Seniors Site

Personalized photo calendars make a great bonding activity for seniors and their grandkids. It can also be the perfect gift to give your elderly loved-one this coming holiday season. Personalized gifts like this are both delightful and inexpensive. They are sure to touch your loved-one’s heart! What more if one will be able to see cherished pictures of their families and friends all year-round? All the more better right?

Starting a personalized photo calendar project is easy, especially if you have a computer—better if you have an internet access since some of the best softwares for this can be downloaded for free over the internet. In doing so, you can save time and energy while producing quality results thus avoiding the “hit and miss” part of doing it manually. If both are out of the question, then you can still make your own personalized photo calendars the old school way—cutting and pasting, that is.

·    Scour for family photos that might be hidden in nooks and crannies of your house. If you intend to give this calendar to someone specific such as your grandmother or grandfather, make sure that you include pictures of those closest to their hearts and not of someone they barely know. Have them scanned if you will be using a computer for this. You can also use artworks and medals which they might have missed attending. One idea that could work is aligning the photos to correspond with a certain month. For example, your birthday is in May so put your picture in that month complete with inscriptions of the exact date.
·    Digital photos should be prepared prior to fitting them in your personalized calendar. When doing this, you will need an image enhancer such as Adobe Photoshop or even the one that comes with your computer setup. With them, you can rotate, enhance, crop and resize your photos.
·    Like stated earlier, there are software programs you can use to help you with your photo calendar ventures. They are easier to use since most of them will only require a user to upload photos then drag-drop them to your heart’s desire. For first time users, take advantage of free templates available for you to use.
·    The idea behind customized photo calendars is to make it as personalized as can be. Experiment with fonts, colors and layouts to help “personality” to come out. You can never go wrong with this so never hesitate. Get your creative juices flowing now. Don’t forget to hit that preview button before printing so you know what it looks like. Also, saving your work in a disc or USB can help you retrieve your original work in case something goes wrong.
·    If you are in doubt about printing your work, you can always bring it to photo shops to have it printed for you. It may cost you a little over your projected budget but it saves you a lot of trouble since printing a double sided page can be disorienting at times.
·    Some photo shops also do binding jobs. If yours do, then have it bound there as well or you can take it some place else for binding.

Remember those family trees with funny pictures you get to present in class when you were younger? If you happen to stumble upon one of yours or even your grandkid’s family tree project—if they even get to make those nowadays!—up in the attic today, you will know how good it feels just by looking at them and knowing where your roots are and how they have grown through the years.

Tracing your roots is a fun and fulfilling activity. It was even said that knowing where you came from is very essential to complete one’s being. It’s only then you can rest your troubled soul and be comfortable with your own person. Just take the case of an adopted child whose parents he never saw; just imagine the uneasiness his soul must have been going through all these years and I bet it won’t rest until he finds the only connection he has in this world—a connection only his biological parents can provide. Back then, tracing your roots can be a daunting task to take especially for seniors whose feet may be taken to different parts of the world in search of the missing link or a long-lost cousin. All thanks to the advent of technology, particularly that of the internet, genealogy is made easy and quite frankly, it’s amazing how people who are into genealogy help one another to find their roots the soonest possible time.

If this post got you interested with genealogy, you should know that there are about a hundred of genealogy sites in the web community today. This can make it a lot easier for you to start hunting down your relatives from way back when. The best way to start your adventure is to gather up everything you have—and might have—in your possession: pictures of family gatherings, documents, and even heirlooms. These are your clues in what seems to be a treasure hunt of your history. To make it more interesting, find a family member who is dead-set in finding his or her roots too to accompany you in this search. This makes a great bonding time for you and your kids also.

Interviews in forms of chitchats with relatives should also be performed when gathering clues. Your best candidate would be someone who was born several years before you, preferably a minimum of 10 years but when there’s none then anyone who’s nosy enough to know distant relatives unbeknownst to you would do fine. They don’t have to know specific dates or years as it may be a little hard to remember all that but names and locations can definitely help you so much. Jot down notes and go to your friendly neighborhood library where newspaper clippings are free for everyone to view. I hear these collections are now kept in slides for easy browsing. You can also consult your ever-dependable Google and just type in your keywords. Some areas still have a Family History Center, although it can be rare, but if yours happen to have one then you’re in luck!

