Senior Citizens » elderly women

Counting To More Than Ten: Coping With Unreasonable Behaviour When Caring For The Elderly

Sat, 24 Jan 2009 05:01:01 +0000

We have all, at one time or another, been out shopping or in public when a child has started to throw a tantrum. The parent inevitably tries to calm the child but only succeeds in making him or her worse. The parent is always embarrassed and you have immense sympathy for them. You go through the motions of feeling sorry for them and calling the child everything from spoilt to moody. Ultimately though, you are glad that it wasn't you. Ironically, if you find yourself in the role of main carer for an elderly relative then you could also find yourself in that positions and, believe me, it is more embarrassing than the parent-child situation.

If you have had extensive experience of caring for the elderly then you will be accustomed to the token temper tantrums that occur every so often, but if you are not then it can be difficult to cope with. What makes it worse is the fact that you are related to the moody adult in question and thus are obliged to put up with it, no matter how difficult it may be at times. However, there are ways of coping with it.

Firstly, instead of thinking how mortified the individual in question would be if they realised what they were doing, reflect on exactly why the tantrum is occurring. If he or she is in the throes of a tantrum then this reflection may only be possible for a split second. However, it should allow you to understand it more and thus make you a little bit more relaxed in the situation. Take the amount of frustration you are feeling and times it by ten. That figure still won't even come close to the amount of frustration that your elderly charge is feeling. Imagine being stuck in your body, having thoughts muddled to the point that you cannot think straight and then think whether you would be reacting in the same way as your relative is. If you were honest then the answer would be yes.

The method of reasoning above can help you cope to a certain extent, but then having the unreasonable behaviour directed towards you is a different matter and will provoke more potent feelings within you. If you take it as a personal attack then no amount of reasoning on your part will make it possible for you to cope. You have to somehow rise above it. Taking regular breaks is one method, maybe getting away from the individual for a few moments. It could even be a cry for attention, so ignoring the unreasonable behaviour or pretending that it hasn't affected you may just put an end to it for long enough for you to gather your thoughts.

Sometimes, regular unreasonable behaviour will only last for a short while. Elderly people suffering from metal and physical ailments have a tendency to go through phases, just as children do so it is just a matter of weathering the storm and/or finding a way to cope with it. There is no definitive way to cope because everybody is different. The solution could be as obvious as listening to music through headphones for a while, or taking a short walk. Eventually, you will build up a resistance to it. Suddenly, you will find that a mental shutter comes down when the person that you are caring for begins to act unreasonably.

You will begin to recognise the signs that a tantrum is brewing and simply ignore it or head it off before it begins. All of this takes time and it doesn't happen overnight. You have to figure out what works best for you. If it helps, take the attitude that he or she is a child again. That is essentially what they are and dealing with a child is not so alien to some as dealing with an adult is. If you can get into this mentality then it will seem so much easier to cope with unreasonable elderly behaviour.

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Develop Your Skills To Care For The Elderly: Wound Care

Sat, 17 Jan 2009 05:01:02 +0000

If you care for an elderly member of your family, you will fully understand that maintaining his or her health is extremely hard work and you will often feel like you are fighting an uphill battle that you have absolutely no chance of winning! It takes dedication and sheer hard work to gain the advantage sometimes and even then something will inevitably crop up to send you back to stage one again. Seniors are like children in many ways as a result. They are frequently getting into situations that see them come away with some sort of minor injury. This applies to every senior with a mental or physical disability. One of the main reasons behind it is that elderly people who need constant care lose sight of their own mortality and do not have realistic attitudes towards what they can do. It is essential, therefore, that any caregiver has a basic knowledge of wound care.

Cuts and scrapes are perhaps the most common results of accidents amongst the elderly in care. They can be pretty innocuous and barely penetrate the consciousness of the elderly on the receiving end. However, all cuts and scrapes can easily become effective if they are not treated as soon as they occur. All wounds should be cleaned, disinfected and dressed as soon as they happen. It is no good leaving them until a few hours or days later because the damage can already be done by then. I know that this sounds pretty serious, but also ridiculous at the same time. After all, we are just talking about cuts, grazes and scrapes. However, it is often the small things that are overlooked and come back to haunt you. It is therefore important to remember that any physical injury that a senior sustains can become serious if given the opportunity. As a result, caregivers must be extremely vigilant and administer first aid and general care as and when required.

