Senior Moments: How big of a problem is social isolation among older adults?

             
                                                                                     

Senior Moments from H.O.M.E.

How big of a problem is social isolation among older adults?

Bigger than you might think. One just has to look at some of the news articles to know that social isolation is a trend that is only getting worse.

I had the pleasure of presenting Rush Generations members last month, where both Dr. Alexander Sasha Rackman and I both addressed social isolation from our individual perspectives: Dr. Rackman being a geriatrician and myself being a gerontologist and social worker.

Let me first start by saying that social isolation is not just a problem experienced by older adults. It can occur among younger and older people alike.

So, I hope that the take-aways you get from this post will help you initiate a dialogue with friends or family or a primary care physician that helps get someone on the path of either reducing or even preventing social isolation from happening.

I have found that people who are socially isolated often do not even recognize it is happening to them, before it is too late.

Dr. Rackman made a very important distinction between isolation and loneliness.

He described loneliness as subjective in that it is how people perceive their situation and whether they feel isolated.

Hence, one might feel lonely but not be isolated.

Someone who is isolated lacks meaningful and unfulfilling relationships in their lives, has a minimal number of social contacts, and doesn’t feel like they belong.

Some of the risk factors for social isolation include:

a decrease in mobility that limits engagement in social activities
less exposure to opportunities for building relationships
fear of falling or unmanaged incontinence that causes one not to leave their home
limited family or friends, family or friends who live at a distance, being unmarried, and living alone

These risk factors may come as no surprise, but what is surprising is that social isolation is on the rise. Yet, these risk factors have the potential to be addressed if only people were aware of the issue and addressing the issue.

The challenge is that social isolation can go unnoticed if no one is paying attention.

Reports vary with the number of older adults who are social isolated. Some numbers have been as high as forty-three percent (Nicholson, Molony, Fennie, Shellman, & McCorkle, 2010; Smith & Hirdes, 2009).

The Administration on Aging reports that about twenty-nine percent of older adults live alone. Well, since we know that living alone is a risk factor, we, as a society should be thinking of ways to engage and connect these individuals.

If the previous numbers don’t “jump start” you to begin paying attention to yourself and those around you, perhaps the following findings will:

Social isolation is twice as likely to cause premature death in older adults. The mortality rate of socially isolated older adults is comparable to that of smokers.
Social isolation is both bad for one’s health and is costly. AARP and Stanford University found that that the lack of social contacts among people with Medicare cost an estimated $6.7 billion in additional Medicare spending. 
Forty percent of adults admit to being lonely. Reducing isolation could possibly reduce loneliness and vice versa.

intergenerational_theresnoplacelikehomeHere are a few resources to help an older adult stay connected:

CJE SeniorLife’s Virtual Senior Center

H.O.M.E.’s Good Life Senior Residences

Mather Lifeways Telephone Topics

Little Brother’s Friends of the Elderly

H.O.M.E.'s Intergenerational Housing Program is designed to offer engagement that reduces isolation and increases quality of life. As a result, our residents often report that their health improves after they move into our buildings. Residents are also offered opportunities to attend community outings including movies, museums, and shopping. In many instances, our residents refer to residential managers, coordinators, and neighbors as the “H.O.M.E. family,” an extension of their own family and support system.

Posted by Tricia Mullin on Sep 3, 2018 3:06:00 PM

About H.O.M.E.

Founded in 1982, has helped thousands of low-income seniors in Chicago maintain their independence by providing a home repair service, shopping bus, moving program, and three affordable apartment buildings where seniors can live comfortably in an intergenerational environment.

New Research Results! Reversing cognitive impairments in mice with dementia

                                           
                                                               

Date:

June 8, 2018

Source:

Temple University Health System

Summary:

Reversing memory deficits and impairments in spatial learning is a major goal in dementia research. A lack of knowledge about cellular pathways critical to the development of dementia has prevented significant clinical advance. Researchers are breaking through that barrier. They show, for the first time in an animal model, that a drug can reverse tau pathology -- the second-most important lesion in the brain in patients with Alzheimer's.

