Mature Matters

Green Thumb Therapy: An Ancient Tradition

By Sarah Lemnah

As you drive up to Starr Farm Nursing Center in Burlington you will notice a buzz of activity. Residents are hard at work tending to their garden filled with blooming flowers and fresh vegetables. Donna Covais, a Registered Horticultural Therapist, says plans are also in the works for a Farmer’s Market and designing floral bouquets for residents celebrating birthdays.

It is not a new concept to use plants and nature to help promote well being. Egyptian physicians use to prescribe nature walks for emotionally distressed patients in the Middle Ages. However, for years Western medicine was more focused on prescriptions, medical procedures and physical therapy to combat the medical conditions that come with aging. Now it is becoming more mainstream to look at holistic approaches.

Covais is the only Registered Horticultural Therapist in Vermont. She is heading up a pilot project at Starr Farm using horticulture as a way to help residents complement their care. Covais looks at ways to “use plants to promote physical, social and educational changes in people.”  She has formed small study groups to measure the impact this therapy has on the quality of residents’ lives.

For many residents in a facility there is depression, loneliness and boredom. There is a longing for their old life and gardening may be one of the things that made up that former life. “Flowers and vegetables are the universal language. We want to show that you can live in a nursing facility with a lot of hope,” Covais says.
A series of standing beds makes gardening possible for all. Easy for those in wheelchairs and for those with good mobility, it prevents the backbreaking work of kneeling and bending over to weed. Residents plant, tend and will harvest their work. This sense of purpose is a key to enhancing quality of life.  “People in nursing facilities don’t feel needed anymore — in a facility people are always being helped, “ Covais says.  Horticultural Therapy is designed to enhance feelings of purpose, and Covais is the perfect person to help— she is a master gardener, and is blind. Thus, residents help Covais by finding her tools, telling her what color the flowers are and being her eyes in the sea of colors that defines this young garden. Residents are also needed to tend the garden and help nurture and watch things grow.

Covais knows that this program helps lessen depression, improves motor skills, enhances the quality of life and brings hope and beauty to people’s lives. “Feel the texture of lavender, smell the basil,” she says. For those who used to garden Covais knows this brings a “piece of their life back.”

Third Fridays Feature ‘Supper at Five’

By Sarah Lemnah

The Heineberg Senior and Community Center is a very special place.

Filled with warm people, great food and lots of fun activities, it has been the hub of the north end in Burlington since the 1940s when the community center was built. Each person has their own unique story and many of the people dining there today are second generation — following in the footsteps of their parents.

This is truly a grassroots organization where volunteers serve the food, run programs and provide companionship. For many, having lunch at the Heineberg is a tradition and a valued part of their daily routine.

Heineberg and Champlain Valley Agency on Aging (CVAA) work hard to provide nutritious and affordable meals to seniors. For a suggested donation of $3, visitors to the center enjoy chicken & biscuits, baked ham, lasagna and much more.

In addition to regular programs like line dancing, T’ai Chi, Wii, sitting yoga, and bingo, Heineberg developed the “Supper at Five” program. Executive Director Gail Moreau points out that people are “social creatures, we like to get together and have a meal together.” So since last November, seniors have been filling the Heineberg on the third Friday of the month to enjoy this special community supper.

Each month, the Elks Lodge on North Avenue caters the supper for 70 seniors, with a suggested donation of $5 per person. According to regular John Bryant, when he heard the Elks were doing the supper, “we knew the meal would be great.”

Heineberg Senior Center volunteer Rita Bissonette was the one who came up with the idea of having the Elks cater a supper and the idea took off to the point that there is now a waiting list. For Janet Petterson, one unique thing about Supper at Five is that people can bring a bottle of wine to enjoy with their dinner. Supper, unlike lunch, is not a buffet, and is served on “glass dishes and tablecloths, and it brings in people who don’t come to the noon meal,” according to Peterson.

At Supper at Five you’ll see individuals, groups of friends and even some couples on a rare date night enjoying cordon bleu and baked scrod.

As Jeannette Leo remarked, “for the price, I don’t think I could go wrong. The Elks make a great dinner.”
Chuck Smith jokes that he comes for the meal “because I am hungry,” but admits he really comes to “meet other people.”

Making new friends and enjoying each other’s company is a huge draw at the Heineberg. Arlene Woods knows that it is “a great place to come for friends, to laugh and visit and that Gail encourages us to be rowdy.”

Moreau freely admits that she does encourage misbehavior. “If not now, then when?” she laughs.
But there is a serious side to the proceedings. For many seniors, the weekends can be long and lonely, Moreau says. “We don’t serve lunch on Fridays, so sometimes the weekends are long for people. A Friday night social event can combat weekend loneliness.”

