“These active adults are the largest, wealthiest and fastest-growing segment in the population and they are searching for products, services and programs that are designed specifically for them,” says Lisa Puma, senior director of Marketing of GHA Community Management. Essentially, these individuals are looking for a maintenance-free, activity-filled, and well-managed community where they can begin their transition into retirement.

An option that perfectly complements the lifestyles of these vigorous individuals””while shifting from the common misconceptions surrounding senior housing””are Active Adult Communities, a unique form of housing where individuals move in at the age of 55 or older to enjoy the perks of various amenities. Many communities offer the option of purchasing a home or renting to further accommodate individual financial needs.

As with any other housing option, it is recommended that individuals speak to residents and the management of prospective communities in order to become familiar with their philosophy. It is also important to understand how the management of active adult communities differs from multi-family management.

“Unlike multi-family, active adult communities are unique because they require more complex management to serve the lifestyle of the homeowners,” says Lisa.”The goal is not only to achieve a successful homeowners association, but to build social involvement, exercise, education, stress reduction and a balanced lifestyle.”

GHA Community Management has a specialty division that provides professional management and lifestyle services to meet the needs of active adult communities. This includes services ranging from in-home maintenance to energy and utility management as well as various consulting services, including those for community lifestyle directors and amenity and recreational building design reviews.

Although many do not offer healthcare services, active adult communities are an appealing housing option with their extensive list of amenities and homes that are low maintenance and easily accessible. The communities are typically adjacent to recreational facilities and golf courses, and often include tennis courts and swimming pools among other perks.

With all of these aspects of a community, it is the responsibility of active adult management and key members of the staff to establish a relationship with residents that ensures the different facets of their home suits their needs and overall lifestyle.

Senior Health Watch focuses on what health care service providers are concentrating on-health issues that are specifically important to seniors and their families. Gerontology programs are among the most technologically advanced programs in area hospitals. From Diabetes to Alzheimer’s and from Cardiology to Orthopaedics, the health problems that directly affect a large majority of the senior population are now, more than ever, on the forefront of the medical community’s mind.

Preparing for the upcoming senior boom, while caring for the nation’s elderly, has already proven to be an arduous task. However, health care service providers have answered this challenges by funneling more financial, technical, and manpower resources toward delivering high quality treatment options for seniors.

Featured Health Issue: Orthopaedics
Orthopaedics focuses on the care and treatment of the musculoskeletal system. The musculoskeletal system includes the bones, joints, muscles, ligaments, tendons, nerves, and skin. Physicians specializing in this area of medicine are called orthopaedic surgeons or orthopaedists. Orthopaedists treat diseases and conditions ranging from fractures and dislocations to arthritis and osteoporosis. Many of their areas of specialization are especially important to the continued health and mobility of seniors.

Treatment options for orthopaedic problems include medical treatments, rehabilitation, and surgery. According to the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS), “Typically, as much as 50 percent of the orthopaedist’s practice is devoted to non-surgical or medical management of injuries or disease and 50 percent to surgical management.”

Surgical procedures can be used to correct problems with bones, joints, muscles, and tendons and restore lost function. One of the most common surgical procedures performed by Orthopaedic surgeons is total joint replacement, during which an injured or diseased joint is replaced with a prosthetic device. The most common joint replacement surgeries are hip replacement and knee replacement. “In 2002, more than 557,000 hip or knee replacement surgeries were performed,” notes AAOS’ website.

Hip replacement surgery is most often performed as a result of a current hip fracture, joint pain from a previous injury, or arthritis. The overall goal of hip replacement surgery is to allow patients to perform most of the activities they did prior to surgery without pain. Before deciding to undergo hip replacement surgery, patients should first attempt to treat their condition with the use of a cane or other walking aid, medication, and physical therapy. Patients should also consult with their Orthopaedist regarding other joint rehabilitation options.

Knee replacement surgery can be helpful for individuals who are suffering from stiff, painful knees that prevent them from performing normal daily activities without pain. Knee pain can be a result of arthritis, a previous injury, joint overuse, or a number of other causes. Like candidates for other joint replacement surgery, Knee replacement patients should exhaust all other treatment options-including the use of walking supports, anti-inflammatory drugs, and physical therapy-before seeking surgery. A qualified orthopaedic surgeon can help patients make a final determination as to whether or not surgery is right for them.

Following joint replacement, patients will spend several days recovering in the hospital and will then be sent home or to a rehabilitation facility to continue the initial healing process. After the initial healing period, patients will generally work with a Physical Therapist for outpatient therapy for another one to two months. With the help of Orthopaedists, Physical Therapists can put together a comprehensive exercise routine that will help patients recover from surgery and regain the ability to perform daily activities without pain.

