Stay Healthy. Stay Home.Issue 81.

Care Receivers Caregivers Nutrition Movement Wellness Aging In Place And One More Thing

January 16, 2025

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Care Receivers

Nutrition

Registered Dietician Rachel Hartley espouses “normal eating”. She has what might be called a unique approach to how we diet on a daily basis. Not as restrictive as many diets, but, in her mind, a very healthy method. Read what Rachel has to say and see if it something you might like to try.

From the publication MedPage Today, “Food As Medicine” is covered well here. This is another area where health care and nutrion are working more closely to promote overall health, which is so important for all of us. Several government agencies are funding programs to test the market. The idea is to determine if the expense of subsidizing programs like this will in the end be less costly than, primarily with Medicaid and Medicare, paying for the chronic illnesses and all that goes along with unhealthy eating.

The Mind Diet. Developed at Rush University Hospital in Chicago, The Mind Diet has been ranked the #1 diet for brain health by US News. We have publsihed about the Mind Diet previously and I don’t adhere to it 100%, but follow it to a certain extent and it has been very helpful. The article is at the top of the page and I was just going to publish it alone, but there is a lot more excellent information on this site that I think we can find valuable.

Movement

Meredith of Senior Fitness with Meredith has an excellent video this week for Seniors and beginners featuring stretching exercises. If you are a senior citizen and have not exercised in a while, this is a great start for you. Meredith will guide you safely throught the video and have you moving better soon. I have not discussed this with Meredith, but I think the beginners videos are the ones she enjoys most, introducing us to a healthier way of life. I don’t think the guy in the picture is practicing exactly what Meredith had in mind, but, hey, to each his own.

Our friend Dr. Jo has a short video for us today for an issue we don’t here as much about as we used to, carpal tunnel. As much as many of us are on laptops and other electronic devices, I thought I would post this as a refresher of sorts. You may want to lower the volume when Dr. Jo announces the disclaimer alert.

Health Magazine has 10 core exercises here. You may want to consult your doctor, physical therapist, personal trainer, etc., before beginning these. Core strength is very important, especially as it protects our back. Again, your health care or training professional may recommend other core exercises, but I would follow their lead as these types of exercises can be life changing.

From McKinsey, Brain Health is featured. There are valuable statistics here and more information about the importance of brain, and, mental health. It is something we haven’t featured often here, but will do so in the future. So many in our demographic suffer from a mental health issue and, the more I read about it while preparing the newsletter, it is a major issue for caregivers. I am currently reading a book titled “Who Cares” by Emily Kenway. I won’t go into a lot of detail about the book now, but I will do a brief review in the next isssue. The author is a professional writer so it is well done. It is about caring for her mother the last three years of her life.

RSV. Dr. Leslie Kernisan educates us and provides us with excellent information about RSV. It seems to have replaced seasonal flu as a possible number one health issue, especially among seniors. Dr. Kernisan takes us throught what symtoms to look for, how it is transmitted and how it is treated. I received the RSV vaccine in the fall. It is covered by Medicare and available in many locations. I got mine at CVS. Please read what Dr. K has to say here and let’s stay healthy this winter.

As it is the season, we are going to now discuss upper respiratory infections and stay with a similar topic. The Mayo Clinc tells us the symptoms and how it effects us, especially as senior citizens. They also suggest here doing a Covid test if you develop symptoms. I have heard this in other places and actually took one recently when I wasn’t feeling well. Fortunately it was negative. Again, let’s stay health this winter and follow the direction of these health care professionals and see our own if need be.

Aging In Place

Flooring. There are many topics covered when discussing aging in place, but one I have not seen brought up often is flooring surfaces. Flooring surfaces are a major factor in mobility, especially when a walker, etc., is used, and also to prevent injury, especially falls. This article from Seniors Guide covers several areas to help with insuring your floors are safe.

On a similar note, Steve Hoffacker, Certified Aging In Place Specialist, has discusses how challenging safety in the kitchen can be. I am not promoting Steve’s services in particular, but after reading this, it may not be a bad idea to consult with an aging in place specialist, especially when making our homes safer for the long term as we age. Along with the link to Steve’s article, I have included a link from Senior Resource with a list of some of the AIP speciailists in the Chicago area. You can also search other areas in the country as well.

The National Institute on Aging keeps us on the same track with advice on how to prepare to age in place. A lot of information on this is usually directed to people who live with a spouse, their children or a friend. According to AARP, 17% of seniors living 65 and over live alone, so this information is valuable to those of us in this circumstance as well.

Caregivers

First in this section for caregivers is an excellent artice from Seniors Guide again. It is written by a son who is responsible for the care of his two aging parents. He put together a plan where his parents were taken care of and he could maintaing his independence, for the most part, and, most importantly, his health. It is becoming more evident to me, the health of the caregiver is key to this process. There are some great ideas and sources here to look into as you may be planning with your parents and loved ones.

From The Family Caregiver Alliance, A Guide to Taking Care of Yourself. We will continue to present information like this so potential caregivers can plan well and current caregivers can do all they can to protect themselves. “Support” and “Setting Limits” are two areas covered that I see in many articles such as this one.

Caregivers magazine has an excellent article here with advice for caregivers regarding their mental, emotional, physical and social health. There are also links at the bottom of the article to groups in the Chicago area and nationally that can provide support.

Ten Tips for caregivers from caregiver.com. Some of these may be easier said then done but if a few of them can be incorporated into a caregivers daily life they can be helpful. Just some more helpful ideas for caregivers.

Homewatch Caregivers addresses an issue I am seeing more often, long distance caregiving. There is a lot of information here that we have seen other places about how to set up and prepare for a caregiving role but it also includes how to do it from a distance. Depending on the level of health or our care receivers, helping them get prepared and the use of technology can make this very doable.

Who Are Family Caregivers? The American Psychological Association has statistics and more information about the makeup of the caregiver population in the U.S. There are links in the right hand column covering other areas of interest for caregivers. Again, something to archive and refer to going forward as needed.

The “Pearls” program is presented for us here by Harvard Public Health. This addresses primarily the mental health of caregivers, especially those know as “tweens” or the “sandwhich generation”. Tweens are caring in most cases for an elderly parent and in some cases, parents, and also have families of their own who still need their attention and care. Again, the mental health aspect of caregiving can’t be emphasized enough.

And One More Thing

Carebots. I would like to emphasize the word “Thing” in the title of this section, because carebots are definitely a thing. I have posted pictures before of them in a less than serious manner, but this is not a joke. I have posted pictures of two that are being used extensively. The tall one that actually looks like a robot is named “Pepper”. Pepper is being used in hospitals, nursing homes, assisted living, etc. I will post an article about Pepper below to give you an idea of its’ capabilities and it is eye-opening. The second picture is of ElliQ that looks more normal and is used primarily in home settings. I would say it is a much more capable Alexa. I will post an article about it also. I am not suggesting you subscribe to it, just sharing information. I read an article recently that said there are over 100 companies that have developed or are developing carebots world-wide. They are here to stay.

 

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