SeniorsforLiving.com is delighted to present the premiere edition of the “Boomers & Seniors – News You Can Use” blog carnival. We’ve asked leading bloggers about boomer and senior trends, news items, resources, and more to contribute posts they’ve hand-picked just for you.

The result? An information-packed post that boasts the same variety of those carnivals you loved as a kid. Jump-start your reading here with information about Social Security and senior housing decor to a discussion about seniors and sex, suggestions to boost your brain power, even a limerick about aging gracefully!

Future Carnival editions will follow on the first and third Thursday of every month here and at partner blogs. After perusing these valuable and useful posts, please add a comment and let us know your thoughts on this edition, and what themes you’d like future installments to cover. Enjoy, and thanks!

Our main purpose at SeniorsforLiving.com is to present helpful information about senior housing and care options for you or your loved ones. Our SFL blog offers daily insight, commentary, and engaging content on related topics of interest to boomers and seniors. In our latest post, Design Makes a Difference in Today’s Senior Living Homes, you can discover the fascinating role that interior design plays in a senior living facility. It’s not just about making an assisted living or senior housing community look good in order to impress prospective residents and their family members. While that is important, there are certain aspects of design that have emotional and physical benefits as well.

Senior Housing/Senior Care

Dale Carter presents a Top 10 list: Moving Into a Retirement Community posted at Transition Aging Parents, saying, “Are your aging parents trying to decide if a retirement community is right for them? See the benefits my mother has found in her retirement community in Maryland in just six months.”

Michele at Senior Memos presents Aging in Place, a post that describes the decision many seniors make about staying in their homes through their senior years rather than move to a senior community, retirement home, etc. Aside from being in familiar and comfortable surroundings in a neighborhood and community to which they are connected, she writes, many seniors realize that there are many financial benefits to staying put as well. Find out more about the types of resources available for those who wish to remain in their homes and age in place.

Caregiving

A large majority of SFL’s readership are caregivers, those “unsung heroes” who take a family member or loved one into their care when in need. Michelle Seitzer’s recent post, Valuing the Invaluable: Today’s Caregivers, shares how, even in times of difficulty, adjustment, and struggle, most caregivers would not trade it for any other job in the world. While the types of caregiving vary based on the wide array of diseases, disabilities, or special needs that such conditions require, the long-term care system is completely dependent on the informal caregiving network. Read more about it here.

Caregivers Come in All Different Shapes, Sizes, and Sexes explains Kaye Swain on SandwichINK.com. Be sure to read the comments for more information about this subject in relation to legalities. An interesting and important read!

“Unconditionally respecting our family is a challenge when we don’t agree with their decisions,” remarks Natalie Tucker Miller, who blogs at Ageless Sages. Her post “How To Accept the Decisions of Others” is a must-read for caregivers everywhere who face potential decision-making conflicts with their siblings regarding the care of their aging parents.

Caregivers face many challenges, the most important of which is ensuring the safety of their loves ones. Grace R. Young OT presents Safety First, a useful blog post with safety tips for those living with a chronic illness.

Health & Wellness

Getting older increases our awareness of illnesses such as Alzheimer’s disease and memory loss, explains Catherine Eagleson from Crosswords For Fun, but studies have shown that the best weapon in the fight against these conditions is to continue to exercise your mind. “The old adage ‘use it or lose it’ has never been more apt than when referring to our memory. The perfect way to do this is by indulging in doing crosswords puzzles regularly and playing other games for the brain.” Read more about it them in Crosswords are Great for the Brain.

Then, get moving, says Kathleen Wood, who presents The Perennial List from Palmetto Fitness Focus. “If your resolutions look just like last year’s, this article is for you. Let’s move from resolutions to solutions once and for all.” Isn’t it about time?

The post from Brain Blogger, Exercise to Keep Your Brain Healthy and Increase Cerebral Blood Flow, should serve as further encouragement of that. “The benefits of aerobic activity are well documented regarding overall physical health and well-being. Many studies have also shown an association between aerobic activity and cognitive function, but the mechanism was unclear. Now, we may know the reason.”

Vitality

Marijke presents Sex in the Nursing Home posted at Seniors Support. “Sexuality doesn’t end just because you’re aging,” she explains. “Seniors can and should enjoy a healthy and fulfilling sex life if that’s what they want, regardless of where they are living.”

News You Can Use

Jeff Rose presents When To Take Social Security from Consumer Boomer. The age of 62 is quickly approaching and the important decision of when to take your Social Security is haunting you. Do you take it now or wait? Before you decide, do you really understand what Social Security is really about? Find out more here. And how much should you be saving for retirement, anyway? Jeff has that scoop, too at GoodFinancialCents.com.

Decisions, decisions! Good thing Alvaro Fernandez presents Brain Fitness Update: Best of 2008 from SharpBrains. “Neuroscientist Torkel Klingberg has written a very stimulating and accessible book on a crucial topic for our Information Age: The Overflowing Brain: Information Overload and the Limits of Working Memory.” (Know anything about information overload? We do!) Don’t let the title scare you, Alvaro continues. “We have named it ‘The SharpBrains Most Important Book of 2008,’ and asked Dr. Klingberg to write a brief article to introduce his research and book to you”

Personality Profiles

Bill Shafer presents an intriguing Growing Bolder profile of actress Ellen Albertini Dow, a 90-year-old who is as giddy as a schoolchild! And why not? She’s had guest spots on “Seinfeld,” “Will and Grace,” “My Name Is Earl” and “Scrubs,” just to name a few, as well as a notable role as the “rapping Granny” in “The Wedding Singer.” Wait until you hear her tell the story of how when she was asked to do the rap, she didn’t even know what rap was! Also catch Growing Bolder With Roger McGuinn from Marc Middleton. Now 66, McGuinn is engaging on many different levels and in many different subjects. The conversation can turn on a dime. Music, religion, conservation, technology, collecting, travel. He’s a man of many passions and there is never enough time.

Senior Lifestyle

Baby Boomers — Looking Pretty As We Age will resonate with many, surely, because it’s a common sentiment in our society for many of us strive to look and feel younger. Admit it – many of us wish to prove to ourselves and the world that we are healthier and more vital that our parents were at our age. Read more about it at Sports, Fitness, and More.

In closing, it’s limerick time, thanks to Madeleine Begun Kane, who presents Gray Matters at Mad Kane’s Humor Blog. Aging gracefully has never been more lyrical.

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