Quality of life, Falls and Vitamin D

When researchers examine the quality of life that residents of nursing homes experience, one of the questions in determining a good or poor quality of life is, “How often do you get outdoors?” We certainly don’t need esoteric research to convince us that getting outdoors is a good thing. Our experience tells us that. Perhaps it is that first walk in the morning around the yard to see what has appeared since yesterday. Or it may be that cherished walk in the early morning or late afternoon that is a ritual for us, after which we feel a new energy in our steps. What can compare with the brush of a soft spring breeze on our cheek? What delight do we not experience at the sight and sound of a bird winging its way with obvious delight, also, in the new day?

If a person is not living independently at home, that access to the outdoors may be totally dependent on her caregivers. How many retirement settings have priorities and stated programmatic policies about assuring that residents in their retirement community get outdoors when the weather permits? Are activities ever planned that involve an outdoor experience? Are spaces intentionally developed that invite elders outdoors?

Now apart from the gift to the soul that being outdoors provides, there is also an aspect of physical health. We all know that exposure to sunlight produces Vitamin D in our bodies. Amazing, isn’t it! Twenty minutes outdoors when the UV index is 3 or greater will do it!

Here’s what a noted doctor says about Vitamin D and older adults:

According to Elizabeth Sykes, MD, vice chief of clinical pathology at Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, Mich., older adults with vitamin D deficiency also have an increased risk of muscle weakness and bone diseases such as osteomalacia (softening of the bones) or osteoporosis (reduced bone density) as well as an increased risk of rheumatoid arthritis and type 1 diabetes (http://www.agingwellmag.com/news/ex_012511_02.shtml accessed April 20, 2011)

Falls among elders are serious matters. One in three persons over the age of 65 experiences a fall over the course of a year. These falls can lead to hospitalization, admission to a long-term care setting, or even death.

Studies of elders show a relationship between falls and Vitamin D levels in the body. Vitamin D is needed by the body to improve muscle strength and contraction.

Medical professionals encourage Vitamin D supplements among elders if needed when exposure to sunlight is not sufficient, or if their diet does not provide this vitamin adequately. So in those climates and at those times of the year when our friends and/or family members living in retirement settings can get outdoors, let’s get them outdoors! When sunlight exposure is not practical because of the weather, a healthy diet and, if needed, the Vitamin D supplements should be used.

Oh, and one other thing: an analysis at Rush University Medical Center of several studies among older adults with Alzheimer’s showed a relationship between the presence of this dreaded disorder and “a constricted life space.” That constricted life space was defined in the study as: “Specifically, those with a life space restricted to their immediate home environment.” Older adults in a “constricted life space” were twice as likely to develop Alzheimer’s as elders whose life space extended beyond this immediate home environment.

Anybody for a walk – for its gift to the body, mind and spirit?