Patient Daily Living

New research shows that walking at a comfortable speed on a treadmill helped people with Parkinson’s disease improve their mobility and independence.

Comedian Phyllis Diller once said, "Always be nice to your children because they are the ones who will choose your rest home." People aged 65+ represent about one-eighth (12.6 percent) of the total US population of 308 million, and while many older Americans live active and independent lives, some turn to nursing homes for nurturing support. Nursing home residents hope and expect to be in a place where they will feel safe, comfortable and cared for by committed and caring individuals. Nursing home residents will likely live in accommodations that have more in common with a hotel than a hospital with a room of their own, access to gardens and lounges and three meals a day served in the dining room.

Recent studies have proven that boredom and depression can have a very real effect on physical, emotional and mental health. This doesn't just apply to teens or thirty-somethings. Actually, for seniors, boredom and depression can be lethal. Caregivers are often advised on methods to alleviate their own depression after long periods of caregiving, but what about the elderly being taken care of? Are their needs being met?

Quality of life means living a well-rounded lifestyle. It means social interaction and physical activity that help maintain independence. Whether the parent lives in an assisted living facility or at home with the help of home health care workers, he or she needs enough mental, physical, and emotional stimulation to remain engaged in the process of living.

Caring for a loved one’s landscape doesn’t have to mean aches and pains for you.

The prospect of healthy aging is what we strive for as we get older. But we often think of it as a lottery—having to play the cards that we’ve been dealt.

Injury, disability, or diseases are among the factors that can affect the ability to carry out activities of daily living (ADLs). Stroke, for example, is the number one cause of disability among American adults.

"Of all the wonders that I yet have heard, it seems most strange that men should fear; seeing that death, a necessary end, will come when it will come," wrote William Shakespeare. But what if death were not a necessary end? What if old age and death could be delayed or even defeated?

According to a recent review published in the journal Gerontology, the theory that all cells have a limited lifespan, that body cells are programmed to die after a finite number of divisions, may not be absolute. In fact, genetic research has already discovered ways to regulate cell death and double the lifespans of several living organisms.

According to a study in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society by Dr. Gail Greendale of the University of California at Los Angeles, yoga can help. The study found that among a group of elderly study participants, those who did yoga for six months saw their upper spine curve lowered by about 5 percent compared to those who did no yoga.
Reducing Dowager’s hump will improve your appearance, but it also has important health benefits as well.

The older we get, the more difficulties we have with balance. Sometimes it’s because of changes in our eyesight; other times it can be caused by medication side effects, or the result of a loss of strength. Taking steps to help parents improve balance is essential, especially for the elderly. Not only will it help them live longer, but improved balance will also help people to live a healthier and more active life.

There is nothing more important than slip and fall prevention when providing elderly care. Fall risk prevention means making the home or living environment as safe as possible for a parent, grandparent or any elderly person. According to the CDC, traumatic brain injuries resulting from falls caused roughly 8,000 deaths and 56,000 hospitalizations in the past three years. The risks of women suffering from fall fractures is alarming, with nearly 72% of seniors admitted to hospitals for hip fractures being women.