Home Care for Elderly – Helping Your Parents Have Their Cake and Eat It Too

Posted by eldadm

When a loved one, a mother, a father a grandparent, at some point, begins to lose their battle against aging and begins to find the completing of everyday tasks somewhat difficult when left by themselves, one of the first things they end up feeling is fear at being forced to leave their homes and being sent to a home for the elderly of some kind. Is that really necessary? As it turns out, a home health aide can often be a far better choice. Care for elderly parents isn’t just about getting them out of our hair; it’s about keeping them happy and feeling loved. Keeping that in mind, hiring personal care attendants or home health aides to come offer live-in assistance can often be a great way to help a loved one have their cake and eat it too.

There are three kinds of professionals who provide home care for elderly people – there are your home health aides, your personal care assistants and certified nursing assistants. Certified nursing assistants, of course, have some medical training. They have a license and they need to pass an exam to get it. They aren’t nurses though; the only work under them. The best they can do is to provide an elderly person with assistance with everyday activities and they can help them take care of painful health problems. Home health aides help with daily activities alone; they have no actual medical training. And personal care attendants are actually companions who help … Read the rest

Paleo? Really?

Posted by eldadm

If one more person at work asks me if I am “On Paleo” I might scream. No, its not a drug, it is the newest Fad Diet. And everyone know that Fad Diets come with groupies. This diet is not different than the others in that it tells you that restricting certain foods will make you lose weight. No shit, Sherlock.

The Paleo diet maintains that healthiest way to eat is to avoid the ground grain products that were unavailable to our cave man ancestors. People all over the world are changing the way they eat because some dude name Dr. Loren Cordain. PhD, of course. I think he’s a total nut who is selling folks a bill of goods.

Author Laura Miller agrees with me. At least about the diet. She states that thinking the human species hasn’t evolved in billions of years is just plain silly. Humans (and animals) have been evolving and changing for a really long time. She also points out that many species evolve quite quickly (humans being one of them) so basing a diet on “science” of evolution doesn’t hold water. Think about it. Humans have been grinding grains for close to 40,000 years – that’s a really long time to not get used to something. There are a great deal of foods that are included on the Paleo Diet that were NOT around in the hunter gatherer time. Foods such as the Brussel Sprout are only a few hundred years old. They were first … Read the rest

How To Run An Effective JV

Posted by eldadm

Has your joint venture taken off yet? Or are you and your JV partner still struggling to get noticed or even find that special niche? Joint ventures are a great way to promote a business idea with double the experience and double the resources. But without the right marketing strategy, your JV may sit stagnant with flimsy profits.

How can you give more oomph to your JV marketing and promotion? Take these marketing tools into consideration and put them into practice. You may find that your JV will start flying instead of coasting.

Joint Venture Design

What is your JV design? You should have a marketing design and theme for your business product. Here are some design elements to consider:

Color – What is your color scheme? Use colors that evoke emotions. For instance, reds are passionate, vibrant colors, while blues are subtle and more subdue. Use colors that promote your JV business idea best.

Logo – Does your JV have a logo? If you are jointly manufacturing a product or performing a joint service, you should consider having a professionally designed logo to add to all your promotional materials.

Graphic Standards – Does your promotional material have consistent graphical standards such as fonts, colors, and themes? Your promotional material will be taken more seriously when your graphics are consistent and professional looking.

JV Advertising

Where do you advertise your joint venture product or service? Are you marketing on a local, regional, or national level? The methods you use to … Read the rest

How To Be A Good Person

Posted by eldadm

My guess is that we all think we are pretty good people. We say “Please” and “Thank you”. We open the door for old ladies or folks with their hands full. These are good things to do, but let’s face it – you could do more.

Being a “good person” is a state of being, not a culmination of the things you do for others. It starts with your attitude towards yourself and trickles down to each person you encounter throughout your day. When you get mad at the waitress who forgot to place your order, you are changing the rest of her day, and yours as well.

