Greater Phoenix Senior Living & Central Phoenix Senior Living helps elders and seniors in Phoenix live full and active lives in the Phoenix area. Call us today at 623-583-5868, 480-991-3959 or 602-265-8228.

Let us help you keep mom and dad at home!

Decoration Idea:

This is a creative way to display those small holiday figurines (skaters, shoppers, etc), homes, and churches that we have in our boxes of Christmas decorations.  They work great when used with items from old train sets – depots, train cars, tracks, and signage.  This display makes a terrific centerpiece for your holiday table, or, if you place it in the vicinity of your Christmas tree, the tree lights will also illuminate your little “town.”

Directions: Arrange loose cotton “snow” (not cotton balls) around a small mirror (this is your frozen pond) to desired size of town.  Arrange homes, churches, train depots/cars/tracks, etc, in or on the snow first; then follow with figurines (if you do this the other way around, you might knock over your “people” when you put in the buildings.)  Of course, skaters should go on or near the pond for the best effect.  This is a wonderful annual holiday tradition, one that every year will have your town looking a bit different!

Greater Phoenix Senior Living & Central Phoenix Senior Living helps elders and seniors in Phoenix live full and active lives in the Phoenix area. Call us today at 623-583-5868, 480-991-3959 or 602-265-8228.

Let us help you keep mom and dad at home!

You know your mom is aging, and will need assisted living and home care sooner than later. With the holidays rolling around, look to that holiday visit as an opportunity to coordinate her home care. After all, you may not be able to care for her everyday needs if you live at a distance. Say for instance, you have only four days to coordinate home care for your mom, here’s a list of what you can do:

- Check on services in your mom’s area such as Meals on Wheels, or local pensioner’s groups that can help mom with her everyday needs.

-Look under “local government” in the phonebook and see what social services are available for elderly care.

-Get younger children to be active during the visit. Playing board games or tending to light chores such as dusting or vacuuming can help.

- You might want to purchase an alarm system specifically suited for the elderly. If mom is in an emergency, pressing a button will signal for the appropriate aid.

-Your children can also help during the long-term as well. Have them send occasional scrapbook collections, photos, or even a phone call.

For more information visit these links:
http://www.laterlife.com/retirement-c5/retirement-caring-for-elderly-parents-living-in-their-own-home.htm
http://www.tellinitlikeitis.net/2008/03/taking-care-of-aging-parents-as-a-family.html

Greater Phoenix Senior Living & Central Phoenix Senior Living helps elders and seniors in Phoenix live full and active lives in the Phoenix area. Call us today at 623-583-5868, 480-991-3959 or 602-265-8228.

Let us help you keep mom and dad at home!

The holiday season is here! Yes and the feast of foods too! This includes holiday cookies, cakes, stuffing, sauces, and hams. If you are trying to eat healthfully - this might be difficult during the next six weeks. Do you steer away from your healthy ways? 

Will you feel guilty if you do? It would not be too much fun or too tastey if you substitute the yummy foods with the reduced-fat goodies.

“I guess in principle it’s a reasonable idea for people to cook lower-fat during the holidays,” says Kelly Brownell, PhD, a Yale University professor of psychology who serves as director of the Yale Center for Eating and Weight Disorders.

“But it’s swimming against the tidal wave of the very high-fat way people like to eat at this time of year,” he points out. “They feel, rightfully so, that it’s a time to treat themselves.” But, he comments, attitude really counts.

“If people say, ‘this is a time for celebration and I love these foods and I only have them once in a while,’ then I don’t think it’s a problem,” he remarks. But if they “feel shame and guilt,” they’ll feel bad and they won’t get to enjoy the food. That attitude will take away from your enjoyment.

What about you? Will you feel guilty this season or sit back, open mouth, chew, and enjoy? 

http://www.thirdage.com/weight-loss/holiday-eating-its-about-enjoyment-not-guilt

Greater Phoenix Senior Living & Central Phoenix Senior Living helps elders and seniors in Phoenix live full and active lives in the Phoenix area. Call us today at 623-583-5868, 480-991-3959 or 602-265-8228.

Let us help you keep mom and dad at home!

This year your money may be tight this holiday season. Thanksgiving celebration and dinner may be limited. In the past, you may done all the cooking for your entire family and friends. If you cannot afford to do that this holiday, try something new to fit your budget.

Make a list of the Thanksgiving food you want others to bring. Have family members pitch in with items. Ask them to bring one or two dishes to share. Or have a friend bring the napkins & candles, another to bring the relish tray, & the rolls, and another family member bring a veggie side dish. You know who cooks and who doesn’t. You can plan a great holiday celebration without breaking the bank!