Any caregiver should attend a basic first aid course very early on in their role. Community colleges often provide basic first aid courses that cover all of the information that you need to know about administering it at a moment's notice in any situation. Some of the content of these courses is common sense, but if an instructor stresses it to you, you are more likely to remember it when you are called upon. It never hurts to refresh information that you have learnt previously either. Even if you have been on a course in the last couple of years, you should look into taking another one that is more specific for your new role. Any course will include wound care as a basic requirement.

Another important element of wound care is ensuring that the elderly individual in your care is completely up to date with any necessary shots. Tetanus is especially important because it is perhaps the easiest serious infection to contract. The bug only needs a small open wound to spread through the body via the bloodstream. This fact also serves to reinforce the point that infection control through wound care cannot be underestimated and dismissed as an unimportant concern.

Wound care is easy enough to learn for any caregiver and there is very little practice required in order for you to get it right. It therefore demands little of you time by can pay dividends when you look at how devastating any number of infections and bugs can be.

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Effective Caring For Your Elderly Relatives: Home Help

Thu, 01 Jan 2009 05:01:01 +0000

Caring for an elderly relative can be an extremely stressful process. If you choose to go into care and deal with the elderly and infirm then you can maintain an air of detachment. However, if you look after a relative, it is impossible to detach yourself from your family role as well as providing effective care. As a result, you will have to deal with all of the emotions that go with caring for a disabled or ill relative. As it is so hard to detach, you may well decide that you need help caring for him or her in order to escape from some of the stress and pressure. There are plenty of options as far as this is concerned owing to a service commonly known as home help. It may be labelled differently in your area but this name sums up just what it is.

Home help is a service that provides an experienced and qualified carer who will come into your home or your relative's home as often as you wish to provide various aspects of care, such as bathing, feeding and dressing. This can be useful in that you could escape the elements of personal hygiene that are necessary. Many individuals cannot cope with the thought of undressing and washing their own flesh and blood, and understandably so. Again, it all goes back to that air of detachment that has previously been mentioned. It may well be easier to have someone to come in to administer that side of things every day whilst you take care of feeding and chores around the home.

As home help carers administer such care for a living, they are schooled in the necessary privacy rules of their trade and can be counted upon to be honest and trustworthy. They all have to pass certain qualifications in order to be able to do their job and thus know what they are doing, although it may be hard not to interfere and make suggestions. Some people therefore choose to meet a home help carer once and then leave them to do their job.

Most home help carers go into a home at least once a day, usually to get the individual out of bed, bathe and dress him or her, but you can choose to have home help as often as you want. Two or three times a day is the usual level, and this is especially popular amongst those caring for elderly relatives and also have a full time job to earn a living. However, the amount of times that you choose to have a carer in largely depends on what you can afford. The best services can be quite expensive, although there are usually several within one area to choose from. As a result, you can interview until you finally find a service that you are happy with and would trust with your relative.

You can search for home help services on the Internet or in the local service directories. There are minimum standards that each service has to comply with so always be wary of services that do not boast of their credentials. Check out testimonials and ask around for recommendations. You may also want to take your elderly relative's opinion into considerations. After all, it is your relative that will have the most contact with the home help. If they like the person that they have to help them, then you will find that you have less problems than if you were to select an individual on your own.

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Money Matters: Essential Information About Being Power Of Attorney

Tue, 23 Dec 2008 05:01:02 +0000

One of the most worrying things about looking after elderly family members is money. It is not something that you immediately think of when you become the main carer of a loved one because you are concerned first and foremost with their health and well being, not to mention figuring out how to cope with looking after what is essentially a dependent as well as living your own life. Money does eventually prove to be a pressing issue because your elderly relative will most likely be unable to physically sort out their own affairs and finances, or mentally be unfit to do so. Either way, you will almost certainly become responsible for their money as well as their health.

In order to take care of an elderly relative's financial affairs, you will first need to apply for and be granted power of attorney. In this day and age of fraud and security issues, privacy laws are such that no one individual can interfere in the financial affairs of another unless they have the express permission by the individual in some way, shape or form. If you do need regular access to their finances then you will need power of attorney. It is legally binding and, although it is dependent on the individual's permission because he or she remains the legal owner of any assets, grants unlimited access to their affairs. In effect, it gives you the ability to run their finances for them.

