Helping Seniors

Alzheimer’s patients who are exposed to pets such as dogs display more positive behavior, according to a study carried out on an Alzheimer’s special care unit. Additional studies show that pets can provide companionship, reduce isolation, and ease anxiety. Modern technology has now embraced the benefits that pets offer Alzheimer’s patients. These studies have resulted in therapy pets increasingly utilized by individuals with cognitive disorders.

But exactly how do real and replica pets help Alzheimer’s patients? Dr. Jonathan Graff-Radford states that regular physical activity can slow down dementia symptoms in those who already have the disease, and can delay the onset of Alzheimer’s in those who are at risk of developing it. Despite this, 28% of over 50’s never exercise, according to the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC). This is concerning as this group is one of the most at risk of dementia. Thankfully, when a pet is brought into the mix, individuals with Alzheimer’s and those who are at risk of developing it are more likely to:

• Head outdoors
• Enjoy long walks with their companion
• Get up and play with their pet
• Explore new locations on foot

Combat loneliness

38% of people living with dementia say that they feel lonely, and a further 12% say that they’re not sure whether what they feel qualifies as loneliness, according to the Alzheimer’s Society.

Loneliness in Alzheimer’s patients typically occurs due to:

• A lack of confidence in their abilities
• Fear that they will become confused
• Losing contact with family and friends
• Being secretive about their health

As pets are always there, will always listen, and don’t judge, they make the perfect companion for individuals feeling these emotions. What’s more, having the responsibility of a pet provides people with a sense of purpose and makes them feel needed. Even if the pet is a lifelike replica rather than a real animal, these emotions are encouraged.

Increases feel-good hormones

Serotonin is a vital neurotransmitter that plays a significant role in a person’s mood, appetite, sleep, and alertness, in addition to multiple other things. Recent studies have found a link between low serotonin levels and the development of Alzheimer’s. As such, actions should be taken to boost the chemicals interacting with the brain in Alzheimer’s patients to prevent depressive symptoms and poor health taking over. Pet therapy is ideal for these individuals as the University of Missouri-Columbia found that stroking a dog for just a few minutes releases multiple “happiness hormones,” including serotonin.

Control & manage symptoms better

Naturally, not every individual with Alzheimer’s will want a pet. There are also factors to consider, such as meeting the pet’s exercise requirements and remembering to feed and groom it regularly. This is where pet therapy comes into its own as giving an individual with

Alzheimer’s a lifelike pet which breathes, sleeps, and feels like a real animal can alleviate a whole host of symptoms associated with Alzheimer’s disease. A 2016 study concluded that robotic pets can help control anxiety and depression symptoms just as well as medical drugs.

Additionally, pet therapy proved to be successful at symptom control in patients.

There’s no denying that Alzheimer’s can be a difficult disease to manage. But, thankfully, pets, including ones that utilize the latest technology, can provide a significant amount of love and affection that people with Alzheimer’s need. What’s more, these individuals will

benefit from having a companion by their side.

Brought to you by smpltec.com, Technology for Seniors News.

Dinnertime can sometimes feel like wartime when caring for the elderly. Dietary & medical needs, cognitive issues, dexterity problems and complex emotional relationships combine to create a minefield which has to be navigated for everyone’s health and well-being. Here are some tips for making sure meal times can be safe and calm for everyone.

Routine, routine, routine. I make this point a lot in these blogs, but I cannot stress enough how beneficial a firm – but not totally inflexible – routine can be. Having a designated time and place for meals not only helps improve seniors’ sense of time, but it also allows their bodies proper time to digest. These routines should not be immutable – if you want to go out with friends, do so, even if it means eating a bit earlier or later – but by keeping to this schedule most of the time, you substantially cut down on meal-related disagreements and flare-ups.

Ergonomic & Safety Tableware. Even the mechanics of eating can be difficult for some seniors. Arthritic hands can’t always hold a knife and fork very well, much less bring a full glass to their lips. There are tools you can use to make mealtime less of a struggle.