If a family is the heart of a home, then the people who attend the Heineberg Senior and Community Center are the heart of the North End Community.

“The best part of my job is the stories. I get to be part of 250 lives,” Moreau says.

For more information about Supper at Five or the upcoming June Barbecue Luau with the George Voland Jazz Band, call 863-3982 or visit www.heinebergcenter.com.

What You Do in Your Sleep Matters

By Sarah Lemnah

Finding yourself a little tired lately, waking up with a headache, or has your partner complained about your snoring yet again? Millions of Americans face this situation every day and most shrug it off.

But a recent study may make some people think twice before they ignore possible fatal symptoms.

Sleep apnea – in which you stop breathing for at least 10 seconds while asleep – affects 12 million Americans and most cases are undiagnosed. Some people may stop breathing as frequently as a hundred times in an hour and often for a minute or longer.

Health professionals have long known that there were serious consequences associated with untreated sleep apnea, such as high blood pressure, weight gain, headaches, memory loss, depression, reflux, nocturia (a need to use the bathroom frequently at night), and impotence. Untreated sleep apnea can increase the risk of falling asleep during the day, and can affect job performance and increase the likelihood of a motor vehicle accident.

A recent study by the National Institutes of Health shows that obstructive sleep apnea is also associated with an increased risk of stroke in older adults, especially men. Men with moderate to severe sleep apnea were nearly three times more likely to have a stroke than men without sleep apnea, or those with mild cases. Women with severe sleep apnea also had an increased stroke risk, but not as dramatic an increase as men.
Loud snoring with periods of silence and gasping for air during sleep is a common symptom of sleep apnea. The brain wakes the person to remind them to start breathing. Though anyone can suffer from sleep apnea, there are risk factors that greatly increase your odds including age, excess weight, a large neck, a recessed chin, being a man, family history, smoking and alcohol use.

So, how do you know if you suffer from sleep apnea? Are you a loud, habitual snorer? Do you feel tired and groggy when you wake up? Are you often sleepy during the day? Are you overweight or do you have a large neck? Do you choke, gasp or hold your breath during sleep? If you answered yes to any of these questions, the American Sleep Apnea Association (www.sleepapnea.org) recommends you see your doctor to discuss it.
Sleep studies that monitor brain waves, and that measure eye and chin movement, heart rate and rhythms, oxygen levels and carbon dioxide levels can help determine if you suffer from sleep apnea. Depending on the severity of the problems, there are many treatments to help lessen or eliminate your symptoms.

Simple solutions that work for some include not sleeping on your back, avoiding alcohol and depressants such as painkillers, sedatives and muscle relaxants, and losing weight. For those suffering from severe sleep apnea, many find relief sleeping with a CPAP (Continued Positive Airway Pressure)device that blows pressurized air at a rate high enough to keep the throat open for easier breathing.

If you think you or someone you know might suffer from sleep apnea, do not ignore it. Make sure your dreams are sweet and your sleep is un-interrupted.

How to Have ‘the Talk’

By Sarah Lemnah

You worry about it for weeks, obsess on it, avoid it, try to get out of it but then you have to just do it, you have to have “the” talk. What is “the” talk? The talk could be talking to your teenager about sex or drugs, the talk could be to your boss about why you deserve a raise, and yes the talk could be to your aging parents about whether they can safely live alone at home or whether their driving days are over. Difficult conversations are easy to put off but can have deadly consequences.

Talking to your parents is always tricky whether you are 13, 30, or 50.

The history of the relationship is the parents are in the ones in charge. But what happens when Dad starts having a series of fender benders and Mom forgets to turn off the burner and is starting small fires in the kitchen?

There is never a perfect time to have “the” talk, and avoiding it only compounds the problem. Conversations about whether your parents can remain in their own home are emotional and present many possible landmines. The goal is to get yourself and your parents on the same page so there is a plan in place to make sure your parents are both well cared for and also as independent as they can safely be. And children may have very different thoughts about their parents’ ability to live on their own.

Gerhild Bjornson, a mediator for the Champlain Valley Agency on Aging, sees families every day struggling with issues regarding living arrangements, financial decisions and issues of independence. Her job is to listen and help untangle these emotional conversations so people really hear each other and find common ground.
People are proud and independent and it is difficult for many to ask for help or to be comfortable needing outsiders to come to their home to provide services, Bjornson says.