There are essentially two types of power of attorney, ordinary and enduring. The ordinary power of attorney limits your access because it stipulates the matters that you can actually control. For example, your elderly relative may only allow you to sort out bills for them. It is also commonly used when an individual is unable to manage their affairs for a set period of time. Someone may go abroad or have to go into hospital. Whilst they are away and thus unable to attend to their financial affairs than another nominated person may do it for them. The fact that this is for a set period of time means that it will inevitably expire and thus is not a good option for elderly individuals who may permanently be unable to take care of their finances. In any case, and ordinary power of attorney will automatically be revoked if the donor (the named individual that the power of attorney relates to) becomes mentally unfit to cope with his or her financial affairs.

An enduring power of attorney, on the other hand, grants you access to every aspect of their assets. You can effectively run their finances, govern their property and do pretty much as you please with everything they own. As a result, this requires a lot of trust on the part of your relative and you must feel that you are up to the job before accepting the power of attorney. It can actually be established at any time, even if the elderly individual in question is still capable of running his or her affairs, but it does continue if mental capacity is diminished.

It is a huge responsibility to be put in charge of somebody else's financial affairs, especially if the individual in question is also under your care. It can cause a lot of stress for you, especially when you are getting to grips with it all. You must go to a lawyer to establish the power of attorney in the first place, and so he or she may be able to advise you on where to begin. Often, family lawyers who specialize in power of attorney paperwork can recommend a counsellor or help service that could initially aid you. The main thing is not to worry too much about financial affairs because they will all soon fall into place as soon as you get into a routine. As a power of attorney can be established before an elderly relative loses all mental functionality, it may be an idea to suggest it in advance so you can already be familiar with the way things are run before it comes to becoming a carer too. Just remember to relax and let things happen as they will. As long as the paperwork is in order, everything else will follow.

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Caring For The Elderly: A Quick Guide To Hospice Care

Thu, 18 Dec 2008 05:01:01 +0000

It is a common belief in society that life goes full circle. You are born, live your life and then die, to put it quite morbidly, but in between you go full circle. Seniors often regress back to their childhood as they go further and further into old age because they may need the same amount of care in their final days as they did in their very first ones. As a result, the care you can give them, as caregivers and relatives, is no longer adequate. As they head into their final days, it may well be time to make a choice as to where they will spend them. A hospice is usually a popular option because of the level of specialist care they offer. This is your quick guide to hospices with a brief overview of the information that you may need to make up your mind.

A hospice is a specialist unit that is usually separated from a hospital. It has a much more friendly atmosphere, despite being a specialist care unit for those who are coming to their last days on this Earth. The staff are all highly trained, but are also employed for what they can bring to the hospice in terms of attitude and efficiency, The staff are a colourful combinations of nurses, doctors, counsellors, assistants and religious community leaders. In effect, they are there to provide for all of your needs in order to make sure that your relative is as comfortable as possible.

Regardless of whether you know how a hospice works or not, it is still an impossible decision to make when it comes to choosing. This is mainly because, despite caring for an elderly relative for a period of time, you still will not want to admit exactly what is going to happen, inevitably sooner rather than later. However, the set up of a hospice is designed to allay these fears and unwillingness to relinquish the controls to a certain extent. It is designed to fully support the family as well as the individual seniors who will go to stay there.

A fear that many carers and family members have is that their relative will be going into a hospice before he or she is ready to do so. However, if you are even considering it then it is most definitely the right time. After all, as the main caregiver, you will have witness the changes that have taken place within your relative over a period of time. It can be so heartbreaking to watch him or her turn into a completely different person as a result of old age and illness. By the time that they have reached the hospice stage, they are no longer the person that you once knew and loved, and the hospice can help you to let go and simply start to grieve.

Hospice care is unobtrusive and, to a certain extent, you could still continue to administer the care that you had been so used to. Staff are there to ensure that your elderly relative is as comfortable as possible, but are also there to help you and will completely understand your role up until that point. You just have to leave your elderly relative in the best hands possible. You did the best you could and there comes a time when you have to enjoy what little time you have left with the centre of your life up until that point.

