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 scheme below, please click on “Read Online” in the upper right hand corner for black print on a white background.

Announcement

In issue 67, we added a sub-category, Nutrition. As we have stated in Read All About This Site on our home page, prevention of chronic illness is one of our primary purposes in publishing the newsletter. We will provide information from a variety of sources to help us adapt our diets as we age.

Beginning with the October 3rd issue, we will begin publishing the newsletter every other Thursday. We will increase the amount of information we publish to 4-5 articles, interviews, videos, etc. in each sub-category. As you are aware, there are many areas to be covered so we can stay in our homes as long as possible, and we can publish more valuable information, more efficiently going to the two week window.

We will also introduce a store at that time, Investing In Your Health, that will feature fitness and wellness products and services that will be of value to our subscribers. There will be a membership/rebate program for SHSH subscribers as well and we will provide more information about that as we get closer to October 3.

Care Receivers

Nutrition

From Medline Plus, a publication of the National Institute of Health, a wealth of information on what is nutrition, how it is difficult to always get what we need in our diet when we age, and healthy diet information for us along with much more. More fruits and vegetables, lean proteins, whole grains, healthy fats and staying hydrated are key to us remaining healthy. Consulting with your health care provider or a registered dietician can help you in this area, but there is enough information here to get you started. Be sure and see all the links to related sites on the page, also.

Read Article Here

Nutrition

Vitamins and Minerals. Again, from the NIH and the National Institute on Aging, more information about how we can get the most out of our diets by eating the proper foods as listed above, and maximize the amount of vitamins and minerals we get by eating healthy foods. In some cases, supplements are needed to accompany our diets, but the article encourages sourcing vitamins and minerals in our dietary choices. These choices will provide key benefits, such as bone health, immune and cognitive function, heart health, vision health, skin health and our overall energy level. We will be featuring more about nutrition as we go along as this is so vital to our health.

Read Article Here

Movement

Balance. Our friend Meredith, of Senior Fitness with Meredith, leads us this week on how to enhance and strengthen our balance. I personally found this video to be valuable, as I struggle with balance. We all know how important it is regarding fall prevention and also for our posture and mobility. It also helps us to remain independent as we can perform daily activities safely, such as walking, climbing stairs and getting in and out of bed or a chair. This is another posting to archive and go back to often to strengthen your bodies and improve our balance. Before you know it, Meredith will have us out on our skateboards.

See Video Here

Movement

Sarcopenia. The age-related loss of muscle mass and strength, can be managed and potentially mitigated with strength training, adequate diet, especially enough protein intake in our balanced diet and other physical activities along with the strength training. This will go along way to help with our balance, as we learned about in the video above, and help prevent falls, along with other benefits. My experience has been not to give into age related issues. We can still keep our bodies strong and healthy so we can remain independent as long as possible and stay home.

Read Article Here

Wellness

Over the counter pain medication. Our friend Dr, Leslie Kernisan. “That’s because improper use of OTC painkiller tablets is actually a major cause of harm to older adults.” Dr. Kernisan provides a thorough understanding of over the counter pain medications. As her quote here says, this is a much more common problem than many are aware of. Very common OTC medications, such as acetaminophen, ibuprofen and naproxen, can cause serious issues, especially if used for a long period of time. Serious gastrointestinal and kidney and liver problems can develop, along with cardiovascular risks and harmful interactions with other medications.

Read Article Here

Wellness

From the Cleveland Clinic, the positive effects of exercise on cholesterol. As the article states, the two main issues effecting our cholesterol levels, are lack of exercise and overweight. There is some basic information here about what forms of exercise are best, how to get started and develop a consistent exercise plan. It doesn’t take as much as we usually think. Consistency is the main word here.

Read Article Here

Aging In Place

Demographics of an aging population. The Rural Health Information Hub offers demographic information for the next 25 years that is informative if not startling. I know we hear a lot about the growing of the 65+ demographic, but when you see some of these numbers and factor in there will be more people 65+ than those 18 and under in the U.S. in the next five years, is just one of the reasons of the need to get and stay healthy is extremely important. Caregiving demand and housing needs will increase along with the aforementioned stress on the healthcare system. I read recently that in the next seven years there will be a need for another 804,000 nurses and nurses aides in our healthcare system. Getting and staying healthy is our best chance of avoiding these serious issues in our lives. Once again, in all seriousness, this guy is not on his way, he is here now.

Read Article Here

Aging In Place

This is a re-publish from the USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology on the value of aging in place. It highlights the main benefits and there are links at the bottom that can take you to more good information.

Read Article Here

Caregivers

The Illinois Respite Coalition is an organization based here in the suburbs of Chicago that offers a variety of services and information to help caregivers who are providing such a valuable service to their family and friends. When we launch the new version of the newsletter on October 3, we will begin to include more information on caregiving and for caregivers. I have been publishing the newsletter for well over a year now and it is becoming clearer that the people providing these services need more and consistent support. If we have any caregivers in our family or network of friends, maybe treat them to a meal as these ladies are having.

Read Article Here

The Illinois Department on Aging lists all the Agencies on Aging in the counties in our area and all over the state. These agencies are a good source of information, as caregivers provide their services, and there are also links at the bottom to relevant organizations.

And One More Thing

From Aging Tech Watch, five trends that are effecting older adults and their caregivers. It is not all tech related, with some interesting information on how many want to remain in their homes, caregiving numbers including the number I quoted above, of open nursing related jobs at 804,000 by 2032. It is estimated this will be the largest occupation in our economy. The only thing we have control over in this situation is how we take care of ourselves. We can avoid many of these coming issues if we do.

Read Article Here

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