  1. Relax. This is temporary. – Whatever situation you are in just remember – it is temporary. Whether you are stuck in traffic or going through a divorce – it is temporary. Remembering to take a deep breath and tell myself “This isn’t forever” is the only way I got through this last year in Austin.
  2. Don’t take your anger out on others. It’s ok to get angry, but you must learn to control it. Don’t let anger be a part of your decision making process. Calm your mind and body before making any decisions, phone calls, emails, or anything else that could make your situation worse. Work out. Talk a walk. Meditate… but don’t yell at people. It isn’t nice.
  3. Do the right thing. You have a choice to do the right thing or not. That means you can decide to be
… Read the rest

The Importance Of Keeping Fit As you Get Older

Posted by eldadm

The Journal of the American Medical Association encourages older adults to keep active and remain fit to help prolong your life.  Keeping active and fit can help prevent and delay illnesses or disabilities as you grow older.

Physical fitness is important throughout your life, and is just as important at older ages as younger.  Being active has been shown to lower risks of falls.  Fitness has been shown to lower risks to heart disease, diabetes, arthritis, and even promote longevity.

Most older adults may safely do exercises, fitness regimens, and physical activities while following guidelines by your doctor, a fitness trainer, or physical therapist.  Get an evaluation on your overall fitness, and find out the best workout for you.  Each of us is an individual, and your workout routine needs to fit your own needs, not those of someone else.  Follow your fitness routine, and before you know it, you will increase your overall fitness level.

Regular physical activity can also improve mental function in older adults.  We all know older adults with memory complaints.  Look at a study published in 2008 to find the connection between overall fitness, an active lifestyle, and improved memory function.

Choose activities you enjoy.  Just like when you were younger, if you don’t enjoy it, you won’t follow through and do it.  Plan to make being fit a part of your everyday life.  Simple routines at home can help you stay fit, limber, and active.

Play with children, they love it.  Remember how they … Read the rest

Can E-Cigs really Help You Stop Smoking?

Posted by eldadm

Every smoker knows just how hard it is to give up cigarettes and we should know as we seem to spend as much time trying to give up as we do smoking. With so many different methods promoted as being the perfect way to stop you would think that we have eradicated this problem by now but things seem to be getting better very slowly. 

If you are still in the nicotine trap and have tried all the regular stop smoking aids you might want to pick up an e cigarette.Its possible you haven’t heard of the electric cigarette before as they are relatively unknown compared to the regular nicotine replacement therapies. This new device is similar in many ways to the nicotine inhaler you might have seen in the pharmacy but is much more effective.

The reason for this being that e cigs not only satisfies the nicotine craving but also gives the sensation of smoking. Given that its losing the habitual nature of smoking that causes you to go back to smoking after most attempts to quit, it should be easy to understand that this could be a major step forward.e cigarettes look much like standard tobacco product but works by means of a battery operated component called an atomizer. When you inhale, this atomizer vaporizes the nicotine contained in a cartridge and delivers your nicotine and a sensation very similar to that which you are used to.

This high tech device is still pretty hard to find … Read the rest

Is Cheap Health Care Really Possible?

Posted by eldadm

Cheap health care is every one’s dream. In addition to this, people also need the assurance that such health care will be quality and effective. Over the years, the government has struggled with the issue on how best to ensure that every citizen has access to affordable health services. The private sector too has had its fair share of contribution to the debate as Louise Minchin from ANA Recruitment – a leading provider of health care staff in Aberdeen, Scotland explains,  with health insurance providers on the forefront selling us cheap packages.
This however raises the question – just what is entailed in cheap health care? According to the government, cheap health services need to be affordable for anyone who is seeking medical check-ups, treatment for an illness, complete pre and ante-natal care, check-ups and immunizations for children, prescription drugs and dental care.
Government sentiments indicate that cheap health care provision would make the country a healthier nation since those who go without health care due to the high costs involved would embrace health services more.  The cheap health care concept is different from the free health care concept. In the latter, cost-sharing between the government and the citizenry is what most people rely on. Usually, government offers health subsidies to different social groups. It can also engage the pharmaceutical companies into providing cheaper drugs or through engagement with health care insurance providers to ensure that every citizen has insurance cover.
So far, the poor, the seniors and the … Read the rest

Why You Need To Stay Fit As A Senior

Posted by eldadm

We’ve always been told that fitness is vital for everyone, regardless of their age. However, as you get older, there are some increases in your needs, including a bigger need for being physical fit. Here are some reasons you should focus on your fitness as a senior.