Aging Joints
While muscle and joint problems are often caused by arthritis or injuries, exercise and a healthy lifestyle can help to prevent problems or relieve pain once it exists. Many patients that experience muscle or joint pain erroneously assume that increased movement will increase their pain. Normal soreness after exercising will likely occur, but with continued activity, many patients actually experience a reduction in pain.

The loss of muscle and bone mass is a normal part of the aging process and cannot be prevented. However, exercising and regulating diet can help to slow the process, thereby reducing the risk of age-related joint and muscle injuries. Stretching, walking, swimming, or engaging in another moderate physical activity for just 30 minutes a day will help to keep muscles and bones strong and healthy.

As the field of Orthopaedics continues to grow, patients are benefiting from an increasingly wide range of options to treat muscle and joint problems. Senior patients in particular have seen a dramatic increase in the treatment options available to remedy painful muscle and joint problems resulting from old injuries, recent falls, or arthritis and other chronic conditions. By making more pro-active personal care decisions and seeking proper treatment from medical professionals, seniors can now experience increased mobility and decreased muscle and joint pain and weakness for generations to come.

Article adapted from information available on the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons’ website. Visit www.aaos.org for more information.

Get Out and Get Moving

Did you know that . . .

Lack of exercise and poor diet are the second largest cause of death in the U.S.

Physical activity helps to delay, or even prevent, diseases like cancer, heart disease, osteoporosis, and diabetes.

Seniors can improve their muscle mass, balance, and strength by exercising.

Regular exercise can help seniors retain their mobility and avoid disabilities.

Exercise can improve some diseases and disabilities in older people.

Exercise can help relieve depression.

Adapted From: http://www.nia.nih.gov/health/agepages/exercise.htm.

BONE HEALTH: Spotlight on Arthritis

Arthritis . . .

Can cause pain and loss of movement in joints in any part of the body

Is one of the most common diseases in the U.S.

Affects half of all adults over the age of 65

Causes joint pain and lessened mobility

Can lead to serious disabilities

Is most effectively treated by rest and exercise

Improves when sufferers are taught how to properly use their joints

Adapted From: http://www.nia.nih.gov/health/agepages/arthritis.htm

Let your tailbone point toward the floor and pull your belly button back toward your spine, then lift your kidneys toward your shoulder blades, press your shoulder blades toward each other and scoop them forward to lift your heart. Open your hands out to your sides and press your shoulder blades onto your back as you let your crown float toward the ceiling, and remember to breathe..now, using ujjayi breath, breathe deeply and evenly; full inhalations and complete exhalations.and remember to keep the alignment and your breathing consistent in every pose..

Is this your first yoga class? Feeling just a bit overwhelmed? Even the most seasoned yoga teacher will never forget their first yoga experience. Everyone who does yoga has been there. We watched the other more practiced students with longing. We tried to remember to breathe in the most foreign body positions, and became acutely aware of all those past injuries, physical weaknesses and the discomfort.not to mention the unsettling memory; “I used to be able to do that in high school.” “Yeah.” says your mind, “a thousand years ago!”

We all begin yoga right where we are. My first yoga class was as demoralizing as it could get for me. It felt like every injury and ache I’d ever had came up screaming “Remember me!” I was horrified at what I couldn’t do. Over the screams, or under them, I’m not sure which, I heard a little voice in my head that said “You don’t have to like it, just DO it.” So, reluctantly I made a commitment to myself to do yoga twice a week for a month. I vowed to not think about it, not analyze it and not judge it. After that month, I knew if I ever stopped my yoga practice, I’d be really sorry someday. Now, I can’t even imagine where I’d be without yoga. It changed my life. I certainly never thought I’d ever be a yoga teacher, not in my wildest dreams!

Yoga is a practice, and that’s the keyword, “practice.” It’s an unending unfoldment process. It has been said that when we master the poses is when the true yoga begins. Regardless of our condition when we begin, change is inevitable. As our bodies change, so does our perspective; as we go deeper and deeper into the yoga process, we go deeper and deeper into ourselves. Awareness and acceptance of our own evolution process physically, mentally and spiritually gives us a foundation for maintaining a fresh approach in every yoga practice; the invaluable attitude of “beginner’s mind.”

