Regarding Your Parents

Holiday dinners don't have to be difficut or stressful for the Elderly

Holiday dinner preparation can take hours or days.  As seniors age, holiday dinners can become a difficult and stressful undertaking.    Dinner options should be reviewed, either going out to eat, or dining at their place. Don't forget the weather, could influence your choice as well.  Here are some suggestions that will help to make your loved ones holiday dinner easier and enjoyable.

1) Have a pot luck dinner. If a large number of extended family members and friends are invited, make a list of dishes for the dinner. Let dinner guests sign up for a dish or two that they will bring to the holiday dinner. It might be easier to cook deserts and the turkey or ham at the dinner site. That way, guests can simply bring the side dishes.

2) No need for the fine china. Pretty and disposable paper plates with holiday decorations can be purchased. One can even find matching cups and napkins. No polishing the silver and less dishes to wash and put away.

3) Save your elderly parents having to cook the main entree and the desert. Simply order it the day before and heat it up the day of.   Most supermarkets will even deliver the complete meal.

4) Think simpler meals. Simplify the dinner by having an entree, a couple of sides, bread and a desert.   Sometimes simple is best.

Hope these tips help you to enjoy the company of each other. 

Precious Memories live on

My mother-in-law left us a wonderful legacy.  She had written many stories for some English Lit. Classes she had taken in college as a Senior Citizen.  These stories were all about family members and family events.  After she passed away we found these stories and had them bound in a book and given to each one of her children.  I keep mine on my coffee table and can’t tell you how many people comment on it after reading some of these remarkable stories.

So often we wait until someone has passed away to pull out the family photos and go through them only to find out we don’t know who all the people are in the photos and don’t really know the story behind the photo. Do yourself and family a favor, sit down with your parents and elderly loved ones and go through the family pictures and identify all the people in the pictures and have them tell you the stories behind the pictures.  Also, try to get them to talk about different family events that have happened over the years, you would be surprised at how much you don’t know and how willing they are too share.

These photos and stories are our parent’s legacy.  They should be passed on from generation to generation. The memories and stories  are too precious to be left behind, they should  live on.

Give the gift of warmth and savings

Looking for that gift idea for the parents who have everything?  Why not ensure that they are safe and warm in their own homes this winter.   

A home energy assessment, also known as a home energy audit, is the first step to assess how much energy a home consumes and to evaluate what measures you can take to make the home more energy efficient. An assessment will show you problems that may, when corrected, save a significant amount of money over time.

During the assessment, you can pinpoint where the house is losing energy. Energy assessments also determine the efficiency of the home's heating and cooling systems. An assessment may also show you ways to conserve hot water and electricity. You can perform a simple energy assessment yourself, or have a professional energy auditor carry out a more thorough assessment. This short video will give you an idea of what is involved in the audit.

The Mass Save website is a valuable resource for getting the facts and incentives to act upon.  You can find a list of professional contractors in your area if you wish to hire someone.   There are many simple no-cost steps you can do to make a difference.  These tips aand more are listed on the website.  

 

Peace of Mind with Automatic Pill Dispenser

It seems as we age we have to take more and more pills.  If it isn’t meds for high cholesterol, high blood pressure, anti-inflammatory or diabetes it’s dietary supplements. The National Institute on Aging  reports, people age 65+ consume more prescription and over-the-counter (OTC) medications than any other age group. According to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), people over age 65 buy 30 percent of all prescription drugs and 40 percent of all over-the-counter drugs.

 With all the prescriptions and OTC medications that the elderly must take it becomes more difficult to manage them.  It becomes increasingly difficult to remember when to take what pill and often time’s medications get forgotten. A solution to that is an Automatic Pill Dispenser which up until now has been cost prohibited. Now there is one out on the market which is relatively inexpensive made by Med-e-lert.  This automatic pill dispenser will help organize the medication, assign dosage times with an alert and can also be locked for security purposes.  An automatic pill dispenser is a great way to go and will give you and your loved ones peace of mind knowing that they are getting their proper medications at the right times.

Do you Google or Bing search on the internet?

In doing some research for my next blog article I asked myself which search engine I should use.  It struck me funny, because I haven’t really given Bing a try since its launch in June 2009.   Habit just puts me on the Google search site. 

I thought I’d take a few minutes (getting side tracked once again) to look into which is better.  I found a few interesting articles.   According to PC Magazine’s review of them it depends on what your searching for as to which engine is better suited for the search.  There is even a website that searches both Google and Bing and returns both results.  http://www.tinyurl.com.au/yoe   You can see for yourself the different results each reports. 

The big difference I noticed is appearance.  Bing’s front page is distinctly flashy, thanks to a display of photography.  While Google’s embraces the elegant simplicity of a white background and the Google search text field. 

 I haven’t used Bing enough to comment on it.  Like anything, it’s all in getting used to something different.  Are you up for a change?   I will need to check Bing out for a time and report back later.  I’m curious, what’s your search engine?

Elderly stay connected through Social Media

Many of the elderly are computer savvy these days and if they aren’t, they are willing to learn. Unlike in past years many families and friends don’t always live near one another, but thanks to the internet and social media we can still stay in touch rather easily. Social media is a great way for the elderly to not only stay in touch with family and friends, but get the support and information they are looking for.  According to the Pew Internet & American Life Project, social networking use among internet users ages 50 and older nearly doubled—from 22% in April 2009 to42% in May 2010.

Facebook can keep the elderly up to date on what is going on in their relative’s and friends’ lives.  Skype can let them see and have a conversation with someone.  Twitter can just be of daily updates. Blogging can be a way of expressing themselves about things going on in their lives or what their opinions are.

The key is that social media is not only letting our elderly stay connected and involved but it is also keeping their minds sharp. Stimulation and social activity is very important in keeping the elderly young and social media can help promote that.

So if your elderly loved ones and friends aren't connected already, get them connected, it will open up a whole new world!