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Caring For The Elderly: Working With Their Money

Sat, 13 Dec 2008 05:01:02 +0000

If you are the primary caregiver for an elderly relative, you will soon come to realise that your responsibility is not limited to their personal health. You will discover within a matter of weeks that you will ultimately be expected to take care of their lives in general, which includes everything from regular outings to their finances. The latter will usually be one of your more pressing concerns, whether you feel comfortable with the idea of being responsible for another's money or not. In an ideal world there will be very little to this and you will not need to spend much time on it because of wealth that your senior relative has accumulated over the years. However, in reality it rarely plays out that way. You will effectively have to budget for them over the course of the time that they are in your charge. The tips below will make that process easier for you.

Before you can even begin to start budgeting for your elderly relative, you need to work out exactly where they stand with their finances. You can do this by getting organized and drawing up an effective set of accounts that you can work with on a weekly basis. These accounts do not have to be professional by any means, as long as you can fully understand and follow them. You should look at all of the household bills and payments towards outstanding debts as well as any other outgoings over the twelve months before you actually too over that particular set of finances.

Taking income from pensions and other sources into account, you should take the previous years' outgoings as a good indicator of what you can expect to pay out in the coming year as well as the amount of expendable wealth that you will be left with for general provisions. Income is a vital key to your ability to budget. You must research the source of this money to ensure that bank credits will remain at the same amount. If you fail to do this, you could possibly find yourself in a financial mess on behalf of your elderly relative and that would certainly throw a spanner in the works as far as your budgeting is concerned. However, if you do complete the necessary research then you can then begin budgeting from there.

It may also be worth setting aside some money every month to put into a rainy day savings fund on behalf of the elderly relative under your care. None of us know what the future holds for us, and in some ways we should be thankful for it. However, if your relative does need specialist care or treatment and has to pay for it, then you may find yourself in an impossible situation. Seniors often have to sell their homes in order to get the medical care that they need, whether that is in the form of home help or medication, so it is best to avoid this by preparing them financially for every eventuality.

Budgeting on behalf of an elderly relative under your care may indeed prove to be a pain, especially if you are striving to fulfil all of their other needs at the same time. However, it is very necessary to give them a helping hand in this department because they may otherwise find that they have no heating, water or even roof over their head. Utility companies are notoriously unsympathetic if bills do not get paid and thus it may prove extremely prudent to begin budgeting from the very first day that you accept the role as primary caregiver. It will certainly pay dividends in the long term.

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Getting Out And About: Taking Seniors In Your Care On Outings

Sat, 22 Nov 2008 05:01:02 +0000

If you are caring for the elderly in any capacity then you will understand the importance of getting out of the same four walls for a time. It is important for your mental sanity because sitting in the same place for a few hours can send you stir crazy! Well, just put yourself in the shoes of the senior that you are caring for. The same four walls may well be the only environment they see for days on end. This would not be helping their mental health at all and thus it is important that they too get out once in while. With a little planning, outings can be a fun and welcome distraction from their mundane lives as well as helping their progress if they are in recovery from an illness.

If you do plan on taking the senior in your care on an outing then you must be well prepared before the actual day comes. There can be very little spontaneous about going on an outing because of the amount of bases that you must consider before you take him or her out. You must firstly have vetted the activity to make sure that it is suitable for the individual in you care. For example, it is no use taking an individual in a wheelchair swimming unless the local pool has special disabled facilities because the last thing that your elderly charge would want to do is sit and watch you have fun whilst they are bored!

Taking walks in the park or around the local area, shopping and day trips are excellent outings to take seniors in your care on. All of them give the senior a sense of freedom, which is something that their deteriorating state has probably already stripped them of. In this way, they promote a sense of contentment and comfort as well as soothing boredom. However, you must make sure that wherever you are planning to go can accommodate the seniors in you are. Do they have wheelchair access? Can you park easily? How accessible are the toilets? All of these questions and many more have to be answered before you arrange anything.

Before leaving the house, you must make sure that you are prepared for any eventuality. All medications should be taken with you just in case you are still out when they are supposed to be administered. You should also have something to eat in your bag and the senior in your care should be wearing appropriate clothing. After you have finished going through all of the checklists, it is likely that you will be shattered and want to stay in!

When you do get out on your trip, you will not have a moment's peace. It may be relaxing for the senior in your care, but it will not be the same for you. You constantly have to watch for hazards and anticipate any problems before they actually occur. Having said that, your reward will come from actually seeing the pleasure on the face of the person you care for. There is no better feeling in the world than seeing someone you care for smile when they actually have little to smile about.

