Columbia Aged Care

Easter is this Sunday. Are you struggling for gift ideas or activities to do with your loved one?

The best gift you can give your loved one is to spend time with them.

Holidays can be a lonely time for elderly people if they are unable to spend it with family. By visiting your loved one over Easter it will show them how much you care about them.

There are many activities you can do together to celebrate Easter. Many families attend church together or share a meal for lunch or dinner.

Here is a list of things you can do at home or at your loved one’s nursing home:

• Baking Easter treats: making biscuits or your own chocolate Easter eggs.
• Easter parade: Family or nursing home members can create their own Easter hats and parade them for everyone else to see.
• Sing Easter songs: Hold a sing-a-long with your loved one or attend a local Easter concert.
• Games: Play board games or cards with your loved one.
• Craft activities: Create cards, Easter baskets, paint Easter eggs or sew Easter bunnies with your loved one. Here is a link to make your own simple Easter bunny.

Buying Easter gifts for your loved one can be difficult because not all elderly people can eat chocolate. It’s a good idea to find out what foods they enjoy and buy them instead.

Here is a list of Easter gift ideas for your loved one:

• Books with large font
• Cross stitch kit
• Knitting set
• Painting set
• Clothing
• Crossword books
• Puzzles
• Plants for their garden

Great gifts are ones from the heart, so think about making your loved one something special for Easter.

Have a happy Easter!

This week is NSW Seniors Week, which is the largest celebration for people aged over 60 in the southern hemisphere. This year’s theme is ‘Live Life!’ which aims to encourage seniors to actively participate in the community.

The purpose of NSW Seniors Week is to provide seniors with the opportunity to remain active and independent, to continue to learn, to expand their social networks and to share their wisdom with younger generations.

NSW Seniors week runs from 18 – 25 March 2012 and is presented by Ageing Disability and Home Care (ADHC).

You can help celebrate NSW Seniors Week by participating in one of the 900 free or discounted events throughout NSW.

Here is a list of events you might like to attend:

Retro Swing at Darling Harbour
Bring a touch of vintage glamour to Darling Harbour and swing to the tunes of the Kings of Swing. See vintage fashion parades, learn how to jive with Jennifer and Adam Stone and win prizes for best dressed.
Fri 23 March and Sat 24 March 2012 – Darling Harbour, Sydney 

The Glamma Rays and Maria Venuti: Live at Riverside
See the timeless acapella quartet, the Glamma Rays, perform live at the Riverside Theatre in Parramatta. Maria Venuti will also perform popular cabaret songs.
Wed 21 March – Riverside Theatre, Parramatta

Ode to Joy – Beethoven’s Ninth by Strathfield Symphony Orchestra
The Strathfield Orchestra joined by the Wesley Institute Choir perform Beethoven’s Ode to Joy at the Strathfield Town Hall.
Sun 25 March 2012 – Strathfield Town Hall, Strathfield

Step Out & Get Active
Get active with a day of outdoor activities such as guided bush walks and water sports on the Port Hacking River.
Fri 23 March – The Royal National Park, Audley

Twilight Croquet
Learn how to play the English lawn game, croquet. Participate in a fun game with other seniors at the Strathfield Croquet Club.
Thu 22 March – Strathfield Croquet Club, Strathfield

Celebrate NSW Seniors Week and participate in a fun social event in your area.

To find an event in your area click here.

 

Gardening is an enjoyable pastime and it can benefit seniors in many ways. It is a therapeutic activity that promotes good health, wellbeing and relaxation. Gardening is also an excellent form of exercise for mobility, flexibility, strength and endurance. This type of activity helps prevent medical conditions such as osteoporosis and reduces stress levels.

 Disabled-World.com has provided some great words of advice for seniors who garden or want to start gardening.

• Warm up: this will help reduce muscle soreness felt later on.
• Keep hydrated: drink plenty of liquids and avoid alcohol.
• Be sun safe: always be sure your loved one is wearing sun protective gear such as a hat, long sleeved shirt and sunscreen and that they garden in the morning or afternoon to avoid the hottest parts of the day.
• Be careful with power tools: even small ones can burden worn or weary hands.
• Use adaptive tools: garden tools can be modified to suit the needs of seniors.
• Memory: If your loved one’s memory is becoming affected, securing gates and fences can help keep them safe while still allowing them to care for their garden.

It is important to know your loved ones limitations and make sure they don’t push themselves.

For more tips, read the full article here

It is no secret that as you grow older, health becomes a major aspect of life. However, growing older should not be synonymous with bad health. Improving on your health as much as you can will ensure the best quality of life.
 