Whether you are a professional mediator like Bjornson or a concerned family member, the key to moving forward and resolving issues involves lots of listening. Listen to how your parents and your siblings see the situation. What steps can be taken to make the situation provide a better quality of life? You don’t have to solve all of the problems at once. Is Dad ok driving during the day in his neighborhood but agrees to stay off the highways and avoid night driving due to his eyesight? Does Mom decide to start getting meals delivered to avoid the dangers of cooking? It is important that the adult children of aging parents ask their parents how they see the situation. For example, ask your Dad if he thinks he drives as well as he did 10 years ago. He might admit he is not as alert as he once was and doesn’t want to hurt anyone.

Bjornson knows that like anything else this is a process. The first conversation will not be the last – it opens the door and puts the problem front and center. Then people need time to mull it over and really think about it. Bjornson is also very conscious of the fact that some people are quieter than others and may not feel as comfortable voicing their opinions. Bjornson knows her job is to “make sure quieter voices are heard, even if that means meeting with the quieter person alone.”

Don’t dread opening the door to difficult conversations. Conversations that need to happen are a way of protecting loved ones and opening the door to an even closer connection. If families use understanding, active listening, and respect they will find a path to assist their loved ones to be as independent as is safely possible without denying them the right to make decisions about their lives. It is not about getting your parents to do what you think is best. It is about everyone being honest about concerns and how to address them in a way parents will be comfortable with. Everyone does not have to agree on everything.

Dark Days of Winter

By Sarah Lemnah

It is that time of year when it seems like the sun is never going to come back. The days are long, dark and bitter cold and summer seems like a lifetime ago. It is January in Vermont.

For one in 10 of us, it means we have no energy, want to hibernate in our homes or better yet our beds. We have seasonal affective disorder (SAD). People who suffer from this seasonal depression due to the lack of sun and an interruption in their sleep patterns are sad indeed.

For some people with SAD, each winter puts them in a tailspin, unable to perform their necessary tasks and to even contemplate suicide. But for most of us who suffer from SAD, is like a bad case of jet lag that starts in September, hits its peak in January, and goes away in the late spring. SAD makes you feel like your batteries are run down, that what used to be fun holds no interest, that sleep trumps everything, and you are moody and crave carbs. The binging on pasta, bread, potatoes and sweets brings on weight gain, which makes you feel worse. Sex drive dwindles and there is never enough sleep to make you feel rested. Concentrating is almost impossible and irritability is a guarantee.

If you can’t afford the time or money to spend part of your winter in a warmer climate, then it is time to take action. Depression of any type can be serious and even those with a mild case of SAD find their quality of life diminished and their relationships impacted.

Don’t let the winter blues turn you into a hibernating bear. Ask for help and take action.

Some simple changes can help combat the symptoms of SAD. Eating a diet high in protein and low in carbs, engaging in regular physical activity, and getting out in the sun (no matter how short its appearance may be) can all help people suffering from SAD start the process of re-charging their batteries. Moderate activity for 30 minutes a day, five days a week, along with vigorous activity for 1 ¼ hours a week can help you combat this depression. Moderate activity may be a brisk walk while vigorous activity could be jogging or cross country skiing.

For people more severely impacted by SAD there is counseling, light therapy, and anti-depressants. There are two types of light therapy. One type is bright light treatment where people sit in front of a light box (full spectrum light) for a half hour or longer every day or they use a dawn simulator where a dim light goes on in the morning while you sleep and gets brighter over time to simulate sunrise.

The theory is that seasonal affective disorder is a biochemical imbalance in the hypothalamus due to the shortening daylight hours and lack of sunshine in the winter. As seasons change, there is a shift in your internal clock due to changes in sunlight patterns. The body thinks that when there is no sun that it is night and time to sleep. Vermont and its northern neighbors are hit hard with people suffering from SAD. Snowbirds spending their winters in Florida and other warm locations are much less likely to experience seasonal affective disorder.

If you are feeling sad and tired and just want to spend the day in bed every day, then it is time for you to take the covers off and face it head on. SAD is difficult to live with, but can be treated.

Careful Eye on Your Meds Around Teens During the Holidays

By Sarah Lemnah

The holidays are here and it is the time of year when busy families make extra time for those they love.

During the year, many seniors become isolated as their families scurry about with their busy schedules, but as the Christmas trees go up and the Hanukkah candles are lit families come together.

During the holidays, parents and grandparents should keep a closer eye on their children – making sure they don’t take a sip of wine or sneak into the liquor cabinet. However, the growing danger with teens does not live in the liquor cabinet. It is neatly tucked away in medicine cabinets in prescription bottles from the family doctor. Kids are finding a cheap high can be found in their family’s supply of prescription medications. Many baby boomers and seniors are on prescription drugs ranging from painkillers to heart medication to anti-depressants. These drugs in the hands of a teenager looking to get high can be a fatal.