• Flatware with ergonomic grips, which are typically larger, rounded & textured.
• Smaller, lighter & shatterproof drinking cups.
• “Move-resistant” plates & bowls. These typically are either heavier or have ‘grippy’ undersides, to prevent them from sliding around the table. This can also be accomplished with textured placemats.
• Plates & bowls with lips. These not only make them easier to grip and lift, but they also give you a surface to push food against.

Make sure they have a diet they can live with – Almost all of us “are on a diet,” and that includes seniors. Dietary restrictions tend to accumulate as one ages, and keeping them all in mind when meal planning can be a daunting task. But a diet which is indistinguishable from prison food helps no one. If your senior loved one has a particularly challenging set of dietary restrictions, you really may want to consult with a nutritionist. They not only can tell you what to avoid, but they can also help select foods to replace those you’ve cut out. Most of us are not professional cooks, and even a little guidance can help make mealtimes fun for everyone in the home.

Do not infantilize your senior loved ones – Reading all of these suggestions, it sometimes sounds like feeding an elder loved one is no different than feeding a child. But it’s critically important to remember not to treat them like children. They see the similarities too and are almost certainly quite sensitive to that comparison. Seniors suffer a lot of indignities, but being treated like an infant by people they very likely raised is one they should never have to deal with. No matter how difficult or frustrating mealtimes become, you must treat them with respect and dignity. In other words: how you would expect to be treated.

Limit alcohol and caffeine consumption. While you don’t necessarily have to cut alcohol and caffeine completely out of all senior diets, their systems are particularly vulnerable to those substances. Alcohol tolerance diminishes greatly as we age, including decision making sectors of the brain. Multiple bodily systems which handle caffeine – including the liver and kidneys – have a harder time dealing with it, and your neurological tolerance similarly changes as you age, so it’s effects seem amplified.

These are just some of the things you can do to help keep peace at the dinner table.

Brought to you by smpltec.com, Technology for Seniors News.

We talk a lot about caring for our loved ones, but we don’t talk enough about caring for ourselves as caregivers. 

If you are reading this, then chances are you know how…exhausting it can be caring for a loved one who has medical issues. Maybe exhausting isn’t the right word. Maybe, as a friend of mine put it, Omni-tired would be better. Any way you describe it, the emotional weight of caregiving can be titanic. So it’s important for caregivers to spend a little time every week caring for themselves, too. Some basic tips:

Routines are your friend – I know it sounds simple, almost too simple to be true. But making routines, and keeping to them as much as possible, really will help reduce stress levels. Sit down and plot out your day, your week and your month. A simple calendar program like Google Calendar or Outlook is great for this. You want as much of your day as possible to be muscle memory; you don’t have to think about it you just act. Eventually this will free up mental bandwidth for other tasks, and reduce overall stress. 

Your medical & nutritional needs are important too – A caregiver who spends a lot of time in doctors offices, imaging centers or hospitals with their loved one will all too often begin to neglect their own health. Some of that is simple exhaustion, but there are also a myriad of psychological forces which nudge caregivers away from considering their own healthcare. Schedule regular check-ups with your general practitioner, get your annual boosters and immunizations, maybe even consider seeing a therapist of psychologist. After all if you fall seriously ill or have a breakdown, that will negatively affect your loved one, too. 

Sometimes, a distraction is your best friend – When caring for an adult loved one, it’s important to refrain from treating them like children or babies. But sometimes, you just need a little ‘you’ time. It’s important to have a slate of entertainment options at hand which you can use to keep your charge occupied for short periods while you do other things. That could be a puzzle, a movie/TV show, a selection of music, even a phone call to another relative. You can’t think of these distraction activities as “bad”; they’re a necessary tool and you need to be able to use it on occasion with a clear conscience. 

Don’t be afraid to ask for help – Another ‘suggestion’ that’s incredibly difficult for some people to accept, but it’s necessary. Find someone – another sibling, a spouse, your children, even an able-bodied neighbor – who can take up caregiving duties even for a few hours. Even if you have to hire a home aide to come in once every week or two. For your own physical, mental and emotional well-being, you need time to yourself. To care for your home, go to your medical appointments, to spend time with your friends. 

