Topics on Health matters
Free Guide to how healthcare reform affects seniors
Posted by: | DateFree Guide to how healthcare reform affects seniors.
How to Tell If Your Parents Need Help
Posted by: | DateHow to Tell If Your Parents Need Help by Carol Bradley Bursack
Visits with your parents provide an opportunity not only to spend quality time together, but to check their health to determine if they need extra help. Observe how they behave over the course of your visit and watch for the following warning signs that they may need additional assistance.
1. Are they experiencing balance problems?
Balance problems could be an early sign of dementia, bad joints or an inner ear infection. A fall could break their hip, and complications from a broken hip can be fatal. Watch their alcohol drinking habits, and find out if any of their medications could cause dizziness. If a parent or elderly loved one is walking unsteadily, insist they see a doctor.
2. Have they lost a lot of weight?
Look in their pantry and refrigerator to make sure they have nutritious food on hand. You can also suggest Meals-on-Wheels, a community program that brings a nutritious dinner to elders for a very reasonable price. If eating isn’t the issue, suggest they get a complete physical to see what’s going on.
3. Do they seem depressed?
If your parents are sleeping too much, have no interest in former hobbies they once loved, no appetite or no interest in anything at all, they may be suffering from depression. Ask a friend or neighbor about your parents’ moods when you aren’t there. Someone who sees them frequently may have a better sense of things.
Talk to them about their options
Often, elders won’t disclose they are having trouble because they fear they’ll have to move into a nursing home. So let them know there are other assistance options, such as in-home care agencies or personal medical alarms.
When you visit, don’t try to change everything right away. Just get a feel for what is going on and note what needs to be done to keep your parents or elders safe. Let them know you love them and want to help them stay in their home, and they’ll be more likely to cooperate.
What’s On Your Mind
Posted by: | DateExcerpted from caring.com/news
Middle aged adults might experience a decline in brain function if they are sleeping less than 6 hours a day or more than 8 hours. The mental decline is apt to be equivalent to being 4 to 7 years OLDER.
Trying to always do more in a given 24 hour day is causing people to sacrifice sleep to ensure they complete everything that is expected of them.
The study by the University College London Medical School cites that women who slept 7 hours a night have the highest score for every cognitive measure followed by those who had six hours.
However, less than 6 hours or more than 8 were associated with lower cognitive scores.
Sleep provides the body with its daily need for restitution and recovery. It is not yet clear in studies why 7 hours appears to be optimal for the majority of people.
Four ways to manage stress triggers
Posted by: | DateFound this article by Patrick Erwin on managing stress.
Four ways to manage stress triggers
Managing the demands of your workday and home life may seem impossible when you are in the burnout zone, but it’s important to restore balance in your professional and personal life.
In “Overworked, Overwhelmed and Underpaid,” Barajas talks about people who have a “dual-centric” outlook. These people assign the same priority to their work and home lives, and, according to a 2002 survey from the Families and Work Institute, they experience less stress. Barajas suggests four strategies to help workers strike this dual-centric balance.
1. Set strict boundaries between work and the rest of your life. Barajas says it’s important to define where the line is between home and work. “When dual-centric people are at work, they focus on work. When they leave the workplace, however, they leave it behind completely. They rarely take work home in the evenings, and they do not make themselves available for work questions or communications outside of working hours.”
2. Focus on whatever you are doing in the moment. “Being physically present does little good unless you are mentally and emotionally present as well,” Barajas advises. “When you put your full attention on whatever you are doing and are physically, mentally and emotionally present, you will find that you can give, and gain, the most from the task or relationship.”
3. Take time for rest and recovery. It’s great to be able to meet or exceed goals at work, but it’s important to remember that in the long term, taking care of yourself is an investment that pays off professionally as well as personally. Barajas suggests that workers create an atmosphere where this can happen. “Give yourself permission to spend time doing whatever helps you renew your energy, even if it’s doing nothing at all,” he writes.
4. Be clear about your priorities. “When you feel overworked, the reality is that you have lost track of your priorities,” Barajas says. “You must get clear about what’s important to you. One of the best ways to do so is to create a life blueprint of your goals, roles, values and key relationships. When you design a blueprint and live it to the best of your ability, you’ll feel less stress and more fulfillment — not just on the job, but your life as a whole.”
Patrick Erwin is a writer and blogger for CareerBuilder.com. He researches and writes about job search strategy, career management, hiring trends and workplace issues.