Q. I had a stroke a few months ago and I am recovering well, according to my doctor. What are the best ways to ensure I have all I need to make a strong comeback?
Check out your neighborhood for support while recovering from a serious illness such as stroke. The odds of surviving stroke appear to be much better for seniors living in neighborhoods where they interact more often with their neighbors and count on them for help, according to research published in Stroke: Journal of the American Heart Association.
“Social isolation is unhealthy on many levels, and there is a lot of literature showing that increased social support improves not just stroke, but many other health outcomes in seniors,” said Cari Jo Clark, Sc.D., lead author of the study and assistant professor of medicine at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. “What is unique about our research is that we have taken this to the neighborhood level instead of just looking at the individual.”
Clark and colleagues at the University of Minnesota and Rush University in Chicago studied 5,789 seniors (60 percent women, 62 percent black, average age 75) living in three adjacent neighborhoods in Chicago. Researchers interviewed the participants about their neighborhood and their interactions with neighbors.
While stroke incidence didn't differ among neighborhoods, stroke survival was far better for seniors living in “cohesive” neighborhoods, regardless of their gender. “I think this indicates that a positive neighborhood social environment is as important to senior health as stress or even crime, but it is a really complex issue,” Clark said.
One possible reason for improved survival is that seniors living in closer neighborhoods have others looking out for them who can get help sooner if they start experiencing stroke symptoms.
If you don’t feel that you can get that kind of support from your neighborhood, look to family and friends. Or consider a non-medical caregiving company. Your local Home Instead Senior Care® office can provide the support you may need to help you make a full recovery. Home Instead CAREGivers offer assistance with meal preparation, light housekeeping, errands and shopping – all activities that can allow you more time for rest and respite.
For more information about Home Instead Senior Care of Frederick County, go to www.homeinstead.com/627. To learn more about the research, visit http://www.ahc.umn.edu/media/releases/stroke-community/index.htm.
Monday, May 23, 2011
Monday, May 16, 2011
Home Helper Could Assist Patients Discharged from Hospital
Q. My mother is soon to be discharged from the hospital after a long post-surgery recovery. What problems could she encounter? Since she lives alone, how could we be prepared?
A recent study has identified an unusual phenomenon. For senior citizens, hospitalizations actually may cause temporary memory loss and difficulty in understanding discharge instructions, according to a Northwestern Medicine study.
The seniors go back to normal one month after the hospital stay, the study found. But immediately following a hospitalization is a critical time in which seniors may need extra support from healthcare professionals and family, according to Lee Lindquist, M.D., the lead author of the study, published online in the Journal of General Internal Medicine.
“A helper on the day of discharge could make sure a senior understands discharge instructions and help her get home and follow instructions safely,” Lindquist said. “If a patient is by herself the day of a hospital discharge, it’s possible that she won’t comprehend complicated medical instructions, increasing medication errors and chances of re-hospitalization.”
More than 200 seniors, age 70 and older, who lived on their own in the Chicago area and were not diagnosed with dementia or other cognitive problems, took part in the study. At the time of discharge, cognition tests were administered to examine mental status. Almost one-third had low cognition that was previously unrecognized. One month later, 58 percent of those patients no longer had low cognition. They had significant improvement in areas of orientation, registration, repetition, comprehension, naming, reading, writing and calculation.
“When the senior is no longer sick enough to be in the hospital, it doesn’t mean they’re 100 percent ready to be on their own,” Lindquist said. “It’s a critical time and they need extra support and understanding from healthcare professionals and family.”
Help ensure that your mother is safe by providing extra assistance for the days and weeks after she returns home from the hospital. If you or another family member can’t be with her the entire time she’s recuperating, contact the Frederick County Home Instead Senior Care® office.
A Home Instead CAREGiver can serve as a second set of eyes and ears to assist your mom with such activities as companionship, meal preparation, light housekeeping and medication reminders. CAREGivers are screened, trained, bonded and insured.
For more information about Home Instead Senior Care of Frederick County, visit www.homeinstead.com/627. For more about the study, go to http://www.northwestern.edu/newscenter/stories/2011/04/memory-loss-seniors.html.
A recent study has identified an unusual phenomenon. For senior citizens, hospitalizations actually may cause temporary memory loss and difficulty in understanding discharge instructions, according to a Northwestern Medicine study.
The seniors go back to normal one month after the hospital stay, the study found. But immediately following a hospitalization is a critical time in which seniors may need extra support from healthcare professionals and family, according to Lee Lindquist, M.D., the lead author of the study, published online in the Journal of General Internal Medicine.
“A helper on the day of discharge could make sure a senior understands discharge instructions and help her get home and follow instructions safely,” Lindquist said. “If a patient is by herself the day of a hospital discharge, it’s possible that she won’t comprehend complicated medical instructions, increasing medication errors and chances of re-hospitalization.”
