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Posted by Hinkle | Posted on 27-01-2012

Category : Community, Meals-On-Wheels Staff

Tags: ,

Welcome to our community blog, “We are Meals on Wheels”. The saying “it takes a village to raise a child”, represents the caring and commitment of the many people it really takes to ensure that a child grows into a healthy, independent adult.

At Meals-on-Wheels Greater San Diego, our “Community” of caring individuals , has a similar task, albeit at the other end of the age spectrum. We support the independence and well-being of our senior friends, family and neighbors. And, indeed it takes a community effort. Our volunteer staff exceeds over 2,220 individuals.

This blog will be driven by some of the many who devote themselves to this cause. It is our hope that this medium becomes a way to share and allow others to see that Meals-on-Wheels is about relationships, just as much, if not more, than meals. This venue will also allow others to contribute knowledge about what they feel is important related to senior health, nutrition, or just plain relationship building and giving back. Our Community bloggers consist of meal deliverers, high school and college interns, staff, office and event volunteers. Even our nutrition interns and many premier San Diego executive chefs will contribute to this blog. All of these individuals, and many more, share of themselves and allow us to carry out the day-to-day functions of our operation. They are our life-blood and we literally could not do what we do without them.

Each and every individual who is part of this organization and this blog has their own story, their own reasons for the connection they feel. Their stories will inspire you.  It is my deepest pleasure to introduce some of them to you here.

I am also happy to share that we will have guest writers, some of whom are our senior clients! It is our hope that you too will experience some of their vibrancy that helps them live to ages of 70, 80, and even 90 years and older. *Yes, we have several clients over the age of 100, including one of our bloggers!

We hope you enjoy the connection we all feel, because WE truly are . . . Meals-on-Wheels . . . . so no senior goes hungry.

In Humble Appreciation,

Luanne

A Party to Remember

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Posted by Stein | Posted on 25-01-2012

Category : Just For Fun, Senior Spotlight

Tags:

I grew up in the Soviet Union, Republic of Ukraine and was trained from a very early age to become a ballerina and a student of the arts.  I was just 19 and getting ready to appear in the starring role of Giselle. The day I showed up for my first rehearsal was the day that the first bombs started to drop in Kiev and I had to flee with just the clothes on my back.

I was very fortunate to live through many challenging experiences for many years after this memorable day. I was often very, very hungry . . .  my whole focus was often upon finding food for the day.

Years later I was fortunate enough to be able to immigrate to America through the kind act of a church in Kansas (more on all that later)!  I remember being puzzled by some of the customs.  I was anxious to be polite and humble and wanted to fit in. One day I was invited to a very strange party.  I was told when to arrive, all the time thinking…what unusual customs they have here for parties!  Never-the-less, I was determined to be a good sport and friend and fit in. I arrived promptly and was greeted at the door by my hostess. There I stood in my robe and shower cap, soap in hand.  How we all got a big chuckle after they explained that a “shower” was an American term for a  party for a young woman about to be married or have a baby.  Even today, in my 90’s, I still laugh to myself in remembering this story and the natural misunderstanding.  It’s a message I try to live by today . . .  smile and laugh at yourself and with others when you can….you will be certain to live a happier, and longer life!

Valentina


Happy People Live Longer

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Posted by Ladd | Posted on 25-01-2012

Category : Health, News and Information

Tags:

Most likely something many of us already knew, but now a study confirms it; Epidemiologists at University College, London, reported that people with high positive affect still had a lower mortality rate than those who were less happy. So, officially, happiness is good for your health.  Enjoy the findings in this article By Eryn Brown posted in the Los Angeles Times!

Happy Ever After,

Karah

 


Note: Karah Ladd is a Community Outreach Representative working for Meals-on-Wheels Greater San Diego.

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Original Article written By Eryn Brown

Epidemiologists at University College, London, reported their results Monday in the journal Proceedings of the National Academies of Science.

Andrew Steptoe and Jane Wardle examined data collected in a single day by the English Longitudinal Study of Aging, a large survey in England. A subset of 3,853 people, ages 52 to 79, were asked to record the extent to which they felt happy, excited, content, worried, anxious and fearful on a 1 to 4 scale at four times during the day: upon waking, 30 minutes after waking, at 7 p.m. and again upon going to bed.

Their measurements of happiness, excitement and contentment combined to create a score for positive affect, or good mood. Worry, anxiety and fear ratings were combined to measure negative affect, or bad mood.

Once the researchers had their positive and negative affect scores, they divided the study subjects into three groups based on their positive affect ratings — high, medium and low — and followed up with the members of each group five years later to see who had died.

In the high group, 3.6% of subjects had died; in the medium group, 4.6%; and in the low group, 7.3%.