Many caregivers feel crushing guilt taking any sort of “me time”, but you have to fight that impulse. A caregiver who doesn’t devote any time to caring for themselves will soon find themselves in need of their own caregiver. 

Brought to you by smpltec.com, Technology for Seniors News.

Most of us may be staying at home for everyone’s safety, but that doesn’t mean criminals aren’t still operating in full force. Here are some tips to help keep you safe & secure during these trying times.

• Scammers are out in force trying to use Covid to get into people’s bank accounts. Be particularly wary about clicking links in messages sent to you. Neither the IRS nor any state unemployment will send out random links via text message or email, and they will never ask you for critical identifiers like social security numbers over unsecured lines like that.
• We’re all ordering more online these days, and package thieves are having a field day. And many package carriers simply will not ring doorbells now, even though most of the population is home all day. So you have to take matters into your own hands with a motion detector, which will alert you when a package arrives so you can retrieve it quickly.
• While home break-ins are down, car break-ins are up. Make sure your car is locked and there are no items visible in the cabin.
• Since we’re spending so much more time there, our homes are dealing with added wear & tear. Make sure critical functions – particularly plumbing and heating/AC – are working well. Service techs are also booked more than typical now, so it may take longer to get a service appointment than usual. If you suspect something is wrong, act soon so it doesn’t become a crisis.

Brought to you by smpltec.com, Technology for Seniors News.

The leaves are turning, snow is on the ground in some places, and thoughts of Christmastime are beginning to percolate. This means it’s (another) perfect time to talk with your senior loved one about their financial health.

● Examine credit card & bank statements for recurring charges. Many seniors have services they signed up for ages ago, which they no longer use. Sometimes they’ve forgotten about the charges or just never found the time to cancel the service. Taking the time to compile a list of these charges, and to cancel the unused ones, will be worth the effort.
● Check credit reports. – Seniors, in particular, are frequently the target of identity thieves. A quick, occasional look at their credit report can help spot identity theft before it gets out of hand. You may want to consider helping your senior loved one to lock their credit. This will prevent new lines of credit from being opened without their explicit OK.
● Assemble & organize their regular payments. – Make a list of their principal, monthly payments, and assemble the most recent bills with their associated canceled checks or charges on a credit card statement. You may be surprised how many bills may slip through the cracks, or possibly be double-paid. Spending a couple of hours making a spreadsheet of these charges can help prevent a financial disaster down the road.

These sorts of financial checkups should be done every 6 months to a year, with more comprehensive checks done every few years.

Brought to you by smpltec.com, Technology for Seniors News.

And the culprit is: the Epstein-Barr virus.

“The hypothesis that EBV (Epstein-Barr virus) causes MS has been investigated by our group and others for several years, but this is the first study providing compelling evidence of causality,” said Alberto Ascherio, professor of epidemiology and nutrition at Harvard Chan School and senior author of the study. “This is a big step because it suggests that most MS cases could be prevented by stopping EBV infection, and that targeting EBV could lead to the discovery of a cure for MS.”

So the good news is that we know pretty definitively what causes MS. The bad news: EVS is one of the most common viruses on earth – it’s estimated that 95% of adults have it in their bodies – and it’s already associated with a raft of diseases ranging from herpes to mononucleosis to multiple cancers and lymphomas.

But there’s good news here, too. This means that research into EVS – be it detection, vaccination or treatment – will have even more benefit to humanity. A vector to attack this virus could potentially do more to help public health than any treatment in decades.

Brought to you by smpltec.com, Technology for Seniors News.

From Massive Science, a look at how advances can come from the oddest places.

“In the early 1980s, doctors across northern California encountered patients with curious symptoms. From Watsonville to San Jose, young people were experiencing a combination of visual hallucinations, jerking limbs, and stiffness. Their abilities to move and speak worsened over a space of mere weeks, and by the time they sought medical help they had become totally immobile.

