The modern kitchen is central to American life, so much so that Julia Child’s actual kitchen from her Massachusetts home is a permanent exhibit at the Smithsonian Institution’s Museum of American History in Washington, D.C. As we get older, however, the kitchen can become an increasingly dangerous place, where a senior’s physical or cognitive impairments inflate the potential for fires, accidents and food-borne illnesses.

Fortunately, there are simple steps that seniors and their loved ones and caregivers can take to help reduce or eliminate the common dangers posed by the kitchen. Here are important kitchen safety tips.

Avoiding kitchen fire hazards:

Do not … read more

Some 2,400 years ago, the Greek physician Hippocrates said: “That which is used, develops. That which is not used wastes away.” Today, that bit of ancient wisdom is often reflected in a more succinct phrase: “Use it or lose it.” Whichever way one says it, the concept has never lost its validity. In fact, it has become especially relevant to the subject of walking as a means of helping seniors preserve their mobility and overall state of health.

Virtually all medical authorities agree that walking is a vitally important form of exercise for older adults (including those who use a cane … read more

The intense search for effective Alzheimer’s treatments has uncovered persuasive evidence that performing certain complex tasks may help the brain form new neural pathways that can slow cognitive decline and help ward off dementia. Most of those tasks are mental in nature, such as reading and doing challenging puzzles. However, there is also at least one physical activity that has been shown to help improve brain health: dancing.

Attention first began to focus on dancing with the results of a landmark study published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2003. It showed that among 11 forms of … read more

Reducing stress is a major concern for seniors, often even more so for those with a chronic illness or a sedentary lifestyle. When we’re under stress, the brain releases hormones that support our “fight or flight” instincts. It’s a survival mechanism that makes us temporarily stronger and faster. However, “In late life, when the immune system tends to show functional decline, the effects of stress are especially potent. Stress can not only mimic, but also exacerbate the effects of aging,” as revealed in a National Institutes of Health study.

Moreover, seniors who lead an inactive existence, whether by choice … read more