When the researchers controlled for socioeconomic factors, initial health, depression and other health indicators, the people with high positive affect still had a lower mortality rate than those who were less happy. The trend also persisted when the team removed data from subjects who died in the first six months after the survey. The authors wrote that this indicated that “effects are unlikely to be caused by seriously ill people experiencing low PA before death.”

Negative affect did not have the same significant effect on death rates, they wrote.

It’s not news that happy people are healthier — the PNAS study cited a number of studies that have already suggested as much. What made this study different, Steptoe and Wardle wrote, was that the subjects were reporting their moods in real time, and not recollecting them later on.

These ratings “provide more accurate indications of affective state,” they wrote. “The present findings provide further reason to target the positive well-being of older people.”

This article was selected on 12/14/11 by MOW staff from The Los Angeles Times online publication

October 31, 2011|By Eryn Brown, Los Angeles Times / for the Booster Shots blog

The original article may be found at:

http://articles.latimes.com/2011/oct/31/news/la-heb-happy-people-health-death-20111031

Age No Barrier to “Senior” Athletes

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Posted by Love | Posted on 25-01-2012

Category : Health

Tags: ,

Wynne Love – Guest writer for Meals-on-Wheels contributed this original article featuring one of our very own, Martha Walker (pictured).

Wynne


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Many of us think advancing of years may be the time when we begin to take it “easy” and take stock of our lives. Perhaps we work a little less, spend more time with the family, and slow down a bit. Especially when it comes to our physical activity; many of us switch from snowboarding to sipping cocoa in the lodge, from surfing to swimming, running to walking.

Not for some. Pam Medford, 57, seems headed in the opposite direction. A San Diego resident and recreational runner since her 20′s, she now competes regularly in events in and outside San Diego. Her first events were 5Ks and then she progressed to 10Ks, followed by marathons. “Exercise opens the path for so many other things,” Pam comments. “It gives you such an empowering feeling.” Now, Medford participates in 2-3 events a month and has completed an astounding 250 marathons and 40 triathlons!

And she is not alone. Greater participation of older athletes has been growing in many competitive events since the 90′s. The greatest growth for triathlon participants has been in the middle-aged sector, according to the USA Triathlon data.1 The highest age division for marathon runners used to be 60+; now it is often 90+, according to a recent issue of Running Times.2

More and more active seniors are joining the ranks of the “older” athlete, including one notable example at Meals-on-Wheels Greater San Diego, Inc.. At age 75, it’s hard to believe Site Coordinator Martha Walker has the any energy left for her athletic pursuits after a long day at work. “I love Meals-on-Wheels,” says Walker. “I’d rather do this than go on vacation!” She is effusive about her work, her commitment of over 15 years and the people in the organization. However, it’s clear her energy and passion does not stop with her work, as Martha makes time for running nearly every day.

And this routine has been a part of Martha’s life for many years now. However, she wasn’t always a runner and was in her fifties when she began her sport. Seeing an ad for a run across the Coronado bridge inspired the journey. Now, some years later, if there’s a day when she can’t make time for a run, she misses it. “I’ve run for so many years, it’s sort of second nature,” says Walker.

Always setting new goals, Martha completes in the (Lake) Tahoe Trifecta, an event in which participants run three half marathons over three consecutive days. Additionally, Martha intends to compete in two of the nine Dirt Dog races, a collection of running events held across San Diego. She is even toying with the idea of running another marathon in honor of her upcoming birthday!

The satisfaction many athletes receive at the completion of a race also seems to be a key factor in their overall motivation. Both Medford and Walker enjoy the sense of accomplishment they get with each completed race and how exercise relieves stress. Medford explained that her time spent running gives her an inner peace that lets her feel she can go on with her day. She believes everyone should have that peace, whether they get it through weight-lifting, dancing, swimming, tennis, or just a nice walk. Medford’s advice to others hoping to start a regimen: find something you really enjoy and stick with it.

And eventually, perhaps, you’ll be competing alongside these ladies.

 

 

References:

1. USA Triathlon, “Triathlon Participation, Growth Trends and Demographics.” June 2011 http://www.usatriathlon.org/about-usat/demographics

2. Chalufour, Marc. “How Demographics Are Affecting the Racing Scene.” http://runningtimes.com/Print.aspx?articleID=20969, as featured in the October 2010 issue of Running Times Magazine

 

 

Why Should We Listen to Old People? A Very Good Question

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Posted by Bretzke | Posted on 25-01-2012

Category : Community, Opinions and Editorials

Tags: ,

Why should I spend time listening to old people’s advice about how to live my life? My personal philosophy is listen to everyone you can and get as much wisdom as you can gather from everyone. Let me offer three reasons why the wisdom of older Americans can be a uniquely important source of guidance for the not-yet-old. This Huffington Post article sites three great wise ways.

Enjoy,

Joe

 

 

 

Note: Joe is a Social Media Intern with Meals-on-Wheels, soon to pursue his MBA .

