By Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist, Blogging at The Survive and Thrive Boomer Guide

What do you do at work when the latest versions of e-mail and word processing programs are installed? Jump for joy? Or scream and cry in frustration?

A new study shows that baby boomers have a unique relationship to technology – different from any generation before or since – and they’re actively shaping the devices, software, and services of tomorrow by the choices they are making today.

That’s what AARP and Microsoft found out when they offered a series of focus group discussions with baby boomers in four U.S. cities: San Francisco, Phoenix, Chicago, and New York. The report about the findings from the meetings is “Boomers and Technology: An Extended Conversation.”

What do boomers, who came of age before most of the software applications and devices now considered essential were invented, want in the technological devices they use? Rob Sinclair, director of accessibility at Microsoft, said:

Baby boomers are savvy consumers who expect technology to be safe, easy to use, and flexible enough to adapt to their individual needs. When new technology products enter the market – products that are well-designed and can help create the life baby boomers want – they are enthusiastic early adopters who help lead the way.

Baby boomers have the numbers and the economic clout to make their technology choices matter. Consumers in their 50s show the highest intent to purchase consumer electronics among any age group.

And baby boomers want technology that reflects their values and helps them express those values with greater purpose, meaning, and impact, the report indicates.

Author and futurist Michael Rogers, who worked with boomers in the focus groups, makes these predictions about the future of technology by the year 2019. Baby boomers will:

• Be wearing sensor-equipped exercise clothing and GPS-enabled running shoes during workouts to monitor their physical condition, track the calories they burn, and upload the information automatically for storage and analysis.

• Have prescription glasses that connect wirelessly to the Internet or other networks and display information in the lower half of the lens.

• Carry mobile devices that can function as electronic wallets, offer full telepresence, and project large-format images on the wall.

• Use technology to help them care for their aging parents – employing sensors that alert them to changes in behaviors or routines that could signal problems – and to manage their own health with tools ranging from low-cost gene scans to implanted microchips that contain their health records.

• Use computers to control energy use in their “green” homes and to redefine when, where, and how they work.

Does that sound great to you or intimidating?

It seems to me that these days, it’s easier to use the new technology. When I first worked for the state of Washington, I disliked intensely any changes in software. I complained loudly when the state switched from WordPerfect to Microsoft Word. Changes in the Windows platforms also were a bother.

Recently, however, I’ve learned how to use an iMac, a video camera, a digital camera, and a scanner.

When I wanted to replace my cell phone due to high levels of radiation, I was disappointed that I couldn’t get a BlackBerry. It’s too expensive to pay $30 a month more to connect to the Internet.

However, there’s one thing I haven’t mastered. That’s using my DVD player. I bought one with a hard drive so I could edit my videos on it. Either I couldn’t figure it out how to do it or the DVD doesn’t perform that function. In addition, I haven’t been able to figure out how to record TV programs. However, that’s not a big problem because I seldom watch television.

How about you? How savvy are you about electronic gadgets? Do they make your day or add to the stress and frustration to your life? Leave me a comment below about your tech life.

Popularity: 2% [?]

Women experiencing menopause and peri-menopause often wonder if there is anything they can do alleviate their symptoms naturally. Hot flashes, headaches, mood swings, weight gain, fatigue, sleepless nights and decreased libido are some common symptoms that can be reduced by some simple diet and lifestyle changes. With all the debates on hormone replacement, isn’t it nice to know you have the power to change how you feel naturally.

Food Suggestions: 

Certain foods can actually cause night sweats and hot flashes. To see if you are eating your way to an internal heat wave, consider keeping a Hot Flash Journal. Try to identify and understand what your food triggers might be. Keep track of the time of day or night your flashes come along with a food journal for a few weeks. This will allow you to see if there are any patterns present and which foods may be the ones setting you off. Typically, foods like sugar, simple carbohydrates, alcohol, caffeine, and spicy foods are the culprits.

