Baby boomers redefine retirement

The ‘forever young’ generation turns 60 and changes the rules

By Kevin Corke
Correspondent
NBC News
updated 12:07 p.m. CT, Tues., Nov . 8, 2005

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Jeff and Nelda Manna are among an increasing number of boomers who are moving to active adult communities like Sun City Anthem outside Las Vegas — neighborhoods that cater to the over-50 crowd, with activities like tennis, golf, swimming and fitness.

“It’s almost not if you did something today,” Jeff Manna says. “It’s what did you do today.”
It's an example of how the baby boom generation continues to change business models and marketing strategies in America. Construction of active adult communities, like the Manna's in Henderson, is already a multibillion-dollar industry and its growing because baby boomers are flexing their financial muscle and proving to the marketplace that that they are not winding down — they are rewinding.

Nationwide, more than a quarter of the homes built this year will be bought by someone over 50 — many in communities like Sun City Anthem.

Tips for Caregivers working with Vision and Hearing Loss Clients

We here at Synergy have learned some great tips for any caregiver that is dealing with someone who is losing both their sight and hearing.We here at Synergy have learned some great tips for any caregiver that is dealing with someone who is losing both their sight and hearing.

1. When a person first arrives, orient them to their bed, bathroom, closet, dresser, etc.

2. Notate up front in person's chart their vision and/or hearing loss.

3. To get the person's attention, gently touch their shoulder, arm or hand. State your name and reason for visit. Determine if person is visually and/or hearing impaired and adjust voice as needed.

4. Identify.....Yourself every time. If difficult for person to hear, and they have some remaining vision, write name and role (i.e. Judy — nurse) in large print with felt tip marker to show them.

5. Inform person before you begin to do anything with or to them! For example, do not move them or grab their arm without first explaining what you are doing and why. Use "sighted guide" technique if assistance is requested.

6. Speak clearly, at a slow-to-normal rate and pause between sentences. Do not shout. Shouting can distort the sound signal and make you seem angry. Stand within 3 to 6 feet of individual and keep movement to minimum while speaking.

7. Rephrase rather than repeat when you are not understood. For example, rephrase `Do you want a drink?' to `Would you like some water?'

8. Ask person if they can understand you, not just hear you. Understanding and hearing are two different things. Ask WH questions (what where, and why) rather than yes/no questions.

9. Do not move things in the room or on the bedside table unless necessary. If you do move something, let the person know and be specific about new location.

10. Do not stand in front of a light source or window as the glare may be difficult for the person facing you. Rather, position yourself where light falls on you and sit or stand at their level.

11. Ask person if they need help reading the menu and selecting meal choices.

12. When serving a meal, describe the position of food on the plate by relating them to the numbers on the face of a clock. For example, `Meat is at 6:00 and potatoes are at 10:00'. Explain where other items are such as beverages and salads.

13. Give explicit directions and verbal responses. Be careful not to only use hand signals, nod, or say things such as `over there'. Be specific: `The chair is 4 feet to your right'.

14. Read ALL materials clearly as they appear on the page; do not read excerpts or summarize unless the visually impaired person requests you to do so.

15. Be patient, positive, and relaxed. It may take time to learn how to best talk with someone. Experiment and ask how you can help!

TULIPS for better Parkinsons Awareness

Did you know that the Red Tulip is the world wide symbol for Parkinson's Disease?


Tulips is also a great acronym to understand what people with Parkinson's needs:


T: TIME
U: UNDERSTANDING
L: quality of LIFE
I: INCREASED Awareness
P: Pills On TIME
S: SUPPORT

Is your caregiver trained in special Parkinson's awareness??

How to Choose Between Home Health Care, Assisted Living, and a Nursing Home

Caring for someone can be time-consuming and exhausting—for you and your bank account. Family and friends can step in to assist, of course, but there may come a point when your loved one needs professional care. Here are some basic options to consider.

Home sweet home
In-home health aides average $19 an hour, and hired companions who don't provide health care are slightly less expensive. Do the math and you'll see that for round-the-clock assistance, the tab can run as high as $170,000 a year, making home care a very costly option.

"It's so expensive because people are basically trying to recreate the nursing facility at home," says Chris Cooper, a certified financial planner and social gerontologist in Toledo. Medicare and private insurance generally do not cover long-term in-home care. So unless you have a long-term-care insurance policy, the cost must be paid out-of-pocket, which may mean liquidating assets or applying for a reverse mortgage.

Despite the expense, "most people try to do what they can to stay at home before placement in a facility," says Nancy Wexler, a Los Angeles–based geriatric care manager and author of Mama Can't Remember Anymore: Care Management of Aging Parents and Loved Ones. The good news is that many people don't need 24-hour care, at least not right away. Someone with a chronic condition like heart disease, for instance, might only need help with specific tasks, like meal preparation or bathing.

To find an in-home aide, ask others who have used one or consult a geriatric care manager. It might cost more to employ an aide through an agency, but if any sort of problem arises, the agency will furnish a replacement quickly. That beats spending stressful days trying to find aides and conducting background checks.



Click here to find out more! at Health.com
Lead writer: Ilana Polyak
Last Updated: November 06, 2008

Can We Talk: A Financial Guide for Babyboomers Assisting Their Elderly Parents

By Bob Mauterstock ’68
Posted on March 16, 2009

(Soar with Eagles) Drawing on his experience as a financial advisor, the author provides a practical and comprehensive guide for baby boomers helping their elderly parents organize their financial lives. This book discusses step-by-step plans to open up lines of communication, address investment strategy, and create a plan to deal with the costs of long-term healthcare. Mauterstock specializes in retirement income planning, long-term care planning, and veterans’ benefits.