Try to come up with important documents such as birth, marriage and death certificates, wills and just about anything that has a definite date you can look up to. This way you will have a clear point of reference, time-wise. When faced with a dead-end, it’s ok to feel disappointed but it also helps to bounce back and try other leads once more since this activity should be fun and must yield positive results for you.

When talking about “older adults”, be aware that every term has its own implications and one cannot very well go around throwing just about every term pertaining to the senior group without knowing what it really implies. For one, if you happen to Google search the term senior, it will yield results that are more serious, health-related and aged-all-over links. Expect these links to have resources full of helpful information released by your state or government. However, when you type the words “baby boomers”, now you’ll soon notice the big difference between the two even if they share the same exact meaning. It seems that the term baby boomer is more hip and trendy than its wholesome counterpart—that being the word senior. Everything that is nice, naughty and fun in an older adult’s life can be found in the term baby boomer.

As we can see clearly now, an older adult’s life is undergoing some kind of metamorphosis for the past years or so which called for certain terms to adapt a whole new different meaning, one of which is the concept of retirement for seniors. It may be due to the demands of time, economic crisis or just plain lifestyle preferences but certainly these anxious baby boomers are ready and gearing to move forward and break free come retirement years!

According to surveys, more and more seniors are making baby steps toward productive and meaningful retirement years nowadays. There are marked changes in the attitude when seniors talk about their plans for retirement. These days, retirement is considered as a positive turning point in one’s life. Some even look at it as a new beginning wherein they are allowed to fulfill their heart’s desire. Even those who are presently tied up to the workforce are making their own choices when it comes to the jobs they take and not just about anything that comes their way. Needless to say, these baby boomers are wiser now and learning to take care of themselves better.

Plans for continued earnings are made as opposed to what it used to be but retirees are making sure that there will be enough room to play around. This balanced coexistence of work and play environment proves to be very beneficial to a baby boomer’s overall outlook in life as it takes away much of the stress.

It was also reported that senior women are more aggressive these days and it seems that they don’t take retirement as something that will hinder success in their chosen profession. They see it as a way to further advance their careers and improve themselves more.

Because of these changes, the senior population is now experiencing quite a confusion. They are now divided into categories depending on how they choose to spend their retirement years. At the end of this experiment, experts also concluded that a senior’s financial security plays a big role on how he will potentially live life after 65.

Truly, senior health care must be one of the most sensitive issues a family is most likely to face at least once in their lifetime. Unfortunately, it should be done whether we like it or not. Mind you, convincing a senior to surrender himself to someone else’s care especially that of a senior health care facility is only half of the story as the real action only begins when you find yourself in face of the real challenge—the terms these facilities are most likely to use when dealing with your case.

Here are some common senior healthcare terms you are most likely to stumble upon during peptalks with their representatives. Expect it to be something of a cross between medical and legal terms, coupled with their own invented acronyms. It pays to familiarize yourself so that you don’t risk miscommunicating with the management before, during and after your case.

·    Advanced Medical Directives. It has three categories under its belt namely Living Will, Power of Attorney and Health Care Proxy. All these, more or less pertain to a written consent of the senior which designates or assigns another living person to make decisions in his behalf, if and when he’s unable to express his wishes anymore. This should be limited to medical concerns for the senior only.
·    Assignment. This is not your usual kid’s homework as the term adapts a whole new meaning when it comes to senior health care. When the doctor accepts assignment then you’re one lucky caregiver! It means that your kind doctor accepts Original Medicare Plan as a full payment saving you a lot of money.
·    Carrier. These are companies which should be paying your bills in behalf of Medicare.
·    Certificate of Creditable Coverage. A certificate which you need to secure from your health care insurance company which states the coverable period of time your senior is allowed according to the health plan you availed.
·    Custodial care. This is you, as the primary caregiver. These are services received by your senior which are not medical in nature such as bathing, eating and moving around. This is expected not to be covered by your insurance plan.
·    Election. A written decision that is legally binding once signed by the author.
·    IHSS or In Home Supportive Services. This is a financial aid given by the state to the senior/caregiver to help pay the bills for disabled senior who wishes to stay at home and receive care from there.
·    Preventive Services. These are preventive measures done to seniors to ensure that they stay healthy or at least won’t contract yet another health condition while under their care.
·    Risk Adjustment. Since your senior’s health status is bound to change either for better or for worse, expect to have certain adjustments in your payables.

