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in the News ...
Emergency Preparedness. Are you ready?
Events of the past several years have made us keenly aware of the natural and man-made disasters that could occur at any moment. Our best protection is being prepared. Are you ready?
Older adults have many important things to consider in an emergency situation. For example, if you were to lose power, water and phone service, would you have the medications you need? Are you on a special diet and would you have the proper foods for several days? Do you have any trouble walking? Could you get yourself safely out of your home to a shelter if necessary?
Take time to learn what you can do to prepare yourself for any kind of emergency.
Resources:
ICAA Helps EPA Launch Initiative to Recongize Community Planning with Older Adults in Mind
(Washington, D.C., September 26, 2006) The International Council on Active Aging, with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and partner organizations across the country, are helping to develop a national pilot program to recognize communities that factor environmental considerations and the need for older adults to be physically active as they age into community planning.
Entitled, "Building Healthy Communities for Active Aging," the goal of the program is to raise awareness in communities across the country about the importance of what EPA terms Smart Growth and its partner organizations identify as Active Aging for older adults.
The program will recognize community planning and development that improves quality of life for older adults in U.S. counties, cities and towns, including Native American communities. The Smart Growth component addresses such factors as density, design, walkability, housing and transportation in community design.
Active Aging programs call attention to the need for seniors to regularly participate in a variety of structured and unstructured physical activities. Communities can promote active aging by implementing a diverse selection of accessible physical activity programs, and by helping to make self-directed physical activity opportunities for those 60+ more accessible.
While details of the recognition program still are being developed, it is expected that communities and tribes participating in the program will be presented with documentation recognizing their efforts. The Building Healthy Communities for Active Aging website will post descriptions of each community's achievements in this area. In addition, participating communities will be eligible to participate in a virtual learning network that will provide a forum for sharing lessons learned.
Program sponsors anticipate a major event each year to honor those communities achieving the highest levels of Smart Growth/Active Aging development.
The EPA's Aging Initiative will spearhead this multi-agency effort, which was developed in partnership with the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Council on Aging's Center for Healthy Aging, and the National Blueprint Office. Additionally, the Robert Johnson Foundation, through its Active for Life program, will support a Healthy Communities for Active Aging Learning Network for participating communities and Native American tribes.
More information can be obtained from participating organizations' websites: EPA Smart Growth: http://www.epa.gov/smartgrowth/. Active Aging: the National Council on Aging, http://www.ncoa.org/; the National Blueprint, www.agingblueprint.org. Information on the EPA Aging Initiative is at: www.epa.gov/aging. Queries can be sent to: aging.info@epa.gov
Take Charge Tips
Eat Healthy
The evidence grows stronger each year. Eating more fruits and vegetables helps older adults live longer, healthier lives. They are packed with vitamins, minerals, fiber, and phytochemicals and it is these powerful substances that provide the protection to prevent and treat disease.
Consider these facts from the World Health Organization (WHO):
- Up to 2.7 million lives could be saved annually with sufficient fruit and vegetable consumption.
- Low fruit and vegetable intake is among the top 10 selected risk factors for global mortality.
- Worldwide, low intake of fruits and vegetables is estimated to cause about 19% of gastrointestinal cancer, about 31% of ischaemic heart disease and 11% of stroke.
How many servings do you need each day? Take the test at 5aday.gov.
Be Active
Studies show that stretching your brain a bit daily builds your mental capacity and reduces your risk for dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. In other words, the more you use your brain, the less likely it will deteriorate with age.
In the summer of 2006, Nintendo introduced Brain Age, an electronic game with puzzles and questions that measures your brain’s age each time you play. Brain Age is one of many games for the Nintendo DS, a hand-held electronic game with a touch screen and pen. (For more information on the game, go to http://www.brainage.com/launch/what.jsp).
Although the game may be cost-prohibitive to some, the emergence of an electronic game targeted to seniors emphasized the importance of finding mentally engaging activities to keep our brains young. Scientists have found that seniors can benefit from a range of experiences that are mentally stimulating, such as learning an instrument or a new hobby, visiting museums, traveling somewhere they’ve never been, board games with friends and family, and daily crossword puzzles, brain-teasers, or other puzzles. Studies have found that dancing in particular is a physical activity that stimulates the brain because it involves physical movement, mental concentration on the steps, and social interaction.
Get the Facts
Mental stimulation staves off dementia
Pump up your brain: Five things to focus on to boost mental acuity
Practical tools and tips
Many factors contribute to mental acuity in seniors, including nutrition and physical health. Daily mental exercises, learning something new, playing strategy and memory games with friends all help keep our minds sharp.
Keep your mental motor tuned up
Online Resources
You can find daily crosswords, word jumbles and sudoku puzzles in a daily newspaper, or find them on line at these puzzle sites:
Daily crosswords sites:
Third Age Daily Crossword
BestCrosswords.com
Daily sudoku puzzles:
Daily suDoku.com
SuDoko Fun
Brainteasers and games:
AgameAday.com
Word finds
Today's Word Search Puzzle
Nancy Omdahl, contributing author
Get Checked
Life expectancy in America is longer than it ever has been. The estimated life expectancy for all Americans, men and woman, black and white, is 77.5 years*. People who lead healthy active lifestyles give themselves an advantage by protecting themselves from illness and chronic disease.
People can also extend their life expectancy with regular health check-ups and health-screenings. The tests are simple and can be part of a normal annual physical exam.
Do you know what the recommended health checks are for people 50 years and older?
Review guidelines at: http://www.webmd.com/solutions/health-simplified/checklist50s
Do you know what the recommended health checks are for people 60 years and older?
Review guidelines at: http://www.webmd.com/solutions/health-simplified/checklist60s
Be Smoke Free
Fewer people are dying from cancer. Experts say it is related to the fact that fewer people are smoking. The trend began in the early 1990's. More recent information shows that the rate of slowing for men has been about twice as fast compared to women.
Because smoking is related to more than just lung cancer, death rates from many cancers have declined. This is true even for breast cancer, which is a great bit of news to celebrate for National Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
Overall, Lationos/Hispanics have lower rates of cancers than non-Hispanic whites. Experts point out that part of the reason for this is that they smoke less.
For everyone, less smoking is associated with lower rates of cancer.
Read more about this important finding.
Be Positive
We live in a stress-filled time. If you watch the news for even a short period of time you will experience updates on war, questionable political and business practices, and natural and man-made disasters. Older adults are likely to have even more contributing stressors.
Many older adults must deal with medical issues and the cost of managing them. Older adults deal more often with the loss of spouses, family members, and close friends. And as we all age, we face changes in our physical abilities and loss of independence.
We humans have a wonderful stress response that served us well when we needed to fight for our lives or take flight to avoid a life threatening danger. Our stress response activated all the right physiological processes to get us out of danger quickly.
Today's stresses are less life threatening and generally don't require "running for our lives." In fact it is difficult to get away from most of our stressors. It follows us whereever we go. Rather than having short bouts of stress, and time to recover from it, we often experience chronic stress.
Chronic stress can cause many health problems. The hormonal responses to stress effect our immune, cardiovascular, nervous, and digestive systems. It can make us more likely to be obese and depressed, and it can effect our memory. Chronic stress has a significant effect on our well-being.
How do you manage stress? What can you do if you are having trouble? Take time to read more about stress and what you can do deal with the stress in your life.
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