Featured - Part 3

Should I stay or should I go?

Should I stay or should I go?; Choice can be difficult for aging boomers when options aren't as easy as they seem Canadian seniors may have long ceased playing games of leapfrog, but their numbers haven't. The latest census figures from Statistics Canada show seniors, those aged 65 and older, vaulting to 14.8 per cent of the population in 2011 from 11.6 in 1991; by 2031, that number will be almost 23 per cent. The explosion is due to the mountain of baby boomers - those born between 1946 and 1964 - now entering their senior years. And with that shifting demographic comes a shift in housing needs. The sprawling, maintenance-heavy sub-urban home, for example, will become impractical for many. But the majority of aging Canadians want to stay in their own homes - rather than living in a group set-ting, like a retirement residence - as long as they can, according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. Some solutions are already common: Renovating an existing home to accommoda…

Are we ready for the boomer tsunami?

John and Bernice Klassen are stumped when asked what they miss about suburban Ottawa. Six years ago, they sold their four-bedroom house in Nepean and moved to a low-rise condo building not far from Elgin Street. They were like a lot of baby boomers: fed up with maintaining a house that was too big for their needs. "It was also a question of lifestyle," says John, 63, and now retired from foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada. "There, you had to get in the car just to buy a litre of milk. Here, everything's within walking distance: the National Arts Centre, the ByWard Market." "The transition was so easy, we've never looked back," says Bernice, also 63, and a retired college teacher. "We both wanted to move downtown and we said: 'It's either now or we won't be able to afford it.' " The Klassens, after a lifetime of working hard, likely needn't worry about housing. They have pensions, savings and a comfortable home. Down the road, they can sell the condo and …

Top 5 Ways to Reduce Falls in Senior Living Communities

When a senior falls and breaks a bone, it’s much more difficult to recover. In fact, hospitals and surgeries have been linked to a high rate of decline in the elderly, and in many instances—increased level of care for the duration of life after a senior falls. Senior Fall Prevention A 2012 Expo Conference session, Translating Research into Practice: Implementing Comprehensive Fall Management Across the Care Continuum, discussed evidence-based fall risk management techniques to help educate senior living professionals on how to minimize resident falls. The presenters, Alice Bell, the Vice President of Clinical Services at Genesis HealthCare, and Jennifer Sidelinker, the Clinical Specialist in Physical Therapy at Genesis Rehab, suggested that senior living communities take a new approach to fall management. According to Bell and Sidelinker, fall rates are highest and result in the greatest number of injuries among those with fair standing balance and the ability to rise fr…