Seniors Site

The problem with goals and New Year’s resolutions is that it can be a pain to actually stick to it. Take for example your weight loss goal; if you don’t have enough will power and self-control, it is so easy to backslide even if you are already halfway through accomplishing the goal, putting you back to square one. It can be quite frustrating if you ask me, then I keep putting it off just because I know the road is too long for me to actually make it to the finish line. That’s when you know you need some will power boost!

Getting to the root cause of our problems with will power, it is almost always our self-control, our ability to control our impulses and be able to just walk the straight line towards our goals in life. It is so easy to, say, overeat, because it satisfies our hunger and makes us feel complete, albeit temporarily. So does overspending or any other unhealthy activities you engage in, I call them temptation.

If you are like me, having a hard time sticking to goals, longterm and short-term, you might want to assess your will power and self-control. If you find them to be lacking, here’s what you can do:

· Take the slow road. Changes that will eventually affect your life don’t have to be instant. In fact, these changes would require some time for you to be adjusted to it. It is normal for human beings to resist, well that’s our nature actually, so instead of fighting your natural instinct, might as well condition it to whatever you want it to get used to.
· Kick bad habits away. As we are also creatures of habit, you might want to examine those habits that might be hindering your way to your goals. Let’s take your eating habits for example. If you are so used to eating three full, big meals a day then that is certainly not helping your diet since 8 small meals all throughout the day is the most recommended when trying to lose weight.
· Baby steps. To avoid overwhelming yourself, take small baby steps towards your goal, eventually you’ll feel more confident and pick up your phase. No matter how small the step you took, it will still add up.
· Try again. So what if you failed the last time? will that stop you from trying again? No, it should not.
· Make it a lifestyle. Your goal should be, as much as possible, incorporated with your lifestyle – based on how you live your life every single day. If you slowly make your goals a part of your life, you’ll get so used to it that you’ll eventually find yourself achieving them.

Asthma attacks can be painful and fatal for older adults. The more we age, the more difficult to manage our asthma attacks will be. In fact, COPD or Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease is said to be the fourth leading cause of death in the United States. Of course, if you are suffering from asthma, you are technically suffering from COPD too. Unfortunately, our age group has the highest mortality rate when it comes to asthma-related deaths.

We know that asthma attacks don’t come randomly. It has to have a trigger which most usually is environmental. Of course, there are also non-environmental ones but since environmental triggers are the most common cause of an asthma attack, we will focus on that today:

• Air pollution or poor air quality. Poor air quality means that the air is thick with smog – that is, tiny particles that are bad for the lungs, especially to those with lung problems. When going out, check the Air Quality Index first, usually found online or on your local newspaper. Know and be familiar with the color codes then avoid going out if the alert is bad.
• Smoking. This is yet another reason why you should stop smoking. 1) smokers are most likely to develop COPD 2) the smoke that you made is most likely to cause an asthma attack 3) smoking is the leading cause of asthma and other known lung problems. The only way to avoid this is to stop smoking and/or ask those around you to stop doing so.
• Pollen. There are seasons when the air is so thick with pollen even butterflies and bees get asthma attacks from them. When your area is under attack by pollen, better to stay inside and shut doors and windows so they won’t get their way into the house.
• Mold. This is actually my worst enemy so I make it a point that I don’t go to places wherein mold can be present as well, that is, areas where it is normal for things to be dry now and wet later. When there are molds, you can be sure that there are spores too in the air which if inhaled, triggers an asthma attack.
• Dust mites. Try to remove dust more often since dust mites can trigger an attack or worsen your condition. Unlike mold, dust mites strive on high humidity and of course, dust so it is best to avoid these things when possible.
• Pets. Particularly dogs and cats as they tend to carry with them pollen and other allergens found outside of home. If you are prone to asthma, best to choose a pet that doesn’t have fur or limit them only to the yard and never inside the house.

