With more and more Baby Boomers approaching their Golden Years, the number of seniors choosing to age-in-place is growing year after year. So, it becomes increasingly more important for elderly loved ones and their family members to raise the level of safety when it comes to living alone. Cost effectiveness and practicality are just a few things to keep in mind when considering what upgrades need to be made to senior-proof your home. Freedom Home Care offers some additional tips below on how to make your loved one’s home safer and more comfortable for the long haul. Identify Potential
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Posts by Freedom Home Care
Mindful Breathing Keeps the Mind Young and Healthy
One of the simplest and most important exercises that you could possibly do is one you probably think the least about – breathing. More specifically, it’s mindful breathing. Mindful breathing is the practice of managing stress, anger and anxiety. Stress is triggered in the nervous system where it causes the fight or flight response. This happens when the body perceives a threat and reacts by releasing hormones that create physiological changes like escalated heart rate, muscle tone and blood pressure – a reaction that’s only beneficial when we’re under duress or need to act quickly. Fight or flight is meant
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Brain Cells Keep Growing Well Into Our 70's
You’ve probably heard the old saying that we somehow “lose brain cells” as we age? Well, according to researchers, that’s only part of the story. New studies show that adults can continue to create neurons even in old age. Neurons are simply nerve cells that transport information from one part of the body to the other. There are roughly 86 billion neurons in the human brain. From birth, our bodies create about 250,000 brain cells a minute in order to reach that number. Seniors have the ability to make about 700 hippocampal new neurons every day. That’s encouraging news because
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Ways Animals Benefit The Elderly
Pets seem to add an extra something special to our lives. Sometimes it’s difficult to describe all the ways they actually benefit us. So, in case you or your senior were considering a pet, Freedom Home Care offers some pretty good reasons why pet ownership might be right for you. According to research, pets help increase social interaction, lower blood pressure and reduce stress. They have also been enlisted as therapy animals for people diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. They Help Ward Off Loneliness Even if they’re receiving caregiver services from a home care agency you trust, many older loved ones often
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55 to 70 Year Old Women and Men With Prediabetes Get Stronger Bones With Football Training
Engaging in a friendly game of football at the age of 60 or 70 years old would be unthinkable to most. But when a group of seniors, ages 55 to 70, underwent 16 weeks of football training – combined with a healthy diet, they reportedly experienced a noticeable increase in heart and bone health. In a study conducted by researchers at the University of Denmark and the University of Faroe Islands, “untrained middle-aged and elderly people with prediabetes” showed results of increased protein hormone and bone serum levels by 23 percent in the femoral neck and 52 percent in the
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5 Myths About Alzheimer's Disease
There are a number of reasons why Alzheimer’s is one of the most destructive diseases of the aged. It causes brain cells to break down and eventually die. It takes away a person’s independence, their memories and their livelihood. As it progresses, Alzheimer’s only gets worse. It leaves no survivors. Now that we understand what Alzheimer’s is let’s talk a little bit about what it isn’t. Freedom Home Care provides a list of common myths and misconceptions below. Only Seniors Develop Alzheimer’s According to alz.org, about 5.5 million people over 65 are suffering from Alzheimer’s while roughly 200,000 people
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See How Swimming Benefits Your Health
Swimming is great exercise. In fact, it’s like an aerobic workout that everyone, including seniors, can do without damage to the joints. It exercises the entire body and cardio system, while burning about the same number of calories that you would by running. While many of us may know that swimming is a good way to workout, we may not necessarily realize just how beneficial it can be for older adults. Those of us here at Freedom Home Care decided to look up some of the advantages of swimming and provide a list of what we found below. Swimming Affects
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Keep Your Loved Ones Safe This Summer With These Tips
Summer is a time meant to be enjoyed by everyone, included older loved ones. But oftentimes, a lack of pre-planning can render seniors defenseless during heat waves and high temperatures. According to dripdrop.com, from 1999-2009, statistics showed that more than 40 percent of all-heat related deaths in America involved seniors over 65. And each year, 200 adults age 50 and older die because of high heat and humidity – many of which were preventable. So, how do your keep your older loved one safe while making sure they’re able to make the most out of the hot, summer months? Freedom
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Healthy Snacks for the Summer
As we get older, we tend to either experience changes in appetite or lose our appetite altogether. This is usually due to a number of different things like thyroid disorder, Alzheimer’s disease, mouth and throat infections, gum disease, salivary gland problems or cancer. A loss or change in appetite could also be the result of non-medical conditions such as dehydration, difficulty chewing or swallowing, loss of taste, lack of exercise or problems with meal preparation. In addition to changes in appetite, seniors’ nutritional needs can alter their diets and the way they eat, as well. That’s why it’s important
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Pioneering Exercise Program and Its Benefits
Scientists are constantly looking for ways to help enhance the lives of our nation’s elderly population. This is essential, as the number of seniors age 65 and older has reached more than 50 million as of 2016 and is on track to increase by as much as 30 million in the next three decades, according to seniorcare.com. And one of the ways researchers are doing this is by developing a ground-breaking program that fosters physical and cognitive growth in older loved ones, while catering to the capabilities of the person as an individual. UPV/EHU Ageing-On research group’s program focuses on
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