Outings really do make a nice change for the elderly people that you are caring for and should be integrated into your routine on a regular basis. The feelings that outings provoke are generally all positive, which ultimately will help you get through the preparations. Everyone needs to get out once in a while and seniors are no different so take the opportunity for them!

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The Importance Of Medication When Caring For Seniors

Thu, 20 Nov 2008 05:01:02 +0000

It is inevitable that, when you are caring for seniors, you will have copious amounts of pills and solutions to go through on a daily basis. When a senior gets to the point that he or she can no longer take care of their own affairs, it is pretty obvious that her or she can also no longer take care of their own body too. As a result of either physical or mental ailments, they are likely to have several prescriptions on the go for the various maladies, and all at the same time. Although it may be a mammoth task to sort through all of them, it is extremely important that you do so. The elderly person in your care has been prescribed the medication for a reason and, if it were left up to them, the various pills and potions would not get taken at all.

There are steps you can to take to help yourself where the elderly person in your charge is concerned. Firstly, you must sort through all of the medications and make sure that you are fully informed about all of the dosages as well as checking that the prescriptions are up to date. There is only one way that you check your findings against the relevant prescriptions and that is a brief consultation with the doctor who has been dealing with the person you are looking after. Of course, they are not allowed to tell you about another individual's medical history unless they receive the express consent of the individual in question. You should therefore take the senior in question with you. Not only can the doctor then provide you with all of the information that you need, but he or she can also place your name on the necessary medical records to denote your status as primary carer.

As soon as you are armed with all of the information you need, you can start to get organized. The most important thing to do is establish a routine so that no medications are ignored or forgotten about. The routine will also help the senior in your care to settle under your authority. He or she will be reassured by the fact that there are specific times for certain medications and will feel all the better for it. It will also give you peace of mind so that do not worry about the finer details that you may forget from day today. The routine will effectively take care of all of that.

You can use all kinds of tools to ensure that medications are taken in the correct doses at the correct times. It may be an idea to compile a checklist for you to fill in every day when medication has been taken. This will also enable you to keep track of the supply of each medication that you have. You will then know when it is time to refill the prescription. Daily doses boxes are also a fantastic idea in this sort of situation. The come in little grids that are sealed to prevent the senior from getting to them and taking them at the wrong times or in the wrong doses. You can fill them at the start of every month, thus making your daily task of regulating the medication that little bit easier. It will also keep them all in the same place and save you valuable time that can be better spent doing other things.

Medication is an important part of any senior's daily routine, but it is one that should be adhered to at all costs. Taking one tablet at the wrong time or in the wrong dose can have severe adverse effects and also cause further health problems that would best be avoided. By creating a highly organized system, you can avoid any such mistakes and enhance the life of the elderly person in your care no end.

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The Layman's Guide To Alzheimer's Disease

Mon, 03 Nov 2008 05:01:02 +0000

It is a well-known fact that a high percentage of the elderly experience mental degradation at some stage during the later years of their lives. It is acknowledged as one of the disadvantages of getting old! However, the majority of people do not know the first thing about mental health illnesses and diseases that can take hold of the elderly mind, although some will have heard various names of afflictions being bandied about. Alzheimer's Disease is one of the most widely recognised, but very little is actually known about it by individuals who have not come into contact with people suffering from it. This article will explain in layman's terms exactly what Alzheimer's is as well as what it can do.

Alzheimer's Disease is the most common form of dementia in the world. Dementia affects the brain and impedes a person's ability to think logically from moment to moment. Sufferers often have short-term memory loss and get frustrated when they cannot remember what happened just minutes ago. It seriously impedes a person's ability to speak and reason, and makes it nigh on impossible to learn something new. As the disease progresses, sufferers are rendered unable to look after themselves physically and often become unsafe in their own homes.

Alzheimer's Disease causes degeneration of the connections between the brain and local nerve cells, which in turn affects other nerve cells around the body. As a result, the messages that the brain sends to the rest of the body do not get relayed properly and communication breaks down, hence the confusion of the individual and a loss of mental capacity.