For a more extensive list of common senior healthcare terms, visit LA County Community and Senior Services website.

Just imagine how good it can be if you go through retirement as planned and still have a little something to sustain your luxuries in life. Great, isn’t it? But with the worsening economic status felt the world over, it is easy for retiring seniors to have serious doubts about their well-planned retirement. In fact, most seniors delay retirement as much as they could just because they felt they are not quite ready for it yet.

The pockets may not agree with your desires anytime soon but let’s not forget that the body does have its own limitations and sooner or later, it is bound to shout “enough is enough” at you. Certainly, you wouldn’t want this time to arrive especially when there are still sights to see and things to experience and you need your body to be at its top-shape when they happen. The good news is, you can still make it happen, on your own terms—and while taking your own sweet time.

Scouring the streets for a job, both part-time and full-time is dead flat hard especially for seniors who might have been enduring bodily aches and pain all the while. Lay-offs are not only a scare for seniors but may also signify the end of comfortability and the start of something really doubtful for aging bodies to undertake. Unfortunately, layoffs know no boundaries and it will come when it does. The worst thing that can ever happen to a person is when you are down and broke the moment a nasty layoff comes your way. The good news is, seniors can now welcome them with open arms and even quit their jobs ahead of time if they want to without feeling guilt and remorse over the matter. All you need is a computer and a good internet connection. Considering that these two are almost a staple to anybody’s home, there’s nothing to hinder a senior from acquiring an online retirement job that is easily manageable and rewarding too!

The world of internet is a very vast place wherein you can see great opportunities especially if you’re creative and resourceful. Experts say that online opportunities are virtually boundless and they are just waiting to be discovered by anyone who has the inclination to do so. Truly, the world your internet has created is one that’s entirely separated from the world we’re so used to living in. Career-wise, internet marketing is the most popular route one can take but the competition is a little stiff there and it can get really dirty at times—a situation that is not so healthy for seniors who are looking for a slower pace in life but suits perfectly for those who love challenges.

The idea is to find the job that suits you most. It must be something that you are most comfortable in doing and it should feel less of a burden. It can be an interest such as photography or web design. It can be a skill such as organizational skills for office or businesses. You can even be a blogger for somebody so you can satisfy both heart and wallet. For those with little or no work experience at all, there are paid surveys you can participate in. Bottom line is, your work level is never put in question when in comes to online retirement jobs, it’s only your willingness to try since most jobs won’t require you even a penny to spend but will reward you just the same.

A caregiver’s job is no joke and burnouts are never far when you engage in this kind of task. Unfortunately, caregiving is an obligation that usually leaves one with no choice but to do it and try their very best to somehow make it work.

First and foremost, it is important for caregivers to maintain their overall health at all times. Health is what you need in order to cope with everyday demands of the job. Health is what keeps your sanity intact. It is what you and your senior need to be able to make it through hard and trying times.

Although we commonly hear horror stories about caregiving, those who really went through one can say that it was not always horrible. It has its own rewards and friendships are forged. This is one good example of a relationship that is formed by sweat, tears and pure human nature.

As humans, we have our own limitations. Our beings can only do so much and pushing it over the edge is bound to give you undesirable results, one of which is irritability which is not a good trait to have when around seniors since they tend to be sensitive at times. Burnouts happen when, as a caregiver, we are drained and exhausted from all the work yet we wish not to seek help whatsoever from other people around us. It involves physical, emotional and spiritual states of one’s being and can affect the way we handle things tremendously.

Burnouts happen when you give in to that overwhelming feeling that comes when caring for an aging loved-one especially if they are terminally sick. One of telltale signs of a burnout is when you start feeling guilty when you give time for yourself. Another is when your senior’s concerns invade your thoughts 24/7 which leaves nothing for your own.

While taking good care of our senior should be a responsibility that is taken with great seriousness, it should not be our ultimate responsibility in life. we are also responsible for our own health and well-being. Once in while, you need to break free from this responsibility, if only to recharge and renew your senses. Keep frustration at bay by freeing yourself from any undue burden.

The best tool for stressful situations is education. Get yourself educated particularly to the issues concerning your senior like their illnesses and emergency plans. Support groups can provide you with the right information you need. They can also help you cope with the work you are doing right now. Find one within your area so you don’t have to go far when you need support.