Let’s just call this as our little New Year’s resolution, shall we? Now that year 2011 has ended and onto 2012 we go, I felt that this is the right time to reexamine our lives and put some order in it. I would like to focus on the things that seniors usually put off, year after year after year, despite the necessity to do these things the soonest. Here’s a simple guide on your New Year Planning and I hope you won’t have to repeat anything listed below next year!

· Find an attorney to help you put your legal documents in order. Much better if you’re able to find an Elder Law attorney – they are the ones who specializes in elder law, which means they will be able to specifically help you with your legal needs as a senior. Pay attention to your real estate and care planning documents. While you’re at it, you might want to have a go at your wills, trusts and power of attorney.
· Get the whole family involved. Have a little get-together and talk about how you would like your affairs to be executed. It is extremely important for all of them to be there and hear what you have to say and how you came to such decisions. By doing so, you prepare them for what’s ahead – like a fire drill. Hopefully, when the time comes, they will know what to do.
· Secure copies for all key players listed on your wills and legal documents. This may sound simple but in truth, it will take some time before you’ll be able to put together everything that they will ever need to make sure your wishes will be carried out properly.
· Hire a bookkeeper. It’s time to hand over this very confusing task of doing your own taxes. To keep you busy, better do other things that are both challenging and enjoyable. Unless of course if you enjoy doing your own books.
· Put together a health planner. This should contain everything that has something to do with your health such as your appointments with your doctor, dates you had your tests along with their results, at least an overview if it’s too technical for you to write and of course, reference of these test – if they are too big to be included with your health planner, just write down where you put it for easy access.

If you are a senior trying to find ways to look younger even for a day, you might want to assess your daily habits. While there are several cosmetic procedures available for seniors nowadays, sometimes, all it takes is for you to destress and make it a point to stay stress-free every single day. This should not be too hard if you make yourself – mind and body – your priority.

Ever wonder how some of your colleagues managed to maintain their youthful glow or that they don’t look old at all? Genes may have some play on it but in general, it is how soon they were able to realize how important it is to take care of themselves and “step up” on the way they prioritize their well-being. Take for example my female friend who just turned 70 the other day. She was the envy of every lady in the room just because she doesn’t look anywhere near 70 when she, in fact, didn’t look like that 2 years ago. Three years ago, she lost her husband of 40 years then her daughter had decided to leave her kids with the “lonely granny” so that the “lonely granny” would be able to move on from the lost – which I think at that time was quite absurd. A considerate mother that she was – and still is – she accepted the kids into her home just because she didn’t want her daughter to be offended and she was afraid the kids would feel nobody wants them. So she busied herself caring for the kids when in fact she should be mourning her husband properly. A little over a year after, she had a breakdown which was later diagnosed as severe depression and was required proper mental care. The kids were shipped back to the mom and the nice lady was nursed back to health.

Lucky for her it didn’t take long for her mind and body to recover. Now, she’s in her most active and enjoying the 70’s life. Her secret?

• Get a good night’s sleep – always. You can never begin your day properly if you don’t get a good night’s sleep. Sleep provides the relaxation your body needs and when you don’t sleep at night, chances are, you’ll be napping your way all throughout the day which is quite unproductive.
• Have a nice breakfast. Go for something that is kind to your stomach, like fiber. Oatmeal and eggs are good as they provide the energy that you need but not make your body put on unnecessary weight.
• Exercise. When you exercise, you give your body its daily dose of activity and at the same time, you help your body release toxins.
• Snack on something healthy. Like nuts, or fruits, or veggie sticks. Limit junk food intake if this cannot be avoided.
• Rest when you need to. When you feel tired, your body is just telling you that it needs some rest. When you ignore, it just causes your stress levels to go up. Also, bear in mind that your body is not as vigorous as it once was so treat it with extra care and precaution.
• Take your vitamins and supplements religiously. Some of the nutrients your body naturally produces are diminishing so you should supplement it whenever you can.

It goes without saying that getting your doctor on your good side is a must. As much as possible, you don’t want them to be pissed at you as you are bound to be really uncomfortable in each and every visit if you do. But admit it, there’s that rebel streak that’s quite hard to contain at times especially if you are getting really annoyed with your doctor and/or his or her staff or perhaps their clinic in general.

