Phone solicitations

Never respond to phone solicitations for products or winning sweepstakes. And NEVER give out ANY personal information to ANYONE who contacts you by telephone. Tell them you´re not interested and hang up the phone.

Eating less-the easy way

´Diets´ aren´t always the easy way to maintain a healthy weight for Seniors...BUT...eating less can be. Use the salad plate for our meals rather than the dinner plate; less surface, less food. Our system will soon adapt to this decrease and ´less´ will be plenty!

Arthritic hands

For those with arthritis, clothes with buttons can be a challenge. One suggestion would be to convert your present clothes to velcro closure by: remove all buttons and sew onto the button-hole opening (closing button-hole); sew a strip of velcro (purchased from craft or cloth stores) to area where buttons were removed and also to area on backside of the button-hole strip. Some velcro has ´sticky´ backside that can be ironed onto cloth, but sewing is more permanent. If you cannot sew, request assistance from family, friends, or professional seamstress.

Over-extending ourselves

Whether it be gardening, exercising, running errands...whatever...we should know what our ´limit´ is without adding stress, aches and pains. At the beginning of each week, make a list of things we want to accomplish for that week, then break down to no more than one ´hard´ task per day. Write down what you want to do in a daily-planner or your convenient wall calendar. If you ´miss´ a task, add it to next week´s list. We´ll find ourselves more flexible and not as rushed (or achy!)

Outside activity for Senior living in your home

Where I live there are "City" sponsored locations for Seniors living in your home; call your City Hall - Information. Check with many of the churches in your area, they also offer this type of care/activity for Seniors. Also check with your doctor or hospital administration. Many of these locations offer rides to and from their facilities. If no locations are available, ask both City and Churches if there could be something begun for this need. There may be some locations in towns very close to you.

Help for caregivers

There are times when Seniors find they are unable to care for themselves and move in with one of their children (even niece or nephew). I heartily commend families for this; lonliness for the parent can be debilitating. I have found this very information site for the caregivers: Health Care http://healthology.com/focus_index.asp?f=elderly&b=

You´ll find topics relating to Alzheimers, Parkinsons Desease, Caring for Elders and more.

No ´inviting in´

Never allow a stranger in your home, no matter what the emergency. If asked to use your phone, get the telephone number and offer to make the call yourself, shutting and locking the door to the stranger.

Should I move

One of the hardest things Seniors do is to move out of their homes into an apartment or assisted-living locations. But there are good reasons for doing so: your health problems, your disability, too big a house, upkeep of home becoming too expensive, and many more. There are now so many wonderful Senior facilities in many locations; check with a reliable realtor (the one selling your home for you) to locate your wants and needs.

accreditation of home

Evaluate potential nursing and retirement homes by checking/asking if they are currently accredited, licensed and certified for Medicare and Medicaid. They should have a written certification for the home for you to see, and
all paperwork should be current and in force.

staffing

Find out if the staff is professionally trained, certified and large enough to provide adequate care for all residents at all times. Either you or your family should check on this periodically (every couple of months, at least)

services/supplies provided

It is important to know what services and supplies the nursing home provides and what might be hidden extra costs. Private duty nurses are very seldom included in the cost of care.
Cost for extras, such as hair shampoo or conditioner, can be exorbitant. Make a list of the ´extra´ necessities and supply them yourself.
Talk with the administrator and find out ´who is in charge of what´ and who to contact if any problems arise. Ask questions and be informed in advance.

Grocery shopping

It´s been said before, but here´s a reminder: try NEVER to go grocery shopping on an empty stomach! You´ll buy more than you intend, spend more money, and possibly have more waste! Eat first, then grocery shop.

Inspecting a home

To check out the qualifications of a nursing home, it´s best to arrive without an appointment. Inspect everything that you possible can. The building and rooms should be clean, attractive, safe and meet all fire codes.
Residents should not be crowded, nor should hallways be cluttered. Ask about availability of private rooms. Most often they can be obtained at an extra, but reasonable cost.
Visit the dining room and kitchen at mealtime to check the sanitary conditions.
Visit activity rooms when in session to verify controlled, safe, and well directed activities. Talk to the residents -- ask how they feel about their home.
This inspection will put you and your loved one more at ease about the qualifications of the home and care to be received.

read the fine print

If the nursing home requires a contract, then read it carefully. Show it to your lawyer.
Some homes reserve the right to discharge patients whose condition has deteriorated, even if a lump-sum payment was made upon admittance.
It´s best to have an agreement that allows payment by the month or permits refunds on advance payment if circumstances change.

Backyard privacy/safety

A backyard fence is a must, not just for privacy, but also for security; at least 8 ft. tall. If you have a driveway to the back garage, install a secure chain-link gate across entry with a padlock. If you have a wooden gate or two, add a padlock to each one. Just don´t lose the key(s)

Buying clothes

Before going shopping for clothes, go to our closets and review the color/type of blouse/shirt, slacks/skirts, sweaters, etc. When buying something new, we can better coordinate with what we have, and we´ll know what not to ´duplicate´. Especially when we spot that special sale!

Sugar intake

With the exception of diabetics, who are very limited to ´sugars´, most Seniors should limit their sugar intake. An easy way, if you don´t use artificial sweeteners: buy a demitasse (or baby) spoon to use when adding sugar to coffee, tea, cereals, or whatever.
You´ll be adding a spoonful of sugar, but a lesser amount!

**Introduction

In order for Seniors to be healthier and solvent our lifestyle should be to do all things with a temperance; that is, don´t overeat, don´t overbuy, etc. To make it short: don´t over ´do´!

Going ´out´

When we go for an outing, no matter how long, be sure to turn on a light *inside and out*; we never know when our return may be delayed. Remember to always have our door key ready before approaching the door.

Driving alone

We should NEVER drive in isolated areas by ourselves; there IS safety in numbers. And always keep the car doors locked when driving...day and night.

One century ago....

Looking back a century ago...were those really to good-old-days? Come judge for yourself...A Tid-bit of History.

´Advertising´ full name

If it is necessary to put your name on a mail box or in the phone directory (wherever), just use last name and INITIAL ONLY of your first name. ´Tho my husband has been deceased for 4 years, I continue to use HIS and my name in phone book. NEVER add just Mrs. or Mr.

The RV Life

If you have dreamed of retiring to the road in your RV, this is the site for you. It´s all about the RV life plus earning money as you travel. Coleen Sykora is the brain behind the site and she has become the diva of RVing.
http://www.workersonwheels.com