Greater Phoenix Senior Living & Central Phoenix Senior Living helps elders and seniors in Phoenix live full and active lives in the Phoenix area. Call us today at 623-583-5868, 480-991-3959 or 602-265-8228.

10 Great Tips for Long Distance Grandloving by Sue Johnson and Julie Carlson, mother-in-law/daughter-in-law co-authors of Grandloving: Making Memories with Your Grandchildren

Put some top spin in your letters and pizzazz in your calls. Whenever you energize communications to grandchildren with stories and games only you can impart, you make yourself more memorable. 

1. Smile! Photos and Movies Just for Grandchildren

Send pictures of yourself to use as a “night‑night board” to kiss before bed or as a placemat smiling up at every meal.  Older grandchildren will enjoy a video “tour” of your home and neighborhood, especially before a visit. Any personalized production will become an heirloom that your grandchildren will love.

 2. The Stories We Share:  Creating a Family History with Grandchildren

First, record on an audiocassette a “sound scrapbook” of favorite family anecdotes.  You might detail how you fell in love, what it was like to raise your children, and the ways in which you handled hardship and enjoyed good times.  Then enclose another, blank tape with some questions for your grandchildren to answer.  

3. Connecting by Phone with Your Young Chatters

What is the name of that scrappy neighbor child who worries your granddaughter so?    And what’s that funny word your grandson uses for “car” or the name of your grandteen’s girlfriend?  Asking open‑ended questions, paying special attention to feelings, and respecting a child’s need to solve some problems alone will draw out grandchildren of all ages.   

4. Coins, Stamps, or . . . Spiders? Starting a Collection with Your Grandchild

Perhaps your little ones, like Bert on Sesame Street, love to hoard bottle caps. Whatever your grandchild’s interest, you can build on it by starting a collection or nurturing a hobby together.  The best part will be the experience of learning something new together.

5. Signatures with a Twist

Grandbabies in our family don’t have to read to know something’s from Oma‑‑they smile as soon as they smell her perfumed envelopes.  You can extend this idea to any kind of communication‑‑try inventing a new way to say goodbye on the  phone, a smiling sideways “face” at the end of an email message (using a colon and end parenthesis), or a special stamp to decorate every package.

6. Gruppa’s Coming!  Special Ideas for Before and After Visits

Anticipating the fun of a visit with a creative picture “calendar” will intrigue your young grandchildren.  Simply draw a big box for each day of your visit‑‑or their visit to you‑‑and decide together what to do that day.  

7. Grandloving in Cyberspace

If you and your grandchild both have home computers and an internet service, you can use email to stay close. Because of its nearly instantaneous delivery, you may find yourself writing more frequently and casually than ever.  

8. Rewind, Fast Forward, Play: Grandma’s Telling a Story

Your voice, whether confident or shaky, couldn’t be more special to your littlest family members.  Read a story, sing a song, sing a story, read a song‑‑any combination will do.  

9. Mystery, Intrigue, Drama . . .Opa Sent a Secret Letter!

Whether you try your hand at “magical mirror messages” (written backwards), make your own special letter codes, or start a story that can be exchanged, playful games, puzzles, and add‑on stories can recharge any long‑distance relationship.   

10. Bookin’ Along with Grandpa and Grandma

Here’s one foolproof way to get a cooperative book project started‑‑ask your preschooler grandchildren what they would put into cookies. Applesauce?  Pepperoni?  Oatmeal?  Whatever their imaginative response, jot it down with others in a shared recipe book.   Read more.

Greater Phoenix Senior Living & Central Phoenix Senior Living helps elders and seniors in Phoenix live full and active lives in the Phoenix area. Call us today at 623-583-5868, 480-991-3959 or 602-265-8228.

Maintaining Senior Health during the Holiday Season

The holiday season can be both an enjoyable and stressful time for people of all ages. Seniors in particular need to take special care to avoid additional strain which can negatively impact their health. To stay in tip-top holiday celebrating shape, seniors should keep it simple and not try and overdo it.

They should make sure they are always well rested; get a good night’s sleep and take naps during the way to refresh. Maintaining a regular eating schedule, with healthy meals is another important factor. Seniors should continue to eat well-balanced meals, and try not to eat at unusual hours.

Since stress can also be a factor during holidays, seniors may find that their immunity to viruses decreases so hands should be washed frequently to prevent the spread of germs. Most importantly, remember to relax and enjoy the memories being made with your friends and family; it’s not necessary to make everything perfect, because when things come together, they will be just like every other holiday that resides in your most precious memories.

