Keeping Older Adults Independent

Healthy Habits for Seniors, Part 2 How Pickleball Can Help Both Physical and Mental Health   We are witnessing the explosion of pickleball in Arlington County and Fairfax County for older adults. Pickleball is nothing new, it has been around long before the pandemic. It is taking off now with more and more older adults utilizing the sport as a means to stay active and stay connected in their community. I have been to several courts in the area in the last month and seen the competitiveness, the laughing and the resurgence this sport is bringing to the senior community. Local county governments are encouraging the sport because they see how it can encourage healthy habits for seniors.  I have two super reasons why your parents should be playing pickleball and both are key to helping them stay happy and independent longer. Pickleball, A Great Physical Activity I found myself in Alexandria watching an organized group of pickleball late one evening.  I was completely imm...

Family Caregiver Fatigue is on the Rise What Can I Do To Help a Parent Caring for Another Parent I recently wrote about the negative impact caregiving can have on family caregivers, particularly in minority populations.  Caring for someone else takes an emotional and physical toll on your body , much of this is overlooked for the 1 in 3 adults in the United States that provide informal care.  Healthcare workers, caregivers and informal family caregivers all share the love for providing that much needed care that can be very rewarding but also trigger a variety of emotions at times.  It is normal to feel sad, angry, frustrated and sometimes demoralized in this line of work.  There are couple simple ways you can help a family member that is going through this as a family caregiver.     Make Yourself Available  When a parent is caring for another parent (they are called the family caregiver), it is often hard to get involved as you hear b...

Companion Care is the Most Critical Stage of Your Aging Cycle Companion care is the most important and absolutely the most critical stage of care to maintaining your independence.  Companion care is early-stage care that is non-medical and its definition of what it does can be found in its name, it provides companionship.  In the United States, older adults are much more likely to live alone than in other countries.  That percentage increases with age.  The reason this stage of care is so important are because of two factors: it is the stage where you can make the biggest impact on an older adult's independence and the stage where you can make the biggest impact in saving the older adult money for care related expenses. How Companion Care Can Extend Independence An older adult living alone can have very infrequent interaction with others.  Family can live far away and studies have shown that living alone can cause depression .  This is dangerous for an ...

How Scammers Target Seniors Advice on how to avoid being scammed       I have older parents that live alone and they often call me to tell me about how someone called them to get their credit card number or asked them for their social security number and they refused.  Many older adults today are wary of scammers targeting them, they are a large demographic that controls a lot of money as a group and people with bad intentions know this and see this as an opportunity.  They bet on the numbers game, meaning that they will call 100 people and if they get one, then they have accomplished their mission.  Communicating what we hear or personal experiences to others are absolutely key to preventing the next senior from being scammed, we need to keep our older parents safe.  If you are reading this and have a family member that has been a victim or intended victim, please share your story in the comments below.   I am a huge advocate for keeping se...