Aging Safely In Your Home , livre ebook

Self-Counsel Press - Yvonne Poulin , Gordon Morrison

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84 pages

English

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A propos
Informations
Extrait

Description

Renovate to reflect your aging needs
Make your house safer
Tips to stay put and avoid a move
Age-proof your house
Modest renovations to help you stay put
You need not move to live gracefully and safely as you age. A respected author taps into expertise on how your home can be modestly renovated to ease the physical challenges and provide a great quality of life in a familiar surrounding.
Introduction xv
Part 1: Human Aspect of Aging Safely in Your Home —
Personal Adaptations 1
1 Be Physically Prepared to Age Safely in Your Home 3
1. Get Regular Checkups 5
1.1 Visit your medical doctor 6
1.2 Visit your dentist 6
1.3 Visit your complementary health practitioners 7
2. Exercise Regularly 7
3. Eat a Healthy Diet 9
4. Monitor Your Medications 12
5. Manage Your Pain 13
vi Aging Safely in Your Home
6. Get Quality Sleep 15
7. Rate Yourself: Physical Activity 16
2 Maintain an Active Social Network 17
1. Keep in Close Touch with Your Innermost Circle 19
2. Be Actively Involved in Your Local Community 20
2.1 Tips to expand your community network 21
3. Ask for the Help You Need 22
3.1 Things you may need help with 23
3.2 Where to find the help you need 23
3.3 Obtaining emergency help 24
4. Use Transportation Options 24
5. Use Technology to Build Your Social Connections 26
6. Rate Yourself: Social Activity 27
3 Be Emotionally Happy in Your Home 29
1. Acknowledge Your Feelings 31
1.1 Tips for managing stress 32
2. Secure Your Future 32
2.1 Financial planning 33
2.2 Estate planning: Last will and testament 33
2.3 Living wills and advance health-care directives 34
3. Protect Yourself 35
4. Open Your Heart to Change 35
4.1 Tips for adapting to change 36
5. Rate Yourself: Emotional Activity 37
4 Keep Mentally Active 39
1. Recognize Cognitive Changes 41
2. Exercise Your Brain 43
2.1 Tips to keep mentally fit 43
3. Have a Zest for Life 45
3.1 Tips to create the zest for life 46
4. Make Time for Spiritual Practice 47
4.1 Nourish your spirit 47
Contents vii
5. Rate Yourself: Mental and Spiritual Activities 48
Part 2: Housing Aspect of Aging Safely in Your Home 49
5 Rate Your Home 51
1. Assessing Your Location 54
2. Rating Your Home 55
3. Getting the Work Done 57
4. Cost Factors 58
6 Make Your Home Comfortable 61
1. Basic Comforts 63
1.1 Tips to make your home more comfortable 63
2. Organizing Your Home 64
2.1 Tips for organizing your home 64
3. Wants versus Needs 65
4. Maintaining Your Home 66
4.1 Cost considerations 66
5. Securing Your Home 68
5.1 Tips for securing your home 68
7 Adapt Your Home 69
1. Yard/Outdoor Space 70
2. Entryways 71
3. Doors and Windows 72
4. Hallways 74
5. Closets and Storage 75
6. Living/Family Rooms 75
7. Kitchen 76
8. Bedroom 77
9. Bathroom 78
10. Stairs 79
11. Furnishings 80
12. Garages 81
13. Additional Changes 81
viii Aging Safely in Your Home
14. Top Ten Adaptations 82
8 Renovate Your Home 83
1. Renovation Costs and Timelines 84
2. Choosing a Designer 85
2.1 Tips for finding a good designer 85
3. Choosing a Contractor 87
3.1 Tips for finding a good contractor 87
4. Contracts 88
5. Renovation Ideas 89
5.1 Travel routes and flooring 89
5.2 Kitchens 90
5.3 Bathrooms 91
5.4 One-level living space 91
5.5 Bedroom with en suite 91
5.6 Heating and cooling systems 92
5.7 Window and door replacements 92
5.8 Stair climbers, escalators, and elevators 93
5.9 Suite conversions 93
5.10 Garages 93
6. Top Five Renovations 94
9 Prevent Falls 95
1. Problems and Solutions 96
2. Ladder Safety 99
2.1 Tips for using a ladder safely 100
3. Final Thoughts on Preventing Falls 101
Conclusion 103
Appendix: Signs That It’s Time to Move 105
Resources 109
1. Websites 109
1.1 Specific seniors’ websites 111
2. Books 111
Contents ix
Download Kit 113
Checklists
1 Rate Yourself: Physical Activity 16
2 Driving Safely 25
3 Rate Yourself: Social Activity 28
4 Rate Yourself: Emotional Activity 37
5 Rate Yourself: Mental and Spiritual Activities 48
6 Rate Your Home 56
7 Top Ten Home Adaptations 82
8 Assess Your Loved One’s Situation 107
Diagrams
1 Balanced Meal Portions 11
2 Recognize and Deal with Emotional Stress 31
3 Cognitive Decline 42
4 The Rate-Change Cycle 52
Worksheets
1 Organize the Work 60
2 Simplify the Maintenance 67
3 Top Five Renovations 94
4 Prevent Falls and Slips 97

