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- Stay Healthy. Stay Home. Issue 80
Stay Healthy. Stay Home. Issue 80
Care Receivers Caregivers Nutrition Movement Wellness Aging In Place And One More Thing
As announced earlier, the newsletter will have considerably more content going forward and will now be published every two weeks. There is a large amount of information available for the subjects we cover and it will be more efficient to provide the most relevant content over a two week period of preparation. Please see “Click Here To Learn More” at www.stayhealthystayhome.net for more detailed information. Feedback and suggestions are appreciated and can be submitted to: [email protected].
Beginning January 30, 2025, we will introduce a new format to the newsletter. We will also introduce you to affiliate relationships over the next several weeks, with vendors who will provide valuable, relevant products and services to our subscribers. At that time we will introduce an online store offering fitness and wellness products. More products will be added over time. We are setting the store up as a coop, similar to REI. More details to follow soon.
Other features and changes will be announced as we go forward.
Mission Statement
To provide valuable, relevant information, products and services regarding home based living for care recipients and caregivers, who are primarily in the 45-85 year old demographic.
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.
Care Receivers
Nutrition
From the Nutrition Source of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, a great list of healthy recipes. Again, many may be a departure from meals we are used to, but we should be able to find something to enjoy and eat more healthily as we age. Below the three recipes highlighted at the top of the article, under “Recipes”, click on “complete list of recipes”.
Registered Dietician, Casey Benavides, discusses gut health and lists a variety of the best foods we should be eating to aid in this. We have provided information recently concerning gut health and will continue to do so, as the gut microbiome is connected to many health issues we have, physically and mentally.
Intermittent fasting, from Rush University Health. This is a subject we have not touched on earlier but one I am sure we are all familiar with and know others who practice it or have tried it. Full disclosure, I have never tried it, but of those I know who have, some have had great success with it and have moderated their eating habits successfully and improved overall health. See what you think after reading this article.
Movement
Our friend Meredith of Senior Fitness with Meredith, has a 10 minute video for us today that addresses arthritis and inflammation, things many of us deal with. Join Meredith for this seated workout and begin to feel better!
Ask Dr. Jo has a 6 minute video to help us address another fairly common issue as we age, sciatica. I suffer from it, especially when driving for a longer period of time. Follow along here with Dr. Jo and gain relief from this aggravating condition.
Fitness goals for 2025. Bethesda Health Group lists what they consider achievable fitness goals for senior citizens heading into the New Year. There is some good, basic information here that, at the least, can be a baseline for our fitness goals for 2025. I think the key word they use here is achievable, so we don’t create goals that are unattainable and give up on our plan early in the year. I try to practice some form of fitness on a regular basis, but I think I’ll leave the climbing wall to this guy.
Wellness
Another of our regular contributors, Dr. Leslie Kernisan, lists 10 ways to age well in 2025. Embedded in the article are videos of hers as well with related information. As always, Dr. Kernisan supplies us with valuable, practical information that helps us get and stay healthy at this stage of our lives.
The Leonard Davis USC School of Gerontology, an article titled Eat Well, Age Well. It has excellent information about our eating habits as we age, and again, common sense advice on how we can take care of ourselves well with our diets.
Although we covered gut health in the Nutrition section, we are going to go back to it here under Wellness, as it is presented here by Well and Good. This article quotes many health care professionals who specialize in the gut so I thought it has value for us. There is a lot here, including some ads, so keep scrolling down and you will get to the main section with the information we are looking for.
Aging In Place
From Aginginplace.com, a comprehensive list of resources for those aging in place or contemplating doing so. From caregiving, in home help, remodeling, legal issues and others, this is a source that will come in handy many times. There is other very good information on their site, along with this resources section.
Steve Hoffacker, Certified Aging In Place Specialist, Discusses the concept of Universal Design and how it helps create a safe environment by, as he states, checking a lot of the boxes necessary to create this environment. If you have plans to remodel your home for this purpose, this can be a good start to a plan for you.
Another contribution by the Leonard Davis USC School of Gerontology, titled “The Value of Aging In Place”. Along with reasons aging in place should be considered, there is a list of sources at the bottom of the article that offer more information regarding this topic.
Caregivers
Cleveland Clinic offers extensive information regarding caregiver burnout. Along with the different illnesses a caregiver’s recipient might have to deal with, this article is very thorough and covers what symptoms to look for if you are a caregiver or if a family member or friend is. Many times they are the last to realize or acknowledge it. The article goes on to offer advice on treatment options available for burnout. We are looking into other remedies for caregivers that our subscribers can use. As we all understand, the caregivers are the backbone of the stay at home system.
Chicago Caregiving magazine lists different forms of technology, including smart watches, virtual assistants, etc. that can enhance the safety for seniors in the home. Many of us already have a smart watch. If you do or are thinking of getting one, maybe start now before you are in a caregiving or a care receiving situation so you are familiar with the different apps available and how they can assist you.
Heart.org has some basic ideas here for exercises for caregivers. This is especially good information if you are just starting an exercise program. The videos by Meredith and Dr. Jo are also very good additions to your program. Depending on a caregivers personal situation, time can be an issue, but making time for exercise each day can be vital for their long term health.
The Caregiver Connection section from Fallon Health brings more information to help caregivers stay healthy using exercise and other means. Those of us who have ever been a caregiver or know someone who has, know how stressful it is and how the health and well being of the caregiver is so important.
Family Caregiver Alliance has an article with a video embedded emphasizing, again, the need for caregivers to take care of themselves. This is excellent information from licensed clinical social worker Amy Sobrino. Please take some time to scan this web site. It is full of valuable information of all kinds for family caregivers.
Respite Care. The National Institute on Aging highlights the different forms of respite care available to caregivers. There is a lot of good information here to help caregivers get started on a self-care plan. As mentioned earlier, we will continue to search for methods of respite care to help our caregivers stay healthy.
And One More Thing
Oak Street Health has a great article with an embedded video that tells how we can set better health goals in five different categories of our lives for 2025. And, no, you are not seeing things. That is the same 2025 picture from above. Couldn’t find a better one!
A happy, healthy and safe 2025 to you all! Thank you again for the support!
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