More than 200 seniors, age 70 and older, who lived on their own in the Chicago area and were not diagnosed with dementia or other cognitive problems, took part in the study. At the time of discharge, cognition tests were administered to examine mental status. Almost one-third had low cognition that was previously unrecognized. One month later, 58 percent of those patients no longer had low cognition. They had significant improvement in areas of orientation, registration, repetition, comprehension, naming, reading, writing and calculation.
“When the senior is no longer sick enough to be in the hospital, it doesn’t mean they’re 100 percent ready to be on their own,” Lindquist said. “It’s a critical time and they need extra support and understanding from healthcare professionals and family.”
Help ensure that your mother is safe by providing extra assistance for the days and weeks after she returns home from the hospital. If you or another family member can’t be with her the entire time she’s recuperating, contact the Frederick County Home Instead Senior Care® office.
A Home Instead CAREGiver can serve as a second set of eyes and ears to assist your mom with such activities as companionship, meal preparation, light housekeeping and medication reminders. CAREGivers are screened, trained, bonded and insured.
For more information about Home Instead Senior Care of Frederick County, visit www.homeinstead.com/627. For more about the study, go to http://www.northwestern.edu/newscenter/stories/2011/04/memory-loss-seniors.html.
Monday, May 9, 2011
Progressive Weight Training Builds Muscle in Older Adults, Research Reveals
Q. My daughter has been after me to start a weight training exercise program she saw advertised at our local senior center. But, at age 76, I don’t see the point. Since my wife died I’m not interested in getting out.
Before you come down too hard on your daughter, please consider the fact that exercise could help you feel better and stay healthy.
Of course, you should discuss with your doctor any new exercise program before you begin. When you’re having that conversation, why not talk about resistance training. One of the unwanted side effects of aging is loss of muscle strength.
“Resistance exercise is a great way to increase lean muscle tissue and strength capacity so that people can function more readily in daily life,” says Mark Peterson, Ph.D., a research fellow in the University of Michigan Physical Activity and Exercise Intervention Research Laboratory, at the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.
Through resistance training adults can improve their ability to stand up out of a chair, walk across the floor, climb a flight of stairs – anything that requires manipulating their own body mass through a full range of motions. These are all skills that you would need to remain independent at home.
Progressive resistance training means that the amount of weight used, and the frequency and duration of training sessions is altered over time to accommodate an individual’s improvements. Research shows that after an average of 18-20 weeks of progressive resistance training, an adult can add 2.42 pounds of lean muscle to their body mass and increase their overall strength by 25-30 percent.
It can be difficult to get motivated to leave the house after the loss of a spouse. A friend could help. Perhaps someone you know would be interested in exercising with you. Or, if you don’t know anyone who would like to join you, why not consider hiring a caregiver companion.
The Frederick Home Instead Senior Care® office employs CAREGivers who are screened, trained, bonded and insured. Every effort is made to match both male and female CAREGivers with seniors of similar interests. So you could find someone who might be just what you need to improve your health and fitness.
For more information about Home Instead Senior Care of Frederick County, go to www.homeinstead.com/627. For more about the study, visit http://www.uofmhealth.org/News/senior-resistance-training.
Before you come down too hard on your daughter, please consider the fact that exercise could help you feel better and stay healthy.
Of course, you should discuss with your doctor any new exercise program before you begin. When you’re having that conversation, why not talk about resistance training. One of the unwanted side effects of aging is loss of muscle strength.
“Resistance exercise is a great way to increase lean muscle tissue and strength capacity so that people can function more readily in daily life,” says Mark Peterson, Ph.D., a research fellow in the University of Michigan Physical Activity and Exercise Intervention Research Laboratory, at the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.
Through resistance training adults can improve their ability to stand up out of a chair, walk across the floor, climb a flight of stairs – anything that requires manipulating their own body mass through a full range of motions. These are all skills that you would need to remain independent at home.
Progressive resistance training means that the amount of weight used, and the frequency and duration of training sessions is altered over time to accommodate an individual’s improvements. Research shows that after an average of 18-20 weeks of progressive resistance training, an adult can add 2.42 pounds of lean muscle to their body mass and increase their overall strength by 25-30 percent.
It can be difficult to get motivated to leave the house after the loss of a spouse. A friend could help. Perhaps someone you know would be interested in exercising with you. Or, if you don’t know anyone who would like to join you, why not consider hiring a caregiver companion.
The Frederick Home Instead Senior Care® office employs CAREGivers who are screened, trained, bonded and insured. Every effort is made to match both male and female CAREGivers with seniors of similar interests. So you could find someone who might be just what you need to improve your health and fitness.
For more information about Home Instead Senior Care of Frederick County, go to www.homeinstead.com/627. For more about the study, visit http://www.uofmhealth.org/News/senior-resistance-training.
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