Understanding and Help as You Grieve

When temperatures rise, so do the risks associated with heat, especially for older adults.Older individuals may not adjust as well to sudden changes in temperature, and with possible chronic health conditions or certain medications, extreme heat may cause negative health outcomes.Kavod Senior Life is well aware of these potential issues, sharing four best practices to protect people in the second half of life against the heat. Here are some tips we've learned from our 50+ years of housing and supporting older individuals in aging well!Stay HydratedWhy It Is Important: Older adults are at a higher risk of dehydration because they may not feel thirsty as often as younger people, and as mentioned above, certain medications can increase the risk of dehydration.Tips:Drink water even if you dont feel thirsty.Eat water-rich foods like fruits (e.g., watermelon, cucumbers) and vegetables.Avoid alcohol and caffeinated beverages, as they can lead to dehydration.How Kavod Responds: Hydration stations are set up in the lobbies of each building during the hottest days to give residents, staff and visitors easy access to ice cold water (with lemon and cucumber, even!)Create a Cool EnvironmentWhy It Is Important: A cool living space is crucial to preventing heat-related illnesses.Tips:Use fans or air conditioning. If air conditioning is not available, consider spending time in public places like libraries, shopping malls, or community centers that are air-conditioned.NOTE: Do not rely on fans as your main cooling source when temperatures are extreme for heat.Keep blinds or curtains closed during the hottest parts of the day to block out the sun.Use light-colored, loose-fitting clothing made of natural fibers like cotton, which are more breathable.Try to avoid using the stove or oven to cook it will make your home hotter.Take cool showers or baths to cool down.How Kavod Responds: A cooling center is set up on campus where the temperature stays at 72 degrees. Residents can get out of their apartments and socialize there without having to go outdoors, helping abate social isolation. Dietary AdjustmentsWhy It Is Important: Certain foods can help keep the body cool and hydrated.Tips:Encourage smaller, more frequent meals that are easier to digest.Include hydrating foods like soups, smoothies, and salads.Limit heavy, hot foods and opt for lighter fare like yogurt, salads, and chilled fruits.How Kavod Responds: Kavod staff serves residents cold lemonade and fresh watermelon over the weekend in the cooling center, both terrific ways to stay hydrated.Educate and EquipWhy It Is Important: Knowledge and preparation are key to preventing heat-related issues.Tips:Educate yourself about the risks of heat and the importance of staying cool.Be aware of the signs and symptoms of heat-related illnessHave access to emergency numbers and know what to do in case you experience these symptomsHow Kavod Responds: The management team reviews, prepares and hand-delivers updates to residents to best ensure everyone is educated and can take appropriate actions against the heat.ConclusionBy following these four important steps, older individuals can stay healthy and safe while enjoying all the good things summer has to offer. If you know an older person who would benefit by living in our community, please contact us for a tour, or check out our website for more information. Stay cool, everyone!Resources used in article:Center for Disease Control: https://www.cdc.gov/extreme-heat/risk-factors/extreme-heat-and-older-adults-aged-65.html#:':text=Older%20adults%20do%20not%20adjust,control%20its%20temperature%20or%20sweatNational Institute on Aging: https://www.nia.nih.gov/health/safety/hot-weather-safety-older-adultsHarvard Medicine: https://magazine.hms.harvard.edu/articles/effects-heat-older-adultsChat GPT

As the summer heat intensifies across the country, dehydration becomes a common and potentially dangerous concern. This condition can have severe implications, particularly for seniors who are more vulnerable due to several physiological factors. Seniors face unique challenges, especially when it comes to the impact of their medication on hydration. Why Are Seniors More Prone to Dehydration?Seniors are at an increased risk for dehydration for several reasons:     Reduced Thirst Signal: As people age, their bodies lose their ability to recognize thirst, making it harder to drink fluids.      Lower Body Water Volume: Older adults generally have a lower total volume of body water, meaning they have less fluid to lose before dehydration sets in.      Kidney Function Decline: Kidneys become less efficient at conserving water with age, further contributing to fluid loss.     