November 2011 Health Awareness

November 1-30 

National
Alzheimer's Disease Awareness Month

www.alz.org.com   

November 1-30
National Family
Caregivers Month

November 11

Veterans Day

http://www.va.gov 

November 1-30
American
Diabetes Month
www.diabetes.org 

November 17

Great American Smokeout

www.cancer.org 

November 1-30
COPD Awareness Month
www.lungusa.org 

November 1-30
National Healthy Skin Month
www.aad.org 

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Are you a caregiver? Connect with others who are facing the challenges of elder caregiving on the Aging with Grace Care Connection Blog. This popular blog won the 2011 "Top 100 Senior & Boomer Blogs & Websites" award. 

National Senior

Care Examiner

Finally, a raise in social security 

Learn about programs available with exclusive Aging with Grace Member Pricing.

Beyond Driving
with Dignity  

by

Matt Gurwell

Dispelling
Hospice Myths: View video and learn more. 

Buy online

Message from Patricia ...  

I am not just a Caregiver

By Kathryn M. White

I asked the doctor, who was in a bad mood,

After I felt that he was being rude,

"Doctor have you ever put yourself in the shoes of the Vet?"

His answer made me want to shiver.

"Yes, but you're not a Veteran...you're just a Caregiver."

I sat there a moment until I could find my voice.

I had to speak for all of us; he left me no choice.

With tears streaming down my face,

I had one goal: to put him in his place.

"I'm not just a caregiver and this I want you to know.

I'm the veteran and I hope it shows.

Alzheimer's is taking his mind,

Moreover, I search for the items he can't find.

"I am his mouth when he can't speak.

I am his legs when his grow weak.

I am his ears when he can't hear.

I am the one he counts on being there.

"I am his eyes when he can't see.

I clean up the messes he makes, even his pee.

I lead him to bathe when he would rather not.

He totally depends on me; I am all he has got.

"I pick him up when he falls,

I lay awake listening for his call.

I pay the bills because he can't think.

I prepare his meds and hand him a drink.

"We are on a journey into the unknown.

We'll go together, as one, no, he won't go alone.

So look into my eyes doctor, see my pain, lest you forget 

I am not just a Caregiver ... I am the Vet.   

And the Winner is ... Sami Peterson

Sami Peterson cares for her father and her son.

National Family Caregivers Association named Sami Peterson, 50, of Fort Collins, Colo., the grand prize winner of the third annual National Family Caregiver of the Year award. As the winner, Peterson received $10,000 from Homewatch CareGivers, eight hours of respite care, and a scholarship to Homewatch CareGivers University, which offers courses to help caregivers increase their knowledge and skill sets.

Sami Peterson represents the spirit of this award, says Leann Reynolds, President of Homewatch CareGivers. The magnitude of care Peterson provides for her son and her father is astounding. The fact that she can provide this level of care while holding down a career is an inspiration and a top reason why our judges voted Peterson the National Family Caregiver of the Year.

The National Family Caregiver of the Year award was created by Homewatch CareGivers in 2009 to create awareness around the issues family caregivers face, and to nationally recognize one caregiver from the community each year whose story is judged the most compelling by a 10-member industry panel.

Peterson provides in-home care for her husband, Rob, 66, who has Huntington's disease, as well as her developmentally disabled son, Will, who is 17. She also works full time and is active in the weekly Huntington's Disease Support Group of Northern Colorado.

You're Never Too Old to Quit...

Perhaps you've heard of the "damage is done" scenario. An elderly family member started smoking as a young person, maybe a teenager, tucking a pack of cigarettes into his rolled-up shirtsleeve or into her purse. Decades later, despite wall-to-wall anti-smoking ads, despite smoking being outlawed in nearly every public space, perhaps despite family pleas or doctors' admonitions or even a heart attack, that person remains a smoker.

What's the point of stopping now, he or she figures, when my body has already suffered the consequences of a lifetime of tobacco addiction? The damage is done, isn't it?

So while the rate of smoking in those over age 65 is smaller - a bit over 8 percent - than it is in the younger population, more than 22 percent of whom smoke, older smokers are much less likely to try to stop. More than half of smokers ages 18 to 24 have tried to quit, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has reported, but only about a quarter of those over age 65 have. In the three decades following the first surgeon general's report on smoking and health in 1964, smoking rates dropped much more among younger adults than among older ones.

"They've been smoking longer, so they might be more nicotine-dependent," says Bethea Kleykamp, a postdoctoral fellow in nicotine pharmacology at the National Institutes of Health, trying to explain those differences.

But in their article, "The Older Smoker," recently published in The Journal of the American Medical Association, Dr. Kleykamp and Stephen Heishman, a nicotine researcher at the National Institute on Drug Abuse, argue that the damage isn't done.

"If you're open to quitting, regardless of how old you are, it's one of the best things you can do for your health," she said.

The good news for older smokers is that under the Affordable Care Act, Medicare now covers smoking-cessation counseling for any beneficiary who wants to stop. A quarter of older smokers have already made an attempt. (Previously, Medicare covered such programs only for those who already had a smoking-related disease.)

Energize Your Aging! with Dr. Wayne Phillips 

Dr. Wayne Phillips, Ph.D. FACSM, Intrinsic Coach

LifeStrength

When we transition into our second 50 years we are asked by society, in a very subtle and invidious manner, to accept that all we cherished from our youth - independence, vitality, energy, mental acuity, good health, quality of life - begins to fade. That's the conventional wisdom.

It REALLY doesn't
have to be that way!

Getting older can mean - and should mean - living better, remaining independent and experiencing a high quality of life. These things are not the exclusive province of young people! You can discover and experience all of this when you purposefully embark on - and benefit from - a program of strength training.

With increased strength comes increased independence, vitality and energy - and you, your friends and your family will see and feel the difference. Your body (and your mind!) gets stronger.

As this is happening, you begin to experience more and more things you can now do with greater ease: you begin to move more, you become more active, you are able to do things with less effort, you feel better about yourself and you feel part of life's flow instead of feeling life just flowing past you.

You become stronger to enjoy the things that are important in your life: stronger for piggybacks with your grandchildren, for walks with your friends, getting out of a chair, climbing stairs, digging the garden, getting in and out of the car, lifting the garage door and carrying out the groceries. You can now tell that young whippersnapper at the checkout "No thank you, I don't need help out with these bags." How good would THAT make you feel?

Energize your aging - be stronger for living your life!

Aging with Grace Provider
Profile: Sunrise Senior Living

It is a pleasure to profile Sunrise Senior Living for the month of November. More than 25 years ago, Paul and Terry Klaassen started Sunrise Senior Living based on a simple but innovative vision: to create alternative senior living options that emphasize quality of life. This vision is the foundation of Sunrise's resident-centered approach to senior living. It begins with the senior and his or her needs, and results in tailored living, service and care options that enable residents to live life on their terms.