In San Jose’s Santa Clara Valley Medical Center, psychiatrists insisted that their medical mystery patient had a neurological disorder. However, neurologists were adamant that the patient was undergoing a psychiatric episode. Amidst the arguments, Director of Neurology, William Langston, noticed a striking resemblance of the patient’s condition to that of Parkinson’s disease (PD). They were alert, but their body was rigid – with an arm involuntarily raised for long periods of time. PD is the second most common neurodegenerative disorder (behind Alzheimer’s disease), and the most common neurodegenerative movement disorder worldwide, but it is typically associated with old age, and symptoms develop over a period of years – not weeks.”

Basically, before you can test treatments for a symptom, you must be able to simulate that symptom in cells or test animals. For decades scientists had struggled to simulate Parkinson’s Disease in a clinical setting. The discovery that certain synthetic heroin could do that allowed for most of the advances in treatment in the last 30+ years for that disease.

Brought to you by smpltec.com, Technology for Seniors News.

Dinnertime can sometimes feel like wartime when caring for the elderly. Dietary & medical needs, cognitive issues, dexterity problems and complex emotional relationships combine to create a minefield which has to be navigated for everyone’s health and well-being. Here are some tips for making sure meal times can be safe and calm for everyone.

Routine, routine, routine. I make this point a lot in these blogs, but I cannot stress enough how beneficial a firm – but not totally inflexible – routine can be. Having a designated time and place for meals not only helps improve seniors’ sense of time, but it also allows their bodies proper time to digest. These routines should not be immutable – if you want to go out with friends, do so, even if it means eating a bit earlier or later – but by keeping to this schedule most of the time, you substantially cut down on meal-related disagreements and flare-ups.

Ergonomic & Safety Tableware. Even the mechanics of eating can be difficult for some seniors. Arthritic hands can’t always hold a knife and fork very well, much less bring a full glass to their lips. There are tools you can use to make mealtime less of a struggle.

• Flatware with ergonomic grips, which are typically larger, rounded & textured.
• Smaller, lighter & shatterproof drinking cups.
• “Move-resistant” plates & bowls. These typically are either heavier or have ‘grippy’ undersides, to prevent them from sliding around the table. This can also be accomplished with textured placemats.
• Plates & bowls with lips. These not only make them easier to grip and lift, but they also give you a surface to push food against.

Make sure they have a diet they can live with – Almost all of us “are on a diet,” and that includes seniors. Dietary restrictions tend to accumulate as one ages, and keeping them all in mind when meal planning can be a daunting task. But a diet which is indistinguishable from prison food helps no one. If your senior loved one has a particularly challenging set of dietary restrictions, you really may want to consult with a nutritionist. They not only can tell you what to avoid, but they can also help select foods to replace those you’ve cut out. Most of us are not professional cooks, and even a little guidance can help make mealtimes fun for everyone in the home.

Do not infantilize your senior loved ones – Reading all of these suggestions, it sometimes sounds like feeding an elder loved one is no different than feeding a child. But it’s critically important to remember not to treat them like children. They see the similarities too and are almost certainly quite sensitive to that comparison. Seniors suffer a lot of indignities, but being treated like an infant by people they very likely raised is one they should never have to deal with. No matter how difficult or frustrating mealtimes become, you must treat them with respect and dignity. In other words: how you would expect to be treated.

Limit alcohol and caffeine consumption. While you don’t necessarily have to cut alcohol and caffeine completely out of all senior diets, their systems are particularly vulnerable to those substances. Alcohol tolerance diminishes greatly as we age, including decision making sectors of the brain. Multiple bodily systems which handle caffeine – including the liver and kidneys – have a harder time dealing with it, and your neurological tolerance similarly changes as you age, so it’s effects seem amplified.

These are just some of the things you can do to help keep peace at the dinner table.

Brought to you by smpltec.com, Technology for Seniors News.