Chronic Illnesses: Conditions such as diabetes can worsen the risk of dehydration since they affect the body's ability to control water. In addition to these factors, medication plays a significant role in influencing fluid balance in seniors.The Impact of Medication on DehydrationAs a clinical pharmacist, I've seen firsthand how medications can contribute to dehydration, especially in older adults. One of my clients, an active senior, nearly passed out while cycling in the summer. As it turned out, he was on a diuretic medication, commonly referred to as a "water pill." Diuretics are a class of drugs that increase urination, leading to reduced fluid levels in the body. These medications, often prescribed for conditions like hypertension and heart failure, can inadvertently lead to dehydration if fluid intake isn't carefully managed. Some commonly used diuretics include bumetanide, chlorothiazide (Diuril), hydrochlorothiazide, and furosemide (Lasix). But diuretics aren't the only medications that can cause dehydration. Other drugs like these can also affect your body's water balance.     Antihistamines: Often used for allergies, these can cause dry mouth and reduced fluid intake.     Blood Pressure Medications: Certain blood pressure medications can increase urine output.     Laxatives: They can cause fluid loss through increased bowel movements.     Chemotherapies: These treatments often lead to side effects like vomiting and diarrhea, contributing to dehydration.Managing Dehydration RisksIt's important to be aware of dehydration risks, particularly for those taking medications that impact fluid balance. Regardless of whether one feels thirsty, its important to drink water throughout the day. Staying alert to the signs of dehydrationsuch as increased thirst, dry mouth, dark urine, fatigue, and dizzinesscan also help address the issue early. These symptoms are early warning signs that the body may need more fluids.  Finally, anyone concerned about dehydration should consult a healthcare provider. They can adjust medication and advise seniors on managing fluid intake to prevent dehydration.   At Deeper Dive Horizons, one of my priorities is to guide you and your loved ones through the complexities of medication management to improve your well-being. With over 22 years of experience, my goal is to dive deeply into your health and ensure you maintain a balanced and healthy life, even in challenging conditions like extreme heat. Schedule a consultation today to get started 888-984-8895.

Growing up in his fathers rural churches in southwestern Minnesota, Dan Lindh saw firsthand the needs of older adults. This sparked a lifelong passion for service, one that defines his long tenure as president and CEO of Presbyterian Homes & Services (PHS), the third largest nonprofit provider of senior housing and services in the nation.Inspired by a world growing older, Dan is shaping a vision of a thriving future for older adults. As he prepares for his next chapter, his expertise in senior care continues to make a difference, impacting communities in Minnesota, throughout the Midwest and beyond.In this Q&A, listen in as Dan discusses overcoming challenges, seizing new opportunities and shares advice for the next generation of leaders.PHS: Wed love to hear about your journey in aging services. What early skills or experiences propelled you towards leadership roles?Dan Lindh: I had been called to this work a continuation of how I grew up in smaller communities. So, in the mid-70s I started as an accountant at PHS. Going back to get my long term care administrators license after a few years allowed me to go deeper, do more. The University of Minnesota enabled me further to fulfill that purpose by broadening my range of service to people with more frailties and addressing significant societal needs.PHS has a long history of serving older adults as a nonprofit mission. Can you describe how PHS approached this mission in the early days, and how has their strategy evolved to meet the changing needs of the community?When I started, we were connected to 3M, and we spent time on research and development, coming up with creative ways to serve small numbers of older adults with very low income. Then we would transfer that knowledge gained from experimental programs to other organizations, sometimes other countries.Sometime later we had what I call a kairos moment, a partnership that challenged our economic model. I was personally involved with an expensive issue we were trying to solve, for several years. From a Christian perspective, God allows those circumstances in our lives for reasons we cant see at the time. Along with some provocateur conversations about our strategic plan, as reviewed by very competent people, we were challenged to think more externally than internally. So we really had to think about who we as an organization are now, and its probably not going to be what it was in the past. I had that opportunity with Barry Knight to develop a strategic plan for the organization, which is essentially the same plan, just different iterations that we have today.It came to be about growth, multi-value streams and concentrated scale, which is a kind of unique tactic in which you develop a lot of services, buildings and community capacity, all within a pretty tight timeframe.So today, for example, in the Twin Cities alone, we have 42 communities, and we probably serve 20,000 people. We serve 27,000 overall including those living in communities in Iowa and Wisconsin.With that, you start to think about population health and about how you can have comprehensive systems to help serve older adults that you couldnt do from a smaller platform.For example, weve extended into things like 1.5 million home delivered