Mission Statement

To provide information, products and services regarding home based living in a way that preserves the wellbeing of both the care recipients and their caregivers.

If you have difficulty reading the newsletter in the color scheme below, please click on “Read Online” in the upper right hand corner for black print on a white background.

We recommend that Caregivers review the section for Care Receivers, to aid them in assisting their Receiver, and, also, for themselves, as much of the information can help them stay healthy and avoid health issues as they age themselves.

Care Receivers

Movement

Senior Fitness With Meredith takes us in a different direction this week with a 30 minute, intermediate, HIIT (high intensity interval training) workout. This video is for those of us who exercise regularly and want to engage at a higher level of exercise. This is a good alternative as an indoor workout with the hotter, humid days we have been having. As Meredith will instruct us, begin with a warmup (at least 5 minutes). Go through the intervals with her and make sure you are comfortable with the level of exertion required for each exercise and make modifications when necessary, especially if you are recovering from injury or surgery and an area might be effected more than others. As we always advise, discuss this with your health care provider before beginning.

See Video Here

Movement

Ask Dr. Jo has about a 7 minute video with some gentle neck exercises and stretches. I do these on a regular basis in the morning and feel much better as the day goes on. I do them even without any soreness or aches as a prevention method. They also help with flexibility. As Dr. Jo suggests, perform them gently and slowly to avoid any strain on the neck.

See Video Here

Wellness

New blood test for Alzheimer’s disease. An article from NPR tells us about this new test that is another recent advancement that can help in detecting this disease. While helping to provide an early indication of Alzheimer’s disease, these tests are many times complemented with other diagnostic tools. Please consult with your healthcare provider for more information. As someone who was recently diagnosed with early onset of dementia, it is heartening to see progress being made in this field.

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Wellness

Brain Gut connection. I have been reading more and more lately about the microbiome and the brain gut connection. Johns Hopkins provides us with very interesting information here. I have made efforts to adjust my diet so I can be healthy in this area. The microbiome is the community of microorganisms living in the gut and plays a crucial role in brain health and overall cognitive function. We will be featuring more information on this subject in coming weeks.

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Aging In Place

As always, Dr. Leslie Kernisan provides excellent, thorough information about aging in place. She discusses some of the main reasons it is difficult to do, even for those in their early 60’s. Dr. Kernisan lists 5 ways we can help those who want to age in place so they are comfortable and safe as they do so.

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Aging in Place

Reverse Mortgages. From AgingCare.com, the pros and cons of reverse mortgages. The primary reason some seniors use them is to convert a portion of their home equity into cash without having to sell their home. As the article points out, approximately 2/3 of all seniors net worth is in the value of their home. As we have pointed out many times before, most seniors want to remain in their homes. This article will help give you some good information but it is always wise to consult with a financial advisor before deciding on a reverse mortgage. I’m not sure if this guy’s partner comes with along with the process but I would definitely look research it.

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Caregivers

From the National Institute on Health/National Library of Medicine are two in depth articles on understanding the needs of family caregivers and supporting them. The more information I am exposed to regarding caregiving, the more I realize what a difficult undertaking it is. While many people perform this need for those they love for many reasons, there is no getting around the toll it takes on them, mentally, physically, financially and in other ways. These are long articles, but like others published lately, I would advise saving them. You or other family members or friends may need this information now or you never know if you will in the future.

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And One More Thing

Kefir. More on gut health and ways we can keep the connection healthy. Cleveland Clinic has good information about this “liquid yogurt” product and how it helps the connection and provides our microbiome with needed probiotics. I have been drinking flavored kefir but after reading this, I may switch to the plain.

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As usual, there will be pop up ads on videos and articles and SHSH does not support or endorse any product or person in them and receives no income from any of them.