 | Rev. Bill Shook has been with Prairie Homestead Retirement Center for 27 years. 26 of those years he has acted as the Administrator. He retired in March 2006 but is still involved with the organization in a consultant role. Over the 27 years of service he developed the retirement community into a continuing care facility. As a continuing care facility retirees can come in at any level of independence and live out their lives on the campus. Rev. Shook holds many degrees, has served in numerous advisory positions and is licensed as a Nursing Home Administrator. He helped start and acted as the Administrator of Homestead Health Center nursing facility for a number of years along with being the Administrator of Prairie Homestead. Rev. Shook can be reached at the Prairie Homestead office, 316-263-8264 or by email at abei@websurf.net |
Senior Living
2007-03-01 12:52:00
Traveling with the folks, part 2
The other night my husband and I were talking, and we thought we would like to take his parents on a trip while they are still able to travel. Just wondering your thoughts about what all we should consider as we plan this vacation.
ANSWER: Last month I shared some ideas concerning possible destinations and modes of travel. There are several other items important to consider when traveling with seniors, and I will give some insight into those areas in this issue. Along with seeing new sites and shopping, eating is one of the favorite parts of a vacation. Especially while traveling, seniors need foods that provide healthy energy levels while at the same time adhering to proper nutritional balance. Others not yet seniors can sometimes get by eating unhealthy foods for a week or so without imposing any long-term harm to their bodies. However, your parents' bodies have important nutritional needs even while on vacation. Here are a few guidelines to keep in mind when ordering at restaurants along the way. If you are going to eat Chinese food, request less oil to be used in cooking foods like fried rice or fried noodles. If you are going to order chicken dishes, ask them to remove the skin before cooking or certainly remove it before eating. Even though gravy can be flavorful, a wise choice would be to leave it behind or ask for just a little. This effort alone can help to reduce the saturated fat in that meal by as much as 50%. Another seemingly small thing to do but yet powerful is to use less sugar and creamer in tea and coffee. Also, order smaller portions or, if you have high fat foods such as a Denver omelet, order two of them and share them amongst all four of you. Lower fat items such as soups, plain rice, and vegetables can assist in filling you up without extra fat. How do you find good restaurants within a new area? Ask the local people. Remember, they eat there all the time and can fill you in on good bargains and/or good tastes. The mistake many travelers make is choosing a restaurant after they are already tired and hungry from traveling. It is a real temptation at that point to head to a restaurant chain name that you recognize just because you are so hungry. With a little preplanning each morning, you can find places to experience new culinary tastes that evening. It would be a shame to pass on this adventuresome part of the trip.
When staying at hotels along the leg of your journey, you can also ask the hotel's concierge for dining recommendations. Part of their professional expertise is in not only knowing good places to eat, but also assisting you in reserving a table. If you know exactly where you will be staying, surfing the web is an efficient way to find new restaurants. A buzz word I learned that describes this search is "foodie." When I went on the internet and typed this in, there were over 3 million listings. Many of the websites contain reviews of places that would otherwise be off the beaten path. Of course, major cities usually offer their own city magazines, available at conveniently located newsstands. These offer comprehensive restaurant listings. All in all, whether you dine in a famous gourmet restaurant or an out-of-the-way café, there is nothing that will end an evening more perfectly in a new city than to enjoy a great meal where the food and atmosphere is just what you were looking for.
There are two additional areas for consideration as you travel with your parents, and those are exercising and travel safety. Whether you are in a train, car, or plane for long periods of time in confined areas and without the ability to move about freely, it is important to do exercises. This is wisdom not only for seniors but for you and your husband too. This will guard against a condition known as DVT (deep-vein thrombosis). When your legs are immobile for a significant amount of time, blood clots form in the arteries. Heart attacks are actually caused by these clots breaking free and entering the bloodstream. The majority of these blood clots are small and harmless, but do you want to take that chance while on vacation? If your legs began to tingle, that is a good sign to stop the car or get up while on the train or airplane and walk a bit. You can also continually move your toes around and wiggle your fingers.
This is a good practice in our daily lives as well; and while it takes just a couple of minutes, it could actually add years to our lives. The final few tips have to do with safety for not only seniors, but really for all of us as well. As sad as it may seem, people around you may not be at all concerned with you and your parents' well being.
