Merrimack Valley Magazine

Wellness Wednesday – 12/16/20

December 16, 2020 by Kristin Cole

WELLNESS AROUND THE WEB

We’ve got good news and bad news. The first vaccines have finally made their way to all 50 states this week. While it will take months for them to finally reach the general public —Massachusetts’ vaccines will not be available to the public until April — this provides hope for a sense of normalcy when the warm weather returns in 2021. However, the bad news is that warm weather is a mere fever dream right now, for a snowstorm is due to hit the Merrimack Valley tonight. While we hunker down in our houses, turn to this week’s Wellness Wednesday for ways to stay active and optimistic indoors, unique healthy eating and drinking tips (wine included) and stories that will brighten your snowy day.

Staying Active with your Smartphone

Many of us spent most of this year adjusting to remote work and our activity levels have subsequently suffered. As the cold weather, settles across the Merrimack Valley, it becomes even harder to find motivation to move throughout the day. Luckily, your smartphone is here to help. Apple announced the App Store Best of 2020 winners in early December, and Wakeout was crowned iPhone app of the year. Wakeout is the perfect app for busy people, as it offers quick workouts designed for a variety of places—from your bedroom to the office to an airplane. Looking for a brief break from computer work? Wakeout boasts a catalog of hundreds of active breaks and thousands of exclusive movements. A monthly subscription to Wakeout costs $4.99 while a yearly one is $34.99, and with each subscription one can add anywhere from five to ten people. For more information on Wakeout, read Brenda Stolyar’s review here.

Water & Wine

Over half of the body is made up of water, and research has consistently shown that we all need more of it. Beyond the obvious hydration purposes of water, a new study has found that drinking six glasses of water daily are not only more energetic, but more optimistic as well. Moreover, those who are more hydrated are less likely to wake up tired during the week, and therefore more successful at work. Plain water too bland for your liking? Make sure it’s cold. The study also found that more Americans preferred ice water over room temperature water. Or try my family’s favorite: sparkling water, which is just as hydrating as regular water and far less sugary than soda.

After you’ve had all that water, we encourage you to relax with glass of wine and a cheese platter. And you don’t have to feel guilty thanks to a study from Iowa State University, which found that the pairing of cheese and wine improves cognitive health as one gets older. Specifically, researchers concluded that cheese “provides the most protection against age-related cognitive issues” while a daily dose of alcohol, particularly red wine, contributes to healthy cognitive function. Cheers!

Animals as Relief

While physical distancing is a great way to help stop the spread of COVID-19, limited interactions can take a toll on your mental health, especially as the brisk weather moves in. If you can’t hug others, hug your pets closer. A recent study led by Dr. Janette Young of the University of South Australia found that touching pets “provided [participants with] comfort, relaxation, and familiarity.” The study notes the importance of physical touch, and how this is not only beneficial to humans, but to our pets as well. It doesn’t need to be a dog or a cat either, as the article notes that “participants mentioned birds, sheep, horses, and even reptiles as pets who reciprocate touch.”

Good Reads

As the snowstorm rages tonight, distract yourself with some good news and family bonding:

Hooray for polar bears! The U.S court of appeals rejected an offshore oil drilling project in the arctic. Environmental groups and conservationists consider this “a victory for Alaska’s imperiled polar bears that are threatened by oil and gas development…”

Stuck inside and sick of shoveling? Try making one — or two, or all — of these seven delicious dessert recipes from Tasty. Have the family help and make it a bonding experience!

Avatars: A New Program Helps Element Care Keep Seniors at Home

April 17, 2018 by Bonnie Mason Leave a Comment

[ Updated Friday, March 27, 2020 at 11:10 a.m. ] Element Care was one of the 1st PACE organizations to provide participants with Care.coach Avatars in homes, as we reported back in 2017. Avatars remotely monitor participant’s health 24/7. Since the COVID-19 crisis, Element Care has installed more Avatars in homes and added scripts to check symptoms and well-being daily.

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Participants in a new program at Element Care, a nonprofit health care organization with several locations in Massachusetts, are adopting virtual pets.

These “byte-size” critters provide a sense of companionship and help combat depression and reduce loneliness among the patients who use them, according to Element Care, which has Merrimack Valley locations in Lowell and Methuen. These “pets,” or “avatars” as they’re called, remind their “owners” to take their medications or to exercise. They also keep an eye out for signs of distress.

The animated virtual cats and dogs operate on a 4G data network, the same that’s used by most cellphones. Participants don’t need WiFi in their homes to take advantage of the avatar’s functions, which include video chat, photo sharing, music and games, along with more serious applications such as 24/7 patient support, appointment scheduling and wellness coaching.

The avatar program accords well with Element Care’s mission as a PACE center (Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly). PACE is a service for seniors on Medicare and Medicaid that’s designed to help them live safely and comfortably in their own homes, allowing them to remain part of their local communities, rather than being relocated to nursing facilities. There are also Medicare-only and private pay options. When participants opt into the PACE program, they are given access to the wide array of health care services that Element Care provides, which range from primary care and meals to occupational therapy. To qualify for PACE, participants must be at least 55 years old, want to live in the community but need assistance to qualify for nursing home care, and be considered safe to live in the community when supported by the program.