For once, let us put aside the common misconception that seniors have slow learning capacity, avoid all complex things and most of all, they are NOT so into computers. Let us consider that not all seniors fall into a category wherein staring at the computer 24/7 is not an option. There may have been a number of them who are considered “computer illiterate” but let me assure you, there are just a few of them who developed quite an indifference towards computers. Many have acquired computer experience through working since computers have become a staple for offices and businesses, both big and small.

According to a study, almost ¾ of the senior population is very much updated with the computer and all its happenings, even social media sites and social networking. The remaining seniors are only hindered by one reason or another but definitely, the usage is never dependent on one’s age. Thanks to nonstop improvements made for internet users, the computer has grown user-friendly over the years, providing the ease of use everytime—even a two year old kid can operate a computer nowadays! Also, as seniors begin to discover new things via the internet, the more it becomes easier for them to navigate their way around.

There are many reasons why a senior may opt to use computers instead of any other means of communication to the world. It was found out that if a senior has an offspring who uses social networking sites on a regular basis, it can be reason enough for them to explore what’s in there too. Having a grandchild that “twitters” all day can double that effort since seniors may see this as the easiest venue to keep in touch with their loved-ones and have a little piece of their grandchild’s day too without having to impose or demand for their time. Here are some more reasons why seniors are enjoying the internet more than ever:

·    Online games have never been more fun! They can be quite addicting too especially now that they have successfully integrated with most social media sites like Facebook and MySpace.
·    News hunting is made easy with the use of RSS feeds paired with feed readers.
·    It is easier for seniors to maintain social relationships even without going out. Stay in the comfort of your home but be able to communicate with people who matter most.
·    Seniors shop online. They also do their research via the internet because it’s faster and easier.
·    It keeps them updated with the latest happenings and trends the world over.
·    The internet is like a one-stop shop, everything you need is in there, just a few clicks away.
·    Support groups and online communities for seniors are updating over the internet as well.

Imagine a life without an eyesight, or perhaps one day you’ll wake up and discover a world that is much lesser in color and not as bright as it once was. As we grow older, our vision is expected to undergo some changes. While there are few others who made it to their golden years with as little as few prescription eyeglasses, almost half of the senior population is not as lucky–bound to completely lose their eyesight anytime soon. Unfortunately, this is all because they have failed to take care of their eyes.

According to eye experts, age is not the only contributing factor for failing eyesight. Age, although closely associated to eye problems, is only one of the many factors which results to an eye problem. For one, there is an existing hereditary factor which is present right after a person is conceived. Next is the lifestyle we chose to lead. Bottomline is, when you start to consider your eyes as a separate entity which needs to be taken care of, you increase your chances of delaying–if not preventing altogether–eye problems from happening. Here are some tips on how to minimize your risk early on:

·    Once you reach the age of 40, start visiting an eye doctor for regular checkups. Also, take note of any disease that you may have right now. Diabetes is a disease known to affect one’s eyesight. If you have one, you should take extra care of your eyes once you notice slight abnormalities and even before it.
·    Having a poor eyesight is an accident waiting to happen. A senior with an eye problem is prone to slips and falls increasing their chances of fractures. Failing eyesight cannot be stopped once it transpires, but some safety measures can be applied such as installing brighter lights all throughout the house.
·    Smoking can cause age-related macular degeneration.
·    The sun’s glare is also damaging for your eyes. Never look at it directly for whatever reason and protect your eyes by wearing sunglasses when you go out.
·    Have your daily dose of vitamins A, C and E. They are good for your eyes.  Examples of which are carrots, fruits and spinach.
·    Prevention is always better than cure—the same cannot be said enough for your eyes.
·    Eye injuries can occur anytime. Protect your eyes at all times especially when you come in contact with potential causes like spray cans and cleaning products.
·    Heed its call. When your eyes are tired, it will definitely let you know. Once it does, then its time to give it its much-deserved rest.
·    It is common for seniors to experience eyes that are either extremely dry or annoyingly wet. It happens when your tear glands are not working properly anymore. Eye drops can help you alleviate these symptoms and it must come with a prescription. Talk to your eye doctor about it.