One of the most important parts of leading a healthy lifestyle is to stay physically active. Without regular exercise, people over the age of forty are at risk of suffering from a range of health problems. Making even the smallest of changes to your physical lifestyle can benefit you and your body. Thirty minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity every day (or most days) is extremely beneficial. However, if you are finding it hard to get active, here are some tips from Aged Care Australia:

• Choose activities you enjoy and find interesting. You more likely to keep up with an exercise routine if it’s fun, rather than a chore.
• Make a plan – start off slowly, and aim for small improvements. Keep track of your progress in a training diary for added motivation.
• Exercise with friends. They can help you keep to your plan, remain motivated and be a social occasion.
• Choose appropriate clothing, for example loose clothes and supportive shoes.
• Don't let yourself dehydrate – drink plenty of water before, during and after your activity.
• Don't exercise in hot weather or immediately after meals.

Read the full article HERE.

Your loved one can attend a concert, a swing night, a Senior International Fiesta Day or even a bush tucker cooking class during 2011 NSW Seniors Week, taking place next week.

This is the 53rd annual event and has a great variety of activities, many of them taking place in locations around Sydney. The theme for the week is ‘Live Life!’ encouraging seniors to remain active, social and part of the community.

2011 NSW Seniors Week, which will run from 20 to 27 March, will feature more than 900 events around regional and metropolitan NSW. Activities include:

• The Premier’s Gala Concert Series and the Seniors Week Achievement Awards.
• Bush Tucker Cooking Classes – NSW Seniors Week Ambassador Beryl Van-Oploo shows how to add a touch of bush tucker to favourite dishes on Tuesday 22 March at Yaama Dhiyaan Hospitality Training in Darlington.
• Step Out and Get Active – a range of outdoor activities for all ages and fitness levels at the Royal National Park on Friday 25 March.
• Twilight Hot Swing Night at Darling Harbour with the Kings of Swing and NSW Seniors Week Ambassadors Mary Schneider and Jenny Kee on Friday 25 March.
• The Senior International Fiesta Day – a cultural tour to all corners of the globe on Saturday 26 March.

This is the largest program of events for older people in the Southern Hemisphere and is a great opportunity for your loved one to celebrate with friends and family.

Find out more information here.

Dating at any age is nerve-wracking, but seniors can have additional concerns if they decide to start dating for the first time in a few years or even a few decades. Not only may dating etiquette have changed, but being unsure about where to go and what to talk about can be very daunting.

Sharon O’Brien has provided some tips on About.com which will help your loved one overcome the anxieties associated with meeting and dating new people.

• When deciding where to go, think about an activity that encourages conversation. Your loved one won’t get to know their date by sitting silently in a film or play.
• Your loved one should tailor a first date to include a common interest so that it has meaning for both parties and helps establish a connection.
• If the first date is to be a meal, plan for lunch rather than dinner. Making conversation over dinner can create a lot of pressure, while lunch can be more casual.
• If the first date doesn’t go well, focus on the positives. Your loved one may not want a second date, but they have still practised their dating skills and learned more about what they want from a new partner.

For young and older alike, the best way to enjoy a first date is to keep an open mind and have a good time. If your loved one wants to date again, be supportive and positive, and try to alleviate their concerns.

Read the full article HERE.

Home Instead Senior Care and Rebecca Kolls, star of television show Rebecca's Garden have provided some helpful hints to help seniors continue to enjoy gardening. This dual-effort public-education campaign has sought to bring back gardening joys to seniors who have difficulty maintaining gardens, or who have given up gardening altogether due to health or age concerns.

The initiative's primary feature, a four-color gardening guide, includes lots of helpful tips and several fun, simple projects seniors can easily complete - either independently or with their families or caregivers. Kolls, whose grandparents originally inspired her interest in gardening, credits gardens with supplying not only food and beauty, but also improved mental and physical well-being.

"There's a nurturing aspect in gardening where you take a seed and coddle it," Kolls said. "Seniors have given up child rearing, so gardening gives them baby plants and seedlings again. It's a new way of caring for something."

"We often hear our CAREGivers speak of their clients who love to care for plants and flowers, and how they see it enriching those clients' lives," said Home Instead Senior Care CEO Paul Hogan. "Many of our CAREGivers enjoy gardening as well, and are thrilled to help seniors enjoy gardening and plant projects."

Another great thing about gardening as a senior activity is that it is timeless.

"The beauty of the garden, if done well, will provide four seasons of color. While seniors in warmer climates can garden year-round, those in cold-weather climates should not despair," Kolls said. "In the winter, snow catches in seed heads, and birds find refuge in shrubbery and feed off seeds from the cone flowers. So no matter where you live, there's alwayssomething growing in the garden."

One Container; Many Opportunities
A little creative thinking and some assistance from families or caregivers helps ensure that seniors can continue to enjoy the types of gardening they love. "Imagine growing almost everything for a recipe in one container," Kolls said. "What a great gift idea!" She suggests the following projects to get you started:

• Try a pizza garden! (If your senior isn't a pizza fan, he or she might enjoy growing one for grandchildren.) Whiskey barrels work well for growing tomatoes, but can be expensive. A plastic laundry basket with holes cut in the bottom for drainage will work just as well. Plant a Roma tomato in the center, onions along the sides of the tomato and basil around the edge of the container.
• A twist on the pizza garden concept: a fresh salsa garden! It's similar to a pizza garden, only with tomatoes, onions, hot peppers and cilantro.
   
