If you’re fortunate enough to have your mobility but don’t feel like walking, then check out the Solowheel-- a new one-wheeled mobility device. Think of it as a unicycle you don’t have to pedal, or a Segway minus a wheel and the handle.
We’re all familiar with the cliché that senior citizens are terrible drivers. I’ve seen it in movies and television my whole life. Like some clichés, there is a bit of truth to this one. But fortunately, it’s becoming less and less true as the years go by.
A study recently published in the Baltimore Sun, suggests that creative expression helps seniors age gracefully. The study took place over 5 years and was conducted by psychiatrist Dr. Gene Cohen, director of George Washington University’s Center on Aging, Health and the Humanities.
Just a generation ago, most seniors assumed that as they grew older they would go to an assisted living facility or nursing home. But with the boomers, that’s beginning to change. Seniors today are embracing a variety of new and fun innovations - everything from dating sites to Zumba classes and the increasingly popular senior villages.
When researcher Michael Ramscar came across a study saying that cognitive decline starts at age 45, he found it hard to believe. After all, he was 45 and those he looked up to intellectually were even older. So after reviewing several studies on aging and memory, he came to the conclusion that these studies ask the wrong question.
We know that being healthy helps make us happier. But a new study has shown that the inverse is also true; being happy makes us healthier and even helps slow aging. The study looked at 3,000 people over the age of 60 and found that those who were happier were less likely to develop physical impairments in their everyday activities, more likely to maintain a brisk walking speed, and more likely to maintain better overall physical function.
Hip replacement surgeries aren’t fun (except perhaps if you’re a well-paid hip replacement surgeon), but they can restore your mobility and independence. Still, it takes energy and time to completely recover and start walking again.
On the Just Walkers Blog, we’re always encouraging seniors to maintain an active lifestyle, but preferably not by doing something that would land you in jail. Although for some, such as Margaretta D’Arcy-- a very active, very strong-willed senior-- it might just be worth it.
If you have an elderly loved one living alone, it can be stressful knowing that you can’t be there to take care of them all the time. The largest cause of injury for seniors is falling, particularly inside the house. For an elderly person living alone this danger becomes significantly higher, as they’ll have no one close by to help them in the event of an accident. But this doesn’t mean that you or your loved one have to sacrifice independence for safety.
Your house is meant to be a place where you can feel relaxed and comfortable, but as you grow older, this can unfortunately stop being the case. When mobility becomes more of a challenge, that tiled floor can start to feel a little more slippery, and those wooden steps a little more treacherous. In addition to being difficult to traverse the risk of falling becomes a greater danger.
No matter what your age, there’s almost nothing that feels better than spending a day relaxing, reading a book, watching TV, or taking a nap, and there’s no better place to do this than in the comfort of your own bedroom. It’s a place of comfort, safety, and rest, somewhere you can feel truly at home.
One thing many people fear about aging is the possibility of Alzheimer’s Disease. And although scientists may not have a cure or even effective treatment for it just yet, they’re learning more and more about the condition. Just recently, scientists discovered a way to detect Alzheimer’s risk in babies.