Improves Cognitive Function

For a long time, it’s been known that there is a link between physical activity and cognitive health. Some people believe that this could be due to the increase of blood flow to all parts of the body, including the brain but, whetever the reason, having a well maintained routine has been shown to have a noticeably positive effect on depression, as well as a reduction in damage resulting from cognitive brain disorders. Daily exercise improves coordination and communication between the brain and the body, which is better for a healthy system overall.

Helps Prevent Diseases and Injury

It’s been discovered that an active lifestyle during the senior years can improve blood pressure, and in turn aid heart health. Getting your heart rate up for a sustained period helps to strengthen the heart which can help reduce the risk of heart failure. Exercise can also sure up the muscles that you need to remain balanced, which results in a reduction of risk for falling. The simple act of standing, extending and stretching can help preserve flexibility, which will both reduce risk of muscle injury, and help to slow or prevent loss of bone density.

Your Body Will Heal Better

When the body … Read the rest

The Importance of Understanding Cholesterol For Older People

Posted by eldadm

Cholesterol is a fatty substance. It doesn’t sound like something you would want in your body, but you do need some. It plays a role in the production of many things your body needs, which I’ll cover later. The problem lies in having too much of the bad fatty substance that can lead to clogged arteries cutting off blood flow throughout your body, but especially to your brain. This can be a particular problem for elderly people who are often less active but still have the same basic health requirements as the rest of us. Lets take a quick look at why controlling your cholesterol and minimising its negative effects is so important, particularly if you are older.

First of all, you have good cholesterol and bad cholesterol. Your objective is to raise the good and lower the bad. First, though, you need to understand what the numbers mean.

Cholesterol is measured in 4 ways; total cholesterol, good cholesterol, bad cholesterol, triglycerides. When the doctor does a blood test and sends you the results, it will be a measure of the numbers above. Here’s a breakdown of what those numbers indicate.

Total cholesterol measures the amounts of LDL and HDL levels in the blood. It’s a count of the overall amounts of cholesterol–good and bad.

LDL or Low Density Lipoprotein is bad cholesterol. It should be less than 100mg/dL (100 milligrams per deciliter). Anything above 129 is cause for concern.

HDL or High Density Lipoprotein is good cholesterol. It should be 60 mg/dL or … Read the rest

Retired Couples Can Still Have Fun

Posted by eldadm

Retired couples no longer should be portrayed as just being two senior citizens rocking back and forth in their chairs on the front porch while the man naps and the woman knits. These days, retired couples are full of fun and zest for their newly acquired life as retired people.

There are so many fun things to do and experience as a newly retired couple, so, lets face it, there should only be a minimum of rocking out on the front porch.

Travel and Adventure

Hopefully, having planned your finances successfully and maybe even downsized to a smaller home, condo, or townhouse, you now have some financial flexibility as well as having some time-wise to travel and explore.

There are several activities you can explore while traveling as well:

* Hiking – Hiking is a great way to keep physically fit, explore, go out on adventures, and meet new people with similar interests.

* Boating – If you have always wanted to live the boating life, now is a great time to try it out. Explore options for taking classes before you head out on the water so that you are familiar with safety and emergency precautions. Grab a group of friends and set sail for the day.

* Camping – If you felt that camping was too much work when raising your young family (too many things to pack along), now may be the perfect opportunity to investigate the great outdoors.

* Beaches – Becoming a beach bum as part of your retirement plan … Read the rest