Every morning, you wake up without having to rush for your work. With a smile on your face, you kiss your beloved spouse good morning. Both of you head out to the kitchen to prepare a healthy and tasty breakfast. You have with you bacon, eggs, toast, and a cup of coffee. You head outside for a 5-minute morning exercise. Things seem to be going your way. But then a flash or reality strikes.

You do not want to get up in the morning knowing that nobody will help you prepare breakfast. Your spouse already passed away and you are all alone taking care of yourself. What about breakfast? You will just microwave that thing you bought in the grocery store. Wait, do you still have food in your fridge?

If you relate to the second scenario, then we are sorry to tell you but you have been retiring the wrong way. Harmony Residential Care Center lists 6 ways you should retire to keep your mind from worrying and your body from compensating.

1. Consider your supplies
   We are not only talking about food here but your resources as a whole. What do you need in the future? Do you have a place where you can stay? What about your finances? Are they enough for you to settle in?

2. Get active
   One way to beat depression is to exercise. It increases your good hormones and keeps the bad ones at bay. Keeping away from depression does not only help you emotionally but also physically.

   Elders who are less likely to get depressed are healthier and more active. They tend to do the things they have wanted to do their entire life. They have more time and have seen and held their grandkids in their arms. They have lived to fulfill their unfinished dreams.

3. Give yourself a break
   Retiring is not an overnight process. You have certain emotions you are feeling. What will happen to me from now on? Who will be there to help me with the chores around the house? Where will I stay when I retire? All these are normal feelings and yes, you should be asking those questions at the same time.

   That is why you need to give yourself a break. Figure out what you want to do during your retirement. Look ahead on what you may need in the future.

4. Keep in touch with friends
   It has been found out in studies that people who maintain their friendships well into their old age reduce their stress levels. And what is the biggest regret a person in their deathbed has? It is not keeping in touch with their friends.

   Be sure to connect with your friends regularly. Ask them how they have been. Keep up with each other’s lives. You can also join groups or even take classes. Go out of your house and find new friends.

5. Prepare yourself psychologically
   We already have our finances secured. Now what? After preparing our finances and making sure you will be stable through the years, you need to build yourself psychologically.

   What will become of you when you retire? How do you identify yourself with? What about your relationship status with friends and family members? What is your new sense of purpose?

   To help you with that predicament, imagine making yourself a new business card. What will you put in there? Do you want to be a traveler? How about a musician or a gardener? After figuring out your whole identity, build a new routine.

6. Seek help
   If you have done everything and noticed that retirement is keeping you from doing the things you love and meeting the people you want to meet, it is about time to seek help.

   You do not have to pressure yourself on staying in your house when you cannot keep up with the demands of old age.

   You can stay with us and be cared for in Harmony Residential Care Center’s Residential Care Center in Ware Shoals Manor SC. Here, we help our residents settle down during their retirement.

As we grow older, we lose the capability of doing things. Our body constrains us from tending the house and the yard. There will even come a point where tasks like cooking, cleaning, and bathing will become impossible to do.

In this blog, Harmony Residential Care Center, a Residential Care Center in Ivy Grove SC, is going to share 5 setbacks of living alone.

• Accidents
  Even if one’s house should be considered safe for the resident, accidents are bound to happen. There are the dangers of wet floors, upturned rugs, unlit staircase, and much more.
  >And because the senior is alone, nobody will be there to help him or her regain balance. Falling down can also increase a senior’s risk when nobody is at home to accompany them. Once they fall, they can no longer get up and alert someone.
  In a residential care facility, you do not have to worry about accidents. Harmony Residential Care Center sees to it that the home you reside is the safest place you will ever find yourself in.
• Incomplete errands
  When you reach a certain point of your life, errands would be difficult to do. You will not be able to maintain the house and the garden. And what about grocery shopping and making appointments? That would be the least of your worries because your aching knee is getting in the way.
  If you are in a residential care facility, you do not have to worry about things like errands. The upkeep of your house will not be necessary. The bills you pay and grocery shopping will be done by other people. So all you have to do is relax and enjoy your retirement.
• Isolation
  Loneliness has become an issue for many seniors who live alone in their own abode. With limited mobility, these individuals can no longer go out of their house to attend parties or other events.
  And when it comes to the people they hold dear, older adult find themselves far from those they love. They may have children but these children are too busy living their own lives and caring for their own family. They may have a special someone but in most cases, these beloved ones may have gone ahead to the other side.
  But if the senior is in a residential care facility, gone will be the days he or she will feel lonely as other seniors are there to keep them company. They can play cards, walk outside, and chat all day long.
• Medications
  We got to admit that once we are older, our memory seems to be failing us big time. What is that? Have you to take in a certain medication? Ops! You forgot about it and you have been doing it for 3 straight days! No wonder your diabetes is getting your life messed up.
  You need to be reminded of your medications because these are significant in maintaining your overall well-being and/or treating your condition. Here at the facility, our skilled nurses and caregivers are the ones who approach you for your medication. You do not have to worry about forgetting about them.
• Nutritious meals
  There is a big possibility that an elderly may fail to cook his or her own meals, let alone making a balanced and nutritious one. You may just find yourself heating and microwave a pack of Mac and Cheese. What about your carbohydrates? How about your fruits and vegetables?
  Once you are in our Residential Care Center in Ware Shoals Manor SC, we guarantee that all the meals you will be taking are delicious and nutritious.

