Therapeutic activities are essential for geriatric patients in hospitals, nursing homes and assisted living facilities to help those people maintain a sense of self worth and dignity. Recreational therapists often work with physical and...
Exercise is beneficial for everyone, but it is especially valuable for older adults. The American Academy of Family Physicians lists numerous reasons that geriatric patients should exercise, which include improved blood pressure, heart rate,...
A 2004 report by the American Geriatric Society indicated that there is no FDA-approved drug for increasing appetite in the elderly. American Family Physician reports, "Elderly patients with unintentional weight loss are at higher risk for...
Gross motor activities use the large muscle groups. Fine motor activity, by contrast, involves actions such as writing and using eating utensils. Doing gross motor activities promotes general health and helps elderly people retain the function of...
Group exercise is an effective way to engage geriatric patients in your activities. Because of the motivation that patient peers can provide, otherwise noncompliant patients are more likely to push themselves. This in turn provides a sense of...
Geriatric rehabilitation includes exercise because it slows down the aging process and reduces the symptoms of chronic diseases. According to Janie Clark, the founder and president of the American Senior Fitness Association, exercises for older...
One of the most important things loved ones and people who take care of Alzheimer's patients can do is find ways to keep them active. Engaging a person with dementia and keeping him focused may be difficult, but giving him a chance to teach or...
Staying flexible is essential for the physical activities of daily life, but according to the American College of Sports Medicine, flexibility typically decreases as you age. You may choose to incorporate stretches into your fitness routine, or...
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services refers to activities of daily living, or ADLs, as the basic tasks of everyday life required for self-care and independent living. These tasks include bathing, toileting, dressing, eating and...
Teens have a lot to deal with, from puberty to peer pressure to enormous expectations from their parents. Getting regular exercise may be the last thing they want to think about. However, regular physical activity provides teens with a whole host...
You might be called elderly if you are older than 60, by some definitions, and your physical abilities might start limiting your freedom to go where you want to go when you want to go there. For instance, according to a 2011 report by...
While many arthritis patients are afraid that exercise will harm their joints even more, regular exercise can actually help people with rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis have a better quality of life. Exercise is an essential part of...
The body's balance system is composed of an intricate labyrinth of nerves, fluids and canals. Balance specialists at the Brain and Spine Institute explain that the inner ears, the eyes and the position and movement detectors in our joints and...
Geriatric somatic depression is a condition in which depression adds to symptoms that are already present in any illness. For example, if an individual with arthritis becomes depressed, the aches and pains from the arthritis may become worse. This...
Extending your health into the golden years is a goal you should strive for. Being passive about fitness and wellness can bring on illnesses such as high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease or stroke that will interfere with your quality of...
Sciatica can make it hard to sit, stand or walk. Symptoms of sciatica include sharp pains running down the back of the leg that starts at the buttocks. The sciatic nerve branches off from the lumbar and sacral spine and runs through the pelvis and...
As you age, you may find yourself and your peers slowing down, but this does not necessarily need to happen. Many of your peers, each possessing different ability levels, regularly participate in physical activities ranging from tennis to golf to...
According to researchers at the Franklin Institute, new brain cells and connections linking them can form at any age in response to learning new skills. Seniors can strengthen their brains by doing simple brain exercises regularly. Dr. Peter J....
Exercise is important for all ages and fitness levels, including the elderly wheelchair-bound population. Geriatric exercises for patients in wheelchairs can help increase flexibility and joint lubrication, strengthen muscles, and stabilize the...
If you have ever trained for a marathon, triathlon or other type of endurance event, you might have noticed your blood pressure was lower during training. In fact, the blood-pressure-lowering effects of aerobic exercise have been well-documented....
If you are over 50 years old, you are considered an older adult by the USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University. Although you require less energy in the form of calories, you may need more of certain key nutrients to stay...
Daily exercise benefits you at any age. There's no reason to slow down after age 50, and many health reasons to exercise more. Age needn't limit your choice of exercise, but some conditions exacerbated by aging -- joint problems, for instance --...
Alterations in biological rhythms affect 25 percent of Alzheimer's patients, according to a review by Dawit A. Weldemichael and George T. Grossberg in the September 2, 2010 edition of "International Journal of Alzheimer's Disease." Degradations in...
