There are many intrinsic rewards of caregiving. Having to care for an aging parent is something many of us avoid thinking about. We assume caregiving is going to be stressful and take a toll on our own health. However, this article in NPR discusses how caregiving can be truly rewarding and may even offer surprising benefits to the caregiver's health. There were 3,503 participants in this study on caregiving. Only 17 percent [...]
Recognizing the early signs of dementia is not always so straight forward. Most of us think of dementia as a loss in memory. However, the early signs of dementia can include changes in characteristics like behavior, mood and motivation. This article in Health.com reports on a group of experts who are trying to establish a new diagnosis called the Mild Behavioral Impairment (MBI). This new way of recognizing the early signs [...]
What are Elder Orphans? Older adults who become physically or socially isolated while lacking a family member to care for them are Elder Orphans. A 2012 study found that about one third of adults ages 45 to 63 are single, either by divorce or by choice. While 69 percent of Americans will need long-term care later in life, only 37 percent think they will. The importance of preventing isolation in seniors [...]
Finding joy after a loved one's death can be as elusive as spotting a unicorn. For Keith Davison, 94, the process of finding joy after his wife's death came in the form of neighborhood children giggling and splashing in his brand new pool. Keith, who was married for 66 years, told 12 News that he cried a lot because he missed his wife. When he first announced his idea of building an in-ground [...]
Reducing your fall risk is often overlooked as a serious problem in older adults. Have you tried balancing on one foot lately? Chances are, if you are 50 years or older, you won't be able to balance as well as you used to. Fall risks are something that we take quite seriously at Arizona Elder Care. We have scheduled Occupational Therapists to visit our clients' homes to identify potential fall risks [...]
Good news for grandparents! Babysitting grandchildren just one day per week reduces the risk of dementia and Alzheimer's disease. A new study published by The Journal of The North American Menopause Society followed 120 grandmothers in Australia and found that cognitive functioning is higher for grandmother's who babysit one day per week. But the data also suggested that grandmother's who babysit five or more days per week did not reap [...]
New brain X-rays can potentially diagnose and treat the early stages of Alzheimer's disease. Recently, researchers at Sweden's Lund University have identified certain changes in the brain using a synchrotron accelerator, a type of super-bright, high-quality X-ray machine, that show the very beginning stages of Alzheimer's disease. This could lead to earlier diagnosis and treatment, which is good news for the predicted 15 million Americans who may start to suffer [...]
Your doctor has mentioned the importance of exercise in dementia prevention, right? It is true that exercise can have delay the development and severity of the disease. In a study done at McMaster University with a group of 1646 adults 65 years and older, walking just three times per week was linked to huge benefits. Exercise helped postpone or prevent the development of cognitive problems. The Huffington Post reports that [...]
Caring for aging loved ones can be exhausting, time consuming, frustrating and draining. Regardless of whether your loved one is suffering from Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, dementia, pulmonary disease (COPD), diabetes, or congestive heart failure (CHF) to name only a few, the toll it takes on the caregiver is exponential. "Avoiding Caregiver Burnout" in the New York Times gives us a look at the struggles that millions of aging adult children [...]
There is a new light into dementia. We already know that music helps soothe those suffering from dementia by helping them reconnect with the person they used to be by triggering memory. This video from a New Zealand rest home shows how light therapy can make a difference as well - both for those suffering from dementia and their loved ones who witness the results - the presence of their remembered loved one for [...]
