one’s arms, legs or other parts of the body are without looking at them, as well as the strength and flexibility of bones and soft tissue.
“All of these,” Dr. Thurman said, “tend to degrade with age, particularly as people move into their seventh and eighth decades.”
Yet, unlike many effects of aging, balance can be improved, and the age-related declines can be delayed or minimized with proper training.
“The preponderance of evidence,” Dr. Thurman said, “shows fairly convincingly that strength and balance training can reduce the rate of falls by up to about 50 percent.”
To read about the types of exercise that can enhance the skill of balance without hiring a personal trainer, go to the NY Times article by clicking on the title of the blog entry.
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Making it OK to Sleep Late
© September 14, 2010 by Imelda Maurer, cdp
My sister and her husband have, for the last few years, enjoyed socializing at a neighborhood senior center. Their custom is to go once or twice a week. Not long ago during a telephone visit, I asked my sister if they enjoyed lunch at the center. “No,” she said, “they serve lunch at 11:30. We are late sleepers and when we get up and take our time in the mornings, we don’t usually make it in time for lunch.”
Nothing unusual in that remark. After many years of hard work, this retired couple can now manage their daily schedule according to their own likes. They share long evenings, get to bed late and like to sleep late in the morning. Fair enough. They deserve it!
In too many nursing homes, for those adults who have to live in one, there is a schedule: breakfast served at particular time as is lunch and dinner. That means that staff members are required to have the residents up and dressed in order to be “on time” for the institutionally scheduled breakfast time.
Lots of problems with this kind of living for years on end. It’s institutional. It’s NOT home. For elders with even minimal cognitive impairment, being awakened and helped with dressing and grooming before they are ready to do so may result in notes in that elder’s chart claiming there was “combative behavior” or that the resident “was uncooperative with a.m. care.” That’s a topic for another entry.
However, the good news in all this is that THE TIMES THEY ARE A CHANGIN’! Progressive nursing homes are “making it ok to sleep late.” An article in The Chicago Tribune highlights a nursing home which is making the move from institution to home.
Note the advantages that are evident: quality of life for the residents; enhanced employee satisfaction; lower costs for the provider.
“Nursing homes that embrace the new philosophy are letting residents decide when to bathe, eat and sleep; allowing them to organize their own activities; and redesigning nursing units into small "households."
Advocates say residents in such homes are happier and healthier; the employees have more job satisfaction; and giving care this way even costs less.”
The administrator is quoted as saying that she doesn’t even like to speak of “allowing” residents to sleep late. "It's not for us to give them that freedom," she said. "They should have it."
There is an important corollary to this story: consumers -- that’s US, the nursing home residents of the future -- must demand this kind of environment and person-centered living. The movement of transformative culture change in nursing homes is a fast-growing ripple. We advocates and consumers must change the ripples into waves!
GO, MAKE WAVES!
Click on the title of this post at the top of this page to be linked to the article from The Chicago Tribune. It is a short, enjoyable and informative piece
My sister and her husband have, for the last few years, enjoyed socializing at a neighborhood senior center. Their custom is to go once or twice a week. Not long ago during a telephone visit, I asked my sister if they enjoyed lunch at the center. “No,” she said, “they serve lunch at 11:30. We are late sleepers and when we get up and take our time in the mornings, we don’t usually make it in time for lunch.”
Nothing unusual in that remark. After many years of hard work, this retired couple can now manage their daily schedule according to their own likes. They share long evenings, get to bed late and like to sleep late in the morning. Fair enough. They deserve it!
In too many nursing homes, for those adults who have to live in one, there is a schedule: breakfast served at particular time as is lunch and dinner. That means that staff members are required to have the residents up and dressed in order to be “on time” for the institutionally scheduled breakfast time.
Lots of problems with this kind of living for years on end. It’s institutional. It’s NOT home. For elders with even minimal cognitive impairment, being awakened and helped with dressing and grooming before they are ready to do so may result in notes in that elder’s chart claiming there was “combative behavior” or that the resident “was uncooperative with a.m. care.” That’s a topic for another entry.
However, the good news in all this is that THE TIMES THEY ARE A CHANGIN’! Progressive nursing homes are “making it ok to sleep late.” An article in The Chicago Tribune highlights a nursing home which is making the move from institution to home.
Note the advantages that are evident: quality of life for the residents; enhanced employee satisfaction; lower costs for the provider.
“Nursing homes that embrace the new philosophy are letting residents decide when to bathe, eat and sleep; allowing them to organize their own activities; and redesigning nursing units into small "households."
Advocates say residents in such homes are happier and healthier; the employees have more job satisfaction; and giving care this way even costs less.”
The administrator is quoted as saying that she doesn’t even like to speak of “allowing” residents to sleep late. "It's not for us to give them that freedom," she said. "They should have it."
There is an important corollary to this story: consumers -- that’s US, the nursing home residents of the future -- must demand this kind of environment and person-centered living. The movement of transformative culture change in nursing homes is a fast-growing ripple. We advocates and consumers must change the ripples into waves!
GO, MAKE WAVES!
Click on the title of this post at the top of this page to be linked to the article from The Chicago Tribune. It is a short, enjoyable and informative piece
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