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After more than 45 days in lockdown, it’s no surprise that many people are going a tad stir-crazy. But it’s far worse for seniors: Not only have visits from their kids and grandkids been suspended, but there’s the extra stress that comes with the nagging suspicion that they’ll be advised to remain on lockdown long after younger people begin trickling back to work and the world starts opening up again.
In fact, the AARP Foundation has even come up with this dire comparison: Prolonged social isolation, for those aged 50 and older, “is the health equivalent of smoking 15 cigarettes a day.” Fortuitously, some of the niftiest technology offers solutions both to keep us connected and protect against some of the miscreants taking advantage of the situation.
• Health Checks. If you are worried that all of the anxiety is harming your loved ones’ overall well-being, the machine-learning algorithms that analyze activity data as part of Alarm.com’s Wellness solution can provide you with the very details you’ve suddenly found yourself obsessing about.
Did they open their medicine cabinet when they should, to take their prescription? Have their sleeping, eating, and (yes) bathroom patterns changed? Are they up and about during the day?
All that and more is done by connecting their home to yours via smart-home technology, with real-time smartphone alerts to let you know if something’s amiss.
“You don’t even know it’s there, but it’s here to protect you and let someone know if something does go wrong,” says Margarete Pullen of Dallas, Texas, whose son had the system installed by an authorized service provider for her and her husband along with a Wellcam video camera with two-way voice capability.
• Movie meet-ups. Most of us are just trying to find novel ways to cope with a situation that Nicholas Christakis, a social scientist, and physician at Yale University, told Science magazine “calls on us to suppress our profoundly human and evolutionary hard-wired impulses for connection.”
Google’s new Netflix Party extension lets friends and family watch – and video-chat their way through – a movie together on their computers. You’ll need a NetFlix subscription, but then you’re free to debate if the Tiger King is worth all the hype and whether Carol Baskin really did kill her husband. Plus, unlike in real theaters, not many people (if any) are physically there to complain if you’re making too much noise eating popcorn.
• Apps! Apps! Apps! No NetFlix subscription? With apps such as FaceTime, Skype, Houseparty, and Zoom comes more proof that social distancing needn’t mean social disconnecting. Mass virtual dinner parties. Mass virtual “happy hours.” Mass virtual gym classes. They’ve all become quite the rage, with one Vermont couple in their eighties even touchingly using Apple’s FaceTime to see and talk to each other after the husband had to be put in a nursing home that bars visitors during the pandemic.
Nurses remain an essential and trusted part of the health care system, and the nation faces an urgent need for nurses due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
The World Health Organization is also celebrating the value of nursing by designating 2020 as the International Year of the Nurse and the Midwife. In addition, 2020 is the 200th anniversary of the birth of Florence Nightingale, the 19th- century social reformer known as the founder of modern nursing.
The demand for nurses, and therefore for nurse educators, is likely to remain high, according to the National League for Nursing (NLN), as nurse educators are on the front lines teaching new nurses who are filling the shortages in hospitals and other health care settings.
Nurse educators will likely continue to be well paid. Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics estimate the median salary for nurse educators at $73,490. They may work in academic settings, but some expand their focus to teaching in schools, businesses, hospitals, and community agencies.
The NLN shares some key advantages of becoming a nurse educator:
– Intellectual stimulation. Nurse educators know the latest research in the field and have the ability to share it with others.
– Flexibility. Nurse education allows for more autonomy and a flexible schedule. Not to mention that technology allows educators to teach from anywhere in the world, at any time, from the beach to the ski slopes.
– Research. Nurse educators have opportunities for research and publication in scholarly journals to advance the field of nursing and their own careers.
– Meaning. The desire for a purpose-driven life steers many people to the nurse education field, where they can make a significant difference in a variety of ways.
– Fulfillment. Nurse educators rejoice in encouraging young students and take pride in their accomplishments.
– Impact. Nurse educators, by shaping and developing the next generation of nurses and by working in their communities, will continue to impact the shape of healthcare for future generations.
– Inspiration. Everyone remembers the teacher or teachers who made a difference for them by giving them that extra encouragement or helping them explore paths they might not have seen.
But quite possibly the number- one reason to become a nurse educator, according to the NLN, is the unique chance to “teach what you love.”