• Reduce Alcohol and Caffeine: Both alcohol and caffeine can affect your hormone levels and exasperate your symptoms. Try transitioning to herbal teas and limiting your alcohol intake to 1 or 2 drinks 1 or 2 times a week. Sometimes just one glass of wine can teleport your body to the tropics. 

• Reduce Sugar intake: Sugar can also affect your hormone levels, throwing your hormones out of balance and making your symptoms worse. Try switching over to natural sweeteners like Agave or maple syrup. You can even experiment with fruit and sweet vegetables to satisfy your sweet tooth.

• Reduce processed white flours: Processed white flours and white grains, like white bread, pasta, baked goods and white rice react like sugar in your body, throwing your hormone levels out of balance. Stick with whole grains like quinoa, barley, millet, brown rice and whole wheat to give you long lasting energy without the blood sugar spikes.

• Increase Omega 3 Fatty Acids: Omega 3 fatty acids can help to relieve irritability, mood swings and hot flashes. They are also considered a source of healthy fats, which actually helps your body burn fat, possibly resulting in some weight loss.  Flaxseeds, flax oil, walnuts, olive oil and cold-water fish like salmon are full of omega 3 fatty acids. Try this recipe for “Apple Cinnamon Menopausal Muffins” (http://life.gaiam.com/gaiam/p/MenopauseMuffinsRecipe.html) as an easy and yummy way to get your omega 3 fatty acids.

Lifestyle Suggestions:

Stress can be a major cause of hot flashes, irritability and night sweats. Finding your favorite method of relaxation and stress reduction is key.

• Increase your exercise. Exercise is one of the best things you can do to calm your body and mind, reduce anxiety and to control your weight. Whether it be yoga, tai-chi, weight lifting or aerobics, be sure to give yourself ample time to cool down since exercising raises your body’s core temperature. 

• Try to relax. Consider taking up meditation or a class in deep breathing to help you clear your mind, rebalance and refocus. Since your emotional state has just as much to do with your symptoms as anything physical, keep in mind that feeling stressed, anxious or angry may be adding fuel to your fire. If meditation is not for you, simply taking some time for yourself to read a book, take a bath, get a massage or even listen to music can have an affect on your mental state of mind.

Popularity: unranked [?]

Continuing our series on interviews, today we present to you our interview with Rachel Clark. Rachel Clark is a Certified Holistic Health Counselor and practices in the New York City under the business name RenewForANewYou. She is trained in both eastern and western nutrition and various diet theories. We are proud to also let you know that Rachel has been a very active Boomer411 trustee, (by the user name RenewForANewYou) recommending great resources/articles on Boomer411.com that you have come to rely on. So we want to take this opportunity to present to you our interview with Rachel, so that you can get to know her better…

Boomer411: What is a Health counselor?

RC: As a Health Counselor, I am your personal advocate for living an energized and passionate life. Whatever your concerns are, my job is to help you find which food and lifestyle choices will work best for you and the life you desire. WHEN DIET CHANGES, EVERYTHING CHANGES.

A true holistic approach to life incorporates things that nourish you other than food, including honest and open relationships, a meaningful spiritual practice, a career that inspires you, and physical activity that you enjoy. I work with clients to help them find long lasting balance in both diet and lifestyle.

Boomer411: Why diets don’t work, but Health Counseling does?

RC: Our culture touts diet pills, celebrity workouts, convenience foods, and trendy diets to help us achieve our desired weight, but these quick fix solutions have backfired. America’s populace has reached its highest weight in history. About half of Americans are overweight; one third obese. Diets steer us away from our common sense and dip deeply into our pocketbooks while eliciting few, if any, lasting results. Diets don’t work because each person is unique, with different needs based on gender, age, ancestry and lifestyle; how could one diet be right for everyone?

Health counseling programs are designed to radically improve your life, resolve concerns specific to you and your body, help you look and feel younger, and to provide you with tools for a lifetime of balance and wellness. With the help of a Health Counselor, you can feed yourself wisely, purposefully and be completely nourished. Working with your body rather than against it will bring about increased energy, stabilized weight and sustainable health.

Boomer411: Why should I invest in my health during these tough economic times?

