How will you spend your time, and what do you want to do on a typical day? What do you want to learn, and what do you want to teach? Most importantly, how can you stay healthy even though you may have a clean slate. According to an article from sparkpeople.com, here are a few ways to stay healthy during retirement:

1. Limber your limbs: Try to walk or job 20 to 30 minutes, three to five times a week.
2. Get a hobby: Bowling, fishing, gardening, biking or community projects that require some physical activity can keep you on the go.
3. Make strength training a priority: This benefits seniors, as it increases energy levels, reduces stress and anxiety, delays or prevents age-related disorders and enhances sleep, balance, endurance and flexibility.
4. Eat a variety of foods: Avoid cholesterol and limit your total and saturated fats. Also, increase fiber intake, and especially if you’re a woman, calcium. Finally, drink at least eight glasses of water every day.
5. Sleep: Make sure to get a good night’s sleep on a regular basis.
6. Learn something new: Experts say intellectual stimulation is one of the basic needs of human beings. Make a list of all the things you’ve always wanted to learn or try, then pick out something that’s feasible now.
7. Read: If you don’t already, picking up reading can be a great way to stay “current,” pass the time, learn something new and even to keep your cognitive skills sharp.
8. Help around the house: If your partners is the one who cooks, make dinner tonight. Take a healthy cooking class, then show off your new skills.
9. Exercise with your partner: Tennis, ballroom dancing, mini-marathons, even yoga are fun activities you can do to stay connected and fit.
10. Exercise while traveling: When planning a trip, look for ways to be active, like swimming, walking or boating. Limit calorie-rich meals to maybe once a week. Focus on healthful foods througout your trip.

Have you or has someone you know retired? How do they spend their time? It’s very helpful for anyone considering retirement to also consider their plan for post-retirement living to continue thriving.

I’ll be the first to say I need more knowledge on what causes an individual to need a gluten-free diet and how you go about changing your dietary needs to meet that dietary requirement.  I found this article helpful to educate me on celiac disease and the need for individuals to be on a gluten-free diet.  More and more individuals, these days, look to a gluten-free diet to help their digestive systems.  I welcome you to read this article for some interesting information.

Families enjoy peace of mind knowing that BrightStar Care nurses are actively involved in their loved ones’ care either directly through regular visits for care settings that demand highly skilled nurses or indirectly by setting up the plan of care and overseeing the caregivers who provide person-centered companion care. BrightStar Care nurses collaborate with the client, family, and other members of the care team such as a primary physician or specialist to ensure the highest quality of life possible for the family’s loved one.

I’ve heard many scary stories by families that had previous gone the private aide routine before coming to my agency to get personal care assistance for their loved ones.  Too often when families go the private aide routine, they have challenges with aides not respecting the agreed upon arrangements (coming late to assignments, leaving early, talking on the phone while working, etc).  A lot of families feel uncomfortable addressing concerns with private aides in their homes because they don’t want to be the bad guys.  Also, many seniors need help with bookkeeping and will entrust their personal banking information to someone which can open a whole other can of worms.  At BrightStar, we provide families with a “peace of mind” about who is coming into their homes.  We conduct thorough nationwide background checks on our staff, along with drug tests, reference checks from previous employers, competency checks to make sure they are competent do the tasks being asked of them, we additional insure and bond our staff too.  God forbid a BrightStar employee gets hurt on an assignment, BrightStar has additional insurance cover for workers comp and more.  We address all performance issues with staff plus we can easily change out staff if it’s not a good fit.  Take a minute to review this article.

As we celebrate Nurses Week (May 6-12) all month long, we wanted to turn the focus to this year’s theme: “Quality and Innovation.” It was in the spirit of Quality and Innovation that BrightStar Care created CareTogether.com, an online family caregiver resource that helps family caregivers work together to provide compassionate and collaborative care to a loved one.

As anyone thrust into the role of family caregiver can attest, few are ever ready for the countless big and small challenges that come with caring for a loved one. And while few people lack the desire and conviction to help, many don’t know how to help someone who is sick. So the responsibility of care management often falls on one family member, and providing care and assistance to a loved one can take a toll on even the most patient and kind person. Studies have shown that a team-based approach to caregiving improves the quality of life for the loved one receiving care as well as the people providing the care.

Just as “there are no small parts” in performance, there are no small parts on a care team. Compassionate family members and friends all chip in to communicate and coordinate care of a loved ones through transportation to medical appointments, helping them around the house with various tasks, shopping for groceries, preparing meals, attending social events and family gatherings, and spending quality down time talking and reminiscing. CareTogether helps family caregivers provide this type of personal and proactive care through a suite of tools including a calendar, photo album, private journal, messaging, task lists, and condition-specific resources.

In addition to helpful blog posts and news articles about certain conditions, CareTogether’s downloadable PDFs — created by the clinical quality team at BrightStar Care — provide family caregivers with helpful information about common chronic conditions including: heart failure, pneumonia, COPD, autism, heart attack, and dementia.

These resources are available to all CareTogether users who select those particular conditions in the Settings tab of a CareTogether Page.

To keep all team members informed, CareTogether’s notification system emails Care Team members when a fellow team member posts a status update or photo, assigns a task or appointment, writes a journal entry, sends a private message, or comments on a photo or journal entry.

Those families who hire a local BrightStar Care office to provide professional in-home care are able to link their CareTogether calendars to the BrightStar Visit schedule. This allows the members of the care team to see when BrightStar will be in the home. This functionality also provides the name of the BrightStar caregiver as well as the phone number for the local BrightStar Care office.

CareTogether is free to use and totally private. Only invited and registered Care Team members have access to status updates, photos, journals, messages, and appointments. Search engines are not allowed in, so users can feel confident that their discussions and information are secure.

While nothing can replace the compassion and knowledge of a nurse when it comes to providing high-quality personal care, the tools on CareTogether certainly can help improve the quality of care families provide to loved ones in need. This video gives you a tour of CareTogether:   https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=n6FOufZV8zM

Click here to search and apply for a position with a BrightStar office near you!