Seniors Site

For me, the greatest invention ever for the mobility challenged seniors would be the chair with wheels or wheelchairs, electric and otherwise. These mobility aids do help seniors who experience difficulty in walking and getting around in and out of the house. It also helps caregivers a lot in terms of getting their seniors to and fro destinations especially if they are used to the said device. Nowadays, even the “not-so” mobility challenged ones find benefits from using wheelchairs. A dear friend of mine just bought a stylish mobility scooter for himself in case his arthritis attack gets bad. Since he insists on living on his own and staying single, mobility scooter must be the most sensible solution to his problem. He can walk fine on a normal day, by the way, and he sheepishly admitted that sometimes he ride his scooter just for the fun of it. I would too, if you ask me.

Anyway, while mobility scooter looks like the best choice for wheelchairs, some seniors are still considering manual wheelchairs over electrical ones. Of course, if price is to be considered, manual wheelchairs are cheaper than their electric counterparts but there are also manual ones that are quite pricey especially if they were specially made to suit a certain need of the rider. Manual wheelchairs have been around for quite some time now, even dating back as far as the twentieth century which more or less, makes its design more dependable. Basically, manual wheelchairs should be durable but at the same time lightweight. As for the design, manual wheelchairs can have handrails so the senior riding it can better navigate the chair by themselves. Do note that a type of wheelchair called transport chair doesn’t have handrails since they are designed to be pushed from behind. Transport chairs are for those who can no longer operate their wheelchairs on their own. Manual wheelchairs are foldable too which make them more appealing to caregivers.

On the other hand, mobility scooters are the rave nowadays as they are very comfortable for the rider, not to mention, stylish. It somehow exudes the feeling of in-control rather than incapacitated. However, it is expected to be more expensive than manual ones – way expensive, that some seniors don’t see any sense in getting one for themselves. Mobility scooters are sturdier since it has four to six wheels supporting it and the chair supports your back more effectively. Of course, it is easier to maneuver a mobility scooter than manual wheelchairs because it uses joystick from its armrest.

I know you guys knew I love books. They are my solace, my escape, when things get tough. They are my friends, giving me advices where I need them and of course, they give me unbiased opinion of  things that are happening and those that are yet to come. If there is one thing I won’t be able to live without, it would be books, good books, that is.

I have had my fair share of bad books too. In my honest opinion, I am quite disappointed with writers today. They sprout like mushrooms but just a few make good stories. If you are not careful enough and you just buy whatever is the hype, you are bound to be disappointed and not to mention, a few, precious bucks down the drain. I, myself, and speaking for my age bracket, I sometimes find myself going back to classics – those written way before us as I find them refreshing and more insightful. Of course, it is a great plus to be getting them legally for free from most ebook sites. Amazon for one has vast collection of free ebooks you can download and read on your Kindle, computer and even your mobile phone (NOTE: a certain amount of techiness applies). Another favorite of mine is Project Gutenburg which offers ebooks in different formats.

For list, the only authority I seek guidance from is The New York Times as their list is always good. However, they have this “100 best novel of all time” list that I kept going back to when I ran out of good books to read, I renamed it as my 100 best novels I should read at least once in my lifetime and it never failed me:

1. “Ulysses,” James Joyce
2. “The Great Gatsby,” F. Scott Fitzgerald
3. “A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man,” James Joyce
4. “Lolita,” Vladimir Nabokov
5. “Brave New World,” Aldous Huxley
6. “The Sound and the Fury,” William Faulkner
7. “Catch-22,” Joseph Heller
8. “Darkness at Noon,” Arthur Koestler
9. “Sons and Lovers,” D. H. Lawrence
10. “The Grapes of Wrath,” John Steinbeck
11. “Under the Volcano,” Malcolm Lowry
12. “The Way of All Flesh,” Samuel Butler
13. “1984,” George Orwell
14. “I, Claudius,” Robert Graves
15. “To the Lighthouse,” Virginia Woolf
16. “An American Tragedy,” Theodore Dreiser
17. “The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter,” Carson McCullers
18. “Slaughterhouse Five,” Kurt Vonnegut
19. “Invisible Man,” Ralph Ellison
20. “Native Son,” Richard Wright
21. “Henderson the Rain King,” Saul Bellow
22. “Appointment in Samarra,” John O’ Hara
23. “U.S.A.” (trilogy), John Dos Passos
24. “Winesburg, Ohio,” Sherwood Anderson
25. “A Passage to India,” E. M. Forster
26. “The Wings of the Dove,” Henry James
27. “The Ambassadors,” Henry James
28. “Tender Is the Night,” F. Scott Fitzgerald
29. “The Studs Lonigan Trilogy,” James T. Farrell
30. “The Good Soldier,” Ford Madox Ford
31. “Animal Farm,” George Orwell
32. “The Golden Bowl,” Henry James
33. “Sister Carrie,” Theodore Dreiser
34. “A Handful of Dust,” Evelyn Waugh
35. “As I Lay Dying,” William Faulkner
36. “All the King’s Men,” Robert Penn Warren
37. “The Bridge of San Luis Rey,” Thornton Wilder
38. “Howards End,” E. M. Forster
39. “Go Tell It on the Mountain,” James Baldwin
40. “The Heart of the Matter,” Graham Greene
41. “Lord of the Flies,” William Golding
42. “Deliverance,” James Dickey
43. “A Dance to the Music of Time” (series), Anthony Powell
44. “Point Counter Point,” Aldous Huxley
45. “The Sun Also Rises,” Ernest Hemingway
46. “The Secret Agent,” Joseph Conrad
47. “Nostromo,” Joseph Conrad
48. “The Rainbow,” D. H. Lawrence
49. “Women in Love,” D. H. Lawrence
50. “Tropic of Cancer,” Henry Miller
51. “The Naked and the Dead,” Norman Mailer
52. “Portnoy’s Complaint,” Philip Roth
53. “Pale Fire,” Vladimir Nabokov
54. “Light in August,” William Faulkner
55. “On the Road,” Jack Kerouac
56. “The Maltese Falcon,” Dashiell Hammett
57. “Parade’s End,” Ford Madox Ford
58. “The Age of Innocence,” Edith Wharton
59. “Zuleika Dobson,” Max Beerbohm
60. “The Moviegoer,” Walker Percy
61. “Death Comes to the Archbishop,” Willa Cather
62. “From Here to Eternity,” James Jones
63. “The Wapshot Chronicles,” John Cheever
64. “The Catcher in the Rye,” J. D. Salinger
65. “A Clockwork Orange,” Anthony Burgess
66. “Of Human Bondage,” W. Somerset Maugham
67. “Heart of Darkness,” Joseph Conrad
68. “Main Street,” Sinclair Lewis
69. “The House of Mirth,” Edith Wharton
70. “The Alexandria Quartet,” Lawrence Durrell
71. “A High Wind in Jamaica,” Richard Hughes
72. “A House for Ms. Biswas,” V. S. Naipaul
73. “The Day of the Locust,” Nathaniel West
74. “A Farewell to Arms,” Ernest Hemingway
75. “Scoop,” Evelyn Waugh
76. “The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie,” Muriel Spark
77. “Finnegans Wake,” James Joyce
78. “Kim,” Rudyard Kipling
79. “A Room With a View,” E. M. Forster
80. “Brideshead Revisited,” Evelyn Waugh
81. “The Adventures of Augie March,” Saul Bellow
82. “Angle of Repose,” Wallace Stegner
83. “A Bend in the River,” V. S. Naipaul
84. “The Death of the Heart,” Elizabeth Bowen
85. “Lord Jim,” Joseph Conrad
86. “Ragtime,” E. L. Doctorow
87. “The Old Wives’ Tale,” Arnold Bennett
88. “The Call of the Wild,” Jack London
89. “Loving,” Henry Green
90. “Midnight’s Children,” Salman Rushdie
91. “Tobacco Road,” Erskine Caldwell
92. “Ironweed,” William Kennedy
93. “The Magus,” John Fowles
94. “Wide Sargasso Sea,” Jean Rhys
95. “Under the Net,” Iris Murdoch
96. “Sophie’s Choice,” William Styron
97. “The Sheltering Sky,” Paul Bowles
98. “The Postman Always Rings Twice,” James M. Cain
99. “The Ginger Man,” J. P. Donleavy
100. “The Magnificent Ambersons,” Booth Tarkington

Do you really need an adjustable bed? Well, if you are a senior having a hard time falling asleep at night just because you just can’t find that certain, comfortable position then the answer would be yes. As we age, we will soon find out that our ‘ol flat bed is not as “sleepable” as it once was. Shifting from one side to another, stiff neck and back at the morning, cramps in the middle of the night.. well, the list just goes on and on. All these can be a source of sleeping problem—more of a nuisance, if you ask me–for which an adjustable bed can surely eliminate.
Adjustable beds are proven to be of great help for seniors—especially for those who spend more time in bed. One’s resting position is very important in maintaining healthy sleep. Some of adjustable bed’s known health benefits are:
•    Major relief for back problems including lower back pains from prolonged supine position, stiff neck and shoulder and even in event of an arthritis attack!
•    Comfort for those who are having breathing difficulties such as asthma and other cardiovascular problems. Those with acid attacks and experiencing heartburn can also benefit from using an adjustable bed.
•    Since it has easy-to-adjust buttons, even the bed’s occupant can adjust the bed to a position he or she desires without the need for assistance.
•    Adjustable beds can help those suffering from sleep apnea since it allows you to sleep in an inclined position.
Prices of adjustable beds vary widely, depending on type, brand and how high-end the bed is supposed to be. There are many styles and designs to choose from—so many that it tends to be confusing at times. To make it easier on your part, seniors who are looking forward to buying an adjustable bed should:
•    Shop around first for prices and features. Bring a notepad or ask for brochures you can take home with you and study their differences. Of course, you should not solely depend on brands or prices, you’ll be surprised to see some of fairly known brands with great features selling at reasonable prices.
•    You can also do your homework by browsing online. This way, you’ll know or at least have an idea what type of adjustable bed you should be looking for.
•    Then there’s the “mattress” issue. Two of the most popular ones are spring mattresses and memory foams. For seniors, memory foams are the most recommended since it foams your body instead of the bed forcing you to compliment its contours!
•    Make sure your electric adjustable bed has warranty and you are provided of contact details in case you need customer support.
•    There are many online stores wherein you can also buy adjustable beds. Some may even offer you discounts when buying online. Just make sure you are buying from a reputable online store.