Left: Element Care’s Clinical Services Project Administrator, Kendra Seavey, is working with Care.Coach to integrate innovative technology in participant’s homes through an interactive tablet device that provides enchanced continuity of carem and decreases healthcare costs. Right: Donald Enoh jokes with his virtual dog, Mary, on how she is his new best friend. Mary has assisted in keeping Donal living safely at home by helping with daily reminders for medication, eating healthy, exercising and visiting his pharmacy team at PACE. Photos by Adrien Bisson.

These virtual pet avatars are the brainchild of Victor Wang, a former MIT student who came up with the idea in 2012 to provide companionship for his grandmother, who lived alone in Taiwan. She had become depressed and lonely, Wang says, and his digital pet provided her with the companionship she craved. Today, Wang’s company, care.coach, works with health care organizations such as Element Care to provide avatars to patients.

According to an internal 2017 study conducted by Element Care and care.coach, the avatar pilot program reduced avoidable emergency room visits among its participants as well as the need for in-home services. This is in line with Element Care’s goal of enabling patients to remain in their own homes, according to Kendra Seavey, clinical administrative manager at Element Care.

In order to qualify for Element Care’s avatar program, a participant must show potential for an increased need for in-home psychosocial support, reduction in nursing visits, emergency room visits or hospital admissions. From March to August 2017, the avatars have facilitated 42 medical interventions in cases of cardio-respiratory distress, pain, psychiatric behaviors, falls, vomiting, and drug and alcohol abuse. These categories make up nearly 80 percent of emergency room visits by Element Care’s patients, according to the study.

“The avatar is both a caregiver and the patient’s best friend,” says Dr. Elisabeth Broderick, Element Care’s medical director. “It has the potential to provide care overnight, a time that is difficult to cover for family members and agencies. This eases pressure on caregivers while streamlining critical aspects of the health care process.”

Element Care
ElementCare.org

Pet Essentials – Spoil Your Favorite Member of the Clan

October 13, 2016 by Dean Johnson Leave a Comment

Each issue of the mvh is full of great ideas for the family. But there is one member of the family we have often overlooked: man’s (and woman’s) best friend.

Specialty shops, big box pet stores and endless petcentric websites provide dog owners with a dizzying array of options when it comes to spoiling their pooch.

Where to begin? How about with some advice from Bay State-based Monica Collins, author of the longtime advice column Ask Dog Lady, which runs in a variety of publications and is online at AskDogLady.com.

Collins knows exactly where to begin. She is a big fan of all KONG toy products for dogs, which are available most everywhere. Her favorite is the KONG Classic ($6.99-$24.99, based on size), a red rubber item that sort of looks like a Dairy Queen soft serve.

The toy comes in various sizes, and it’s hollow. The latter is important, according to Collins, because it allows the dog lover to fill it with a treat that will keep your dog busy.

Left: A box of various toys and goodies from Barkbox.com, $35. Top right: Yosoo shark puppy bed, upwards of $15.00; Amazon.com. Bottom right: KONG Classic, $6.99-$24.99; available in most pet stores.

Her suggested treats include peanut butter, cheese or, her personal favorite, freeze-dried liver chunks. “Be smart,” she advises, “and buy really good things that will occupy your dog and that your dog will like.”

Many pet-friendly stores encourage folks to bring their pets with them, and Collins isn’t opposed to letting your dog pick out a favorite item or two. Just be aware that what you will be doing is the pet equivalent of, uh, unleashing a hyperactive 5-year-old in a candy store.

She also recommends BarkBox.com, a website she describes as “a kind of book of the month club for dogs.” The site ships out boxes of various toys and goodies for the dog of your choice, and they can be delivered on a monthly ($249 a year) or onetime ($35) basis, with other options available, as well.

With cold weather on its way, Collins has a couple of seasonal pet tips. She is not a fan of dressing dogs in outfits just for show. Though some folks may think doggy booties or leather moccasins may be doing their pet a favor in icy conditions, Collins advises against using them. Instead, she said to look for “balloon booties” made of rubber or a synthetic material. These will protect your pet from ice and harsh road salts, but will also allow your dog to continue using its paws and pads to feel the surface it’s walking on, something that’s very important to your favorite pooch.

Pottery Barn’s faux fur pet bed cover in caramel ombre, $89- $99; potterybarn.com.

One of the reasons we add dogs to our family is to spoil them. Maybe you’ll want to get the Yosoo shark puppy bed (upwards of $15.00 at Amazon.com) and evoke the movie “Jaws” each time your dog runs into its mouth to sleep … or hide. And if you already own a basic dog bed, then maybe Pottery Barn’s faux fur pet bed cover is for you ($89- $99).

Time to eat? Walmart offers a copper no-tip 12-ounce pet bowl adorned with tiny little doggy bones for a miniscule $6.06. For the particular pooch, Chewy.com has a stainless steel drinking fountain with a charcoal filter ($33.99). Both are nice additions to your home. For the dog who has almost everything, GrandinRoad.com offers a wooden pet feeder station that will unobtrusively store food and water bowls, leashes, toys, 10 pounds of dry food and more ($299).

No matter what you buy for your dog, no matter how you try to spoil it, Collins hopes pet owners remember this simple rule: “They are not looking for presents. They are looking for one-on-one time with you and to be well taken care of.”