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Huffington Post – Why Should We Listen to Old People? A Very Good Question Article by Karl A. Pillemer posted 1/16/2012 08:24 AM ET

I have received many comments in response to the publication of my book about the advice older people have for younger generations. Praise is always welcome, but I equally appreciate people who have challenged my way of thinking. One of these is Peter, from Massachusetts.

In response to a PBS Newshour segment, Peter wrote that the book “makes the assumption that the young have more to learn from the old than the other way around.” He went on, “How does Mr. Pillemer know that the elderly ‘are the truest experts on living well through hard times?’ ”

I agree that this is an interesting and valid question that got me to thinking. I’ll offer my answer here — and I’d like to hear what readers have to say.

America is ambivalent about the wisdom of older people, if popular culture is any guide. On the one hand, we are provided with buffoonish images of the old, such as Grandpa Simpson (famous quote: “I always get the blame around here! Who threw a cane at the TV? Who fell into the china hutch? Who got their dentures stuck in the toilet?”), or Frank Costanza, George’s churlish father on Seinfeld (famous quote: “Hoochie Mama!”).

Stacked on the other side of the scale are the “sages”: characters ranging from Yoda, to Dumbledore, to Morgan Freeman who in role after role plays the wise elder for those around him. Despite some negative images, younger Americans seem at least open to the idea of older people as potential repositories of wisdom.

Still young people are right to ask: Why should I spend time listening to old people’s advice about how to live my life? Let me offer three reasons why the wisdom of older Americans can be a uniquely important source of guidance for the not-yet-old.

1. Listening to the advice of older people has promoted well-being and even survival for millennia.

Over the 1.5 million years of human existence, it is only for about the past 200 years that most people have gone to anyone other than local elders for solutions to life’s problems. Anthropologists tell us that in prehistoric times, the accumulated wisdom of older people was a key to human survival. Not only did the old (and especially grandmothers) improve the survival chances of their grandchildren by caring for them and finding them food; they also were the source of tried and tested experience, the true “elders” to whom group members would go in time of crisis.

Later on in agricultural societies, the family elder was often the only one who knew how his clan’s property should be farmed or how to handle drought or pest infestation. Without that elder’s knowledge, starvation could ensue. So consulting older people is really a “natural” thing for humans to do.

2. America’s elders are a unique and extraordinary generation.

People in their seventies and beyond have lived through experiences many of us in the United States today can only imagine. Their lives have often included what the psychologist Juan Pascual-Leone has termed “ultimate limit situations.” As he eloquently puts it, these are situations that “cannot be undone and are nonetheless faced with consciousness and resolve.” Situations like illness, aging, failure, oppression, loss, crushing poverty, and risking death in war.

It is precisely these situations that lead to wisdom. America’s elders have this kind of wisdom more than the rest of us because on average they have been through many more ultimate limit situations. This unique perspective is a valuable lens through which younger people can view their own lives.

And their advice seems especially relevant now. In our economic downturn, why wouldn’t we consult people who held their families together in the much-worse Great Depression? As our country is engaged in war abroad, couldn’t we learn how to cope from our World War II and Korean War veterans and their spouses?

3. The elders offer an alternative to conventional wisdom.

There’s a paradox here: this point is simultaneously why we should seek out elder wisdom and also why younger people may not pay attention. From our surveys of 1,200 elders about their lessons for living, we found that their perspectives often shake up conventional wisdom.

Conventional wisdom is what the members of a society learn while they are growing up. Conventional wisdom offers up images of the good life and reinforces the values of the culture. It ultimately becomes the basis of our identity and self-esteem. And it’s very hard to see beyond conventional wisdom, even if it makes us live smaller and less happy lives.

I found that the elders often rejected what has become conventional wisdom in America and point to an alternative. This alternative wisdom defies a single categorization; sometimes it’s what we think of as “liberal” (the elders endorse religious tolerance, for example, and they reject materialistic worldviews) and sometimes “conservative” (such as proposing that marriage should be seen as a lifelong commitment).

But it is in the challenge to the conventional worldview that the true value of their wisdom lies. The elders make us examine our assumptions and make more conscious decisions about our own scripts for happiness.

In the end, I come down on the side that the accumulated wisdom of older people — our “experts” on living — can serve as a helpful guide for younger people. They bring experiential knowledge of just about every problem a human being can go through. People from their teens to middle age will find that the roadmap for life elders provide can help them take a new look at their own situations and to choose new ways of living that will make them happier.

We just have to be willing to ask and listen.

This article was selected on 1/17/12 by MOW staff from The Huffington Post online publication

The original article may be found at:

Posted: 1/16/12 08:24 AM ET

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/karl-a-pillemer-phd/why-should-we-listen-to-old-people_b_1207996.html?ref=fb&src=sp&comm_ref=false

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