Easier Living All Through The House

Older Georgians are ingenious, resourceful and generous in sharing their ideas for making it easier and more convenient to live at home in spite of disability or increasing frailty. Consider the following ideas for easier living:

• Rearrange for efficiency. Arrange cupboards and other storage areas so frequently used items are close at hand.
  
• A ceramic pitcher next to the stove makes a convenient holder for utensils such as spatulas, turners, ladles and large stirring spoons.
  
• Keep a small decorative wastebasket or even a plastic bucket in a convenient but inconspicuous place on the kitchen counter. This saves stooping down to reach a wastebasket on the floor.
  
• To reach high cupboards and shelves, use a reacher (available at medical supply stores or by mail order). Keep one in the kitchen, another in the living room; ideally, one in every room of the house.
  
• Or, use a safety step stool. Retractable casters, wide tread and non-skid rubber grips hold the floor securely as you step on the stool. A step stool in every room will save having to carry a stool from room to room.
  
• To carry items while using a walker, have a bicycle basket attached to the front of the walker. Put in tissues, pencils, paper, a cordless phone, other necessities.
  
• Replace all door knobs with attractive lever handles or use door knob openers (lever attachments that fit over existing door knobs). They're easier on arthritic hands because they can be opened by pressure from an elbow or forearm. They also leave your hands free to carry something.
  
• Use a faucet handle that mixes water temperature and rocks on a ball joint rather than push, pull or twist. This makes turning water on and off easier for arthritic fingers.
  
• Keep a chair in front of the kitchen sink or stove or wherever you ordinarily have to stand to work. You can kneel with a weak leg on the chair and stand on the good leg.
  
• A desk chair on wheels is the answer for anyone on crutches who still needs to move around the kitchen from the refrigerator to counter to stove.
  
• Elevate a favorite chair or couch that is difficult to get out of by putting it on a platform. Four-inch bricks at the corners also work. Make sure there's a clear path from your chair out of the room. Re-position a low footstool and re-locate anything else that might cause you to take an unexpected trip.
  
• Make or buy one or two arm protectors with storage pockets for your favorite easy chair. These are handy for newspapers, magazines, TV remote control, tissues, and other items you'd like to keep close at hand.
  
• Install grab bars on toilet and bath walls and anywhere else extra support and leverage is needed. For the tub or shower, a variety of grab bars are available. Some attach directly to a tub, others to the wall. Some kinds work better for certain people than others.
  
• Consider a new high toilet. This is easier to use especially for a person who doesn't have enough arm strength to use grab bars. Or, buy a riser seat for the toilet. These come in a variety of colors and heights of either 4 or 5 1/2 inches.
  
• A special chair makes it possible to sit down with support in the tub or shower. The chair has rubber suction cups on the legs and doesn't move. This makes it possible to take a bath even though disabled with rheumatoid arthritis.
  
• Place a highback chair in the bathroom and cover it with a large towel. When you step from the bath, sit in the chair and dry the front of your body, and, when you finish, your back will also be dry. No more worrying about not being able to reach your "back side."
  
• Put your bed on a platform so that it's higher and easier to get into and out of. Place a sturdy dresser next to the bed. Open a drawer slightly to use for leverage in getting in and out of bed.
  
• Place at least one phone on a low table or otherwise near the floor so it will be easier to reach if you should fall and have difficulty getting up again.
  
• Arrange a signal with a neighbor. For example, a certain window blind up by 9 a.m. means that everything's okay. Otherwise the neighbor calls to see if anything is amiss.
  

"My Family Would Be Better Off Without Me"

We all get the blues from time to time. As we grow older, it seems we deal with more and more losses of those people and places most important to us. Feeling blue is different from more serious depression, however. Real emotional depression is more common among seniors than other age groups. Approximately 15% of independent older adults, 20% of older hospitalized patients, and 25% of nursing home residents suffer from depression. More than 60% of depressed seniors are receiving no treatment for this disabling illness.

Fortunately, depression is one of the most treatable emotional disorders. Medication and counseling can result in significant improvement for most depressed seniors. Unfortunately, depression among seniors is often misdiagnosed, considered to be a natural part of aging. It can be masked by frequent irritability and angry outbursts.