RC: We are being bombarded every day with stress and worry wondering what will happen to our futures, our money, and our investments. Constant stress will cause physical and emotional deterioration. Start to take personal control today. During times like these, the most important thing you can choose to invest in is you. You have control over one thing. What you do, and what you eat. Your health and wellness is the one thing you CAN CONTROL. Get ready-to-use, day-to-day guidance on how to eat and live better in these turbulent times.

Boomer411: How can I control my snacking and cravings?

RC: The important thing is to understand why you crave what you crave; to deconstruct your craving. Perhaps your diet is too restrictive or devoid of essential nutrients. Perhaps you are living a lifestyle that is too boring or stressful. Your body tries to correct the imbalance by sending you a message: a craving. A craving for something sweet could mean you need more protein, more exercise, more water, or more love in your life. The key to stopping the sugar craving is to understand and deliver what your body really needs.

Foods like refined sugar and processed foods can throw your body off balance and leave you with strong cravings. A diet rich in whole foods will help your body remain in balance and provide you with a healthier and happier life.

Boomer411: How can one slow down the aging process?

RC: What you put in your body, can not only help to maintain a healthy weight, but can slow down the aging process and even reverse the damage that has already been done. Nutrition is the real fountain of youth. The general guidelines for looking and feeling younger include keeping your calorie intake down, limiting the number of saturated fats you eat, eating whole grains, fruits, vegetables and lean protein (especially fish) and lowering your salt and sugar intake. Make sure to include some anti-aging super foods like beans, berries, nuts and whole grains.

Boomer411: Why should I eat organic?

RC: When we eat, food goes into our mouth, into our stomach and as it gets digested, our blood absorbs it; and our blood is what creates our cells, our tissues, our organs and some even believe OUR THOUGHTS. So what you eat can not only affect how you feel physically; but it can also affect your thoughts, behavior and even feelings. Originally, all food was organic; grown and prepared without pesticides, herbicides, chemical fertilizers, hormones, or irradiation. Much of our food today, be it meat or vegetable is not only grown in nutrient deficient soil, therefore providing us less nutrients, but also contains many pollutants, farming chemicals, hormones and antibiotics. Buying organic meat, dairy, fruits and veggies assures you that you are keeping chemicals off your plate, giving your body more nourishment, saving energy, supporting local farmers and eating more ethically.

Boomer411: Are there simple ways for me to control my portion sizes?

RC: We are a society being weighed down (literally) by the bigger is better motto. Bigger portions mean we typically eat 30-50% more than we would have with smaller portions, hungry or not. In the last 2 decades, portion size has dramatically increased. Here are a few suggestions to help you start downsizing today.

• At the beginning of a meal out, ask for a to-go box and pack up half your meal for lunch tomorrow. Not only will you save yourself from being super full tonight, but also you’ll be really happy not having to think about what is for lunch tomorrow.
• I am a big fan of the cook once; eat 2-3 times idea, just not all in one sitting. When eating in and cooking extra, be sure to dole out 1 or 2 extra portions into Tupperware and put them in the fridge before you even sit to eat. You may not be so inclined to reach for a second serving then.
• Try not to snack straight from the container or package and certainly not standing over the kitchen sink. Putting a snack portion into a small bowl or on a plate will help you eat less; taking the time to sit and eat helps the body register that it is being fed and avoids mindless eating.
• Want to know just how out of proportion your portion sizes are? Measure out a serving of pasta or rice, typically a ½ cup cooked, or look at the size of your lean protein at dinner tonight, which should be the size of a deck of cards. What size do you see? Start to look at labels to get a better idea of what exactly a portion size should look like.

And remember, when it comes to food and size of our backsides, bigger is not always better.

To learn more about Rachel…

Visit her website packed with lots of good information

         OR

Find her on FaceBook

You can also check her recent webcast interview by New York Mother

Popularity: 19% [?]

By Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist, Blogging at The Survive and Thrive Boomer Guide

Worry, worry, worry.

It seems to be taking up a lot of time these days as we see company after company laying off thousands of workers, and the talk going on and on about what needs to be done to turn the economy around.

