Creative Activities in the Nursing Home

For today’s seniors, doctors and health care organizations are waking up to the fact that it’s never too late to start taking better care of yourself. All over the country, senior citizens are being encouraged by their children, doctors, grandchildren and health care providers to “Get up and move!” And all over the country, they’re tugging on jogging pants, lacing up their sneakers and heading out there to have some physical fun.

To be fair, not all seniors need encouraging to take up a creative activity. According to surveys of the elderly in the AARP set, this generation of senior Americans is one of the most active, physically fit ones ever. As Baby Boomers hit retirement age, they’re not slowing down. Instead, they’re heading into their senior years with the same vigour and energy that they’ve tackled everything else in life.

According to doctors and researchers this is excellent news for their health. Nearly every major study conducted in the last ten years has confirmed that creative activities are a great way to stay young and healthy. Whereas before doctors used to advise their elderly patients to slow down and take it easy, now they’re far more likely to encourage them to get up and get active. As recently as a decade ago, most people thought that if you weren’t already exercising and active by your thirties, getting active after that wasn’t likely to help you much. Now they know better. In fact, it doesn't matter what age you are, getting yourself into the habit of being physically and mentally active on a regular basis can help you reduce the effects of getting older, increase your bone density and cut the risk of fractures cut down on your risk of developing diabetes and even reverse some of its effects. Not only that but doctors have also found that seniors who are physically active for at least one hour a day, 3 or more times a week reduce the risk of heart attack, high blood pressure and depression and live longer AND happier lives than their inactive counterparts.

Think that you’d like to join in some creative activities and stay mentally fit and healthy? Follow these tips from doctors and fitness professionals to help make it easy and fun.

8 Tips for Fun Creative Activities

1. Don’t let limited mobility or chronic conditions stop you from enjoying creative activities. Keeping your body moving is a key ingredient in getting better. Research has shown that regular physical activity improves just about every health condition that limits you.
2. Check with your doctor before starting out on any exercise program, particularly if you have arthritis, diabetes or a heart condition. A knowledgeable doctor can point you to the most beneficial activities that will strengthen your bones, joints and heart, or refer you to a physical therapist who will design a tailor made exercise program just for you.
3. Pick creative activities that are fun. Take up golfing or walking, If there are ball games held at your nursing home, join in or take part in a fitness class.
4. If you have joint pain or osteoporosis, go for low-impact aerobic activities like walking or swimming. Be careful with activities that involve rapid starts and stops like tennis.
5. Get together with an exercise buddy to help keep you on track on the days when you just don’t feel like working out. Even better, teaming up with a friend can make exercise seem a whole lot less like exercise and a lot more like fun. What would you rather do; ‘exercise’ or play a round of golf or take a walk with a friend?
6. Got grandchildren? They can be an excellent motivator. Playing with the grandkids is more than just fun. Pushing a stroller uphill on a fifteen minute walk is resistance training. Bouncing a 20 pound toddler on your knee is weight training. Half an hour of pitching balls for batting practice with your ten year old grandson is aerobic exercise – you can continue from there, can’t you?
7. Be flexible with scheduling. If you don’t get out for your walk in the morning, why not take a swim in the afternoon. If you miss your golf game on Tuesday, fit in a walk after dinner that evening.
8. If it hurts – stop. No pain no gain is not the way to look at it. Moderate your creative activities and it shouldn’t hurt. Waking up stiff the morning after a workout is normal. Being in pain all day the next day is not. Listen to your body and if it says you’re overdoing it, slow down until it recovers.

Latest Information

Researchers from Case Western Reserve University have found that seniors who do physical exercise such as gardening, played a musical instrument or played mental challenge games like chess or draughts are much less likely to develop Alzheimer's Disease.  Read more....

Use the creative activities in the nursing home, stay fit and healthy and have fun well into your senior years. Don’t think the time has passed you by – just get up and move!

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