Age Well

Don’t be fooled into thinking that good genes alone determine how well a person ages!

There are some specific ways to stack the aging deck in your parents’ favor and this is the page where you’ll find them.  Are you ready?  Here they are:

• Fall Prevention
• Good Nutrition
• Socialization
• Mental Wellness
• Physical Wellness

First things first…

Why is fall prevention so key to aging well?

Because a lot of people – roughly 10 million total over the age of 65 – are falling!

And here’s where it gets serious: about a third of all those who fall don’t just get up and resume activities of daily living as usual — they sustain injuries that limit their mobility and independence or worse.  This means that in the blink of an eye, your well-abled mother, who dresses herself and does the laundry without issue, might suddenly require assistance because of a fall.  And despite what many people think, Medicare doesn’t cover the cost of this kind of help.  This leaves family to step in if hiring private help isn’t feasible.

How to prevent a nasty fall

A good place to start is by ensuring that your parents’ home is uncluttered, well-lit and free of throw rugs.  Good footwear and eye wear are also essential as is ensuring that your parents’ medications aren’t causing dizziness.  But the number one thing you can do to help your parent prevent a fall is to encourage them to EXERCISE!

So what exercises are best and how often should your parent do them? I knew you’d want to know, so I asked the experts.

Now on to Good Nutrition…

Studies show that most older adults are malnourished, but why?  There are quite a few reasons and poor oral health is one of them.  Take my grandmother, Dorothy, as a case in point.  Grandma Dorothy loved roast beef sandwiches.  But once she required dentures, she ate far less roast beef (and a heck of a lot of other foods!) than before. Weight loss and weakness followed which are a bad combination.

• Ensure and other products like it are great as a meal supplement but who wants to drink shakes for the rest of their life when they can eat real foods?!
  

Another reason for malnutrition in the elderly is that older adults don’t have access to nutritious foods.  Sometimes the reasons are logistical (i.e. they require assistance to grocery shop or cook so don’t bother) but quite often they’re financial.  Regardless, the patented societal response to an older adult with difficulty accessing food is to sign him/her up for Meals on Wheels.  I think this can be part of a strategy to improve nutrition, but it’s also not enough.

• Why Meals on Wheels is not sufficient nutrition

For starters, this program only provides ONE meal per day!  So, as it relates to your parent, you should think of this program as Meal on Wheel.  And have you ever delved deeper into the eligibility requirements for MOW?  If not, you should.  The reality is that not everyone who wants or needs this service can get it and wait lists can be long.

• So who supports seniors in getting good nutrition?

Once again, families often save the day here, most often by cooking and freezing extra meals that their parents can reheat in a microwave or toaster oven.

Are you someone who cooks extra food for your parents? If so, my best advice is to KEEP THIS UP! If your parents aren’t able to cook for themselves, this is the next best thing — that is if they like what you make!

Seriously though, cooking on a frequent basis for your parent is a considerable undertaking.  If you fall into the “tired and burnt-out” pack on this, be sure to get help from others.  But rest assured that you are making a considerable contribution to helping your parents age well.

The Importance of Socialization

Maintaining connections with peers is a critical part of a person’s overall quality of life and therefore essential to aging well.  There’s even reason to believe that those who have active social lives are at a decreased risk of developing Alzheimer’s or another form of dementia.

Do your parents get the chance to socialize frequently? Do they belong to clubs or would they like to?  If they’re home bound, do friends and extended family come to visit regularly? These are important things to consider particularly if your parent is the type of person who is used to and enjoys being around people.

• Spotting opportunities to socialize
  

I met a woman once who had spent 30 years working at a busy bakery and loved every minute of it.  Now in her late 80′s and retired, she dearly missed the hustle and bustle of the store.  So, she recreated it!  There was her daily trip to the newsstand in the morning and to a local diner at night. In fact, she’d pop into the beauty parlor twice a week just to have her hair washed and set. Did she have water and shampoo at home? Yup.  Rollers?  You betcha.

The truth is that she was getting more from the newsstand, diner and beauty parlor then met the eye…

• So why is socializing with others such a powerful thing?

Because we all need to (and most of us want to!) belong.  As we get older, opportunities to feel valuable and useful become fewer and farther between.  Older adults in particular have to work at it.

So God Bless the group of older adults who have found one another and become determined to convene at the same local spot come hell or high water! Make no mistake about it – they are not just shooting the breeze!  They are relishing the feeling that they matter to one another.  If your aging parent is lucky enough to belong to such a pack, do all you can to get behind it.

What about Mental Wellness?

In my humble opinion, the biggest threat to mental wellness in older adults is depression, anxiety and/or cognitive decline.

Do you think that your aging parent may be depressed?  If so, helping him or her to address it is time well spent. Before you do, it’s a good idea to familiarize yourself with the signs and symptoms of depression as well as treatment options.

Also, it’s important to know that while depression in the elderly is prevalent, it is not a normal part of aging.  There is a significant difference between feeling “blue” and depression. The latter significantly impacts appetite, sleep and enjoyment of life.

Depression can be triggered by a number of things including the loss of a spouse and or friends as well as a change in health status. It is treatable, however many older adults go untreated for depression because many families (and health care professionals!) fail to recognize the signs. If you think your parent is suffering from depression, don’t ignore your gut!

Here’s to Physical Wellness!

There’s no denying it: physical wellness is critical to aging well.  But beyond encouraging your aging parents to eat well and exercise more, you might be wondering what else you can do to help your aging parent achieve the best level of physical wellness possible.  I’m glad you asked!  My number one piece of advice here is to:

Know how to respond in an emergency

A medical event such as a stroke can occur at any moment and time is most certainly of the essence when it does.  Do you know the signs of a stroke and what to do if you think your parent may be having one?  What about the symptoms of a heart attack? A key part of maintaining physical wellness is doing what you can to help your parent stave off events that can change the trajectory of his/her health.

Of course this isn’t all on you!  Share this information with your parents and anyone else who is involved in their direct care.

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Have I left you with questions?  It’s okay! Get in touch and ask them!