What can baby boomers do to in these tough economic times to reduce their stress level?

We may not be able to change the economy on our own, but we can take steps to retain our sanity in these difficult times and strive to come out stronger, Karen Turner, Ph.D., clinical psychologist, says in the article “Self Help for Baby Boomers to Deal With the Recession.”

Turner suggests boomers use the law of attraction. She says thinking positively will help you feel good, and you’ll be more likely to take advantage of an opportunity if it comes your way. You’ll look at finding solutions instead of mulling over problems.

Boomers, who’ve learned survival skills through years of experience, can focus on a positive outcome and obtain a positive outcome.

Turner offers these tips to surround yourself with positive energy:

• Think positively.
• Replace that frown with a smile. Look for reasons to smile.
• Don’t keep bills in your wallet. Clear it of scraps of papers as a way of telling yourself that you are ready to receive money.
• Meditate, do yoga, or exercise regularly.
• Eat well. You’ll be less likely to feel irritated, frustrated, or angry when your stomach is full.
• Save money. It increases your options in recessionary times.

Popularity: 14% [?]

Last Monday we published part 1 of our interview with Jill Gilbert. Jill Gilbert is the founder and CEO of Gilbert Guide. Gilbert Guide is the leading resource on the topic of elder care or senior care. It educates, entertains and provides listings of service providers in your local area for senior care. We would also like to highlight that GilbertGuide is a Boomer411 Trustee and you can find their recommended articles here. This interview is being presented in two parts. Part 1 of this interview can be accessed here. Today we present the second and concluding part of this interview…

Boomer411: What motivated you to start GilbertGuide? How long has it been?

JG: Well, to make a long story short, I was motivated by another idea first. I began my career working in the film industry and decided it was time for a change. My parents run a cancer center in Lodi, CA, where my dad is a radiation oncologist. Their patients received excellent treatment, but they were at a loss when it came to accessing all the other, supplemental information they needed. We originally discussed building a cancer resource center to complement their practice, but when I started looking for resource books and couldn’t find anything that encompassed every category, the idea began to change. One thing you should understand is that I came from a really different background-for one thing, the film industry has amazing resource books. And for another, I didn’t know anything about senior care, and the books that I did find didn’t answer my questions. It was 2003. That’s basically when Gilbert Guide began, and almost a year later, my brother Jason joined the team, really making it a family company. Gilbert Guide started out publishing geo-centric guidebooks with comprehensive reviews of every senior care provider in the area. Before then, I’d never set foot inside a nursing home. But I learned from the ground up and surrounded myself with experts. I wouldn’t have done it any other way. It gave me a unique perspective. And since then, of course, Gilbert Guide has expanded its offerings greatly.

Boomer411: You have an impressive team that produces interesting, informative articles on a variety of topics. Can you tell our readers more about your panel of experts and the topics covered by GilbertGuide?

JG: We have a wonderful, articulate bunch of experts who write their own columns on GilbertGuide.com. The authors and the topics they write on are wide-ranging. We have an incontinence specialist, a cancer doctor who is a practicing radiation oncologist, a pharmacologist, a naturopath, a dentist whose practice focuses on geriatric dentistry, a nutritionist, two geriatric care managers, a senior move manager, a long-term care insurance specialist, a financial planner who works exclusively with the elderly, hospice experts and more. In addition to our columnists, we have select experts who contribute original articles to other areas of the site. Also, we have many readers who leave insightful questions and comments to the authors at the end of their articles, which often starts an in-depth conversation between the author and other readers, so it’s really quite an incredible collaboration. It’s very community-oriented.

Boomer411: How do you come up with the topics?

JG: Oftentimes, the topics come from our readers. They’re very vocal in letting us know what they want to learn more about. A conversation that develops in a comment thread following a particular article might pose interesting questions that expose the need for developing that topic further. Sometimes people email us asking for coverage on a certain topic. We work very closely with our contributors to help guide the topics and answer our readers’ questions. All of our experts work in some professional capacity in the senior care world, so they propose topics as well, often writing on topics their patients and clients come to them for advice on. And of course, we’re a part of the senior care industry, so we report on current trends and issues in a more journalistic vein, to keep our readers abreast of those developments.