The following report is from Science Daily

Reversing memory deficits and impairments in spatial learning is a major goal in the field of dementia research. A lack of knowledge about cellular pathways critical to the development of dementia, however, has stood in the way of significant clinical advance. But now, researchers at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University (LKSOM) are breaking through that barrier. They show, for the first time in an animal model, that tau pathology -- the second-most important lesion in the brain in patients with Alzheimer's disease -- can be reversed by a drug.

"We show that we can intervene after disease is established and pharmacologically rescue mice that have tau-induced memory deficits," explained senior investigator Domenico Praticò, MD, Scott Richards North Star Foundation Chair for Alzheimer's Research, Professor in the Departments of Pharmacology and Microbiology, and Director of the Alzheimer's Center at Temple at LKSOM. The study, published online in the journal Molecular Neurobiology, raises new hope for human patients affected by dementia.

The researchers landed on their breakthrough after discovering that inflammatory molecules known as leukotrienes are deregulated in Alzheimer's disease and related dementias. In experiments in animals, they found that the leukotriene pathway plays an especially important role in the later stages of disease.

"At the onset of dementia, leukotrienes attempt to protect nerve cells, but over the long term, they cause damage," Dr. Praticò said. "Having discovered this, we wanted to know whether blocking leukotrienes could reverse the damage, whether we could do something to fix memory and learning impairments in mice having already abundant tau pathology."

To recapitulate the clinical situation of dementia in humans, in which patients are already symptomatic by the time they are diagnosed, Dr. Praticò and colleagues used specially engineered tau transgenic mice, which develop tau pathology -- characterized by neurofibrillary tangles, disrupted synapses (the junctions between neurons that allow them to communicate with one another), and declines in memory and learning ability -- as they age. When the animals were 12 months old, the equivalent of age 60 in humans, they were treated with zileuton, a drug that inhibits leukotriene formation by blocking the 5-lipoxygenase enzyme.

After 16 weeks of treatment, animals were administered maze tests to assess their working memory and their spatial learning memory. Compared with untreated animals, tau mice that had received zileuton performed significantly better on the tests. Their superior performance suggested a successful reversal of memory deficiency.

Read complete article

It's Time to Play! Senior Play Grounds!

                                                             

                                                           

                                                                            Fit After Fifty



 Playgrounds for older people? Wouldn't that be awesome? If only..well, in many places, it is actually a reality!

I miss swinging on a swing set, laughing as you went down the curly chute slide, the bouncy horse, merry-go-round, a simple place to just have fun!
We need a simple place, just to have fun! "Fitness Centers" are fun..to a point. Most feel too structured.
You need to be able to feel like you're going to have fun, and know it when you do!

goric.com:

"We are all lucky to live in an age of expansive play. Adult playgrounds and similar facilities are available throughout the U.S. for most anyone’s enjoyment and benefit. Each one serves as evidence that playgrounds, parks, and even businesses are increasingly paying attention to the kid inside us all.

Most of these spaces go well beyond promoting child’s play for adults. The adult playgrounds highlighted below facilitate both creative and challenging activities that can help us stay in shape mentally and physically."

medicarefaq.com

Benefits of Senior Playgrounds

The health and life benefits that seniors can reap from playgrounds designed for their needs of course includes all the cardiovascular and wellness benefits associated with any type of exercise. But there are specific advantages associated with the machines and equipment commonly found in these parks, such as:
Improved balance that prevents falls. Falls are one of the main contributing factors for seniors entering assisted living and care facilities.
Increased flexibility and range of motion to make it easier for seniors to perform activities of daily living (ADLs), such as independent bathing and dressing. Inability to perform ADLs is a major reason that seniors stop living independently.
Encourages seniors to exercise outdoors which has been found to be more beneficial than solely indoor activity.
Has been found to increase socialization. Many of the playgrounds are designed with social interaction in mind. Increased socialization and physical activity have been shown to improve mood, decrease depression and slow cognitive decline.
Turns exercise into play rather than work. This is not a benefit to be overlooked. Many of us associate exercise with boredom, drudgery and possibly pain. Changing that association to having fun playing with friends and peers is powerful and can encourage more consistent activity.
Why Specifically “Senior” Playgrounds
Some may question the need for senior focused outdoor activity areas when weight rooms and gyms abound, but senior playgrounds have some advantages as well over traditional exercise spaces such as gyms.

