Keeping Older Adults Independent

 Healthy Habits for Seniors, part 3 Cut Dementia Risk in Half By Doing This Daily We often think about diseases of the brain as being a result of lack of mental activity, but it appears that may not be entirely the case according to a recent study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association .  This study monitored over 78,000 adults with an average age of 61 years old for an average of 6.9 years.  It started back between 2013 and 2015 and now the results are in.  How Long Should I Walk For To Make The Biggest Impact What they found was that walking 9,800 steps per day, within a 30 minute window, so not just a stroll but a walk with a purpose (they refer to it as cadence), can reduce your chance of dementia by 50% .  Yes, cut your risk of dementia in half by walking every day.  Now I continually look for information like this and read an article mentioning this so I had to take a deeper dive.  We know that walking can help cardiovascul...

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...