GAIT SPEED: The 6th Vital Sign in Healthy Aging While temperature, pulse, respiration, blood pressure, and pain are commonly known as vital signs, a 6th vital sign—gait speed—is gaining recognition as a crucial indicator of overall health. Gait speed is a simple yet powerful predictor of physical function and potential health risks. And has shown…

RISE UP: Combating Couch Acquired Frailty FRAILTY STATS: *higher risk for hospitalization *higher risk of falls *higher risk to develop dementia *require caregiver support We talk a lot about Hospital Acquired Frailty–it’s an important subject that affects a lot of seniors. But there’s another condition that often is a precursor to this…COUCH ACQUIRED FRAILTY It’s…

Movement for Mind & Memory: How Exercise Supports Brain Health in Dementia Exercise can play a meaningful role in managing moderate dementia, helping both cognitively and physically in several ways: Improved Blood Flow and Oxygenation: Increased oxygenation to the brain can help with cognitive clarity, slowing down the progression of cognitive decline, and maintaining healthy…

Hospital Acquired Frailty: A precipitous multi-system decline due to immobility while in a hospital that is often preventable. Motion is Life Frailty Tip Sheet Why is consistent mobility crucial? Muscle activity impacts far more than just our ability to move….it’s a SAFEGUARD Immobilized patients not only experience functional declines, but medical conditions worsen as well.…

Qualifying for Home Health: No, we don’t need to wait for an injury or illness to assist. In fact, being proactive can often reduce this risk. We are often asked, which of our patients would qualify for home health? Recent fall, or new fear of instability: we call any unintended loss of elevation a fall…

Revising Healthcare Goals for the Older Patient: And why the therapy goal of ‘previous level of function’ doesn’t go far enough. The decline of older patients is well documented, with each subsequent injury or illness creating a new, and lower baseline. Many healthcare providers are trained to think in terms of helping a patient get…

Half of all patients in hospitals and healthcare facilities are malnourished, leading to unnecessary suffering, poorer quality of life, and increased mortality. Despite available solutions, malnutrition is underdiagnosed and undertreated globally. A review in the New England Journal of Medicine highlights this issue and calls for greater use of existing knowledge to address it. The…

Early warning signs an elderly adult may be declining Throughout much of the 20th century, chirping canaries were used in the coal mining industry as early warning systems for poisonous gases like carbon monoxide. Since carbon monoxide is clear and odorless, miners needed a way to detect it before it became lethal. Canaries, sensitive to…

The essential components of balance: the vestibular system, vision, and proprioception. 1. The Vestibular System: Inner Ear’s GPS Located in the inner ear, the vestibular system senses head movements and position changes. Disruptions, like inner ear infections or vertigo, can cause dizziness and balance issues. 2. Vision: Provides critical feedback to the brain about your…

Recent studies have shown that 93.2% of American adults have a metabolic problem. This means that in the overwhelming majority of adults, the process in which we convert food energy to cellular energy is not optimal. This under-powering of our cells, like a puttering car, creates stress on these cells. This stress results in a…