“There is a pill for every problem today, a pill will cure all,” according to Detective Sergeant Mark Francis of the Vermont State Police. Between 1992 and 2002, the U.S. population grew 13 percent, but the number of prescriptions filled for controlled drugs (those with abuse risks such as morphine) increased by 154 percent. As you look forward to your family returning home for the holidays or pack an overnight bag for a visit to out of state family, it is important to be aware that the medications you are taking can be dangerous to your children and grandchildren – precautions need to be taken.

According to the partnership for a Drug-Free America, nearly 1 in 5 teens report abusing prescription medications to get high. Over 40 percent of teens think that abusing prescription medications is safe or safer than illegal drugs. “Pharming” parties are becoming more prevalent – teens go through their medicine cabinets and bring handfuls of prescription drugs to the parties that are then dumped into a large bowl from which partygoers randomly select pills to take for the purpose of getting high.

According to Sgt. Francis, in 2004 misuse of pharmaceuticals was the second leading cause of unintentional injury deaths. In recent years, drug-related poisoning deaths have increased 68 percent. According to the Vermont Department of Health, over 20 percent of 11th and 12th graders have used prescription drugs without prescriptions.

Painkillers (OxyContin, Hydrocodone, Vicodin, Percocet), stimulants like Ritalin, muscle relaxants, and cough medicine are just some of the hidden dangers in your home. According to Sgt. Francis, 56 percent of people abusing painkillers get their drugs from friends and families, often without their knowledge.

The latest thing, according to Sgt. Francis, is “Roboing,” in which teens are taking an excessive amount of cough medicine containing DXM. Abuse of DXM can cause an out-of-body experience, distortions in color and sound, nausea, vomiting, panic attacks, seizures, psychosis, coma and possible death. Also beware that many children are abusing inhalants, sniffing cleaning supplies, art supplies and solvents to get a high. Inhalant abuse can cause permanent damage to the nerves, lungs, liver and brain. Death can result from one single session of inhalant abuse by a healthy individual.

So make sure this holiday season is a safe one. Keep your medications in their original containers, keep medications out of sight, count your pills frequently so you will know if any are missing, and clean out your medicine cabinet often. If medications have expired or are no longer needed, dispose of them.

Prescription medications are serious and they are designed to help people live better lives, but when mis-used to get quick highs, these medications can be lethal.

How to Avoid Caregiver Burnout

By Sarah Lemnah

Caregiving is a rewarding role but it is easy to lose sight of yourself and push yourself to the point of no return. As the ranks of seniors swell, so do the stressed out family members who have a reached a state of burn-out that is hard to recover from.

According to Rachel Lee Cummings, owner of Armistead Caregiver Services, by the time most families reach out for her services, they “are in crisis.”

Many family caregivers are the spouses or adult children of seniors in need. People are juggling caregiving with families, jobs and a multitude of other responsibilities. Often, caregiving becomes a 24/7 job with little rest, and falls on one member of a family.

Caregivers are so focused on the care receiver that they often neglect their own health and well being. Separating their roles as a caregiver or as a spouse or child can be difficult. Many caregivers place unreasonable demands on themselves and become frustrated that their hard work and dedication is not changing the decline in their loved one. The lack of sleep and constant worry and stress can lead caregivers down a dark road.

Caregiver burnout is serious; you cannot provide care for someone without taking care of yourself. As Cummings notes, “it is like what they say on the airplane – place the oxygen mask on you before helping others.”

Families and friends should be aware of the signs of burnout, which include withdrawal from loved ones, loss of interest in activities, feeling hopeless, changes in appetite, changes in sleep, getting sick more often, irritability, emotional and physical exhaustion and feelings of wanting to hurt themselves or those that they are caring for.

Many caregivers feel guilty if they spend time on themselves rather than on their loved one but they need to do just that or they will be of no use to the care receiver.

Caregivers need to ask for help. Ask family members to share caregiving responsibilities, or have them help pay for professional caregivers to give some respite. Caregivers should make sure they eat well, exercise, get plenty of sleep and make sure they do something that they love. Even a few minutes a day of meditation and quiet can help caregivers re-fuel to face another day. It is not a question of right or wrong, but finding a path that will allow both the caregiver and their loved one to have the best quality of life possible, in which good moments are treasured and the bad ones are dealt with.

It is ok to have negative feelings, to be angry. Find people in your life that you can talk to – family and friends or a professional counselor. It is ok to ask for help. It is understandable if the responsibility becomes too much for the caregiver to handle alone. Look into adult day programs and tap into your community for support and help. Support groups are available to caregivers. For more information on caregiver support groups or for assistance , call the Senior HelpLine at 1-800-642-5119.