Depression is not a normal part of growing older. If you or a friend exhibit many of the following symptoms, please consider finding help:

• marked change in appetite
  
• major change in sleeping patterns (either much more or less)
  
• crying for no apparent reason
  
• apathy or indifference to others
  
• feelings of helplessness and hopelessness
  
• thoughts of suicide or actual attempts
  
• increased use of alcohol or other drugs
  
• difficulty performing daily tasks
  
• greater agitation, pacing, or restlessness
  
• neglect of personal hygiene and appearance
  

If you notice only a few of these characteristics, depression may not be the cause. The more of them present, however, the more likely it is to be related to depression. Only a qualified counselor can tell for sure.

Friends can be an important source of support for the depressed older person. Some comments made by well-meaning friends, however, are not helpful. Take care not to say such things as:

• "Pull yourself together!"
  
• "Look at all you have. Count your blessings!"
  
• "It will all work out."
  

If the depressed person knew how to overcome the disease himself, he would. Getting better is not a question of will power -- the depressed person seldom sees himself as others see him. As a friend, express your genuine concern for the changes you see in a depressed senior. Offer your support whenever it is needed, and suggest other sources of help -- perhaps a pastor, doctor, or therapist. The depressed person may resist your offers, sometimes angrily. Continue to be available without pushing too hard, and alert other friends to your concern. Together, you can offer the support that may eventually bring back your friend's old self!

Your Health

Getting Vitamin A Safely

Many people are taking vitamin A supplements because of the possible role vitamin A may play in helping prevent cancer and heart disease. However, there are different types of vitamin A supplements, and taking the wrong one could be dangerous to your health.

The type of vitamin A that is recognized for its protection against cancer and heart disease is beta carotene. Beta carotene is a form of vitamin A that is not toxic. Your body can probably get rid of excess beta carotene if you happen to take too much. So taking supplements of beta carotene in the amount equal to the RDA is probably not going to hurt anyone. The RDA, or Recommended Dietary Allowance, for vitamin A is 800 micrograms R.E. for women over 51 years of age and 1,000 micrograms R.E. for men over 51.

Taking vitamin A supplements can be dangerous if you are taking the type of vitamin A known as retinyl ester. Large amounts (more than 10 times the RDA) of retinyl ester supplements can lead to dry and itchy skin, headache, nausea, diarrhea and eventual loss of calcium from bones.

The toxic effects of retinyl esters are worse for seniors than for younger people. Seniors don't get rid of excess retinyl esters easily and the vitamin accumulates in the body. Taking supplements of the retinyl ester form of vitamin A (even in the amount of the RDA) for longer than 5 years has caused liver damage in seniors. Younger people apparently don't have the same buildup of retinyl esters.

This suggests that seniors, especially, should get vitamin A from the beta carotene form of vitamin A (the nontoxic form of the vitamin) instead of taking retinyl ester supplements. And if you eat right, you may not need to take supplements at all. People who eat more than 5 servings of fruits and vegetables a day can get plenty of beta carotene from foods alone. Foods rich in beta carotene include carrots, squash, tomatoes, dark-green leafy vegetables, peaches and apricots.

Here's a recipe for Sweet Carrots and Zucchini which provides more than two times the RDA for vitamin A per serving. Most of the vitamin A is from the beta carotene form of the vitamin in the carrots.

Sweet Carrots and Zucchini
1 Tablespoon oil
6 medium zucchini, cut into thin crosswise slices
6 medium carrots, cut into thin crosswise slices
1 Tablespoon honey
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
pepper, if desired

Heat oil over high heat. Add vegetables and fry just until crisp-tender. Add honey and lemon juice, tossing lightly. Season with pepper, if desired. Serve immediately.
Makes 6 servings.

Amount Per Serving:
Calories 82 (25% of total calories from fat)
Total Fat 2 g
Sodium 28 mg
Vitamin A 205% of the U.S.RDA
Vitamin C 22% of the U.S.RDA

An Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Organization Committed to a Diverse Work Force

Issued in furtherance of Cooperative Extension work, Acts of May 8 and June 30, 1914, The University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences and the U.S. Department of Agriculture cooperating.

Gale A. Buchanan, Dean and Director