Growing old is, sadly, an inevitable natural process that comes with great changes in our physiology and body composition. The changes to your body that can’t be avoided are compounded by other factors such as: lifestyle, socio-economic situation, medical conditions, and the local environment. What you eat is probably the single most important factor to the elderly, all of the other factors have some bearing on diet as well.

An elderly person should be encouraged to eat foods that are highly nutritious. Fresh fruit and salads are important foods for an elderly person to eat with their daily meals. For most people, with the amount of junk foods and processed foods that we eat, our caloric intake is usually higher than needed. In old age this is even more of a problem because of a reduced caloric requirement. This may be a small decrease, but the effects of excess calorie intake at this stage are also a lot more severe. Ideally, an elderly person should be eating smaller and more frequent meals with highly nutritious and low calorie foods. Digestive ailments and eating disorders that set in with age can easily be averted with a healthy consumption of fruits and vegetables.

Vitamin and mineral supplements and pills are no substitute if you’re not eating correctly and it’s best to derive these nutrients from fruits and vegetables. Whole breads and whole cereals are also an important food group, as are fish and meats consumed in moderation. Meats here would refer to lean meats. Fish are however extremely healthy. Elderly vegetarians may want to swap meats with pulses and other foods, but would still need some multivitamin or more specific nutritional supplements to avoid any deficiencies. Milk and dairy products are the last food group that also needs to be included.

This should make it quite obvious that the key to a healthy diet for an elderly person would be to eat a varied and wholesome diet, and to always exercise moderation. The healthy diet is not very different for an old or young person, but the consequences of deficiencies and excesses can be a lot more severe.

Giving elderly people age 65 and older a dose four times larger than the standard flu vaccine boosts the amount of antibodies in their blood to levels considered protective against the flu, more so than the standard flu vaccine does. The higher dose of vaccine generally resulted in approximately 30 percent to 80 percent more antibodies against flu, long considered a good measure of protection.

The immune system generally weakens as we get older, not only leaving people more vulnerable to infection but also reducing their ability to respond to vaccination. While some studies have questioned the effectiveness of the flu vaccine in older adults, the nation’s leading public health experts stress that it’s a worthwhile, even life-saving, measure. About 90 percent of the estimated 36,000 people who die from flu-related causes in the United States each year are 65 and older.

The conventional flu vaccine is a combination of three circulating strains of flu, with each component consisting of 15 micrograms of material designed to evoke an immune response to protect a person against a particular type of flu. In the study headed by Falsey and conducted at 30 sites around the country in fall 2006, physicians compared the immune response brought about from a traditional flu vaccine compared to that from a vaccine shot containing four times as much material – 60 micrograms of material known as hemagglutinin for each of the three components.

In the study of people age 65 and older, the larger dose was given to 2,575 participants, while 1,262 subjects received the standard dose. Scientists checked the level of antibodies in the blood of the participants one month later. Generally, the large-dose vaccine increased the number of flu antibodies in study participants on average from about 30 to 80 percent. The level of such antibodies in the blood has long been considered a good gauge of how protected people are against the flu.

A greater percentage of people who received the high-dose vaccine had the typical side effects associated with the flu shot, including redness, swelling, and pain at the site of the injection, but the symptoms generally did not last longer than three days.

“These are the people at the highest risk for becoming very sick from influenza, and we saw significant improvement in the immune response in many of these people,” said Falsey. “This is very encouraging.”

Read the full article here

Partnerships for Older People Projects (POPPs) was launched in 2006 with the aim of helping older people to remain independent and prevent or delay the need for more intense care. Since then over £60 milllion has been spent on the scheme helping almost 100,000 people.

The projects can help older people by doing their shopping or gardening, giving help to collect prescriptions and advice on taking the correct medicines and specifically checking on those at risk from hospital admission.

Speaking at the National Children and Adult Services (NCAS) conference, Phil Hope said: “In 20 years’ time a quarter of the entire adult population in England will be over 65 and the number of people over 85 will have doubled.”

