Elderly Care

Whether you take the origins of golf back to the Romans who hit balls stuffed with feathers around or the mother and father of modern golf, the Scots and their historic course St Andrews, it does not really matter as ‘Golf’ is big today. As an activity it can be quite compelling and if you are retired can take up a huge amount of time meeting people and keeping fit. Once the exclusive domain of gentlemen, now ladies find their way around the courses in ever-increasing numbers. There are golf holidays, golf villages, so if you become interested you are never going to be at a loss for something to do.

Best way to spoil a good walk?

Golf basically is walking around a reasonably large piece of land hitting a small ball into a small hole using a variety of sticks. If it appeals to you it is not too difficult or expensive to get started. Asking golfing friends for help is not a bad way to begin as they will have done a lot of the spadework and can give you some sensible suggestions. If you cannot think of anyone to help go down to you’re nearest putting green or driving range and talk to the person on the desk. Golfing people like to talk golf and they like to get new people started. Watch others around you and copy them. If you find that the sport interests you before you spend too much time and money book in some lessons with the local pro, found at any golf course, and he will tell you the right type of clubs to go for and will give you basic skills. Some local authorities run group lessons, which are cheaper than individual lessons, and you meet other people at the same level as yourself.

As with all other sports it takes time and practice. It is a wonderful sport for more mature people as there are so many golf courses around, you can do it on your own or with others and there are even mechanical bikes and trolleys to take you round the courses. It can be great fun.

The ‘me’ part is important. Many of us may have some medical problems. Whether it be diabetes, dairy intolerance, high cholesterol or just a bad back, these problems need to be remembered and whatever choice you make you will have to take them into consideration. If you are in doubt the sensible thing is to talk to your doctor or nutritionist.

What foods will keep me healthy?

Having said that there are some generally accepted views on what is considered good and healthy eating.
Fruit and vegetables are good for you and you can eat as much as you like.
Bread, potatoes, rice and pasta are also good but you have to go steady.
Milk and dairy products; go carefully with these.
Meat and fish; again go carefully.
Fat and sugary foods; hardly at all.

If you like charts or data out of one days supply of food
30% should be fruit and vegetables
30% should be bread, pasta, rice or potatoes
15%should be milk and dairy foods
15%should be meat and fish
10% can be fat and sugary foods.

Fast foods are generally bad for you. That includes takeaways and fish and chips.

Whole grain foods e.g. brown rice, wholegrain bread, whole-wheat pasta are better for you.

You only need a small amount of salt.

It is said that you are what you eat so giving yourself the best quality food, the freshest fruit and vegetables and good quality meat and fish may be a good idea.

There are many different ideas on what specific things are good for you and what impact they may have on your life. Looking on the Internet, reading books and articles geared to healthy eating for the more mature person is all worth looking at.

One way or another ‘fats’ are considered a problem. Whether you perceive yourself to be far or consider you eat too much fat or worry about what is the right fat to eat, it can all be a little tricky.

According to sources the UK’s saturated fat consumption is a third higher than it should be. Fish and Chips contain 129% of the recommended daily fat intake for a man and a large pepperoni pizza has 214% of the fat women should eat every day.

Fat consumption is a third higher than it should be.

We do, however need fat to keep healthy, but it must be the right kind. There are several types of fat and some are definitely better than others. The bad fats are called saturates because they put up bad cholesterol levels in out blood and goo up the arteries making it more likely we might suffer a heart attack. These fats are found in butter, cream, fatty and processed food. The other bad fats are called trans-fats and they not only put up bad cholesterol levels but also lower the good cholesterols that take away the bad cholesterols from out bodies. These really bad fats are found in meat and dairy products and commercially prepared pastries, cakes and biscuits. Again they are found in deep fat fried foods.

The good fats are the monosaturated ones because they increase levels of good cholesterol. They also try and reduce excess fat from the blood. These fats are found in olive oil, nuts and seeds and avocados. The other good fats are the ones found in polyunsaturated. Two sorts here, the omega-3 family that help thin the blood, stops clots forming and keeps the heart beating regularly and the omega-6 family that helps lower the bad cholesterol. For omega-3 foods try eating oil rich fish such as trout, mackerel, salmon, sardine and herring. Fresh tuna is better than tinned as the tinning process takes much of the omega-3 away. Omega-6 is found in nuts as well as pure vegetable oil.

One of the aims we should have, as we grow older is to try and keep our brains active. There are many ways to do this. New interests, playing mind games, joining the local bridge group or, to open up new horizons, going back to college may be an option. Local colleges usually have a book full of courses on offer that you can join on a termly basis. They do cost money unfortunately, so you might have to decide on something you really want to do or that will be very useful. There may be some subsidy with a course and that is worth finding out. If you are working and your employer feels the course would be useful, they might pay. Your age should not be a barrier to you going on the course of your choice. Following a course that gives you a qualification may involve having to take on course work or an exam. Be careful you get a recognized qualification at the end.