Many career tracks exist for potential nurse educators. Teaching requires at least a master’s degree in either education or nursing, but these degrees may be earned through a traditional college setting or through the variety of fully accredited programs now available online.
An estimated 34 million Americans provide unpaid care to adults age 50 or older every year, according to the National Alliance for Caregiving and AARP, and that number is rapidly growing. More than half of those caregivers feel they have to make compromises at work to care for their aging parents, according to a new survey from Home Instead, Inc., franchisor of the Home Instead Senior Care network.
With the rise in our aging population, more and more adult children are assuming the role of caregiver while also maintaining a full- or part-time job. This pressure to balance work and caregiving responsibilities has left 61 percent of working caregivers feeling as if they must choose between being a good employee and being a good daughter or son. To make matters worse, only 29 percent of these caregivers are satisfied with their employer’s family leave policy.
As this issue grows to impact a larger percentage of the workforce, it will be essential that employees and employers work together to find solutions. Consider the following recommendations as ways to get started:
1. Ask for help – For caregivers, it can be extremely difficult, but also tremendously beneficial, to ask their employer for help. For employers, create opportunities for employees to express their needs. Schedule brief weekly meetings to check in and ask how they are doing. Transparency helps eliminate pressure on the employees to keep their concerns to themselves.
2. Create a flexible policy -When it comes to caring for a loved one, there are no fixed hours or planned deadlines; emergency situations can come at any moment. With a plan in place, employers and employees can be on the same page about flexible working hours or situations that require time off.
3. Offer in-office assistance – Employers can create a culture of safety for working caregivers by forming a support group for employees who are in similar situations. Such groups not only provide a place for relief, but also create the opportunity for employees to grow relationships with one another – positively affecting workplace culture.
4. Provide care for the caregiver – It can be easy for a caregiver to quickly forget about his or her own needs when caring for a loved one. Encourage individuals to take time to care for their own physical, mental and emotional well-being. In addition, pay attention to signs that indicate your employee may need a break. Connect them with available resources or encourage time away from work.
5. Make time to listen – Lending an ear is one of the most impactful things an employer can do for a working caregiver. More than half of caregivers have expressed feelings of depression and find it difficult to care for themselves. When employers open the door for a conversation, they are providing hope and reassurance to the working caregiver.
Now more than ever, businesses need to explore how to best serve their customers in the digital marketplace. That means finding ways to stay relevant and keep their audiences engaged. A professional development webinar series from the National Kitchen & Bath Association shows businesses how to develop and maintain a strong online presence.
The National Kitchen & Bath Association (NKBA) is a non-profit trade group for the kitchen and bath industry.
The series opens with Jim Nowakowski, a marketing and marketing communications specialist with more than 20 years of experience, notably in the manufacturing and publishing industries. Mr. Nowakowski brings his considerable expertise in communications and business-to-business advertising purchasing patterns to the webinars. The series kicked off on January 10 with “Staying in Front of Your Customers in a Digital Environment.”
Positive feedback from attendees emphasized Mr. Nowakowski’s enthusiasm and business acumen, with comments about his material and delivery such as, “his examples were detailed and easy to understand, with stories that made a point,” and “he was the best presenter I have seen in a while, very engaging and entertaining.”
“It’s always an honor to present my business topics to designers, showroom consultants, architects, and manufacturers,” Nowakowski said after the presentation.
“When I received the feedback, I was thrilled that the audience walked away with knowledge they can use,” he adds.
The webinar focuses on providing the audience with information on digital disruption in the marketplace and what strategic tools can keep a business relevant and valuable in servicing customers.
For example, participants learn how value comes from differentiation and the importance of what makes a business unique.
“What do you do that your competitor doesn’t do? What does your competitor do that you don’t?” Mr. Nowakowski asks.
Mr. Nowakowski also emphasizes how business basics never change, even in the age of disruption, and reviews tactics on how to stay in front of customers in a digital environment that includes using advertising, phone surveys, and quality service.
In the past few weeks, it has become clear that social distancing and quarantining are the new normal. This is an overwhelming time as we attempt to adjust our mindsets and schedules – between working from home, watching after the kids, keeping up with the news, and maintaining sanity, it can be a challenge to prioritize your physical and mental health. Here are some tips on how to stay active in these strange and unprecedented times. Make a plan It’s always easier to commit to a healthy habit if you make it part of your routine.