With these sort of figures, the success of POPPs has hada great impact on the lives of many older people and could provide respite for many more. From the pilot project, the interim report found that:

• 99,988 people had received or were receiving a service as part of POPP in 29 pilot sites.
• Elderly people using the service found their quality of life (mobility, washing/dressing, pain, anxiety) improved.
• For every £1 spent on POPP interventions, 73p will be saved on the cost of emergency hospital bed-days.
• Because POPP services have led to fewer days in hospital, the overall cost of care has been reduced by £410 per person.

POPP Case Study

One woman who was helped through the POPP project in Poole, was 82-year-old Freda who fell and injured her leg. The leg needed regular dressing, however, Freda suffers from short term memory loss and as a result was missing appointments at the surgery. As her leg was not getting the correct and regular treatment it deteriorated so much that it was being considered for a skin graft. The Practice Nurse referred Freda to POPP, and with the assistance of a Help and Care Volunteer Driver Freda was able to keep her appointments at the surgery and her leg has now healed. Had POPP not been involved and found a means for her to keep her appointments, she would have been admitted to hospital for a skin graft.

Find out more at the Department of Health POPPs website

You’ve probably heard about how effective massage therapy for elderlies is by now, but you probably don’t know why it is considered so beneficial. Well, although massage therapy has been practiced for a long time, the general public has only recently started to open their minds and hearts to this technique in recent years. It is now known, and proven, that touch therapy and massage helps reduce stress in elderlies - someone who is given the massage and touch therapy sleeps deeper and longer.

Massage therapy provides elderlies with a very nurturing feeling and it is especially helpful for adults with medical or physical problems. The more times they experience your touch, the calmer they will become. The calmer they are, the better they are able to deal with the medical interventions that they have to go through at their old age!

Massage therapy and touch therapy have a lot in common because they have a lot to do with motion of the hands over various parts of the body. The technique involves a lot of touching, stroking, and massaging of body parts. Massage therapy might even be a little bit on the painful side - but for elderlies, this is not the case.

Some nursing professionals offer massage therapy services to elderlies they deliver. Professional nurses who offer these services will provide the technique to critically or seriously ill elderlies. These nurses work closely with the elderly’s doctor and other nurses to ensure that the persons health is in no way endangered at all.

Elderlies who are not medically challenged will also benefit from massage therapy. It has been shown that elderlies who are given massage therapy from an early age tend to age more alert, smarter, and healthier in general.

In our parents’ generation, decisions about elder parents seemed easier. Families were not so spread out and different generations lived in one roof when it was necessary. It was just how it was. No questions asked. Adult children of elderly parents knew what was expected and they acted accordingly. Most adult children lived near their parents.

But these days, families are spread out across a state, a nation, or even the world. What if you are the only remaining adult child and, for example, you live in Liverpool while your 80 year old parents reside in Bournemouth? If they need help, how will you know? How will you provide?

So, what can you do?

Take heart. There is hope, and a growing list of resources along this new journey of life.

As the baby boomers approach their 50s and 60s, those lucky enough to still have their parents alive are finding new and creative ways to help their parents manage this phase of life.

In every case, talking together about key issues mentioned earlier are critical. There is no substitute for that. In addition, it can help to create an action plan and take your parent to a lawyer or advisor to be certain that all the proper documentation is set-up, current and accurate in order to ensure their wishes will be met. Resources to achieve this are available through a local senior citizen centre or city and county government social services. These various resources are likely to provide a list of local legal counsel who specialize in helping older people for a reduced fee or for free.

Even the most stubborn of elder parents can recognize the value of making decisions prior to a crisis, and making sure their adult children know where to find their information. You may have to bring the discussion to the forefront, but it will be recognized and acted on if you graciously insist.

The most important thing for adult child of elder parents to realize is that no matter where you live or what the situation of your parents, you are not alone! There are resources to help you every step of the way. A wide variety of local resources, from elder companions, to registered nurses, to food delivery and in-home medical and non-medical help is available immediately.

Many local churches, community senior or social services, hospitals or non-profit groups dedicated to elders can point you in the right direction. All you need do is ask. It makes your responsibilities less overwhelming when you know there ARE answers; answers that will fit your and your parents’ unique situation and needs.