September 15, 2009

Visit Parentgiving | Shop Parentgiving

The elements of being a satisfied senior, from living in a highly functional community to the value of participating in groups.

 

BY JULIE DAVIS

We typically think of the Environmental Protection Agency as a watchdog of industry, called on to clean up toxic waste or deal with other biohazards. So it’s likely that an EPA publication designed to help seniors influence their living environment may have gone unnoticed. But “Growing Smarter, Living Healthier: A Guide to Smart Growth and Active Aging,” published under the Agency’s Aging Initiative should be required reading not just for today’s seniors, but tomorrow’s seniors, too. The booklet, which can be downloaded or read online at www.epa.gov/aging/bhc/guide/index.html talks about why community design matters and how becoming involved in your community’s decisions about growth can make it a better place in which to grow old. It starts with an explanation of what to look for in an age-friendly community, starting with gathering places that are within walking distance of homes or a short bike ride, drive or shuttle trip away. These critical neighborhood meet-ups can include parks, libraries, community centers, places of worship, gyms, internet cafes, ice cream stores or neighborhood diners. Small neighborhood parks, town squares and plazas are great places to sit and read, catch up on e-mail, talk with friends or watch kids play. Larger parks and greenways can offer walking trails, bike paths, and sports fields. As we age in place, whether in the same house or the same community, these gathering places become even more important. Getting to these meeting places provides some of the physical activity that keeps us healthy. Being there in the company of friends provides the critical social interactions that keep us connected and engaged.

The idea behind the booklet is to get each of us involved in shaping the community we want to live in, and it’s filled with examples showing that change can happen when people get involved:

• Realizing that 40 percent of the population is adults over 60, local leaders in Dunedin, FL, decided to improve sidewalks and intersections to make them easier and safer to use. By widening sidewalks, installing curb ramps and curb extensions to reduce crossing distance and slow traffic and adding extra time to crossing signals, they made it safer and more pleasant for older adults—and people of all ages—to walk around the compact city. They also added a new senior center along the Pinellas Trail through downtown, making it easy for older adults and the center’s walking club to access the trail.
   
• Over 19,000 older residents in Kirkland, WA, can move around more safely after the Kirkland Senior Council and the Active Living Task Force got involved. They helped city staff design and implement innovative programs and policies like the “Complete Streets Ordinance” to design streets for walkers, bicyclists and drivers including wider sidewalks, pedestrian-friendly medians and in-street bike lanes. For more immediate impact, the “PedFlag Program” placed yellow flags at over 60 crosswalks that walkers pick up and carry across to remind drivers to yield to pedestrians, and then return flags to another holder after crossing. The “Flashing Crosswalk Program” incorporates flashing lights embedded into the pavement for 30 crosswalks at busier intersections.

Pro-active ideas suggested include getting involved in planning projects, programs and policies to help communities become more age-friendly, and the booklet points out that local planning and zoning boards, regional transportation committees, bicycle and pedestrian advisory groups and affordable housing task forces are all fueled by volunteer members—look for ads in the paper or on the web or call your local planning department. By participating in or initiating a community planning process you can help create a broad regional vision, a neighborhood plan or just work on a single intersection. Often conducted in day-long workshops or in a week-long intensive series of design meetings called a charrette, these efforts require active, committed community participants to be effective.

Because healthy eating is as vital as staying physical active, another suggestion is to locate a CSA, or community-supported agriculture farm and join up with friends, neighbors or a group like the senior center. If you can’t find one, talk to neighbors and friends to see if there is sufficient interest to inspire an area farmer to start one. Join or start a community garden—there is always land available somewhere. You might try it on some of the leftover space at public buildings, apartments, senior centers, schools, churches or in a park. Or organize a food co-op, or buying club: make ordering, picking up and dividing the food a social event, and even deliver it to those who can’t get out.
Good food for thought, and it’s even better when you grow it yourself.

 

Researchers at the Institute of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology I of the Heinrich-Heine University in Düsseldorf, Germany have given us another reason to eat our fruits and vegetables. They found that 400 grams of fruits and vegetables each day—about one pound or a total of 4 4-ounce servings—can translate to higher cognitive performance. Their results, published in the August 2009 issue of the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, showed that study subjects with this daily intake had higher antioxidant levels (antioxidants combat body-processes that age our cells), lower indicators of free radical-induced damage against lipids and better cognitive performance compared to healthy subjects of any age consuming low amounts—just one serving a day—of fruits and vegetables.

Dr. M. Cristina Polidori, currently at the Department of Geriatrics, Marienhospital Herne, Ruhr-University of Bochum, Germany, explains, "It is known that there is a strong association between fruit and vegetable intake and the natural antioxidant defenses of the body against free radicals. It is also known that bad nutritional habits increase the risk of developing cognitive impairment with and without dementia. With this work we show a multiple link between fruit and vegetable intake, antioxidant defenses and cognitive performance, in the absence of disease and independent of age. Among other lifestyle habits, it is recommended to improve nutrition in general and fruit and vegetable intake in particular at any age, beginning as early as possible. This may increase our chances to remain free of dementia in advanced age."