You have options

Distance learning is another option that might suit your needs. Distance Learning means you study on your own, at home or wherever suits you. You read course material, work on it and write assignments. You can fit this studying round your other commitments and study at you own pace. It is not always necessary to have previous experience or qualifications and there are usually course tutors you can contact by email, post or telephone. Some colleges, notably the Open University, do run residential or day schools for their courses. Most of these learning centres have flexible ways to pay, for example using direct debit. Not everyone will find this type of learning suitable as you are very much left on your own and do not have the stimulation of other students.

Some communities run day or weekend courses that are held in the local library or museum Very often there is a local flavour to the content but if you keep on looking around something unusual may come into view. Local libraries and museums are the best source for this type of study and they may even have details of one off lectures run by enthusiasts. On other useful organisation is The University of the Third Age. This is a self-help organisation for people no longer in full time employment providing educational, creative and leisure opportunities. It is a nationwide organisation and you get in contact with a local group.

Going out at night, particularly if you are on your own, can sometimes be a problem. Feeling vulnerable and insecure, not being sure of the roads or the way to places can stop you going out and meeting people. Not good as it is important we socialize as much as possible keeping our ability to get on with others in trim.

Overcome these difficulties

There are ways of making things easier and depending on what you enjoy doing there are ways to overcome these difficulties. Firstly if you want to go somewhere at night try and find someone to go with either walking or traveling by car. Make friends with those people who attend the same things you and see if they have the same problems as yourself. If you are worried about approaching people go to the organizer of the event and see if they can introduce you to someone in a similar position. People who travel by car are often happy to share lifts. Either you can give money for petrol or if you have a car you can take a turn in driving. If you have companions they will help with finding the place and visa versa. Finding a new venue can be a difficulty so research a week beforehand can help you pinpoint reasonably accurately where you are meant to get. Again getting hold of the organiser who can give you good directions is another idea. Negotiating unfamiliar streets at night can be worrying and frustrating so go out during the day to make sure you know where you are going. When you get there at night some things will seem familiar.

A different way of getting round this problem is to invite people to your home. Have a friend round for coffee or a meal. Food is a good way to attract people and there are a great many variations on this theme. Hold a charity coffee morning or meal for you favourite charity. Offer your place as a venue for the book or wine club you have joined. Have the bridge group round or be a venue for the wood turning meeting. If you have people around you are given a great incentive to tidy up.

It is fairly true to say many older people worry about crime and are anxious about being victims of crime. This is understandable as more of us are living on our own and we are perhaps becoming frailer physically. The message from the Home Office is that actually we are at no more risk of being victims of crime than any other part of the population. That still doesn’t stop you worrying about it, however.

It is sensible to protect yourself to make yourself feel secure.

To help with this anxiety Home Office guidelines suggest things like not opening the door to strangers, not keeping large amounts of cash in the house, have a peep-hole fitted so that you can view who is outside, don’t give out credit card information to strangers over the phone or to people who come to the door and have a good outside light on your front door. Tell the council if the streetlights are not working. All useful suggestions.

If you are worried about people breaking into your house see how it can be made more secure. Fit strong locks on to your doors and windows and keep them locked. Keep the keys out of sight and in a safe place. Fit five lever mortise deadlocks on to all the external doors and make sure the window and doorframes are in good condition. Put a door chain or bar and use them every time someone calls and never leave a key under the flowerpot. Thieves know the places to look.

When somebody turns up on you doorstep asking for money or help, they are often not who they say they are. They knock on your door, they say their car has broken down, they need money for the phone or for a bit of petrol and they will pay you back. Don’ believe them. It’s a scam. The problem is they are sometimes so plausible and likeable and it is easy to get caught. Look at them and remember they are only after your money. The more dangerous scams are the ones where they get into your house. They very often work in pairs, one to distract you and the other to go searching around. If a stranger rings your bell, put the chain on and ask for identification. Don’t let them in unless you are expecting them. If you need your glasses on to read the identification card, shut the door. You can always chat through the door. Make sure the back door is locked before you open the front door. Again they can work in pairs, one at the front door and one at the back.

Keep these protection ideas at the back of your mind. It’s another way of looking after yourself.

It is a sad fact of our modern western society that the majority of people no longer take responsibility for their own health and well being. Looking instead to appropriate blame where they can or bury their head in the sand where they can’t. If you are one of these people then you will probably find nothing of interest in the following article.

The hard part is accepting responsibility for putting some effort in.

Still here? good. The truth is that there is a great deal you can do to improve your quality of life no matter what age or state of repair you happen to be at this moment.

If you are still reading then at least you are aware that this mostly comes down to the things you do on a daily basis. There are things in life that we have no control over but most of us, however, do have the opportunity to be masters of our own destiny. 4 Elderly Health is here to give you the ideas, resources and inspiration you need to to take that control.

They say that once your basic needs are catered for i.e. food, shelter etc you need three elements in order to be happy. Health, Wealth and Love, each of which needs to be in proportion in order for you to find balance and, hopefully, happiness. There are many many many great (and not so great) texts on the philosophy of happiness which do much greater service to it than i ever could. This site is a practical resource for improving your health, your wealth and your love. And yes that does include sex, although we offer no guarantees.

Like i say it doesn’t matter where you are at the moment but what you do from now on.