Hepburn house in Old Saybrook fares better in Sandy than hurricane of 1938

Katharine Hepburn was so used to flooding at her seaside estate in Fenwick that the two refrigerators in her kitchen were on 16-inch tile platforms.

Katharine Hepburn’s former home in Fenwick wasn’t flooded during Sandy. Courant File Photo/Richard Messina

But the flooding that devastated much of Connecticut’s shoreline in the wake of Sandy didn’t touch Hepburn’s renovated mansion, on the market since last year, in the borough of Old Saybrook.
“It was on the yard, absolutely,” said Colette Harron, of William Pitt Sotheby’s International Realty in Essex, who has the listing. “But it didn’t come into the house.” Read More.

Fall-prevention strategies boomers can fall in love with

 

(BPT) - You're only as old as you feel, which is great news for today's baby boomers, as 61 percent report they feel younger than their true age. But despite feeling great, the reality is that adults may need to make minor changes to their homes and lifestyles to ensure they can continue to enjoy safe, healthy and independent lives.

If you are part of this demographic, you're likely thinking, 'Not me. Not yet.' But did you know that one in three older Americans falls every year, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention? Falls are the leading cause of both fatal and nonfatal injuries for people aged 65 and older.-
Don't worry - protecting yourself from falls does not mean using a walker or wearing an alert siren. Try these simple tips to protect yourself from becoming a fall statistic, while improving your home and lifestyle.
Get moving
 It's no wonder that 50-years-plus is the fastest growing segment of the fitness population. In addition to maintaining a healthy weight, regular exercise improves your leg strength and balance - both of which arimportant in reducing falls. Experts at the National Institute of Health recommend that seniors enjoy a combination of four types of exercises: endurance, such as walking, cycling or swimming; flexibility, which includes stretching before and after endurance workouts; balance, such as walking on a line or stepping over small objects, and strength, which is using resistance or weights to target core muscles.
Prepare your home
According to the Home Safety Council, more falls occur in the bathroom than any other room in the home. But don't fear, adding safety to your bathroom can add exquisite styling as well.
Grab bars are the most common bath safety product installed, and brands such as Moen Home Care offer stylish Designer Grab Bars with Accessories, which combine the safety benefits of a grab bar with common bath essentials. Options include a towel bar, a paper holder, a straight shelf and a corner shelf, making each item functional and fashionable. Plus, each is available in popular finishes such as Chrome, Brushed Nickel and Old World Bronze, to coordinate with the rest of your bath.
Next, add style and peace of mind in the shower by adding a Fold-Down Shower Seat. Unlike traditional bath seats that can be intrusive, this wall-mount design from Moen Home Care folds down for a comfortable and secure shower seat to avoid slips and falls - yet folds up for a thin, compact profile when not in use. Plus, the teak wood and stylish metal trim will accentuate the look of even the most upscale shower. For more information about Moen Home Care products, visit www.moen.com/homecare.
For the final step to your safety-upgraded bathroom, increase the amount of lighting. Researchers have found that by the time a person is 60 years old, he or she needs up to 15 times more light than when that person was 10 years old. Add higher-wattage bulbs or even additional lamps to the room for improved illumination.
Assess your medications
Since boomers buy 77 percent of all prescription drugs sold, chances are that you take more than one medication daily. However, these remedies may have been prescribed by different doctors - and could unknowingly cause side effects such as dizziness or drowsiness, which can increase the risk of falls. Speak with your physician to ensure that your medications will not interact with other drugs. Programmed pill boxes are also a great idea to keep your prescriptions organized and help you remember what to take and when.
Eat right
You are what you eat ... which is why a healthy diet is very important to older adults. In fact, healthy eating can reduce the risk for many conditions, including anemia, confusion, hip fractures, hypotension and wounds. Experts note that older adults generally require fewer calories in their diet than other age groups - but need more nutrition.
Especially important to reduce falls is to increase foods that are high in calcium and vitamin D, such as milk and dairy, which help keep bones strong. Maintaining a healthy weight through proper eating is also essential, as added weight can cause instability, leading to falls.
With these few simple updates to your home and lifestyle, you'll soon feel better about yourself and your home - and can enjoy the peace of mind knowing that you're doing the best to reduce the risk of becoming a fall statistic.

When Parents Move in With Kids

You hear a lot about parents taking in adult children who are out of work. What's much less noticed is the opposite trend — adult children taking in parents who find it hard to make it on their own.

Their numbers are rising dramatically. In 2008, 4.05 million parents were living with an adult child. By the end of 2011, the number had risen to 4.6 million — a 13.7 percent increase. (I was one of those adult children: My late mother-in-law lived with us for nine years.)