Moving on and griping aside, below are some of the things you need to take note of in order for you to be the model patient that your doctor would definitely love to have:

Be prompt and involved. This is the most courteous thing to do, being prompt and always right on time for your appointments since you are dealing with professionals with 101 things to do. Never be late, no matter what your reason is. If something unexpected came up, take some time to ring the clinic and tell them what’s holding you up – and this should be your last resort by the way, done only if it is completely unavoidable, otherwise show up not a minute late.
Try to get your homework done. While some tasks you need to do like getting an appointment with a local doctor or checking with your health insurance provider are better handled by your doctor’s office, that is, his staff, having them do it all the time can be a little annoying and could irk your doctor big-time. Just try to think of it this way, if this is something they do all the time, you probably won’t have to ask them – they would do it for you without you even saying a word. If not, then it is probably not included in the service they provide.
Be completely honest with your lifestyle. Your doctor may look disappointed when you try to paint a picture of your lifestyle but just imagine if he or she have already spent time thinking of what’s the best treatment for you considering the lifestyle you have just told then see you in the emergency room sometime after just because you failed to tell one important detail like how many packs of cigarettes a day you’re able to smoke. Can you say frustrating?
Report if there are problems with his or her prescription. Instead of just stopping them altogether, it would be a better idea if you go back to your doctor and report the problem with his or her prescribed medications which he or she could adjust or give you a different medication. Remember that they are there to help you, not to make you suffer with the meds they recommend for you to take.

Nowadays, if you would like to stay connected with your loved-ones, you must learn how to use the computer, particularly social networking sites. It may scare you at first, even discourage you as I admit, it can get a little confusing out there, unfortunately this seems like the only way to keep tabs on your family and friends especially with your grandkids!
To my horror, I caught my granddaughter the other day, a thirteen year old, chatting on Facebook. The very cautious me started seeing red warning signs that eventhough the kid was only chatting with her bestfriend, I find it bothersome for her to be so exposed like that.
I do know that the internet world is so vast, it’s quite hard to be private and while popular social networking sites practice safety measures and I do believe they monitor their websites with an eye like a hawk, your safety boils down to your own good judgment and how educated you are in using social media sites.
Seniors should be aware that social networking sites are littered with people you don’t really like dealing with. These are your standard-issue scammers, stalkers, spammers, and what-have-you’s. Above all, viruses frequent these sites – even Facebook gets attacks from time to time!
To be able to protect yourself from these bad people, you need to have a safety plan when using social networking sites. Protection will help you enjoy your social networking experience more. Below are some tips on how to stay safe when using social networking sites:

* Don’t click links especially if it bears suspicious content. I observed that most scam links have weird texts in them such as “Hi <name>” or “this is hilarious”. Look for signs that that the link and texts accompanying it are “generalized” or applicable to every John and Jane when you take off your name out of the link. If you are really curious, message back your friend and ask what was it that she sent over. If he or she answers, observe if it’s really your friend talking. When in doubt, don’t open.
* Protect your password. Better yet, protect your email address AND password. I strongly suggest that you keep separate email addresses for your personal use and for your social networking activities. Furthermore, as much as possible, keep your password a nonreflection of your person. In other words, do not use birthdays, anniversaries, grandkid’s name, your dog’s name etc as your password. If you find it hard to remember, then have variations by using capital letters and numbers.
* Don’t add people you don’t know into your network. I find it really annoying to be “invited” by someone who I can’t, for the life of me, remember. Apparently there are “joy-inviters”, people who will attempt to invite you just to expand their network. Scammers will try to approach you the same way and if you are not too careful, you’ll end up exposing yourself to people you barely know.
* As much as possible, bookmark your sites. This way you won’t have to Google-search it anymore. Logging in from your bookmarks will help eliminate the possibility of your entering your access info on a fake site.