Sujets

Elderly care

Informations

Publié par	Self-Counsel Press
Date de parution	01 juin 2015
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781770409927
Langue	English

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0022€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

Extrait

Aging Safely in Your Home
Yvonne Poulin and Gordon Morrison
Self-Counsel Press
(a division of)
International Self-Counsel Press Ltd.
USA Canada

Copyright © 2015

International Self-Counsel Press
All rights reserved.
Contents

Cover

Titlepage

Introduction

Part 1: Human Aspect of Aging Safely in Your Home — Personal Adaptations

Chapter 1: Be Physically Prepared to Age Safely in Your Home

1. Get Regular Checkups

2. Exercise Regularly

3. Eat a Healthy Diet

4. Monitor Your Medications

5. Manage Your Pain

6. Get Quality Sleep

7. Rate Yourself: Physical Activity

Checklist 1: Rate Yourself: Physical Activity

Chapter 2: Maintain an Active Social Network

1. Keep in Close Touch with Your Innermost Circle

2. Be Actively Involved in Your Local Community

3. Ask for the Help You Need

4. Use Transportation Options

Checklist 2: Driving Safely*

5. Use Technology to Build Your Social Connections

6. Rate Yourself: Social Activity

Checklist 3: Rate Yourself: Social Activity

Chapter 3: Maintain an Active Social Network

1. Acknowledge Your Feelings

2. Secure Your Future

3. Protect Yourself

4. Open Your Heart to Change

5. Rate Yourself: Emotional Activity

Checklist 4: Rate Yourself: Emotional Activity

Chapter 4: Keep Mentally Active

1. Recognize Cognitive Changes

2. Exercise Your Brain

3. Have a Zest for Life

4. Make Time for Spiritual Practice

5. Rate Yourself: Mental and Spiritual Activities

Checklist 5: Rate Yourself: Mental and Spiritual Activities

Part 2: Housing Aspects of Aging Safely in Your Home

Chapter 5: Rate Your Home

1. Assessing Your Location

2. Rating Your Home

Checklist 6: Rate Your Home

3. Getting the Work Done

4. Cost Factors

Worksheet 1: Organize the Work

Chapter 6: Make Your Home Comfortable

1. Basic Comforts

2. Organizing Your Home

3. Wants versus Needs

4. Maintaining Your Home

Worksheet 2: Simplify the Maintenance

5. Securing Your Home

Chapter 7: Adapt Your Home

1. Yard/Outdoor Space

2. Entryways

3. Doors and Windows

4. Hallways

5. Closets and Storage

6. Living/Family Rooms

7. Kitchen

8. Bedroom

9. Bathroom

10. Stairs

11. Furnishings

12. Garages

13. Additional Changes

14. Top Ten Adaptations

Checklist 7: Top Ten Home Adaptations

Chapter 8: Renovate Your Home

1. Renovation Costs and Timelines

2. Choosing a Designer

3. Choosing a Contractor

4. Contracts

5. Renovation Ideas

6. Top Five Renovations

Worksheet 3: Top Five Renovations

Chapter 9: Prevent Falls

1. Problems and Solutions

Worksheet 4: Prevent Fall and Slips

2. Ladder Safety

3. Final Thoughts on Preventing Falls

Conclusion

Appendix: Signs That It’s Time to Move

Checklist 8: Assess Your Loved One's Situation

Resources

1. Websites

2. Books

Download Kit

Dedication

About the Authors

Notice to Readers

Self-Counsel Press thanks you for purchasing this ebook.
Introduction

“Aging won’t happen to us; we will choose how to age.”
— Unknown
We were almost finished writing this book when Gord saw an elderly woman with an enormous smile. She was using a walker and seemed to be cruising along quite comfortably. She appeared to be aging well and contentedly. I had to laugh when I focused on her T-shirt and read the printed message that seemed a testament to her vibrant outlook on life: “I got 99 problems but age ain’t one of them”! At that moment Gord realized that how we age is a choice. We can’t stop aging but we can always have a positive attitude about it.
Aging is a fact of life and the smiling lady brought me full circle to why we wanted to write this book. We’re both aging and we’d like to do it with grace and dignity. We both wish to choose how we age. As 50-somethings, we are considered seniors in many parts of the world. In fact, it was somewhat shocking four years ago when Gord received a senior’s discount at a buffet in the state of Washington! Woo-hoo!
We wish to continue our positive approach to aging and we want to inspire other seniors to take an active role in their aging process, despite the fact you may have 99 problems to deal with. Lucky for you, this is a book of solutions. These solutions can help you with aging safely in your home and maybe even put a smile on your face.
