Visiting your loved ones in the nursing home helps them stay emotionally engaged. Here are some things to keep in mind when visiting. Respect the resident’s privacy. Knock before you enter the room and step out into the hall when personal care is being provided. Be warm in your interactions and use a gentle touch. Keep the conversation positive and refrain from arguing, especially if visiting a person with dementia. Don’t bring food or beverages unless you check with the staff first. Don’t stay too long. Look for cues that your loved one may be getting tired or stressed.

Sitting down with your loved ones to talk about their lives can be a rich and satisfying experience. Learning about people, places and events that they find memorable, can help bring you closer to the ones you care about. Have the Talk of a Lifetime with the people you hold dear—your parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles, your spouse. Sometimes, using a visual prompt such as a photo album, souvenir, or memento, can be a great way to start a conversation. Your conversation can take place anywhere at any time, not just near the end of life.

Mobility problems such as unsteadiness while walking and difficulty getting in and out of a chair are often associated with aging. The number one mobility problem that older people experience is falls. When older people have falls, even if the fall isn’t serious, they often become fearful of falling again. This can lead to inactivity that can cause additional health problems. One of the most important things you can do to help someone with mobility problems and fear of falling is to encourage physical activity. There are many simple exercise that can be done to improve mobility and strength.

Have you heard about Plasma skin tightening? This new anti-aging treatment is taking the world by storm! It is the only cosmetic treatment known to shrink excess volume of skin on contact. As we age, our skin starts to lose elasticity and texture, leading to wrinkles and loose skin especially around the delicate eye area. Plasma skin tightening is a non-surgical procedure, that instantly removes excess skin volume and tightens your skin, giving you a more youthful appearance. This procedure is popular for tummy tightening, jowls, cheeks, facelifts and is especially effective for non-surgical upper and lower eyelid lifting

Having acupuncture throughout your pregnancy is a safe, drug-free way to enhance the good development of your pregnancy. Acupuncture can help supplement, regulate and harmonize the processes that are taking place in the body, and supports recovery once baby arrives. Labour preparation acupuncture from week 36 on, supports ripening of the cervix and the relaxing and softening of the pelvic ligaments and tendons so that the baby gate will open easily. It also strengthens the mother’s stamina to labour, and ensures that internal conditions are optimal for baby to stay in good position to spin and descend.

Nanaimo Theatre Group opens the season with Douglas Post’s Murder in Green Meadows, a murder mystery filled with so many twists and turns the audience will be second guessing themselves right up to the final curtain. Thomas Devereaux, a successful architect and local contractor and his lovely wife, Joan, have recently moved into their dream home. They are soon visited by their new neighbours, and a friendship develops between the two couples. But underneath the cool, Middle American exterior, something is truly rotten. The show opens October 18 at the Bailey Studio.

“Nanaimo’s Parks and Recreation fall slogan is “Take a Moment to Move”! Try a dance, fitness or yoga program, walk in our local parks and trails, or drop in for a swim or skate. There are so many opportunities to move your body in your community.

Studies are showing that active people can prolong their life by several years, and being active has countless health benefits that are above the obvious physical ones!

Need some ideas to help you get or stay active? Contact our recreation experts at recreation.nanaimo.ca.”

Knees. We rarely think about them until they affect how we live our lives. They get bumped and scraped and bruised, and we just shrug it off. But what if the injuries are more severe? If we need surgery to repair damage knees or need to have them replaced, what happens to our lives then? We need to care for our knees so they can care for us throughout our life. Regular exercise from an early age can help. Strength training can protect the knee joint from injury and maintaining good flexibility is essential. To learn more, join us for our Knee Injury Health Night.