Senior Citizens Buy Record Numbers of Handguns

Gun Shows have a lot of variety to choose from.

Seniors are often times the target of criminals. Many times they are thought of as easy prey, as a woman in Indiana realized. After checking the mail, and closing the screen door, a young man tried to enter the home. The woman had locked the screen door as she was accustomed to for many years. The man punched through the screen door and fidgeted with the lock until he could gain access to the home. The woman was attacked, and robbed. She has sense recovered and now owns a hand gun.

With all of the recent controversy about gun control, many Senior citizens are attending gun safety courses. Gun sales are up with the talks about gun control in the media. All of the attention these recent school shootings have gathered, has people worried about what the government will limit in the coming years, with respect to gun ownership.

For a lot of seniors owning a gun can give them some confidence. Often times friendships are formed at the gun range, or in a gun safety course. Some senior citizen groups are attending these classes together.

Always check with your doctor before starting these classes to see if your bone health can tolerate the vibrations of gun fire.

Check your local paper to see if there are any gun shows, gun safety classes, and to see how much the shooting range is.

This is also an enjoyable way to get a little exercise, and get out of the house.

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Elderly Fall Prevention Strategies

As age increases, the risk of a fall increases.

Statistics:

  • 66% of indivuals that have a fall, will fall again in the next six months.
  • In people aged 65 to 70 only 1 out of every 200 falls will result in a broken hip.
  • In people over 85 years of age 1 out of 10 falls will result in a broken hip.
  • 25% of people who fracture their hip, die within six months.
  • Risk increases for a fall as age increases; the likelihood is even higher for women.
  • 50% of elderly patients that have a fall related injury are released to a nursing home, and never return home.

Some causes, and things you can do to prevent a fall from occurring:

Staying active is key to preventing falls.

  1. Little to no Exercise – as we age, we lose muscle. When we do not exercise, the effect is even worse. As the muscles start to atrophy and die, it becomes harder to walk correctly, and the gate changes, which causes the feet to drag very low to the ground. This increases coming into contact that may be on the ground, and a fall may occur.

 

Prevention: Start an exercise program, start walking, dancing, water aerobics, anything to help maintain muscles to help with stability.

Healthy bone vs. Osteoporosis affected bone.

 

  1. Osteoporosis – A disease that leaches the minerals from the bones which in turn causes a weakening of the bone. When a fall occurs, it is unclear as to if the bone was under stress and fractured, or if the bone was fractured as a result of the fall. In either case the cause was bone deterioration.

 

Prevention: Increase Calcium intakes with calcium rich foods like, milk, cheese, shellfish, yogurt, broccoli, and almonds. Supplements may need to be used as well. Additionally getting exposure to the sun for several minutes a day allow the body to produce Vitamin D, which is essential for the body to assimilate all that calcium.

Carefully read medication labels, and let your doctor know of any changes you experience in dizziness.

 

  1. Medication – Some medications cause drowsiness, reduce mental alertness, and can cause a drop in blood pressure, which can lead to dizziness, and a fall.

 

Prevention:  Be sure to mention to your doctor any changes that may affect your ability to walk.

 

Get regular eye examinations.

  1. Poor Eye Sight – When eyesight starts to fail, it can be more difficult to recognize changes in elevation, such as a rug, or transition from the carpet to the tile.

 

Prevention: Regularly schedule an appointment with an eye doctor. In doing so you will be able to see better for longer.

Remove loose rugs, or tape them down.

  1. Environmental obstacles – These most often include, loose rugs, furniture too close together, items left on the floor, poor lighting, or the fact that there are no rails or grab bars installed in key locations such as the restroom and bed side.

 

Prevention:  High contrast colors anywhere there is a transition in flooring. High contrast colors between carpet and furniture. Tape down, or remove loose rugs. Install hand rails. Repair cracks in concrete or pavement. Keep walkways clear from rocks and debris. Keep sidewalks free from ice and snow.

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How and Aging Population can Influence Infrastructure Changes

The baby boomer generation is starting to age. According to a recent study, in 2050 the number of citizens over 65 will be greater than 88 million. This number will be more than twice the seniors over the age of 65 in 2010.

This means that an aging population will need some alternatives for transportation. Even after the driver’s license has to be given up, the need to get around, and to interact, is still very present. These seniors have money to spend. Law makers are trying to make it easier for this powerful demographic to matter.

The number of children the average household has lowered which will also tilt the scale toward an aging population. With all of the focus on healthcare, Social Security, and other government aid topics under heavy scrutiny, there is another problem emerging: How do we get these baby boomers into the cities so they can spend money?

Public transportation will reach out a bit further to communities that are close to the city, but do not have the luxury of public transportation.

