As we age, the body stops snapping back as quickly as it did before, and we face greater risks for certain health concerns in senior life. Residents at ERH retirement communities don’t let that stop them, though. These older adults are some of the most dynamic people we know. They live more active and enriched lives than many younger adults.
In honor of these amazing older adults, we’ve put together a list of five tools that help improve senior life.
1. Blood Glucose Meter
If you have diabetes or pre-diabetes, managing your glucose levels is an everyday part of senior life. Keeping track of your blood sugar becomes particularly important when potential complications from hyperglycemia include stroke, vision impairment, and a number of chronic diseases.
Digital meters provide a more accurate read than a visual check, but only when you use them properly.
No matter what you think of the Accu-Chek jingle, this Roche Diagnostics product line offers user-friendly glucose meters with a J.D. Powers and Associates award for Customer Satisfaction.
2. Personal Blood Pressure Monitor
It can be tedious to keep scheduling doctor’s appointments when you want to keep an eye on your blood pressure. And who wants to head over to the local superstore every day to sit in that uncomfortable plastic throne at the pharmacy?
There are plenty of home monitors out there that are small, easy to use, and best of all, can be stored right in your own medicine cabinet.
The Omron Series of blood pressure monitors provides clinically proven results with the press of a button.
3. Object Locator
All of us at some point in the week set something down—car keys, cell phones, television remotes—and promptly forget where we’ve placed them.
Tag your easily misplaced items with the Find One, Find All (FOFA) locator and the battery-operated system lets you use one tagged item to find another.
The Loc8tor series of devices can help you find just about anything—from your keys to your grandkids to your cats. With a collection of awards and commendations, Loc8tor can help you keep track of all of your easy-to-lose items and most valuable possessions.
4. Arthritis Aids
Even the simplest of daily tasks in senior life can be a pain when arthritis makes your joints stiff and sore. With more than 50 million adults in America diagnosed with some form of arthritis (more than 22% of the population), it’s no surprise that there are plenty of gadgets out there that make senior life with arthritis better.
Australian company Thermoskin offers thermal support technology that provides temporary relief from pain and soreness from shoulders to ankles.
The Living Better catalog provides a full line of assistive products for arthritic adults with who need a little extra help getting a grip on cumbersome or finicky objects.
5. Brain Fitness and Memory Support
Cognitive decline doesn’t have to be an unavoidable part of senior life. Creative and intellectually rigorous endeavors can help promote mental fitness and good brain function in your senior living.
At ERH retirement communities, we use the fun and user-friendly computer system Dakim BrainFitness® to help our residents stay sharp and fight back against cognitive impairment and even dementia. You can do the same even if you don’t have access to a program like Dakim.
You’ve probably seen the advertisements for Lumosity, an online brain fitness program that encourages neuroplasticity by using fun and simple games to effectively stimulate your brain. As part of the Human Cognition Project (HCP), Lumosity has clinically tested results. The program puts the results of groundbreaking advancements in neuroscience right at your fingertips.
AARP also offers online Brain Fitness games that have been proven “significantly more effective than crossword puzzles at improving cognitive function” in tests conducted by Yale, Stanford, John Hopkins, and the National Institutes of Health.