Most parents give up their own households reluctantly — usually because of frailty or loneliness after the loss of a spouse. Increasingly, however, older people are going broke. They might have lost a job in their late 50s or early 60s and run through their savings. And their children are their safety net.

Still, "it's not a decision to make quickly or in crisis," says Gregory French, president of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys. "Having good visits with your children doesn't necessarily promise a good co-living arrangement."

If you're thinking of moving in with one of your children, for whatever reason, what are the rules of the road? Three issues are paramount: financial arrangements, duties and privacy.

You will probably want to contribute something toward family expenses, so discuss what's best. If you n
Everything should be talked through and written down, to avoid misunderstandings, French says. Your child might be embarrassed to ask for a written agreement, so bring up the subject yourself. Read More.

Even in the Autumn the San Francisco Giants Are Partial to Senior Citizens Who Shag Fouls

SAN FRANCISCO—The San Francisco Giants have fielded their top talent for the Major League Baseball playoffs this week, but even some of their most elite have made errors.
There was, for example, veteran George Zarzana's blooper in Sunday's opener in the National League Championship Series. Mr. Zarzana suited up for the game against the St. Louis Cardinals, jogged confidently onto the field and settled into his position.

While most baseball clubs use ballboys or ballgirls to shag foul balls, the San Francisco Giants use balldudes and balldudettes, whose average age is over 50. WSJ's Jim Carlton reports from AT&T Park in San Francisco.

Then he promptly fell off the stool.
Mr. Zarzana's position was next to the dugout behind first base, and he would be called a ball boy if he were a little younger. At age 72, he last played baseball when Jimmy Carter was president, and that makes him a balldude in Giants parlance.
He is in good company in this club. Most Major League teams field the familiar teenage ball boys and ball girls to shag fouls outside the outfield foul lines. The Giants are partial to a cadre of foul-chasers mostly over the age of 60. Read More.

Tips for hiring an in-home caregiver

Editor’s note: This article gives some good insights and tips with regard to hiring a senior caregiver. It includes an excellent checklist that you can follow when you are looking for such a caregiver. A very basic rule that should always be followed is never to hire unlicensed caregivers. It’s one thing to have a family remember or close friend helping with your care, but when you start bringing unlicensed, and usually unsupervised, strangers into your home, you take on great risk to your well-being. Don’t let the temptation of seemingly lower hourly and day rates cloud your good sense. The adage that you get what you pay for applies here very well.  TG

SAN DIEGO, September 17, 2012 – Choosing a caregiver for an aging family member may be one of the most critically important decisions you ever make. Many times family members will choose to hire an outside person to be a caregiver.  This is often a need born of necessity, when a senior requires around-the-clock care or develops memory loss.
We all want someone compassionate, patient, and loving. The kind of person who can help your loved ones maintain their independence, making it possible for them to continue to live in their own homes long after mental or physical frailties have begun to take a toll. We must also trust this individual will not take advantage of the circumstances by stealing, through neglect, or worst of all by committing elder abuse.
A report released in April 2011 by the California State Senate Office of Oversight and Outcomes in April shows how seniors can be put at risk when hiring caregivers through private ads.
Investigators contacted individuals who posted ads on Craigslist for in-home care providers. According to the report, five individuals offering services had extensive criminal records including convictions for drug trafficking, major theft, burglary and prostitution. The report also found that 27 percent of caregivers in 64 recent criminal cases involving seniors had previous convictions on their criminal record. Read More.

Medicare for senior citizens can be daunting task: Tips and tricks on how to use health system best

The fall is the time to reflect on the new year ahead - and to make critical decisions that will affect your health and your pocketbook.
For seniors aged 65 and above, Medicare's annual open enrollment period is around the corner. If you are enrolled in Medicare, this is your chance to make unrestricted changes to your coverage options.
Do you want to stick with Original Medicare? Would you prefer to switch to a private Medicare Advantage Plan? If so, which one should you choose? Would your needs be better served by dropping your current drug plan and switching to another? Read More.