Greater Phoenix Senior Living & Central Phoenix Senior Living helps elders and seniors in Phoenix live full and active lives in the Phoenix area. Call us today at 623-583-5868, 480-991-3959 or 602-265-8228.

All Family Caregivers are Inadequate

Being a caregiver for aging parents, we need to balance love, our roles, tasks, and guilt. 54 million Americans care for a disabled or sick family member, according to the 2006 survey conducted by Met Life. And although we give a lot of love while giving care, social workers say caregiving is so demanding that most people feel inadequate.

Yes, we do. Remembering the times caring for my aging parents reminds me just how inadequate I felt! See my mother experience pain during her treattments made me cry. I wanted more than anything to help relieve her pain and burden of growing older. Relieving her pain was my hope but my attempt to do so was extremely insufficient.

Experts warn us to beware of guilt. Eventually, such emotions can extract a heavy toll on your health. Guilt causes us to feel emotionally drained because there is nothing we can do to remedy it.

Greater Phoenix Senior Living & Central Phoenix Senior Living helps elders and seniors in Phoenix live full and active lives in the Phoenix area. Call us today at 623-583-5868, 480-991-3959 or 602-265-8228.

Seniors Giving Back to the Community

With so many organizations and programs out there to help seniors in every community, it’s only right that those who are able try to give back. A recently survey indicated that 36% of people over 55 volunteer at least once a month, and 44% are involved once a year.

Seniors can select volunteering activities that are close to their hearts, because there is a greater benefit if they take a personal interest. Giving back to the community can take any form, provided there is no pay in return for the services. Seniors can volunteer at their local church or synagogue; babysit for a family member or neighbor; get involved with a lunch program at a local school; or volunteer at a shelter preparing meals.

Getting involved with the community is a great way for seniors to network with others in their area, remain active and get out of the home and feel the sense or reward that comes from giving back.

Source: http://www.independentsector.org/programs/research/senior_volunteers_in_america.html

Greater Phoenix Senior Living & Central Phoenix Senior Living helps elders and seniors in Phoenix live full and active lives in the Phoenix area. Call us today at 623-583-5868, 480-991-3959 or 602-265-8228.

Learning About Art Therapy for Seniors

Engaging in arts and craft activities at any age has its benefits, but for seniors in particular there is a therapeutic aspect that relates to sensory stimulation. Seniors can either join a local art program for seniors, or locate the materials to complete the activities at home.

Seniors may find more benefit from going to a program which will allow them to socialize, while engaging in a fun and relaxing hobby. However, the therapeutic aspects come in to play regardless of venue.  Creating art is a form of self-expression that allows seniors to exercise their creativity, while increasing their hand-eye coordination, motor skills and stimulating themselves mentally through required concentration. Seniors can select any art activity that they take personal enjoyment from, that fall within their physical capabilities.

May art programs for seniors do however focus upon painting on canvas or creating ceramics since fine motor skills are enhanced, but don’t need to be finely tuned to participate. Seniors will find great reward in being able to display their projects in their homes, or give them away as gifts to their family and friends. Art allows seniors to focus intrinsically on themselves, while utilizing their imagination, creativity and honing their mental and motor skills.

Source: http://kidsatheartseniors.com/hands.html

Greater Phoenix Senior Living & Central Phoenix Senior Living helps elders and seniors in Phoenix live full and active lives in the Phoenix area. Call us today at 623-583-5868, 480-991-3959 or 602-265-8228.

Senior Living in Phoenix - Senior Fitness

Bill Cantrell, Owner, Home Instead Senior Care in Central Phoenix, Goodyear, Avodale & Biltmore Area speaks to you about the importance of a trusted and reliable source for elder home care in Phoenix.

Fitness centers are also a good option, but the kind of facilities that feature blaring music and predominately young bodies working out can be intimidating for seniors, Milner said.  That’s why his organization has established an age friendly fitness locator on their Web site at www.icaa.cc where the elderly or a caregiver can click on a state and a city and find a facility that has met strict age-friendly criteria.     

Milner said that seniors living in Phoenix also could learn about the value of strength training from such a
facility.  “According to the Centers for Disease Control, only 11 percent of seniors actually do strength training,” Milner said.  “And loss of strength is the No. 1 reason why most people get admitted to a skilled nursing facility.” 

If they can’t go to a facility, seniors can do strength training at home, according to Milner.  “Seniors don’t even really need equipment.  There are some programs that explain how you can do strength exercises with soup cans,” he said.  One place to look for information is the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention at www.cdc.gov, which has a program called “Growing Stronger Longer” that features information about strength training and other activities for seniors.