See, I’ve been doing my homework. Now that summer is here, we seniors should be doubling our efforts in keeping up to date with latest scams since this is the season when scammers are on their most active and that is an official statement from my friendly neighborhood policeman!

I have already posted about the “financial adviser” scam which sounds really sophisticated if you ask me since it is you who will go straight to the scammer’s trap and not you being lured into it. While the “financial adviser” scam requires effort to spot, the “alarm system” scam takes the traditional way of scamming people. That is to confuse them and play on basic human emotion: fear.

It is normal to fear for your safety as well as your home’s. This is your cocoon, your refuge, if and when someone breaks in, you will certainly feel violated. My personal fear is coming home to a ransacked house but I wouldn’t dare imagine someone breaking in while I’m physically there. For me, that is unthinkable considering my age. I would probably end up dead, either of severe trauma or heart attack!

Going back to the “alarm system” scam, the latest of the bunch works like this: a salesperson will approach you either by knocking on your door, or calling you and launching a full-blown sales pitch even if you vehemently refuse to acknowledge. They will have their way, be it by going out of their way to convince you, pressure you shamelessly, scare you out of your wits and/or threaten you at gun point – anything that will make you buy their products and avail their services. After that, they will be gone without a trace left! If this is the case then consider yourself lucky as you have been scammed just once and without much damage done.

Another intention of “alarm system” scam is to know how exactly your current alarm system works or if you have one in place. This is usually done by bad people looking for houses they can break into some time in the future. By “interviewing” you, they will be able to know your habits and how you use your current alarm system or if you still don’t have one in place yet. By posing as inspectors, they will be able to see your alarm system’s weakness and use it to their advantage. Moreover, knowing your alarm system’s brand and model will provide them the opportunity to study its behavior and plan their break-in.

Also, beware of salespeople asking for your alarm system company’s information. I have heard that a fellow senior was scammed by believing a caller claiming that they are now handling accounts for the aforementioned company and would like for the senior to renew their account with them to avoid interruption of services (whatever that may be!) Since the caller sounded professional and the senior did not see any reason not to trust the caller, the senior quickly signed up papers sent to her the next day by the caller. Soon enough, poor senior got two billings for the alarm system, one from the legitimate company and the other was from the scammer. While the senior can still squirm his or her way out of the mess, it is still a hassle and a complete waste of time.

When we talk about seniors and their tendency to get scammed no matter how careful they were, the only thing that comes to mind is that 1) the one being scammed is a senior who is easily confused and prone to believing grandiose but flimsy promises and 2) the scammer is a lot younger, say 20-30-40 years our junior.

Not anymore. There is a new type of scam out there that the scammer and the victim are both seniors. Scary huh? Ever heard of “financial advisers” whom you go to for financial advice and planning especially if you are dealing with retirement money a.k.a your nest egg? You don’t usually trust your retirement money with someone younger than you right? So by instinct, you go to someone a little older than you and a lot respectable to look at, like he knows what he is doing. Not surprisingly, you would go to a fellow senior if you happen to be looking for a financial adviser. Nowadays, this logic seems to be the one to push you into a scammer’s disposal without you knowing it.

For the longest time, seniors were thought to never hand over their money to someone who happened to just befriend them over a couple of beers. Or perhaps, never to talk to strangers in any communication form, i.e over the phone, via email and most especially upon opening your door and finding a stranger standing there. These are the only places we seniors have carefully placed red warning flags. Certainly not when we are the ones to voluntarily go to someone’s place and ask for help, right? Sadly, this is how scammers operate now.

Of course, there are ways to avoid falling into a senior-scamming-senior situation. One is to involve as many trusted heads as possible. If you are to hire a financial adviser to help you manage your retirement money, make sure your spouse or partner knows it. Better yet, have your lawyer involved. Your partner and your lawyer may have their own thoughts about the things that will be raised during planning and it will make the scammer more conscious of their actions.

Never take a person by title. Bear in mind that the words “professional”, “certified” and “senior” don’t really mean anything as they are designated titles. Unless they have a real certificate to back up their claims, titles shouldn’t impress you. Instead, investigate and check their credentials. Furthermore, it might help you if you check their associations and groups they are involved with.

