September is Healthy Aging Month, and Preferred Care at Home spends it where we spend every month: in the kitchens and living rooms of elderly people who want to stay home. The habits that help someone stay healthy there are ordinary ones, tied to a real place and a routine a person will keep.
These healthy aging tips for seniors each come with a Central Kentucky program behind them. They work for a parent in Lexington or Nicholasville, and for the adult child checking in from out of state.
Train Balance Before You Chase Distance
The CDC's activity guidelines for older adults call for at least 150 minutes of moderate activity each week. By the CDC's math, that's 30 minutes a day, five days a week, and a brisk walk counts.
The guidelines also ask for muscle strengthening on at least two days a week, plus balance practice like walking heel-to-toe or standing up from a chair. That second piece is the one families skip, and it's the one we'd start a hesitant parent on first.
The CDC reports that more than one in four older people falls each year. Falling once doubles the chance of falling again, per the same CDC data.
Balance work can happen at the kitchen counter while the coffee brews: one hand on the counter, one foot lifted, then switch. Chair stands at the dining table build the leg strength that gets a person off the couch and out of the car. It's exercise aimed squarely at the falls families most want to prevent.
Fill the Plate, Then Check the Fridge
Kentucky's Nutrition Program for the Elderly serves one balanced meal a day to people 60 and older, at a senior center table or delivered to the door.
The state notes that some areas keep waiting lists, so call before the need is urgent.
In Fayette County and the counties around it, the door to that program is the Bluegrass Area Agency on Aging and Independent Living, at 1-866-665-7921.
On the plate, aim for variety over rules: fruits and vegetables in more than one color, whole grains, low fat dairy, and lean meats or beans. Foods a parent can open and eat without a struggle are the foods that get eaten.
Our caregivers read the fridge before anything else. Expired milk, a lone sleeve of crackers, or the same frozen dinner lined up in a row tells us more about how someone eats than a phone call does. We'd rather cook one real meal together than leave another reminder on the counter.
Keep Friends on the Calendar
The CDC lists heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, and dementia among the conditions that loneliness and social isolation make more likely. It also names older adults as a group at higher risk of isolation.
A standing Tuesday lunch is a health habit, even if nobody calls it one. So is a weekly card game or a choir rehearsal.
We push for the outing over the screen whenever a parent is able. Video calls help, but they don't get anyone out of the chair.
The Bluegrass Area Agency on Aging counts senior centers among its programs, and one call can find the nearest one. For cold or rainy weeks, our guide to indoor activities around town has ideas that still put people in the same room.
Walk Into Every Doctor Visit With Notes
Less than half of older people who fall tell their doctor, according to the CDC.
That gap is why we recommend a written list for every appointment. Note home blood pressure readings, new dizziness, changes in appetite or sleep, and any fall, even one that "didn't count."
Heart and diabetes checkups go better the same way. The doctor sees a single visit, and the family sees the whole week.
Our caregivers log daily notes in the Transparency Room, our online Family Room portal. An adult child in another state can read the week's notes the night before an appointment and send the office real examples.
A visit sometimes turns into a stay at UK HealthCare's Albert B. Chandler Hospital, Baptist Health Lexington, or CHI Saint Joseph. When it does, our hospital-to-home care covers the trip back and the days after.
Give the Brain Real Work
UK's Sanders-Brown Center on Aging has studied aging and Alzheimer's disease in Kentucky for more than three decades. Its mission includes outreach that promotes healthy brain aging, and it has listed studies such as EXERT, an exercise trial for adults with mild memory problems.
Ask what's enrolling now through the Sanders-Brown contact line at 859-257-1000.
At home, brain work can be a crossword at the breakfast table or a new recipe read off an index card. We favor games played with another person over puzzles done alone, since they cover this tip and the one about friends at once.
Our list of brain-healthy activities for seniors has more ideas for keeping the mind busy.
When Staying Home Needs Another Set of Hands
| Question families ask | How it works with our team |
|---|---|
| How many hours? | One hour up to 24, with no minimum |
| Is there a contract? | No long-term contract |
| How do we start? | A free in-home consultation, about an hour, no obligation |
| How soon can care begin? | Usually within days |
That setup lets a family start small, maybe a few mornings a week, and add hours only if a parent needs them. We'd rather you start with less help than sign up for hours that sit unused.
Every caregiver passes our 7-step screening, including background checks and a skills assessment. We match your loved one by personality and life experience rather than by who's free that day. If a match doesn't work, we find a different caregiver.
One limit to know up front: Medicare typically does not cover non-medical home care like ours. Long-term care insurance often does, depending on the policy, and veterans and surviving spouses may qualify for the VA Aid and Attendance benefit.
Our local owner, Ethan Guerrieri, is the third generation of the family that started our company in 1984. We serve families from Chevy Chase and Hartland out to Versailles and Winchester.
Call our Lexington office at (859) 800-6237, or Get Care Now to book your free consultation.