Seniors and Diabetes

Fitness for Seniors

By Chris Sparling

At sixty-one years old and in remarkable shape, Sylvester Stallone is a bit of a physical anomaly. But unlike the Italian Stallion, you need not lift heavy weights and run the stairs of the Philadelphia Museum of Art to shape up. A moderate-intensity workout, performed three-to-five times per week, is more than enough for seniors and older adults to begin experiencing the health benefits of regular exercise.

The National Institutes of Health recommends that seniors and older adults follow a fitness program that involves both cardiovascular training and strength training. There is an enormous amount of research to support the effects of each of these components on blood glucose levels, weight management, osteoporosis, and blood pressure. To that end, the following workout will split your week into sessions designed to target muscle-building and toning, and sessions geared toward improving circulation and cardiovascular health.

It’s never too late to begin a regular exercise program. The only person who can tell you differently is your doctor. As a senior citizen, you may be dealing with some common ailments, such as joint pain and arthritis. Provided that he or she gives you the O.K., start with an easy fitness program – such as joining a fitness class at your local senior center, walking around your neighborhood, or the workout suggested here, – and build from there. Even if you are dealing with a condition that limits your mobility, you can still get fit. There are classes that offer special exercises for people using wheelchairs, classes that take place entirely in a pool, and even different fitness trainers who specialize in coaching people with disabilities.

Socially Active Seniors Stay Sharp

By Crystal Phend, Staff Writer, MedPage Today
Published: May 29, 2008
Reviewed by Robert Jasmer, MD; Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco Earn CME/CE credit
for reading medical news




BOSTON, May 29 -- Frequent interaction with family and friends, volunteering, and other social activities may delay age-related memory loss, researchers found.

Memory declined twice as fast among adults 50 and older who were least socially active as it did among those with the most social contact, Lisa F. Berkman, Ph.D., of the Harvard School of Public Health, and colleagues reported in online in the American Journal of Public Health.

These results of a large observational study "suggest that increasing social integration may be an important component of efforts to protect older Americans from memory decline," they wrote.
Action Points

* Explain to interested patients that the study linked memory loss to lack of social contact in older age.

* Note that the study was unable to determine whether increasing social contact may help reverse or prevent memory loss.

But it's not clear whether this effect reflects a lifetime of mentally-stimulating interaction rather than current contact, which could be boosted to potentially reduce memory loss, noted Karen A. Ertel, Sc.D., of the Harvard School of Public Health and a co-author on the paper.

Because previous studies have linked social ties to incidence of dementia and Alzheimer's disease, Dr. Berkman's group looked at the effect on memory among 16,638 men and women 50 and older who were followed longitudinally in the nationally representative Health and Retirement Study.

Biennial interviews in the study included immediate- and delayed-recall memory tests used to monitor memory loss over six years in the study.

About half of the participants reported current social interaction in three or more areas, including marriage, volunteer activity, and at least weekly contact with children, parents, or neighbors.

Memory scores at baseline in 1998 were similar between highly socially active participants and those with lower levels of social activity.

Thereafter, though, memory declined faster among those with low social scores. Memory scores declined 0.32 points per year on average with an additional 0.04-point-per-year decrease for each decrease in number of types of social interaction reported (P<0.01).

After adjustment for health status and other predictors of memory decline, older adults with the lowest levels of social interaction were predicted to average a 0.29-point decline in memory score per year compared with a 0.14-point per year decline for those with social contact in all five areas.

Each individual component of social integration showed the same significant pattern of slower memory decline for those with more social contact. Analysis by gender, education, and presence of a vascular disorder likewise showed a protective effect of socialization.

The effect of social integration "may be particularly important" for individuals with less than a high school education, who had "a particularly precipitous" decline in memory score of about one point every 3 years.

"These results suggest that low social integration puts people at risk of accelerated memory loss," the researchers said, "but it is also possible that our results were attributable to reverse causation (i.e., poor memory or memory decline causing social withdrawal)."

However, Dr. Berkman's group found no evidence of reverse causation. Exclusion of participants who may have already had some memory loss at baseline as indicated by a memory score below the 25th percentile yielded results similar to those of the overall cohort.

Likewise, memory scores among a subgroup of participants enrolled in the study in 1993 explained less than 1% of variability in social integration in 1998.

"Declines in cognitive function before baseline were unlikely to explain the observed longitudinal association," the researchers wrote.

Rather, the mechanisms may include an effect on physical health, particularly diabetes and other vascular conditions implicated in other studies in development of dementia, they speculated. "Social ties may create pressure, either through explicit reminders or implicit behavioral norms, to take care of oneself."

Other possible mechanisms might be presenting complex cognitive and memory challenges that enhance cognitive reserve and resilience or through direct neurohormonal benefits by providing a sense of purpose and emotional validation, the investigators said.

They cautioned, though, that the study was limited by its nonrandomized design, lack of inclusion of all possible types of social connections and information on quality of social contacts, and low level of data on health status.

The study was funded by the National Institute of Aging. The researchers reported no conflicts of interest.

Primary source: Journal of Public Health
Source reference:
Ertel KA, et al "Effects of social integration on preserving memory function in a nationally representative US elderly population" J Public Health 2008; 98.