There will also be campaigns trying to encourage the elderly to move back to the cities. The mayor of Phoenix said, the more senior citizens we can attract to the heart of the city, the better off the city will be.

Contact your state representative and ask what the plans are for strengthening the infrastructure in your area.

Consider moving into the city so that these transportation services can be used. Often times being isolated in a rural setting, with no one to provide transportation, the senior may have no choice but to move into an assisted living facility. If the same senior citizen moves into a larger city, there are more programs and transportation alternatives available. This simple change may allow the citizen to age in place.

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Dancing Improves Health for Senior Citizens

Dancing is great exercise.

One challenge that many healthcare providers have is getting their elderly patients to exercise regularly enough.

Many seniors find it too challenging to take up a rigorous strength training, or cardio routine, due to health reasons. For many seniors these types of activities are not an option as they are just too physically demanding for their current health levels.

Joining a dance class can be an invigorating experience for a multitude of reasons:

  1. Cardiovascular wellness  – Dancing is great exercise, and elevates the heartbeat enough to get some heart health benefits.
  2. Increased Flexibility – The constant movement helps to keep muscles, and joints active, which helps to keep the body moving more freely.
  3. Social Connections – After the children have moved on, and spouses pass away, many senior citizens start to develop pretty significant feelings of loneliness and isolation. Dancing is a social activity. A dance class is a great place to meet like-minded individuals and a good way to work on creating lasting friendships.
  4. Relieve minor Joint pain and stiffness – Since dancing is a natural, fun activity, it doesn’t seem like a difficult task to perform. This ease in participation will often allow the participant an ability to move in ways they typically aren’t used to moving. This can lead to a reduction in pain and swelling of painful joints.
  5. Improvements in Balance – Dancing improves balance and coordination. Falling and breaking bones is always a big concern when it comes to senior citizens. By dancing regularly the improved balance will help keep falls from happening.
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Are Retirement Homes Taking Care of Their Properties Correctly

The Villages Retirement Home

There is a retirement home in San Jose called The Villages. This community has a small problem. There is a 170 head Deer herd. In an effort to take care of the problem the retirement home decided to hire some archers to eliminate some of the deer. This was met with a large number of very public protests, and the director pulled the plug on the project.

Since that time the problem had doubled. The next plan is to capture the female deer and have them spayed. This should help keep the population explosion under control.

Run girl, RUN!

The deer in this example have caused over $150,000 worth of landscape damage. This is obviously at a premium property that has very expensive fees for the residents. If you even have a budget for landscaping, then most likely the home is doing pretty well. And if you have $150,000 for landscaping, you can imagine the other amenities are exceptional as well.

But what happens to other retirement homes that run on a very tight budget? When cuts are made, what goes first?

Often times the landscaping gets put on the back burner, one of the signs that this is happening is a change from seasonal, or annual blooming flowers to hedges. Hedges are still expensive but it is just a one-time installation.

Another thing to look at is wheelchair access. Most facilities will have easy access to the front and rear facilities. The real thing to look at when eyeballing a property is wheelchair access to the grounds. Wheelchair ramps should be easily accessible at all entrances. If it is difficult to get to or through the grounds, it is a safe bet that the residents don’t see much sunlight.

The most important factor when evaluating which retirement community to become a part of, is the quality of care that is delivered to the individuals on the inside.

Bad Retirement homes let the landscaping go

It is however to note the way the facility looks on the outside, If the landscaping has been skimped on, it is likely that there is not budget left over for things such as flowers and un needed decorative landscaping. If the facility is skimping on the outside, they are likely skimping on the inside as well.

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A Reverse Mortgage can Reverse your Fortune

Predatory Lenders specialize in Reverse Mortgages

Recently due to the banking crisis a lot of the major players such as Metlife, Wells Fargo, and Bank of America, have pulled out of the reverse mortgage market because of the housing market being so poor and because of the difficulty in assessing a potential customer’s ability to pay back the loan.

The departure of many of the big players has now left the door open for multiple small lenders to flood the market. Many of these lenders are not even licensed to do business and they do not act under any regulations on the practices they use to get these loans.

Some of the red flags are claims of explosive growth, and the claim that the loan will not have to be paid back until the borrower moves out or dies. Often times the lender’s promise that there is no way you will lose your home. In fact many unsuspecting recipients of these nefarious reverse mortgages have been evicted from their homes, and watch helplessly as the locks are changed on their homes.

One of the loop holes they exploit is trying to get the older spouse on the loan application and not to place the younger healthier spouse on the loan application. In this way when the older spouse passes away, the surviving partner is responsible for the full amount of the loan against threat of eviction.

The reverse mortgage is only available to seniors above age 62. Recently a woman of 58 who was married to an 82 year old gentleman, was told that when she turned 62, she could be placed on the application. Her husband became ill and passed away with a heart condition. Since she was not on the loan application, the lender owns the house unless the full amount is paid. Within one month she was informed she owed $193,000. She was asked to pay this fee or face eviction.