One of the worst things that can ever happen to a senior is when they are forced to give up their privacy just because they are no longer capable of caring for themselves. In fact, it stays as the number one reason why seniors give their loved-ones a hard time when pursued to have themselves moved to assisted living facilities or even have someone to care for them in their own homes such as home care. Aside from the apparent reason of compromising one’s “ego”, what these younger people don’t understand is that losing our privacy contributes immensely to the very stressful situation.

But, whether we like or not, we have to admit that we are no longer safe when left alone. Especially if our aging bodies are already harboring one hundred and one life threatening illnesses that are bound to attack anytime. Most of these illnesses do not manifest ahead of time nor give warning when it’s due. They just happen, worst, they happen when nobody is around to attend to us. With that said, we know that in order to prolong our lives, we must act fast in making our dilemmas meet half way.

Some blog posts ago, we’ve discussed how technology was able to help seniors solve part of their problems. There were pendants and belt-clipped devices that can alert a nearby person that the wearer is in dire trouble with just a push of a button. Although these devices were able to save seniors from greater danger, it failed to steer seniors away from dangerous situations altogether.

Good news is, many manufacturers are now moving in for the kill! The new and improved alert devices that were merely a loud, buzzing speaker can now do so much more! According to sources, it can now answer the phone, remind the senior when it’s time to take meds and even prepare the medicines to be taken when it’s time. Other uses include alerting the wearer when there’s fire or intruder in his home. It also has motion detector that monitors the senior’s movement and studies the wearer’s activity pattern such as sleep and walk. It can also be programmed to work with other devices that the senior or the monitoring facility may have.

Seniors who are able to experience first hand these high tech devices swear by them. It was reported that having one gives them added protection and security which enabled them to stay at home by their own. Health care providers encourage seniors to try these devices if they opt to stay at home without any supervision.

It is always advisable for seniors to get their daily dose of exercise since it helps the body to cope with age-related stress. Seniors are greatly encouraged to participate in anything that will keep their bodies moving, no matter how mild the activity may be. Bottom line is, we all need to move, to get up from that chair and shake immobility away!

One of the most preferred forms of exercise is running. Unfortunately, running, if not done properly can do more damage than good, not only to an aging body but even to the young and reckless. Although running has cardiovascular benefits, it also puts a lot of pressure in the knee and hip area causing pain every now and then. If not given enough attention, or if the body already has underlying disease waiting to happen, this pain can trigger or worsen an ailment. Except of course, if you consider skip, step and repeat as running marathons!

Due to this very obvious hindrance in our path to fit and healthy body, many running-assisting devices were developed. One of these is a shoe invented solely for the purpose of running. A pair of good running shoes helps in supporting and protecting your feet while you run. However, runners should also be aware that even your trusty running shoes can get you hurt. According to a study released December of last year, running shoes only support your feet and never the knees and hips which receive most of the pressure from running. Studies also blame the elevated heels and the overall chunkiness of running shoes to be additional factors in causing injuries when running.

Although this report seems to be a discouraging one, running fanatics should never waver! Manufacturers are always on the lookout for new and inventive ways to improve and ultimately develop the perfect running shoes and I bet, it’s only a matter of time before they do so. In the meantime, for those who are thinking of buying their first pair of running shoes and got overwhelmed by the sheer number of it, here are some few tips to help you get by:

·    Analyze your gait. This is very important as it will help you choose the best running shoes for you. Only a professional runner or a fitness trainer can tell you exactly how you run i.e if you over or under pronate.
·    Buy shoes from stores that specifically sell running stuff such as running shirts, shorts, etc.
·    Take your time in trying several pairs. It’s okay to do that because salesclerks selling running shoes know that fit and form matters and you won’t be able to tell the difference if you don’t try sliding your feet into the shoe. If you feel uncomfortable in doing so, visit several stores and try a few at a time.
·    Some popular brands of running shoes allow the buyer to try running on them first then pay if you’re fully satisfied with the experience. Others will allow you to return them and exchange for another pair if you feel this pair does not compliment your running style.