Senior
Health & Wellness

Keep your Brain Sharp and Healthy with 5 Small Changes

From our Care Blog

Are you getting more forgetful? We all have occasional lapses, especially once we hit our forties. It might be alarming to you to have a “senior moment” now and then, but the good news is that research shows that by keeping your brain healthy with the right diet and “brain” exercise, you can keep your cognitive function strong – boosting your memory and brainpower. Here are five things you can do to stay sharp. Eat Fish: People who eat fish once a week have a 60% lower risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease (research by Martha Clare Morris, ScD.). The reason...

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The Benefits of Dancing and Aging

From our Care Blog

Dancing is a great social outlet, a fun form of exercise and will help you slow down the aging process. Hello people, let’s boogie. Dancing and depression: Australian researchers* found that men and women with mood disorders who participated in a two-week tango instruction program felt less depressed and experienced significant reductions in their levels of stress. Dancing is good activity to keep you social and active. Dancing and Strength: Dance classes, such as Salsa, can increase an older adult’s strength and balance. A study published in the journal Gerontology found that dancing provides a safe and feasible exercise program...

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4 Tips to Ease Caregiver Stress

From our Care Blog

The responsibilities and challenges of caring for a loved one can place significant stress on the family caregiver. In fact, this stress can build up and cause caregiver distress—a situation where the caregiver may become more susceptible to other health risks, including depression, anxiety, sleeplessness, and nagging health problems such as headaches. To help family caregivers combat this potential for caregiver distress, our Ask Nurse Gina has five tips to help reduce Caregiver Stress. Exercise: When schedules get busy, exercise is usually the first thing to go. Make sure the caregiver in your family has time each day for some...

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The Benefits of Yoga on Aging

From our Care Blog

It is said that Yoga slows the aging process. Here are 4 reasons why you should consider practicing yoga now and continue to do so as you age. Balance. The component of many yoga poses is balance. The ability to balance involves both your body and brain. By incorporating yoga into your weekly workout schedule you will improve your balance and reduce your chance of falling. 1 out of every 2 women and 1 out of every 4 men over 50 will suffer a fracture related to a fall. The balance poses practice in yoga will improve the communication between...

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Road Safety for our Aging Population

From our Care Blog

Getting older does not necessarily mean a person's driving days are over. But it is important to plan ahead and take steps to ensure the safety of your loved ones on the road. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration have established recommendations to help families with aging drivers discuss changes in your older loved one's driving. Stay physically active: Staying physically active improves your strength and flexibility. In turn, physical activity can improve driver safety by making it easier to turn the steering wheel, look over your shoulder, and make other movements while driving and parking. Schedule regular vision and...

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Exercise and Aging

From our Care Blog

Exercise is important. Regardless of your age, getting out and getting exercise into your daily regime will help you live a healthier life. There are many benefits for elderly people to exercise. Here are a few of our favorites: Manage Stress and Improve Mood: Regular, moderate physical activity can help manage stress and improve your mood. And, being active on a regular basis may help reduce feelings of depression. Studies also suggest that exercise can improve or maintain some aspects of cognitive function, such as your ability to shift quickly between tasks, plan an activity, and ignore irrelevant information. Prevent or...

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The Facts About Parkinson’s Disease

From our Care Blog

April is National Parkinson’s Awareness Month to help bring awareness to a disease that one million people currently suffer from with 50 – 60,000 new cases being diagnosed each year. Although there is no cure, there are many medications and therapies that can help to relieve the symptoms. Armed with information, you can help your family members live with this chronic and progressive disease. What is Parkinson’s? Parkinson’s is a neurological or brain disorder that affects the nerve cells in the portion of the midbrain that controls body movements. Although initially there may be no symptoms, there may be a...

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National Eye Donor Month

From our Care Blog

Are you an eye donor? Many of us have checked the eye donor box on our driver’s license or state ID card, but do you really know what it means?  Did you know you can be an eye donor even if you have cataracts, bad vision or have had lasik surgery? Although the cornea  (the clear tissue in the front of the eye) is usually the only part of the eye that can be transplanted, the sclera (white of the eye) can also be used in some surgeries, and eye banks accept the whole eye for research and education.  In...

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Celebrating Wellderly Week

From our Care Blog

We read a lot in the news about exercise and nutrition regardless of your age. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the average life expectancy is 78.8 years. .. at an all-time record high. In fact, the life expectancy for females is 81.2 years; for males, it's 76.4 years. As more and more people wait longer and longer to retire, it’s top to banish all thoughts of sitting back in a rocking chair in your 60s! It’s time to get up and exercise. According to Dr. Richard Brassard, president of the American Chiropractic Association (ACA), " The...

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FirstLight Home Care Salutes the American Red Cross

From our Care Blog

Did you know that the logo for the American Red Cross is one of the best recognized insignias in the world? That the Red Cross has won more Nobel Peace Prizes than anyone? And with good reason.  After such natural disasters as Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Sandy, their disaster relief team was one of the first on the scene, distributing much needed food and medical supplies, providing shelters to keep warm, and dispensing the necessities we often take for granted – a clean toothbrush,  shampoo and deodorant. Although they respond to more than 70,000 natural disasters each year, many people...

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