You don’t have to fret about living alone when you have a place where you are welcome. You don’t have to remain lonely when you have other people to accompany you. Be a resident at Harmony Residential Care Center and be a part of our happy and growing family.

The National Institute of Mental Health characterizes depression as a common but serious mood disorder which is also commonly called as major depressive disorder or clinical depression. This disorder causes severe effects which could eventually result to in unproductivity in the workplace, decreased appetite, or disturbed sleep.

In the country alone, the Web site of Mental Health America recorded that at least 19 million Americans experience episodes of depression per year. Two million of this 19 million or 10 % of the total number of depressed individuals are senior citizens.

What triggers depression in older adults?

• Burden overload. You might have thought that life after retirement would be an easy life,; but this may not be true for some. As you age, the burdens you carry increases- finances, problems with children, etc.
  Life may indeed, be demanding. But what you should do to lighten the thoughts that have been bothering you for long is to step back from thinking too much and breathe. If things are not too important and you could not contribute enough to find a resolution, leave it to be solved by those concerned. Rest your mind and eliminate of those unnecessary burdens.
• Vitamin B12 deficiency. Also termed as cobalamin, Vitamin B12 plays an essential role in the functioning of the brain and the whole of the nervous system, as well as the formation of new red blood cells. Older adults are at higher risk of Vitamin B12 deficiency because as we get older, the levels of stomach acid which release B12 from food decreases.
  So if you feel lethargic or stressed out, you have to see your doctor because a lack of Vitamin B12 might be to be blamed for such. Once the doctor sees that injecting Vitamin B12 to your body would be the solution to keep you away from depression, he might recommend such method.
• Arthritis. Yes, this disease will not just deprive you of your overly-physically active days but it may also trigger depression. Rheumatoid arthritis is actually one of the reasons why geriatric depression is getting prevalent- the more people suffering from achy joints, the more individuals who will experience depression.
  If you have arthritis and you do not want to feel too depressed, meditating and listening to classical music for at least an hour a day could help boost your mood. When your body still permits you to, you can also try some forms of exercise to strengthen your bones, in a way.
• Physical emptiness. Living alone in a big home where you used to live with your spouse and children could greatly contribute to being depressed. The loneliness would further be triggered by menopause when your hormones act in a different way or by retirement when you would have nothing much to do but contemplate or reminisce the days you had with them.
  As a way to lessen the risk of depression, you can try reconnecting with your spouse, children, and friends. Hobbies like doing arts and crafts, dancing and cooking can also switch your focus from just feeling lonesome and helpless.
• Poor sleeping habits. Do you know that older persons have a higher probability of getting insomnia? In fact, a majority of senior citizens have attested that they have been experiencing more sleep disruptions than years or decades back. Since sleeping is directly connected to depression, less number of hours of sleep leads to higher probability of one getting stressed out.
  Whenever you notice the consistency and continuation of your defective sleeping habits, you should see your doctor to learn more on about the factors that trigger them like sleeping hygiene, irregular sleeping schedule or consumption of caffeine, alcohol, or nicotine.

Surprisingly, many senior citizens have also chosen to end their lives because of depression. Hence, as your friendly and trustworthy Residential Care Center in Ivy Grove SC, Harmony Residential Care Center would want to ask you to follow the above-mentioned tips and research more about geriatric depression.

These might be the questions that have gone into your mind when you first read the title of this article. But if you are a person who has been working with seniors- a geriatric doctor or nurse, or caregiver in a Residential Care Center in Ivy Grove SC– you might already understand why. For people who have been living with older adults for years, you probably have an idea why it is essential to know these.

