Wearable technology is helping all of us get fitter, but it’s so far been marketed primarily to youth and people in their twenties whose lives are already well integrated with technology. Just look at ads for things like FitBit. But wearable tech has immense potential to help seniors who could do without nagging sons or daughters – or might not have anyone around to nag them. However, how likely are people over 50 to find the technology, well, wearable? A recent AARP study sought to find out. The senior advocacy group teamed up with Georgia Tech Research Institute’s HomeLab to
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Posts by Freedom Home Care
Is Driving Cessation Really The Best Idea for Aging Seniors?
There are plenty of studies that list the reasons why older adults are no longer behind the wheel after 65 years of age, and drivers in the U.S. beyond 65 will represent about 25 percent of the population by 2025. But according to a new study conducted by RAND (research and analysis company), the results of a number of studies based on data like miles traveled for various age groups, traffic accidents and causes and various age groups have shown to be inconclusive. With the help of information released through the Fatal Accident Reporting System and more defined parameters, it’s been
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Falling Down: Prevention Tips
Trips and falls can lead to serious injuries, hip fractures, and head traumas in older adults – Freedom Home Care wants to help you take steps to prevent them. Each year, one in every three adults ages 65 and older slip and fall in the U.S. According to Physical Therapist Alice Bell, seniors who have fallen once are the most at risk of falling again. There are a number of factors that contribute to falls experienced by seniors, and any kind of fall can be especially dangerous for people with Osteoporosis. Known to many as the silent disease, Osteoporosis causes
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Memory Tests Could Indicate Alzheimer’s Years in Advance
Surprisingly, many people don’t realize that one of the earliest signs of Alzheimer’s are low scores on memory tests. It could be a mental aptitude test taken prior to being hired for a job, or maybe even a reading comprehension test for a college course. According to recent studies, consistent, incorrect answers or mistakes made on tests like these are a good indicator of progressive brain disease. What’s even more important is that the results of these memory tests could serve as a warning sign up to 18 years before the disease is even diagnosed. Currently, there’s no definitive way
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Senior Living Made Easy: Interview with Jacqueline Trotter Lotzof, JTL Brokerage & Construction
We recently sat down with Jacqueline Trotter Lotzof, senior care industry expert and former VP of Business Development and Marketing at Freedom Home Care. She has since moved on to a professional career in the brokerage and construction industry, and we had the opportunity to speak to her about her expertise, her passions, and how she can educate consumers senior living made easy. How do you focus on helping seniors with your brokerage / remodeling services? While working with seniors for 6 years and spending a significant amount of time in their homes, I gained a very good understanding of what is considered “senior safe.” Respecting
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Talking To College Students Is Good for Older Adults
It is perhaps a well-known fact that storytelling and sharing from one generation to another is good for everyone, young and old. But a new study has put it to the test, and has found that it is especially good for older adults on multiple levels – mentally, emotionally, and physically. The study focused on writing workshops for older adults living at home and in retirement communities. These workshops were conducted in group settings where adults were prompted to write “life reviews,” a form of memoir and personal writing. Thirty-nine seniors were randomly assigned to two distinct groups: one group
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Links Found Between Air Pollution and Degenerative Brain Diseases
The latest research indicates yet more reasons to go green — namely because not doing so could cost us our mental health. Air pollution has now been linked with degenerative cognitive diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. The immense number of cars on the road with inefficient combustion infuses the air we breathe with fine and ultrafine particles — specks of waste at least 36 times finer than a grain of sand, often riddled with toxic combinations of sulfate, nitrate and ammonium ions, hydrocarbons, and heavy metals. We have long known that these tiny particles cause and exacerbate respiratory problems like asthma and
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Join Us In Celebrating and Extending the Reach of Alzheimer’s & Brain Awareness Month!
Did you know that June is Alzheimer’s and Brain Awareness Month? Don’t worry if you didn’t, we understand! With many high-profile campaigns being mounted on behalf of undoubtedly deserving causes lately, suddenly popping up into the public eye and often seemingly disappearing almost as quickly, it can sometimes be tough to keep track of exactly where and how to stay in touch with the causes that really matter to you. This month, Freedom Home Care would like to take the excellent opportunity to see Alzheimer’s and Brain Awareness Month not only as a short-term effort to raise visibility on relative
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Chicago Family Organizes 26 Mile Run For Alzheimer’s Awareness
Nearly five million adults in the U.S. suffer from Alzheimer’s, according to the National Institute on Aging. And while that number varies among experts, those of here at Freedom Home Care, your home care agency of Chicago, know that the effects of a disease like this one can radically alter the lifestyles of everyone it touches. Alzheimer’s or ALZ, is the most common form of dementia, the sixth leading cause of death in the U.S., and by some estimates, the third leading cause of death in older Americans. Many people caring for loved ones with Alzheimer’s seek help and support in
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New Research Finds More Ways to Prevent Cataracts, While Others Create Bionic Lenses
At Freedom Home Care, we’ve heard if we eat our carrots we’ll have great vision, but has anyone told you to eat your spinach for the same results? Sure, we associate the leafy green with strong PopEye muscles, but in a recent study done by a team at Qingdao University Medical College in China, it turns out that maybe spinach has been the answer to our vision problems all along. The study, involving nearly a quarter of a million people, found that foods that are rich in vitamin E, like spinach, seed and broccoli, are incredibly beneficial for the health
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