It’s springtime and that means “God’s Gym” is open for business!

God’s Gym is the best outdoor fitness center offering adults 55 and older a variety of low-impact to moderate-impact exercises to keep you in shape and give you the opportunity to get some much-needed fresh air and vitamin D-rich sunshine after months of hibernating.

God’s Gym is the place where “bodies are strengthened through gardening. Minds are refreshed through gardening’s therapeutic benefit of connecting with nature. Spirits are renewed through the quiet sanctuary of the garden.”…

For many years I wondered why there was so much hype about the arrival of spring. I grew up in the tropics, where there is one season but four variations on it—stifling hot, very hot, hot, not so hot. Then I left my home to attend college in North America. I arrived at a time the residents called autumn, and before I was able to adapt to that season, along came the one they called winter. By March of the following year, I, too, was hyped, watching, praying, preparing for this season they called spring. For they promised me that in spring nature would get back all her hues…

This is the second blog post in a series about Falls Risk Reduction.  Friends Life Care provides you with a list of important things to watch out for when you leave your home and go walking.
Tips to keep in mind when walking outdoors
1. First and foremost, look after yourself – exercise at least 30 minutes a day most days of the week, eat right, have routine eye and ear examinations and take medications exactly as prescribed.
2. Always wear comfortable, well-fitting walking shoes or boots, with low heels and firm soles.
3. Carry as little as possible. Take advantage …

Falls can be serious at any age, but falls are one of the most common dangers for older adults.  As we age, falls threaten independence and increase risk of multiple health issues.

One of Friends Life Care goals is to assist our members to age in place and remain well, active and engaged.  One way that this can begin with understanding the risk of falls.  The following comes from member data which Friends Life Care collected in 2018.

Falls inside the home by frequency occurred in the bedroom, the living room then the bathroom and steps

Falls outside …

I didn’t pay much attention when I heard that Nelson Mandela  and then George H W Bush were being treated for it, for they were in their 90s and, well, old. But, recently, when Whoopi Goldberg, at age 63, announced that she had just survived a harrowing bout of pneumonia and had almost died, I took note. By any account, Whoopi is not an old person—isn’t 63 the new 43?—and nor were Jim Henson at age 53 and Kim Porter at  age 47 when they died from pneumonia. What happened?

Not knowing about pneumonia could mean not knowing what is happening to you, until it is t…