Seniors may be less likely to join gyms out of fear of feeling out of place or self-conscious. “Gym intimidation” is a real phenomenon and can be intensified in some gyms that are geared to younger clientele.

Also, gyms and other indoor fitness centers such as the YMCA have costly monthly membership fees and many require annual contracts. These expenses can be an insurmountable barrier to exercise for many seniors on fixed incomes, as is the case for a large percentage of senior women. Senior playgrounds located in municipal parks can provide a free, welcoming space that could encourage more seniors to remain active.

For seniors to gain maximum benefit from activity while remaining safe, the activity and equipment must be focused on their health and safety needs. Upper body exercises become more important as we age to maintain back and arm strength.

Gaps on such equipment as rope bridges must be designed with a senior’s stride (larger than a child’s but smaller than a young adult’s) in mind. All equipment must be sturdily built and include steady handrails to assuage seniors’ fully justified fear of falls.

Senior focused playgrounds don’t necessarily have to be seniors only. While some countries like Spain and Germany build exclusive senior parks due to their aging populations, others are building multi generational parks where seniors and kids can play simultaneously.

KaBOOM! a nonprofit organization that builds playgrounds in under served and low-income areas has begun to focus on building multi generational playgrounds. These playgrounds can be ideal in urban locations where space is at a premium and where many seniors may be the primary caregivers of their grandchildren.

Where are Senior Playgrounds in the United States

Until recently in the United States, most senior playgrounds have been built within gated senior communities or associated with senior centers. In addition to nonprofits like KaBOOM!, for profit companies such as Must Have Play and Play by Design are moving to expand senior playgrounds into community parks.

Florida has several senior or multi generational playgrounds in Miami, Orlando, and Tampa, but they are also starting to pop up in Georgia and Texas. As more seniors hear about and try senior playgrounds, hopefully more organizations and Parks departments will take notice and the playgrounds will become more widespread.

Today’s seniors are looking to stay active and independent as long as possible. Senior playgrounds can be another way to make exercise more fun, more accessible and more effective for more seniors."



If you’re a senior that’s currently enrolled in Medicare and need additional healthcare coverage for you medical bills we can help! Some plans include a membership to the popular fitness program SilverSneakers! More Info

Tea Helps Your Brain!

 
                                                                           

We hear so many things that we should do to be healthy, after awhile, we may just tune it all out. Try to stay tuned in as I talk about it again, okay?

Older people, well, we have a lot of concerns, so I thought I would research the subject.

Health is a major concern as we get older and we read so much about cognitive decline. 

On Medical News Today it recommends drinking tea, glad to hear it because I drink a lot of tea! Here is part of what they said:

Thanks to its high levels of antioxidants, tea has been linked to a lower risk of diabetes, heart disease, and cancer. However, its potential health benefits may not end there. Researchers have found that regular tea consumption could more than halve the risk of cognitive decline for older adults, particularly for those with a genetic risk of Alzheimer's disease.

[A cup of tea with some tea leaves]

New research suggests that regular tea intake could lower the risk of cognitive decline in later life.

Tea is one of the most popular beverages in the United States; in 2015, more than 3.6 billion gallons of tea were consumed in the country, with black tea being the favorite.

The possible health benefits of tea consumption have been well documented. A recent study published in The American Journal of Public Health, for example, associated moderate tea intake with a reduced risk of cardiovascular events.

* In the same article it talks about green tea, which I've come to really like!

Past research has suggested that drinking tea may also have brain benefits, with one study linking green tea consumption to better working memory.

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/

Hot tea has more benefits than iced tea. but according to Prevention very little.