Working Caregiver- Healthy Aging
No Magic Formula for Healthy Aging, Just Four Habits
Healthy Aging
By Martie Cruz from the Home Instead Senior Care office in San Francisco.
 We are often asked if there is a formula for healthy aging in San Francisco and other large metro areas? Most mature seniors want to maintain their vitality and good health.
Researchers recently identified four healthy lifestyle factors that could go a long way toward reducing your father's risk of contracting common and deadly diseases. Those successful aging practices are not smoking, maintaining a healthy weight, exercising regularly and following a healthy diet.
Together, these four lifestyle attributes appear to be associated with as much as an 80 percent reduction in the risk of developing such diseases as diabetes, heart disease, stroke and cancer, according to a report in the August 10/24 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
The article explains that cardiovascular disease, cancer and diabetes-chronic diseases, which account for most deaths, are largely preventable. "An impressive body of research has implicated modifiable lifestyle factors such as smoking, physical activity, diet and body weight in the causes of these diseases," the authors write.
After adjusting for age, sex, education level and occupation, individuals with more healthy lifestyle factors were less likely to develop chronic diseases. Participants who had all four healthy aging factors at the beginning of the study had a 78 percent lower risk of developing any of the chronic diseases during the follow-up period than those who had none of the healthy factors.
Although it was not included in the study, companionship also is an important part of a senior's healthy lifestyle. Since your father is alone, make sure that he has the kind of meaningful social interaction that will help him continue to live an independent and healthy life.
One answer can be a professional caregiving companion. Home Instead Senior Care hires CAREGivers, for instance, go into the homes of seniors to assist them with tasks such as meal preparation, errands and shopping. Home Instead Senior Care has developed various other resources to help seniors and their families as well. The company's Cooking Under Pressure campaign provides an interesting and tasty diet plan and tips for healthy eating habits.
Seniors who are alone, particularly those seniors needing help with the activities of daily living, are at risk of developing unhealthy lifestyle habits without this important support.
For more information about Home Instead Senior Care, contact Martie Cruz at (415) 333-3944 or log on to www.homeinstead.com. For more about this article, visit http://pubs.ama-assn.org/media/2009a/0810.dtl#2.
| 