These findings are independent of age, gender, body mass index, level of education, lipid profile and albumin levels, all factors able to influence cognitive and antioxidant status. Further studies are planned that will include larger subject groups, patients with Alzheimer's disease at different stages and patients with mild cognitive impairment without dementia.

The work was performed in collaboration with the Department of Pharmacology at Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the Department of Geriatrics at Perugia University, Italy and the Department of Neurology of the St. Elisabeth Hospital in Cologne, Germany.

 

Writing in the September 2009 issue of Scientific American Mind, researchers from the Universities of Exeter (UK), Queensland (Australia) and Kansas reviewed a number of studies, including many of their own, which identify a link between group membership and physical and mental health. The work highlights the importance of belonging to a range of social groups, of hanging onto social groups and of building new social groups in dealing with life changes such as having a stroke and being diagnosed with dementia. Here are examples of the studies reviewed:

• A 2008 study published in Neuropsychological Rehabilitation of stroke sufferers showed that being able to maintain valued group memberships played as important a role in positive recovery as an ability to overcome cognitive difficulties like problems with memory and language. After their stroke, people's life satisfaction increased by 12 percent for every group membership that they were able to retain. 

   
• A 2009 study to be published in Ageing and Society showed that of residents entering a new care home who participated as a group in decisions related to the decoration of communal areas used those areas 57 percent more over the next month and were far happier as a result. In contrast, the use of space by residents in a control group declined by 60 percent, and these differences were still apparent three months later.
   
• Another 2009 study under review at Psychology and Aging looked at the impact of group interventions on the health and well-being of 73 people residing in a care facility. After a period of six weeks the researchers found that people who took part in a reminiscence group showed a 12 percent increase in their memory performance, while those who received individual reminiscence or a control intervention showed no change.
   
• Another 2009 study to be published in the Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology also studied nursing home residents and looked at the relationship between their sense of identity and well-being and the severity of their dementia. The study's key finding was that a strong sense of identity associated with perceived membership of social groups was a much better predictor of residents' well-being than their level of dementia.

"New research shows just how important groups and social identity are to well-being. This is something that people often overlook in the rush to find medical solutions to problems associated with aging, but it is time that these factors were taken much more seriously," said University of Queensland Professor Jolanda Jetten.

According to Professor Alex Haslam of the University of Exeter, "We are social animals who live and have evolved to live in social groups. Membership of groups, from football teams to book clubs and voluntary societies, gives us a sense of social identity. This is an indispensable part of who we are and what we need to be in order to lead rich and fulfilling lives. For this reason groups are central to mental functioning, health and well-being."

Dr. Catherine Haslam, also of the University of Exeter, another of the works' co-authors, added, "On the basis of what is now a very large body of research we would urge the medical community to recognize the key role that participation in group life can play in protecting our mental and physical health. It's much cheaper than medication, with far fewer side effects, and is also much more enjoyable."

 

ELDER CARE NEWS: BEST OF THE WEEK

A round-up of articles and studies impacting the lives of seniors

"Politics and the Age Gap," by Adam Nagourney (_New York Times_, September 13, 2009).
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/13/weekinreview/13nagourney.html

 

"'Long sleepers' show higher dementia risk," by Amy Norton (Reuters Health, September 11, 2009).
http://www.reutershealth.com/archive/2009/09/11/eline/links/20090911elin004.html

 

"Middle age meat eating may protect later abilities," (Reuters Health, September 11, 2009).
http://www.reutershealth.com/archive/2009/09/11/eline/links/20090911elin001.html

 

"Muscle: 'Hard to build, easy to lose' as you age," (Eurekalert [American Association for the Advancement of Science], September 11, 2009).
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2009-09/uon-mt091109.php

 

ILLINOIS NEWS: "Audit finds Ill. overcharging for long-term care," by John O'Connor (Associated Press via Chicago Tribune, September 10, 2009).
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-ap-il-longtermcare-audi,0,972917.story

 

"AP Poll: Seniors most interested in swine flu shot," by Lauran Neergaard (Associated Press via Google, September 10, 2009).
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5ipVdCZRDaAG46Z0Vtleq9DBEhaRgD9AKLR6G0

 

"The recipe to beat prostate cancer: Diet rich in key ingredients cooked in a specific way could help to prevent deadly disease," by Steve Connor (Independent [London, UK], Sep. 10, 2009).
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/the-recipe-to-beat-prostate-cancer-1784315.html

 

"Elderly? Check obesity using waist, hips, not BMI (Body Mass Index)" by Michelle Rizzo (Reuters Health, Jun. Sep. 9, 2009).
http://www.reutershealth.com/archive/2009/09/09/eline/links/20090909elin020.html