Just like any other living thing, a human’s body experiences the normal wear and tear- the more we use it, the faster it gets damaged. As we grow older and reach seniority, our body gets affected with what we have eaten and done all throughout our lifetime. Among the organs which are greatly affected is our digestive tract- its ability to digest foods and absorb nutrients decreases.

Meanwhile, breakfast is known as the most important meal of the day because it fuels up the brain and body after an overnight fast. Eating a nutrition-heavy meal in the morning will set up your energy tone for the whole day.

Foods Best for Breakfast

• Eggs. A healthy senior breakfast could include eggs because of its high protein content. Nevertheless, seniors who already suffer from heart disease and high cholesterol shall choose egg whites instead of eating the whole eggs.
• Oatmeal. Breakfasts with oatmeal is also highly recommended for seniors because it contains high fiber, easy to digest, and is fairly inexpensive. A serving of oatmeal will already provide 25% of a senior’s daily fiber needs.
• Whole grains. A choice of either whole grain pancakes, waffles, or toast in your daily morning meal can increase your fiber needs. And to make it more nutritious and delectable, you can top it with fresh berries or peanut butter.
• Fresh Fruits. Fruits are good sources of different vitamins and fiber so you should also make it a point to add any one fresh fruit to your morning meal. The following list would complete your daily nutrition:
  • Plums
  • Bananas
  • Peaches
  • Kiwi
  • Blueberries
• Smoothies. To boost mental health and physical energy, you can try preparing protein smoothies using a blender. Some of the ingredients you can include are yogurt, fruits, almond or peanut butter, and low-fat milk.

A healthy breakfast should be the start of a healthful day. That is why in Harmony Residential Care Center, we make it a point to give all our residents and care beneficiaries the sumptuous breakfast they deserve.

Harmony Residential Care Center has a lot of share of surprises and we are pleased to know that we will be sharing and verifying with you the ones that serve as a shocker even to the older adults themselves.

So here are the different things about aging that surprise the older adults as listed by WebMD:

• Crystallized Intelligence
  It is not uncommon for the elderly to be asked for advice regarding all sorts of things ranging from the profession they have been doing to personal things like love. Have you ever wondered why people aging 50 above are so knowledgeable in the field they are in? This is because of what we call “crystallized intelligence.”The reason for this is that these individuals have experienced much in their lifetime and that the things they have learned just come out of them as if these are a part of their being. That is why if a new worker wants answers to a question for his or her work, they will just ring up the veteran.
• Controlled emotions
  Not all elderly are grumpy and sad old men and women. In fact, a lot of them have mastered their emotions that they no longer react on impulse. Talk about reaching nirvana! Old people are more agreeable and happier. Easily getting angry and frustrated may be a thing of the past.
  One of the reasons why we are called Harmony Residential Care Center is because of our residents. Because they have a good grasp over their emotions, they are capable of living in harmony with one another.
• Feelings of empathy
  Compared to other times in your life, you are most likely to be in tune with the emotions of other people. Cooperating in a group will not seem to be that difficult anymore. This also enables you to live peacefully with your family members.We are indubitably grateful for the seniors living here in our Residential Care Center in Ivy Grove SC for they are becoming like family. They understand us, caregivers, whenever we are burnt out and they are the sweetest people you could ever meet. They do not act as if they are our bosses; instead, they are our best friends and family members.
• Changes in taste
  We are not talking about having better or worse fashion tastes. Due to their sickness, allergies ad medications, older adults tend to taste food less. And we do not want them to skip the main meals of the day just because they cannot savor the flavor of the food on their plates.In response to this change, we have been learning together various herbs and seasonings we can add up to their meals in order to spice the cooking up. The fun part about this is that we get to be appreciated by the elderly which in turn, gives us a reason to perform better in caring for them. Nothing beats harder than a warm and sincere compliment.
• Body clock
  If you were once a night owl during your good old days, you may be surprised to find out that you will get tired easily in the evening and wake up at six in the morning! It may sound impossible and ridiculous in your case but it is indeed true.There are a lot of advantages to this new body clock. One benefit you can get out of it is that you will have a good night’s sleep. Another is that people around you will be inspired to follow your healthy sleeping schedule.

Aging is a beautiful thing we must all embrace and accept. Visit our website at www.harmonyres.com for more blogs relating to aging and caring for the aged.