At the beginning of each week, take a look at your schedule and find those windows where you could realistically squeeze in a workout. Set a reminder on your phone or even add the workout to your calendar to keep yourself accountable.
Try a meal delivery service It may be difficult to cook healthy meals every day, especially if you can’t get what you need from the grocery store. Having healthy food delivered safely to your door can alleviate the stress and hassle of cooking, plus having healthy options in the house will keep you from overeating and reaching for junk food. South Beach Diet, for example, offers fully nutritionally balanced, prepared meals and snacks that make it easy to keep your diet on track. Take breaks from work It can be tempting to sit around all day while you’re working from home, but don’t let yourself stay sedentary for too long. Get away from your workspace and move around every hour or so to get your blood flowing. This will help you to stay sharp and healthy during social isolation.
If you’re taking a phone call, stand up, and allow yourself to pace around. Try to get up every hour and take a few steps around the house, stretch, or even do a few jumping jacks. Stream, stream, streams gyms, and workout studios are necessarily closed for the moment, many fitness brands and instructors are using Instagram live to hold virtual classes. If you have a favorite local studio or a favorite instructor, check out their website or social media to see if they are hosting any online classes. Many fitness brands are also offering extended free trials to access their libraries of workout videos. Go for a walk or run Of course, we are all limiting our trips outside to the grocery store, gas station, or anywhere else we might come in close contact with others. But if you are able to safely run or walk while keeping a distance from your neighbors, those are great options for staying active, clearing your mind, and getting some fresh air.”It’s so important to find those moments of joy outdoors while we’re all social distancing,” says Jessie James Decker, mother of three and South Beach Diet brand ambassador. “Whatever that means for you – whether it’s a stroll around the neighborhood with the kids or a long run to clear your head – you’ll feel so much better if you take the time for it.” Keep your mind active just as our bodies need physical activity to stay healthy, our minds need stimulation (beyond reality TV binge sessions) to stay sharp as well. Group activities such as board games or puzzles are a great option for keeping your mind sharp while clocking some quality time with your family or roommates.
Each year, June 1-7 is designated as CPR and AED Awareness Week. This year, the significance is especially striking. As most Americans continue to spend more of their time at home during the COVID-19 pandemic, the odds of cardiac arrests in a home setting are likely to increase, according to the American Heart Association. Each year, more than 350,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests occur in the United States, with about 70 percent happening in homes. Fortunately, Hands-Only CPR can be performed by family or household members. Even in the time of COVID-19, household members may be the lowest-risk providers of CPR at home because they have likely already been exposed, if, in fact, the cardiac-arrest victim has COVID-19.”Rather than waiting for first responders to arrive, performing immediate CPR in the case of cardiac arrest can double or triple a victim’s odds of survival,” says Comilla Sasson, M.D. and Vice President of Emergency Cardiovascular Care at the American Heart Association. “If you are willing and able to do CPR, you should do CPR, even during this pandemic.”Hands-Only CPR involves two simple steps and anyone can learn it from a 90-second video available at heart.org/handsonlycpr.Step 1: If a teen or adult in your home suddenly collapses, call 911 immediately. Step 2: Place one hand on top of the other as shown in the video and push hard and fast on the victim’s chest.
Tempo matters. Rescuers should push on the chest at a rate of 100 to 120 beats per minute and the American Heart Association advises following the beat of any of several songs, including “Stayin’ Alive,” by the Bee Gees, “Crazy in Love,” by Beyoncé featuring Jay-Z, “Hips Don’t Lie,” by Shakira” or “Walk the Line,” by Johnny Cash. People feel more confident performing Hands-Only CPR and are more likely to remember the correct rate when trained to the beat of a familiar song. In 2009, the American Heart Association launched a nationwide Hands-Only CPR campaign, supported nationally by an educational grant from the Anthem Foundation, to raise awareness about this life-saving skill. More than 10 million people have been trained in Hands-Only CPR via events, training kiosks, and video education with the Foundation’s support. Take advantage of shelter-in-place time and brush up on your Hands-Only CPR skills: you just might save someone you love. Visit heart.org/handsonlycpr to watch and share the Hands-Only CPR instructional video.
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