meals a year to older adults with low income, partnered with a primary practice of 62 doctors and nurse practitioners as well as secured a value-based contract with CMS and a 182 million per year partnership with Allina and other providers.All of this arises from a platform of organizational effectiveness and mission fulfillment in potentially creative ways but for sure in comprehensive ways to help from end to end the average person who is roughly 85 when they come to live with us.Residents range in age from 60 to 110, and they stay with us for an average of seven years. They represent families and communities, and were committed to helping older adults find home and experience community. I like to think we can help provide people and their needs wherever theyre at, wherever they call home.As PHS expands its reach, what are some of the biggest challenges now or on the horizon? Conversely, what exciting opportunities do you see for innovation and wider impact?People used to ask me what I do, and Id answer that I work in older adult services, and I could hardly get that many words out of my mouth and people would fall asleep. Not so much anymore. People almost always want to engage in some way because they get just how significant the aging population is. Were a different world. And were about to be entirely different in a hurry.The number of older adults in our state will more than double in next 15 years, and itll grow until about 2050 and then stabilizes. Meanwhile, the workforce maybe grows 4 to 5 percent, but the demand for the workers in our space will grow by at least 45 percent, maybe 50 percent.Thats a kairos moment, which means what weve been doing up till now wont stay the same. And if were going to be different, its going to require workforce to be different and its going to require new creative models in how we help older adults build their own networks and self-efficacy.How do we keep people at home, how do we keep older adults more independent, how do we provide lower cost services and more affordable housing?It requires partnerships, thinking across siloes of education, acute care, primary care, medical support services and technology to help people maintain their independence and stay at home. And how do we help older adults be part of a growing economy when they have less time and fewer abilities to engage?The emerging older population in our society profoundly impacts the quality of life for the whole state and, really, the nation and the globe. This is an international issue that requires new kinds of workforce. It requires an entire ecosystem with acute care and rethinking how the dollars flow out of Medicare and Medicaid, how the federal and the state governments determine their budgets and what percentage of funds were able as a country and as a state to allocate among the many needs we have, from education to infrastructure to the judicial system.Every one of those creates a leadership opportunity and demands some of the best thinking we can come up with.What advice do you have for the next generation of leaders?Leadership is about getting a good grasp on all the circumstances in the environment and a sense for whats directionally happening, and where change needs to occur. Also, [leadership is] being able to step into that space to shape the organizations strategy, vision and services without any barriers in thinking due to what the past has been or what the current frameworks are. Its being pragmatic but also detached from existing structures and thinking very creatively about a different future. And I think its more essential now than its ever been.The changing society and how people think, how they want to engage in work, how older adults are aging and what that looks like for them all must be rethought. Because its already different and its about to be a lot more different not too far down the road. Its a daunting thing.What gives you hope, even in the face of daunting challenges?Theres a lot of hope because we are in a growing field. Any time youre in a growth market and change is happening, by definition theres opportunity. With the environment and circumstances that were in, theres more opportunity than theres ever been.Hope is absolutely necessary if were going to thrive. You cant thrive without engaging all society; you cant thrive without 20 to 25 percent of society being engaged as they possibly can be. How can we help position work so that older adults can do more and be a more integral part, and with that, have more purpose and more hope?Part of whats at stake is basically the quality of life for all Americans.Because if we can keep people productive really productive and if we can help those newly entering the workforce too and extend that productivity and engagement for societal good, it can make a big difference in terms of how the whole economy performs.I also find hope in the science of genome testing and predictors about wellness techniques and people taking better care of themselves essentially, better science around keeping people more independent longer and being purposeful in their living and engaged in what they do.So how can we help people live longer and more purposeful at the same time? Theres a lot of hope in that one.