You fall into this generation if you are:  anywhere between 35-55 years of age, caring for at least one aging parent and at the same time, caring for your own children—marriage is never in question just as long as you have these three basic qualifications. Sandwich generation or SandGen for some is when you are torn between your obligations to your aging parent and caring for your own growing kids. The explanation alone will tell you how hard your situation can be—that is, if you are not feeling it yet.

Being in the sandwich generation is hard especially if you are the primary caregiver. This should mean you are personally taking care of things for both generations such as school meetings for the kids and doctors’ appointments for the seniors. Studies show that those who are experiencing this type of arrangement are taking a lot of stress from almost all aspects of his or her being. Unfortunately, the sandwich generation is not strongly supported by the community, much less recognized.

Financially, most SandGens are experiencing a total crunch time just by balancing the household expenses. This situation can be greatly alleviated if a family member is sharing the expenses but it can get doubly worse if the SandGen in question is the sole provider for the whole family. Physically, taking everybody to and fro can take a toll to a person’s body. Some even say that it even feels like living inside their cars for the whole day and disorientation occurs on a regular basis. Not to mention looking after everyone and not having enough time for yourself. Then there’s the question of privacy, being in the SandGen will automatically put you in a situation wherein privacy is considered as a luxury. Here are some coping strategies for the sandwich generation to help ease the stress away:

·    Seek help. It’s never bad to seek help when you need one and it won’t kill you either. Accepting help is not a sign of weakness but it can save you your sanity in the long run. Bear in mind that you are balancing three parties here: your parents, your kids and yourself—that is, if you stay unattached.
·    Being in the SandGen can affect your relationships with other people. If you are married, expect it to undergo some changes, so does your social life. Time is never enough for the SandGen group and most of the time, this can be a potential root cause of a failed relationship. Although it is highly advisable for this generation to maintain healthy relationships, it will also take some more effort from your part.
·    Practice stress management. A good stress management should help you identify your major and minor stressors and try to arrange them in a way that you won’t feel suffocated with one stressor after the other.
·    Stress comes from your own reactions. Gauge your own responses to stress and try to control them before they actually manifest.
·    If you are really determined in taking all the responsibilities then might as well look after your body too. How else would it maintain its peak performance if not for you?

As humans, we certainly do experience many kinds of pain all throughout our lifetimes and as much as God has given us the ability to feel pain, He too provides all the necessary tools for us to overcome it. It seems that pain is allowed to be felt for us to learn and see things from a different perspective. Pain’s never meant to damage our beings, they are just there to remind us that we are humans with feelings and limitations, otherwise, we will all be invincible.

Pain also teaches us life’s lessons. Physically when we feel pain, we remember it for as long as we live since pain usually comes with fear. We avoid it as much as possible upon learning how upsetting it can be. However, unexpected things happen even if we always step out of its way. One way or another, pain is bound to happen. Seniors know this all too well.

If younger adults are more concerned about their physical well-being, seniors on the other hand, guard their emotional beings with their lives since it is the most vulnerable at their age. Seniors are prone to extreme emotions but they are too “experienced”, enabling them to hide it successfully for longer periods of time. What seniors don’t know is, hiding pain is the unhealthiest act of them all and it can affect your overall health. It can cripple you too, making you unproductive and often distracted.

Pain is natural and it will come. What matters is how we handle ourselves amidst pain and our ability to bounce back alive and fairly unscathed. When met with physical pain, just go to a doctor and it will all go away. But with emotional pain, you only have yourself to turn to. Learn to be your own source of happiness and explore what satisfies your spirituality. These are the two things that will help you take emotional pain in stride. It is only normal to sulk and mourn, use this time to unburden yourself of the pain you are feeling right now, not nourishing it even further.

Don’t expect healing to come right after the mourning period. It takes time to heal, as with any other wound. Aside from that, mourning has its own course to run, that’s why you need to be patient and take everything one at a time. It’s a personal journey that nobody else can take but you. The sooner you recognize this, the better are your chances of getting over it soon.

There are things in life that you need to hold on to like hope, but when done for a lost cause, what’s there to hold on to? There are times you need to let go and move on, for your own good. Life will just go on and on, holding back will get you nowhere but where life had left you. Every episode of pain comes with renewal, look forward to one.

If at some point you feel there’s not enough will in you to use for moving on, talk to your healthcare provider and seek other ways to overcome pain. Pain only becomes more painful when it is duly entertained. There are some people who are more than willing to help us get over our loss, you just need to find them.