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Cathie Ramey,
March 3, 2008
While it may surprise us that doggie
robots bring joy to older folks in nursing homes, it gives us real
insight into what's important as we age. Dr. William Thomas, founder of The
Eden Alternative, believes that nursing homes should be warm,
interactive environments. Visiting some of the 300 registered homes in North
America, Europe and Australia, you'd see plants, animals, family and more. While
we may think it's sweet that older adults talked to their canine companions
about their lives, research done by Dr.
Gene Cohen reveals that the need to talk about our lives is a real stage
of development. Lots of homes even post
short life stories outside rooms so the staff can get to know the person who
lives there. Who we are and where we've been is important to each of us; after
all, we're the authors of our own life story. So, whether real or
robotic, I say if they can lend an ear and not interrupt, we should let nursing
homes go to the dogs.
Cathie Ramey,
February 21, 2008
No matter how you look at it, aging gets a bad rap. If I asked you what you
fear about aging, I think you might answer having a stroke or a heart attack or
developing cancer.
Yet, it appears that middle-aged
women are having strokes because of their weight, not because of their
age. If we look at this from a different point of view, maybe it's also good
news. Why? Because we can do something about our weight and how it affects our
health, especially in middle age. Aging is a process, not a disease, and the
process is affected by lifestyle. Improve your lifestyle and you have a
chance of growing older without the diseases we're so quick to associate with
aging. It's easy to blame our "genes" when we talk about health,
but most health experts will tell you that lifestyle and environment often play
a greater part. Let's face it, middle-aged women suffering from obesity
may be having strokes, but age can't take the rap for this one.
Cathie Ramey,
February 17, 2008
If you've ever been faced with trying
to help your parents, you know how helpless you can feel. Unfortunately,
there is rarely a single place to go for answers, like the low-cost drop-in
center for caregivers in Marin County, California. Aging parents have
challenges that go way beyond their doctor's expertise: insurance,
transportation, benefits, home
safety, in-home help - the list goes on. Geriatric
care management is an option for those who can afford it. For low-income
seniors, there are public programs, but they're often under-funded and
overburdened. Another option is to network with other people in similar
positions. To be sure, families
do the best they can, but
a program like the one in Marin that provides streamlined assistance certainly
makes a difference.
Cathie Ramey,
January 07, 2008
When was the last time you sat down and ate sugar and fat
by the spoonful? The answer may be your
most recent meal. Surprised? Then
consider the following: for every 4 grams of sugar per serving of food we eat,
we’re consuming 1 teaspoon of sugar; for every 4 grams of fat per serving we
eat, we’re consuming the equivalent of 1 teaspoon of butter or margarine.
Are we really honest with ourselves about our eating habits?
Probably not as much as we need to be and let’s face it, any time, any
place, we love to eat. We’re learning
to consume foods high in anti-oxidants like
tea and blueberries, and healthy
fats like olive oil, so maybe it’s what we shouldn’t be eating on a
regular basis that we need to start focusing on. After all, along with exercise,
what we eat creates the cornerstone of our health.
Most leading-edge boomers consider themselves in pretty good
health
and that’s encouraging because the health we create today defines the quality
of our life tomorrow. Want more insight
into what you’re eating? Try using the USDA’s
MyPyramidTracker.
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