Author Archives: Health in Aging

Staying Safe in the Heat

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When the weather starts warming up—as it is in much of the United States right now—the body uses a variety of clever strategies to cool down. Sweat glands work overtime, sending more sweat to the surface of the skin where it evaporates and cools the body. Muscles relax so more heat-carrying blood flows to the skin where that heat can escape into the air. Even tiny body hairs get involved. They flatten themselves so surrounding air can more easily circulate over the skin and allow more heat to escape.

However, as we get older, age-related changes in our bodies lessen our ability to use these important cooling strategies. And this increases our risks of dangerous heat-related health problems such as heat stroke—a potentially life-threatening increase in the body’s internal temperature. Age-related changes also makes it harder for the body to tell when it’s getting dangerously dehydrated—or “dried out”—and needs water right away. In addition to age, medical conditions such as heart disease and diabetes can boost older people’s risks of heat-related medical problems. Some medications can also affect how you feel in the heat.  Heat-related medical problems can be very serious. An estimated 200 older Americans die of heat-related health complications each year.

And that simply shouldn’t happen. With some simple precautions, older adults can avoid heat- related dangers. There are several tips from the experts in this new, easy-to-understand “tip sheet” for staying safe when it’s just too darn hot.  You can find the new tip sheet, Hot Weather Safety Tips for Older Adults, here.

Older adults and their caregivers need to be especially careful when the temperature reaches 90°F and keep an eye out for signs of heat-related problems.  The Health in Aging team hope you’ll share these tips with older friends and neighbors as well, and that this important information will make the livin’ easier, even as the mercury rises this summer.

How do you plan to stay cool this summer?

Never Too Old to Play

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Recently, I came across some fascinating research by Stuart Brown, MD, a psychiatrist who founded the National Institute on Play and is widely known as “the father of play research.” Studies that he and other researchers have conducted show that play – defined as any activity that’s “fun, purposeless, and all-consuming” – isn’t just kid stuff. Rather, play is essential to wellbeing throughout life.

I’ll certainly vouch for that. Over the years, I’ve learned that, once I start feeling overwhelmed by all the “to do” items on my lists, it’s time to take a break and do something that doesn’t serve any purpose other than engaging and making me feel happy. Things like golf, going to orchid shows, getting together with “gal pals,” discovering new neighborhoods, competing with my husband on the Wii, and lately, scoring on “Angry Birds.”  In short, I play!

This year, the U.S. Administration on Aging (AoA) — which has designated May “Older Americans’ Month” – has come up with a particularly fun theme for the month: “Never Too Old to Play.” To celebrate, we at the Foundation for Health in Aging hope you’ll join us in celebrating this important month – by playing.  With this in mind, we’d like to share some of our favorite ways to play, as well as some of the terrific suggestions for play that the AoA recommends.

These suggestions for play are appropriate for families with older members; residents of long-term care facilities and those who care for them; and you and your neighbors, of all ages:

  • Organize an intergenerational family Wii bowling tournament.
  • Play Charades, chess, Scrabble, Uno, Pictionary or other favorite board games.
  • Invite your neighbors to a kite-flying contest or croquet tournament at a nearby park.
  • Help organize or contribute to a block party complete with games of chance.
  • Paint a community mural (with permission from your local representatives, of course).
  • Plant something – whether in a pot on your windowsill or in a large community plot – gardening connects us with living, growing things and is fun and therapeutic.
  • Make music – sing in the shower, play an instrument alone or in a group, or just clap your hands to a song on the radio.
  • Take a walk and smile and say hello to passersby – it’s contagious and can generate some playful conversations.

Ready?

Set?

Play!

Caregivers and Health in Aging Resources

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Having been a caregiver for my seriously ill mother and father in their later years, I know first-hand how truly gratifying it is to provide this kind of care.  However, I also know how hard it can be.

If you are among the more than 43 million Americans who are unpaid caregivers for older friends or family members, you know how much time and effort this kind of care requires.  Caregiving for an older adult can involve so many things—from helping them get in and out of bed, dress, navigate stairs, eat, bathe and use the toilet, to providing transportation, getting groceries, preparing meals, managing finances, and giving medications.  Along with all of these everyday tasks, caregivers also need to figure out how to work with healthcare providers and government agencies to ensure their loved ones get the medical care they need and the health benefits to which they’re entitled.  All with no compensation, except the satisfaction of helping an older family member, friend or neighbor.

Not surprisingly, caregivers need help and support too.

One of the missions of the AGS Foundation for Health in Aging is to provide health information to older adults and those who care for them.  The Foundation has a portfolio of resources on Health in Aging that we hope will be helpful to caregivers.  Resources such as Caregiving How To’s, Tip Sheets, and information on managing specific health problems that are unique to older adults.

While providing information is important, it is also important to learn from one another, through shared stories, experiences, and feedback.  Please feel free to leave us a comment below and share your caregiving experiences.   Or let us know what you found most helpful on our website, or what you wish you had more help, advice, or support with.

Together we can work to provide the older adults we care about with the best care we can.

Blogging for National Healthcare Decisions Day: A Rally for Our Loved Ones and Ourselves

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NOTE: In honor of National Healthcare Decisions Day (NHDD), April 16, I’m taking a break from blogging this week and spending my writing time with my loved ones.  I hope that this guest post, by Nathan Kottkamp, Founder and Chair of NHDD, will inspire you to think about the conversations we should all be having with our own loved ones about an uncomfortable but important topic – planning for when we die.


Are you one of the 80% of Americans who haven’t completed an Advanced Directive yet? We’ve all struggled with how to get started on this topic – and there are plenty of reasons why we resist:

  • Fear
  • Uncertainty
  • Not sure how to start
  • Don’t know what’s legally binding
  • Worried I’ll hurt someone’s feelings
  • Just haven’t had the time to do it

That’s why we recognize April 16 as National Healthcare Decisions Day (NHDD) – a movement designed to inspire, educate, and empower the public and providers about the importance of advance care planning.  Put another way, NHDD is a day for all adults to mark their calendars, have the talk, and document the talk with an advance directive.

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Beers Criteria

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A century ago, the average American could expect to live 50 years or so.  Today, we can expect to live nearly 80. That’s a big jump. What contributed to that big jump in longevity? A lot of things — including the development of medications that prevent and treat serious illnesses like diabetes and heart disease. In addition to all the good they can do, though, drugs can also cause serious side effects and interact with one another in potentially harmful ways. That’s why weighing a medication’s benefits against the risks it poses is so important. It’s particularly important in later life, because age-related physical changes put older adults at particularly high  risk of  drug side effects and other “adverse drug events.”

To help healthcare providers safely prescribe medications for older adults, the American Geriatrics Society (AGS) recently revised, updated and expanded the Beers Criteria for Potentially Inappropriate Medication Use in Older Adults. The criteria were first published by the late geriatrician Mark Beers, MD, and other experts in 1991, and were revised in 1997 and 2003. They have long been the leading source of information about safe prescribing for adults 65 and older.

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