Over 4 million people have been diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease in the United States alone. Very few people under the age of 65 are affected, and only 5% of men aged between 65 and 74 are affected. However, it is estimated that almost half of all people aged 75 and above have some form of dementia, with the majority suffering from Alzheimer's. It affects both men and women in equal measures. Although the cause of Alzheimer's is not known, age is a confirmed factor. The older you are, the more likely it is that you will develop the disease. It is also believed to be genetic. If a mother or father has Alzheimer's, the children are more likely to develop it in old age than individuals of a similar age that do not have a family history of it.

Alzheimer's is often hard to detect during its early stages because its symptoms are no different than those experienced by seniors who do not develop the disease. Mild confusion and forgetfulness can be dismissed as one of the symptoms of old age but can also mark the onset of Alzheimer's. The forgetfulness will gradually get worse, until it begins to alter daily routines and reminders have to be written down or verbally delivered by others. The next step is an acute inability to do anything without help or supervision and can ultimately render the sufferer helpless. Even if the body is willing and in good shape, the mind is not.

Aggression is a common symptom of advanced Alzheimer's Disease because an individual is no longer his or herself. The confusion and anxiety that the disease leaves them with 24 hours a day may result in verbal or violent outbursts that the sufferer has no control over. Alzheimer's sufferers often turn into a completely different person as the disease progresses into its later stages and thus it is often not a true reflection of who that person was earlier in his or her life. It can take between three and fifteen years for a person to get to this stage though, but it will ultimately result in the loss of life unless other factors intervene.

Unfortunately there is no cure for Alzheimer's Disease. Various foundations and medical centers are conducting ongoing research in the hope of finding a cure but for now there are only drugs that can be used to offset the symptoms in the early to mid stages of the disease. Aricept and Exelon are just two of the drugs used, but they will only hold degeneration at bay for a limited time. When they stop working, the disease will progress, as it would have done if the drugs were not used in the first place. Ultimately, the end result is the same. It is a disease to cope with, not cure.

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Here's To The Health And Happiness Of Your Elderly Dependents!

Tue, 14 Oct 2008 04:01:02 +0000

People often get their priorities wrong in society today. So concerned are the majority with material objects, they often neglect their own health. Unfortunately this a sad consequence of the materialistic world in which we live. However, there are some exceptions and we should all take pride in that. If you care for another individual in any way then you are obviously one of those special people. Caring for a relative can be extremely rewarding and enhance your life significantly. However, it can also bring a significant amount of worry and stress, especially if the individual in question is elderly and infirm.

There are many elements of life to consider for the individual that you care for that we often take for granted in our own lives. Health is indeed one of them, and perhaps the most important consideration of all. Here is your quick guide to safeguarding the health of elderly relatives under your care.

DIET- It is extremely important that you make sure that elderly relatives are fulfilling all of their nutritional requirements on a daily basis. As they can be extremely vulnerable and prone to illness, a healthy diet is paramount in ensuring that they continue to be as healthy and happy as possible. Firstly, any diet should be low in fat and salt. Both dietary substances can slow down recovery from any illness if consumed in large amounts. Salt and fat are both absorbed into the blood and make circulation sluggish. Too much fat can also block the arteries. Instead, you should focus on making sure that the individual gets plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables to provide essential vitamins and minerals for tissue regeneration as well as plenty of fibre to ensure that bowel action is regular.

MENTAL STATE – You should do all you can to make sure that your elderly relative is happy and comfortable in his or her surroundings. You are in control of his or her everyday life, but establishing a routine can help to make it look like that is not the case. This also alleviates panic and stress.

PHYSICAL BEING – You should encourage the senior in your care to get regular health checks to make sure that everything is functioning correctly. Any changes in health should be noted and checked out on at least a six weekly basis. This regularity will soon form part of a routine, which would afford the senior in question a level of comfort, but it would also lead to any illnesses and diseases being diagnosed very quickly. This can significantly improve the long-term health of any individual and alert you to anything that may need to be observed in the future.

EXERCISE – A senior may not be physically able to exercise on a daily basis, but getting twenty minutes of gentle exercise tow or three times a week will make them fell infinitely better than if they were to get no exercise at all. Shopping can be considered exercise if he or she is walking around the supermarket. Other similar activities that get the individual out of the house, such as walking a dog or gardening, are also exercise and can improve health in the long term. These activities will all stretch out joints and alleviate stiffness and immobility. It will also improve general health because it gets the juices flowing!