From the moment we began this book, we envisioned each chapter as a piece of a puzzle. Some aspects of the puzzle are more important than others. Having the right attitude, keeping fit, and preventing falls are enormously important. Our puzzle has a person in the middle surrounded by his or her home that keeps him or her safe and secure. Anyone who’s done a puzzle knows that the joy is in the journey, not the final destination. We hope that our readers will embrace the journey of aging safely because it’s an ongoing, an evolving, a dynamic, and an ever-changing adventure.
Your physical, social, emotional, mental, and spiritual reality today might not be the same tomorrow. You’ll need to keep rearranging the pieces of your puzzle because you’ll change as you age. Certain pieces of your aging puzzle will need more attention than others, depending on your situation at the time. This book will help you be a person who’s safe and secure in your own home.
Each chapter will contribute to helping you make smart and safe choices about how you live and where you live as you age. We have provided some solutions regarding what needs to be done and how to get things done. We’re hopeful that the book helps everyone find or create the right environment and home for aging safely.
You will notice that the book is written in two parts: Part 1 discusses the human aspect, and Part 2 discusses the housing aspect. The two sections recommend adaptations that will greatly enhance your ability and suitability to age safely at home. We believe these parts are interconnected to such a degree that they are needed in equal measure for aging safely in your home. The two parts will read slightly differently because they were written by different authors. Aging Safely in Your Home is the combined perspective of an elder-care planner and an architectural technologist.
Yvonne Poulin, as a Registered Massage Therapist and Elder Planning Counsellor, has a wide-ranging, cross-disciplinary education and experience in the human aspect. Her 25 years of clinical experience is reflected in the recommendations she makes for health and wellness, and she refers to the insights gained from her patients and clients who have demonstrated the best ways to deal with aging and disability issues. She is the director of Vancouver Dementia Care Consulting, the company through which this project originated. Yvonne has a personal history of caring for her aging parents who were eventually affected by dementia. She also shares her experience in adapting environments and mind-sets to overcome physical challenges.
Yvonne’s voice will guide you through Part 1: Human Aspect of Aging Safely in Your Home — Personal Adaptations. Four broad categories will be discussed to enable you to age actively:
1. Physical: Be physically prepared to age safely in your home.
2. Social: Get support and maintain an active social network to help you age safely in your home.
3. Emotional: Plan to stay happily in your home.
4. Mental and spiritual: Keep mentally fit and nourish your spirit.
Gordon Morrison, as an architectural technologist and industrial technology educator, has a wide-ranging, cross-disciplinary education and experience in the housing aspect. He understands the value of a well thought out, well-designed, and well-built home environment. He’s helped many people make home adaptations and renovations for their specific needs, and has worked on many housing improvement projects for seniors so they can age safely and thrive in their homes.
Gordon’s voice will guide you through Part 2: Housing Aspect of Aging Safely in Your Home. Five broad categories will be discussed to make your home safe and suitable for you as you age:
1. Rate your home: Evaluate whether to stay or move.
2. Make your home comfortable: Create comfort and security.
3. Adapt your home: Make adaptations to simplify your life.
4. Renovate your home: Re-create your home as you age.
5. Prevent falls: Recognize problems and find solutions.
The two parts of this book have been written knowing that the overwhelming majority of seniors prefer to remain at home and in their familiar neighborhoods. Unfortunately, many seniors are forced to leave their homes prematurely due to fall