As we get older, our bodies still require movement, whether we like it or not. There are plenty of ways exercise and participate in physical activity that will help improve our health and livelihood, especially for seniors. Surprisingly, there are differences between exercise and physical activity. Knowing what those differences are and how each can benefit your health can help people over the age of 60 maximize their potential when it comes to staying active. Physical activity can include things like walking, jogging, biking, hiking, climbing stairs, carrying groceries or gardening. Exercise is considered to be a specifically planned, structured, and repetitive
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Posts by Freedom Home Care
Tips To Outdoor Fun for Good Senior Health
Rita Altman, Senior Vice President of Memory Care services for Sunrise Senior Living in Pennsylvania, recently wrote for Huffington Post a list of recommendations on how to keep summertime activities safe and enjoyable for those living with memory loss, and how to achieve the best senior health during these hot months. Citing research suggesting that singing and playing music contributes to memory retention, Altman recommends playing “music from summers past” at family gatherings. And when it comes to physical activities, Rita says that those living with dementia can – and should – participate, but most activities will need a little
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Music Therapy Shown to Have Powerful Healing Effects in Memory Care
Freedom Home Care has noticed that over the past few years, amazing strides have been made in memory care. As the body ages, so does the mind. Alzheimer’s is an all too familiar disease that affects the memory. There are approximately 5.2 million people in the U.S. with Alzheimer’s. Of that number, about five million are adults aged 65 or older. Memory care can be provided in an assisted living setting or through a nursing home. As Alzheimer’s progresses, those who suffer from it usually require more assistance. Patients may also receive services like 24 hour supervised care in a private
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Promise for Senior Health in Wearable Tech
Wearable technology is helping all of us get fitter, but it’s so far been marketed primarily to youth and people in their twenties whose lives are already well integrated with technology. Just look at ads for things like FitBit. But wearable tech has immense potential to help seniors who could do without nagging sons or daughters – or might not have anyone around to nag them. However, how likely are people over 50 to find the technology, well, wearable? A recent AARP study sought to find out. The senior advocacy group teamed up with Georgia Tech Research Institute’s HomeLab to
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Is Driving Cessation Really The Best Idea for Aging Seniors?
There are plenty of studies that list the reasons why older adults are no longer behind the wheel after 65 years of age, and drivers in the U.S. beyond 65 will represent about 25 percent of the population by 2025. But according to a new study conducted by RAND (research and analysis company), the results of a number of studies based on data like miles traveled for various age groups, traffic accidents and causes and various age groups have shown to be inconclusive. With the help of information released through the Fatal Accident Reporting System and more defined parameters, it’s been
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Falling Down: Prevention Tips
Trips and falls can lead to serious injuries, hip fractures, and head traumas in older adults – Freedom Home Care wants to help you take steps to prevent them. Each year, one in every three adults ages 65 and older slip and fall in the U.S. According to Physical Therapist Alice Bell, seniors who have fallen once are the most at risk of falling again. There are a number of factors that contribute to falls experienced by seniors, and any kind of fall can be especially dangerous for people with Osteoporosis. Known to many as the silent disease, Osteoporosis causes
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Memory Tests Could Indicate Alzheimer’s Years in Advance
Surprisingly, many people don’t realize that one of the earliest signs of Alzheimer’s are low scores on memory tests. It could be a mental aptitude test taken prior to being hired for a job, or maybe even a reading comprehension test for a college course. According to recent studies, consistent, incorrect answers or mistakes made on tests like these are a good indicator of progressive brain disease. What’s even more important is that the results of these memory tests could serve as a warning sign up to 18 years before the disease is even diagnosed. Currently, there’s no definitive way
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Senior Living Made Easy: Interview with Jacqueline Trotter Lotzof, JTL Brokerage & Construction
We recently sat down with Jacqueline Trotter Lotzof, senior care industry expert and former VP of Business Development and Marketing at Freedom Home Care. She has since moved on to a professional career in the brokerage and construction industry, and we had the opportunity to speak to her about her expertise, her passions, and how she can educate consumers senior living made easy. How do you focus on helping seniors with your brokerage / remodeling services? While working with seniors for 6 years and spending a significant amount of time in their homes, I gained a very good understanding of what is considered “senior safe.” Respecting
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Talking To College Students Is Good for Older Adults
It is perhaps a well-known fact that storytelling and sharing from one generation to another is good for everyone, young and old. But a new study has put it to the test, and has found that it is especially good for older adults on multiple levels – mentally, emotionally, and physically. The study focused on writing workshops for older adults living at home and in retirement communities. These workshops were conducted in group settings where adults were prompted to write “life reviews,” a form of memoir and personal writing. Thirty-nine seniors were randomly assigned to two distinct groups: one group
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Links Found Between Air Pollution and Degenerative Brain Diseases
The latest research indicates yet more reasons to go green — namely because not doing so could cost us our mental health. Air pollution has now been linked with degenerative cognitive diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. The immense number of cars on the road with inefficient combustion infuses the air we breathe with fine and ultrafine particles — specks of waste at least 36 times finer than a grain of sand, often riddled with toxic combinations of sulfate, nitrate and ammonium ions, hydrocarbons, and heavy metals. We have long known that these tiny particles cause and exacerbate respiratory problems like asthma and
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