Expect small '13 Social Security benefit increase

WASHINGTON — Social Security recipients shouldn't expect a big increase in monthly benefits come January.
Preliminary figures show the annual benefit boost will be between 1 percent and 2 percent, which would be among the lowest since automatic adjustments were adopted in 1975. Monthly benefits for retired workers now average $1,237, meaning the typical retiree can expect a raise of between $12 and $24 a month.
The size of the increase will be made official Tuesday, when the government releases inflation figures for September. The announcement is unlikely to please a big group of voters — 56 million people get benefits — just three weeks before elections for president and Congress.
The cost-of-living adjustment, or COLA, is tied to a government measure of inflation adopted by Congress in the 1970s. It shows that consumer prices have gone up by less than 2 percent in the past year.
"Basically, for the past 12 months, prices did not go up as rapidly as they did the year before," said Polina Vlasenko, an economist at the American Institute for Economic Research, based in Great Barrington, Mass.
This year, Social Security recipients received a 3.6 percent increase in benefits after getting no increase the previous two years.
Some of next year's raise could be wiped out by higher Medicare premiums, which are deducted from Social Security payments. The Medicare Part B premium, which covers doctor visits, is expected to rise by about $7 per month for 2013, according to government projections. Read More.

Why does hydrogen peroxide foam when you put it on a cut?

Hydrogen peroxide does not foam in the bottle or on your skin because there is no catalase to help the reaction to occur.

Hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) is something you can buy at the drug store. What you are buying is a 3-percent solution, meaning the bottle contains 97-percent water and 3-percent hydrogen peroxide. Most people use it as an antiseptic. It turns out that it is not very good as an antiseptic, but it is not bad for washing cuts and scrapes and the foaming looks cool.
The reason why it foams is because blood and cells contain an enzyme called catalase. Since a cut or scrape contains both blood and damaged cells, there is lots of catalase floating around. Read More.

Home security updates for aging-in-place remodeling

 (ARA) - It's hard to think about getting older, but it's even harder to think about having to move out of the comfort of a beloved home when advanced age makes it difficult to get around your space easily and safely. But with today's technologies, it's easier to update your home in ways that make it possible for you or a loved one to age in place gracefully, without being forced to make major changes in the home's structure or decor.

Aging-in-place remodeling - adapting a home to live in it safely, comfortably and independently regardless of age or accessibility level - is becoming more prevalent as the population matures, and seniors overwhelmingly prefer to stay in their own homes as they grow older. Indeed, we are at the dawn of a new day: The number of adults age 65 and older is expected to nearly double over the next 20 years, and more than a third of American households already include one or more residents over the age of 60, according to AARP and the U.S. Census Bureau.
In addition, many in the 76-million member baby boomer generation are not only thinking ahead for their own future housing needs, but more than 60 percent are providing some kind of support for their parents. This can be especially challenging, given the current housing market and the fact that many seniors are either living on fixed incomes or delaying retirement to make ends meet.
The good news is that there are many easy-to-install, personalized products that can be incorporated into a very subtle remodel that fits the way people want to live now as well as later in life. Today's tech-savvy seniors are increasingly embracing new technologies, enabling greater independence.
Here are some tips for incorporating technology updates into an aging-in-place remodel:
Install easy-access locks
Doorknobs and house keys can be difficult to grasp and turn for people with arthritis or limited dexterity, so install door locks that provide easier access. For example, Schlage offers electronic keypad lever and deadbolt locks that deliver an easier, secure and flexible solution. To enter the house, simply enter a unique four-digit access code on the touch keypad, then press down the lever to open the door.
For added convenience, the keypad locks have backlit keypads, making them easy to see in the dark. They come in attractive styles and finishes, blend beautifully with a variety of design motifs, and can be installed easily with just a screwdriver.
Increase home security
Another easy upgrade to consider is an alarmed lock, a cost-effective way to detect activity at the door. An alarmed lock will sound an alert if someone starts to exit the home unattended. This can be a great help to those who not only need to look after their parents, but their grandchildren, too. Alarmed locks can also sound alerts for a variety of activities at the door, to increase overall home security. For example, the alarmed lock from Schlage will sound three distinct alarms to alert to various activities:
1. When a door is accessed, such as someone leaving the house
2. If someone is tampering with the lock
3. If someone is kicking or putting undue pressure on the door in an attempt to break-in
The easy-to-install alarmed lock is battery-operated, requires no wiring, and can be retrofitted to fit an existing door.
Monitor for safety using technology 
One of the challenges being alone at home is the possibility that something will happen without anyone knowing or being able to help. For added peace of mind, a Nexia(TM) Home Intelligence system makes it easy for someone such as a relative or caregiver to check in or monitor home functions from anywhere, using a smartphone or Web-enabled computer.
Nexia System users can lock and unlock doors; create temporary or scheduled entry codes for someone needing limited access, such as a care attendant or visiting nurse; adjust heating and cooling with a Trane thermostat; turn lights on and off at different times; open or close window shades for privacy; and view any activity around the home via indoor and outdoor cameras. They can even receive a text alert when a window/door sensor or motion detector identifies a situation at home that needs attention. Visit www.nexiahome.com or more information.