PCA’s 2019 Senior Strut health event recap
We want to thank everyone that helped to make PCA’s 2019 Senior Strut a major success! More than 500 seniors turned out to the health event to celebrate a day of wellness, activity, and friendship. Thank you to Fairmount Park Conservancy and Philadelphia Parks and Recreation for their support, along with all of our sponsors: […]
Reducing your risk for diabetes
By Carol Meerschaert
Type 2 diabetes, a disease in which your body doesn’t use insulin properly, is common among older adults. However, there are many things you can do to lower your risk. While some risk factors for the disease cannot be changed, such as a family history of diabetes or your age, you can do something to control the most common risk factors for diabetes, which include being overweight, having high blood pressure and being physically inactive.
Survivorship care: Meeting the long-term needs of cancer survivors
With an ever-increasing number of people surviving cancer, and with the majority of those survivors being older adults, survivorship care is an important topic for seniors.
Narrative medicine focuses on the person
When it comes to staying healthy, talk can be worth a mint. Narrative medicine puts a premium on the stories patients tell their doctors about why they’re seeking treatment.
New to Medicare? Here’s an introduction.
Medicare is health insurance for people 65 or older, people under 65 with certain disabilities, and people of any age with end-stage renal disease.
Medicare upgrades online resources
For the first time in a decade, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) launched a modernized and redesigned Medicare Plan Finder to meet the needs of a growing number of tech-savvy beneficiaries.
Free health insurance counseling from APPRISE
Philadelphia Corporation for Aging’s (PCA) APPRISE program offers free health insurance counseling to all Medicare beneficiaries, regardless of income.
Physical activity is important for healthy aging, but use caution
We’re taught from a young age about the importance of exercise and proper nutrition, yet levels of physical activity often decease with age.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, only 28% to 34% of adults 65 to 74 are physically active. The rate for those 75 and older is 35% to 44%. The good news is that health experts say we’re never too old to reap the benefits of physical
activity.
Malnutrition: Recognizing this silent threat to the aging community
By Shannon Reyes
The lack of proper nutrition can take a harmful toll on one’s health. Known as malnutrition, this condition is especially concerning since fewer physical attributes are linked to it, making diagnosis particularly difficult. Vulnerable populations, including older adults, are often more susceptible to malnutrition. According to Defeat Malnutrition Today (DMT), a national coalition dedicated to the eradication of malnutrition in America, one in two older adults is at risk for malnutrition.