Boomer411: What criteria should one use when trying to determine what kind of care a loved one requires?

JG: I could go on for hours and still never completely answer this question! Let me explain. Every senior, every family, every facility-and every situation is different. That’s not to say that this question is unanswerable. Of course it is-but I’m going to point you to our Care Planner to answer it! The Care Planner provides each individual with a personalized care plan tailored to their unique situation, guiding them through the process step by step, and granting them access to our supportive “how-to” tool-kits.

Boomer411: What are some of the common pitfalls and mistakes that Boomers make in choosing a care provider and/or facility?

JG: You know, the biggest-and most common-mistake that I see is that people tend to get stuck in the present and they don’t troubleshoot the future. They think, “Oh, Mom’s healthy now, and Grandma died peacefully in her sleep, and never went to the doctor a day in her life” Or something like that. But the reality is: we are all living longer, and that presents complications. Many boomers are facing the challenge of caring for an aging parent, having them move in or choosing a facility for them, in addition to simultaneously caring for a spouse and children, and working and planning for their own retirement. The best move they can make is to plan for the future and try to avoid making uninformed choices. Many families that don’t plan ahead end up having to move a parent from one facility to the next as needs change. Doing so can be extremely costly and take a heavy toll, both emotionally and physically, on the senior and the entire family. It’s worth taking the time to consider all the factors and weigh your options instead of basing decisions on what’s relevant today.

Boomer411: What are your thoughts on the ‘aging in-place’ initiative being experimented around the country?

JG: Aging in-place is what most of us want for ourselves when the time comes. A lot of people don’t realize there’s such a thing as nonmedical homecare available. It means that you can get help for your mom or dad to help them remain at home for as long as possible, giving them access to the care they need without having to move them to a facility. Home care workers can help with all kinds of everyday activities, ranging from light housekeeping, to helping an elder eat, bathe, use the toilet and so on. They can even provide medication reminders. Some simple home modifications can go a long way to help, too. And the assistive technology that’s available today-well, it’s pretty amazing! Just wait until you see what’s coming in the near future.

Aging in place is also possible in a facility. For example, if a senior lives in an assisted living community, she could potentially remain there for the rest of her life, without having to move again, even if her health status changes. Of course, all of this depends on the contractual agreement that she has with the facility. But the idea is the same: the senior remains in the residence where he or she is comfortable, obtaining the necessary care as health needs increase.

Boomer411: What is your outlook for the future of retirement communities and long-term care facilities?

JG: There has been a huge growth in these types of communities and I think the industry is trying to figure itself out. There will always be a need for them. There’s a growing trend of communities specializing in particular interests, which I believe we’ll begin to see more and more of. For example, there are university-based retirement communities and Hollywood actor communities, and of course those which are backed by religious organizations. Lately there’s been a rise in the number of LGBT-oriented communities. But I think we will start to see more “special interest” communities forming. Those will really be the most successful-common interests make for much happier residents.

Boomer411: Any closing comments, insights you would like to share with our readers?  

JG: Gilbert Guide’s goal is to ease the process of searching for senior care. It’s a big world, and you can be sure that there will be questions and issues that creep up every step of the way. When that happens, Gilbert Guide will be there to lend support, advice and information.

This concludes our interview with Jill Gilbert, founder of Gilbert Guide. Please use the links below to learn more about GilbertGuide, what they have to offer and a listing of articles recommended by GilbertGuide. 

Resources:  

Gilbert Guide profile on Boomer411 

Gilbert Guide’s article recommendations on Boomer411 

Gilbert Guide Resources

Care Planner      

Find a Provider        

Senior Housing Solutions Center   

Alzheimer’s & Dementia Solutions Center  

Care at Home Solutions Center

Partner Marketplace        http://www.gilbertguide.com/preferred-partners/

Popularity: 35% [?]