Many of these predatory lenders are very aggressive and suggest using the money to take a well deserved vacation. Many will help find a great deal on a cruise for unsuspecting victims. Often times they may suggest the money can be used for badly needed home medical supplies. Be aggressive in return, when looking at a reverse mortgage only use reputable lenders. Know who you are dealing with in advance.

If done correctly a reverse mortgage can be a helpful investment, when done incorrectly it can cost you everything.

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Large Sodas will be made Illegal

large cokes are bad

New York City working to ban Large Sodas

It is widely known that sugary soft drinks are an unhealthy part of the average American’s diet. The high fructose corn syrup used to produce these drinks simply supply the body with empty calories. These simple sugars are broken down in the body in one step. The blood sugar rises, insulin comes into the bloodstream and carries the excess carbohydrates into the fat cells.

If carbohydrates are always readily available the human body will run exclusively on these as a source of energy. The body will do this because it is much easier to break down simple sugars for fuel that it is to breakdown and use proteins or fats. The addition of the empty calories from sodas keeps the body’s demand for energy fulfilled, and surpassed.

As an example let us say we order a hamburger, and a large coke. We consume the burger and the coke. The body sees what we have consumed and uses the simple sugars from the soda right away. A portion of the burger is broken down and utilized as well. However because the body has so much extra sugar to deal with it sends out the insulin to encapsulate the sugars to place in our fat cells for later use.

The problem comes in when the fat cells also take in the excess unused portion of the burger, so our fat cells have excess sugars, fat and sodium. The body will only use fat as a source of energy if there are no other immediate alternatives available. Consuming large amounts of sugary sodas make it so that our fat cells act like a check valve. Our cells only allow for storage going in and the excess energy is never taken back out.

This is widely known. New York City is preparing to launch a ban on large soft drinks in fast food restaurants, convenience stores, and movie theaters. Studies have shown that the ban will likely result in the average consumer consuming 73 calories less than if the ban wasn’t put into effect.

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Dental Health Caregiving

This gallery contains 2 photos.

As people age and progress into their senior years, not only does their dependence on caregivers change, but their need for medical care increases exponentially. With other major health concerns often taken precedence, dental care for seniors is frequently pushed … Continue reading

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Social Security Benefits Stolen with a Phone Call

Shredding personal information helps protect against identity theft

The only information a would-be identity thief needs is a small amount of personal information about a recipient of Social Security. With this starting point it only takes a phone call to reroute the benefits to the thief’s personal account, It may take months to clear up the issue.

It should not be so easy for the funds to be diverted into a different account with just one phone call. Some law makers are trying to make this more difficult for the thieves to carry out this crime.

The proposed solution will be to contact the recipient by phone, and mail, to make sure that the changes in the dispersal of the funds are warranted.

As always the proper disposal of personal information is extremely important. Utilizing a shredder for important personal papers will help keep the likelihood of an identity thief getting the information they need to steal your benefits. Luckily you can still keep am a sense of security at night by preventing your body from rolling out of the bed more easily than your identity.

 

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10 Tips for Hiring a Caregiver for Your Elderly Parents

  1. Make sure to use a company that has a good reputation. Insist on seeing the references of any potential care-giver. Check the references.
  2. If the individual in need of care is unable to operate a motor vehicle or otherwise provide transportation for themselves, they may need to rely on the care-giver to run errands for them. This may give need for the care-giver to access the funds in order to pay bills on their behalf.
  3. Insist on being added to the accounts in question so that careful monitoring will occur. Inform the healthcare provider the account is monitored.
  4. Conduct interviews in person with any individuals that will be entrusted with the care of your parent.
  5. Be sure to get a photocopy of a valid photo ID, and record identifying information such as tag numbers, and any other information that can be accessed.
  6. Make sure to report and keep the documentation of any items that go missing or that you suspect may have been stolen.
  7. Dismiss any care-giver that has given you or your parent any reason to doubt the trust that you have in them.
  8. If you are unable to regularly check in on your parent, be sure to check in your phone regularly. Take note of any irregular bruising, dramatic weight loss, or any other signs that may suggest abuse.
  9. The adult children should ask to get on the bank accounts of their parents, so that they can carefully monitor the money coming in and going out. Make sure to mention this to all potential care-givers. Explain to the parent that this is for their protection. The monitoring can be done on-line.
  10. The most important thing is to let your parent know that you have their protection, and safety in mind. And that more than anything their happiness is important to you. If they are not happy with a healthcare provider, be sure to find out why.

Find even more info over at AARP.

Thanks again to DMESupplyGroup.com for their help with content on this blog.

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