How would you lovingly treat a child who is overwhelmed, uncomfortable and confused?
Treat your beginner-self with at least as much compassion. Whether a yoga beginner, or a seasoned yogi, if you dedicate each practice to your highest vision of your highest self, and if you can be loving and considerate with yourself regardless of your limitations, you’ll be on a beautiful ever-changing yoga path to your own enlightenment. In every yoga practice, we’re all beginners, experiencing the magic of yoga anew in each pose.
A beginner’s mind is open to possibilities and sensitive to potentialities. A beginner can’t even begin to compete, and yoga is not a competitive sport. A beginner is open to learning from the masters, and mastery of yoga is a never-ending process. A beginner is respectful and humble in the face of challenges; in yoga we are respectful and humble with ourselves. And a beginner celebrates even the smallest successes; in yoga we celebrate the miracle of being.

Maintaining the beginner’s mind allows us to be in the moment, aware of the ever changing, ever new. Everyday we are different, every practice is different. As teachers, we know that every class is different, every student is different everyday and the energy of the class is different every time. If I, as a teacher, get caught up in the expectation that the class will be the same every Tuesday, or that a particular student is limited in a predictable way, I will create a self limiting environment that doesn’t serve my students or my practice as a teacher. It’s just as critical to stay with the beginner’s mind in my personal practice as well, to stay creative, fresh and available to a deeper experience in every practice. An integral part of yoga, as a teacher or as a student, is to remain open to the endless possibilities that are available through a beginner’s mind. We can remain in awe of our flowering yoga practice as it brings us to new levels of awareness, possibility and celebration.

Just as the petals of the lotus blossom unfold deeper and deeper to the heart of the flower, our yoga practice takes us deeper and deeper into our own hearts. What we find in the unfoldment process is who we really are, and that is magnificent! So welcome the opportunities that your practice brings. Welcome and celebrate all the aspects of yourself as a Divine being remembering your true nature. Through the inevitable challenges and discomforts there lies discovery, transcendence and bliss! .And that’s what yoga is really all about.

The Eastern Shore is located between the Chesapeake Bay and the Atlantic Ocean on the Delmarva Peninsula and includes parts of Maryland and Delaware. The vast area encompasses Kent, Queen Anne’s, Talbot, Caroline, Cecil, Dorchester, Wicomico, Somerset, and Worcester counties in Maryland and Kent and Sussex Counties in Delaware.

Attractions include the ever popular Rehoboth Beach and Ocean City and more quaint destinations, such as historic Cambridge in Dorchester county and Crisfield, the “Crab Capital of the World,” in Somerset County. The region is also home to countless small towns filled with historic sites and beautiful views. Urbanites tired of traffic and congestion will enjoy the open spaces, friendly locals, and fresh air. The Shore’s small towns are also filled with social and cultural amenities that provide endless entertainment. For those looking for a complete escape, the area is filled with miles of rural countryside, where farming endures as a way of life.

Because of its waterfront views, bountiful fields, and natural and historic landmarks, the region has always been a popular vacation destination. In the past few years, however, many seniors have decided to extend their vacations permanently by making the move to this rapidly-growing retirement destination.

Life on the Eastern Shore is appealing not only because of the great variety of beautiful landscapes but also because of the many retirement living options and services that are available for seniors in the area. According to Carolyn Stegman and Peggy Bradford in “Senior Surge,” “the state – and particularly the Eastern Shore – is experiencing a surge in population of those over age 60. Maryland projects that by 2030, the 60-plus population will have grown 107.2% . . . For five southernmost counties of the lower shore -Talbot, Dorchester, Wicomico, Worcester, and Somerset – that averages to a growth rate of almost 70%.”

For Retirees, this boost in their numbers makes the Shore even more appealing. They find themselves surrounded by their peers-healthy, active seniors who are ready to enjoy all that the region has to offer. The population surge has also led to a massive growth in the local senior-serving industry; this means that seniors have more choices and better options for a variety of services.

Continuing education programs, large senior centers, and a variety of services for the aging make the Shore a great place to age in place. Aging in place allows seniors to remain independent in their own homes for as long as possible. As seniors age, services are enlisted to help them as they become necessary. Adult Day services, Home Care services, and a variety of governmental and private resources are available to seniors who choose to remain in their homes as they age. Younger seniors can enjoy an active lifestyle with the comfort of knowing that there are services available in their community to meet all their future needs.

In addition to the services offered by local organizations and agencies, there are a variety of retirement communities that offer seniors a full range of amenities and care options. Senior-serving professionals are also available to help with everything from moving and downsizing to administering a care plan. Seniors on the Eastern Shore can rest assured that whatever problem or challenge they may face in the future there will be someone available to help.

Secure in their future, the Eastern Shore’s retirees can spend their time basking in the sun on sandy shores, getting some exercise on one of the region’s 20 golf courses, or taking in the fabulous architecture of some of our country’s oldest towns. The Eastern Shore may be steeped in history, but it is only starting to turn gray, and it is looking better every day.