Lastly, whatever deals offered to you by your financial adviser, do take some time to check if it is legitimate and if there’s a possibility that it will work for you. No matter how wiz your financial adviser is, it’s still your money and you should be the one calling the shots.

Life with a chronic disease or illness is not easy and it has negative impact on seniors’ quality of life. Bad news is, it tends to get worse overtime especially if the senior in question refuses to seek help from healthcare providers.

According to Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, 7 out of 10 seniors are living with at least one chronic disease, about 5 of them are contending with two. Chronic conditions are longterm and they are usually not curable. Furthermore, chronic diseases have a tendency to be progressive thus making the senior suffer progressively too, let say, from tolerable to unbearable in span of 5 years. Seniors who are living with more than one chronic condition will describe it as “crippling”. Others who are beyond the “unbearable” line require assistance for their everyday chores, personal and household ones.

CDC or Center for Disease Control strongly suggests that chronic diseases be avoided as much as possible since it can lead to many complications and even death later in life. It is possible to avoid chronic diseases since most of them are caused by how you lead your life or in other words, based on your own lifestyle. To lessen your risk of having chronic diseases, CDC recommends: 1) adapt a healthy lifestyle which includes proper diet and regular exercise and 2) submit yourself to preventive measures such as annual medical checkups, screenings and lab tests that are recommended for your age. It is important to note that you should start early, that is, when you are still young as chronic diseases usually start early.

You can blame your genes too since some of known chronic conditions are inherited or if you haven’t yet, your genes may put you in higher risk of acquiring these conditions later in life. However, chronic conditions are treatable, if not, then manageable. Seniors need not suffer from chronic diseases since their doctors can help them find the right medications for them to use and with lots of support from their caregivers, it is not impossible for seniors to still live their lives as normally as your condition would allow.

Armed with all the information you need to battle chronic conditions, seniors and caregivers can now keep their conditions under control. Take advantage too of the things technology is giving us nowadays. Take for example assistive devices specifically designed for seniors with disability, these things are sold in the market to help seniors with their special needs. They may be expensive but taking into consideration the amount of comfort it can give to the senior, it might be well worth the cost.

While I encourage seniors to make the most out of their lives especially during retirement, it is not impossible for many seniors to still be scrambling for money or perhaps doubting if their nest egg is really enough. My take is that your nest egg can never be enough. Aside from that, you will come to a point when your “retired” days become boring, annoying and downright ridiculous – enough reasons to make you get out of the house and do something meaningful to occupy your time – okay, not meaningful all the time but whatever is there to amuse you, right?

Hence the delay in retirement. I believe that seniors nowadays are as active as ever and they don’t really need to be told that they have already reached their retirement age. Nowadays, “retirement age” is only a number, nothing more. However, there are many factors you need to consider now that you are nearing your retirement age, one of them is time spent on rediscovering yourself. It is only normal to be torn between putting up a business and be your own boss vs. staying employed wherein financial stability is almost guaranteed.

Assessing the risk is the most important of all factors to consider if you are torn between these two options. Putting up a business is quite risky especially if you don’t have enough experience under your belt, formal and informal experiences, while staying employed can bring about dissatisfaction and unease since this should be the time when you could finally enjoy a slower phase and pursue other interests. Emotional risks should not be taken lightly as it can lead to depression and ultimately other health problems. It is important that seniors stay happy and contented all the time, no matter what.

Again, staying contented is the key to a happy seniorhood. Moreover, it is important that whatever you are doing motivates you as well. In other words, you should be enjoying the work you do, and at the same time, it should challenge you as a person. If you decide to self-employ then make sure you have enough time to grow with your endeavor. On the other hand, if you have decided to stay employed, better make sure you are getting exactly what you want from it.

Lastly, always include your family in the equation since they are the most affecting factor on your decision. Either way you decide to go, your family will surely feel the effect so make sure they are always involved and they know what to expect.