• A one-pot vegetable garden is always a hit! Take three bamboo poles and make a teepee in the center of the pot. Plant beans at the base of each bamboo pole, and fill the horizontal space around the pot with carrots, beets or other favorite root vegetables (make sure your pot is at least 10 to 12 inches deep.)

Rebecca's Senior Gardening Tips Check out these handy tidbits on how to help the seniors achieve gardening success:

1. Herbs grow anywhere and are great for seasoning.
   Kitchen herb gardens are wonderful for seniors. The more you pinch and pick the herbs, such as basil, parsley and chives, the more vigorous they grow.
    
2. Think height, filler and spiller.
   When you're creating flowerpots, consider height, filler and spiller. Plant a variety that will grow at least twice as tall as the container; fill in with plants that will grow to no more than half of the height of the taller plants, and then plant a variety that will cascade over the pot.
    
3. When it comes to annuals, pack them in.
   When you create flowerpots, pack your annuals in because they will become root-bound and grow up and over the pots. You'll get drama and a beautiful arrangement, according to Kolls.
4. Look for equipment that can make the job easier.
   There are many wonderful tools available that can make gardening easier for anyone including seniors.
   
   According to Kolls, Bud-Eze tools, which can be found on the Internet, are a good option, as are bionic gloves. In addition, the Arthritis Foundation has a product and services directory for senior gardeners and others with mobility problems.
    
5. Garden right outside your front door or back door.
   Container gardening allows seniors access to flowers or vegetables in one pot and also gives them the height that helps make gardening easier for them.
6. Team with others to garden.
   If a senior can't garden anymore, enlist the help of others who might enjoy sharing the work and the produce or flowers from the garden.
    

Aged Care Matters discusses the importance of finding the time for a daily walk.  

As in any other stage of life exercise is paramount to remaining fit and healthy. However depending on your level of fitness it is always wise to check with your doctor before embarking on any new exercise program.

It may be that what you are considering may not be suitable or recommended by your doctor. If there is no medical reason to prevent you from exercising, why not take a daily brisk walk. This will certainly go a long way to helping you achieve your fitness goals. Try and find somewhere interesting to walk so your enthusiasm for this activity does not wane over time. See if you can find a companion to go with you on these walks. Not only will your fitness be improved but also your personal relationships will be enhanced. Someone who perhaps you barely know as a neighbour in time may turn out to be a very close and trusted friend.

Why not join a walking group if there is one in your community. This too will provide opportunities to meet new people and may also prove a means to broadening your friendship base. Not only will it get you out of the house but as a bonus you will get to see more of your surrounding district whilst you work on maintaining a fit and healthy lifestyle.

Here are some simple tips from Home Instead Senior Care to help encourage seniors not to give up their favourite pastimes.

Here's the kind of question that a concerned adult child of senior parents might ask when he or she sees their activity levels diminishing: "My 70-year-old parents, both in relatively good health, were really active in their younger years. But now that they're older adults, they seem to think they've gotten too old to continue many of the activities they once enjoyed - such as fishing and bowling. How do I convince them otherwise?" And now here's an answer from Home Instead Senior Care: show them it's not true!

A recent lifestyle-interest survey (conducted by Del Webb Communities for Pulte Homes) demonstrated that active recreational pursuits - even adventurous endeavors such as hiking and river rafting - have become favorite lifestyle interests for the over-55 crowd. In fact, the activities that topped the study's list were health and fitness related, including strength training and cardio workouts.

Study participants ranked swimming (55 percent), golf (49 percent), bowling (34 percent), fishing (30 percent), and canoeing/kayaking (26 percent) to be "extremely important," while hiking, climbing, rappelling and river rafting demonstrated a definite popularity increase. Walking (82 percent) and cardiovascular equipment workouts (nearly 79 percent) were two of the most frequently pursued health and fitness activities.

While not all seniors are going to be inspired to undertake an afternoon of river rafting or hiking, knowing that many do might provide some much-needed encouragement for less-active older adults to resume some of the pursuits they used to enjoy and at some point lost touch with - like bowling or fishing.

If you know a senior who might feel more confident having a doctor's physical prior to undertaking an increased activity schedule, then suggest that he or she schedule one.  If the doctor deems this older adult fit enough to pursue favorite activities, then that may be all the reassurance required.

Do any of this senior's friends or other family members enjoy similar pastimes? If so, suggest that he or she contact them to schedule an activity. In addition, neighbors, your local senior center, or place of faith are also excellent sources of companionship. Another option is to hire a companion helper. 

Home Instead Senior Care's specially trained CAREGivers are screened, bonded, insured and perfectly equipped to help keep seniors continue to live independently.  Every effort is made to match clients with CAREGivers who share similar interests, and CAREGivers enjoy spending time with clients and participating in favorite activities and hobbies.