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National Women’s Health Week of Particular Concern to Residents at Carillon Assisted Living

May 14-20 is National Women’s Health Week, a special emphasis that reminds all women living at Carillon Assisted Living to take advantage of the annual wellness visit available to all Medicare recipients.

Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Women’s Health, this year marks the 18th annual observance. It is designed to encourage women to take steps to improve their health and empower them to make that a priority.

Jennifer Moore, Carillon’s Regional Director of Operations, says Women’s Health Week is a valuable reminder to all residents that they need to take an active role in maintaining their health in order to improve their longevity.

“The great thing about this emphasis is how it lines up with our year-round menus that include numerous healthy eating options,” Moore says. “We also encourage all residents to engage in daily physical activity, even if they have certain limitations that prevent them from doing very much.”

The first step the Office of Women’s Health advises that senior women take towards maintaining their physical and mental health is visiting a doctor or nurse annually for a wellness checkup and preventive screenings.

Among the topics to discuss are weight, diet and activity levels; tobacco and alcohol use, depression or mental health concerns, preventing falls, and who will make health care decisions if the patient’s condition prevents her from doing that.

Among the other steps:

  • Getting active
  • Paying attention to mental health, including getting adequate sleep and managing stress
  • Avoiding such unhealthy behaviors as smoking, texting while driving, or not wearing a seatbelt

The agency also advises a series of steps that older women can take to maintain their health, depending on age. However, whether a woman is in her 60s, 70s, 80s or 90s, it recommends eating healthy. It suggests using the web site, www.ChooseMyPlate.gov, to help guide eating decisions.

Other steps that are good for women of any age are at least 30 minutes of daily physical activity, getting seven to eight hours of sleep a night, maintaining a healthy weight, limiting alcohol use to one drink a day or less, wearing a seat belt in cars, avoiding smoking (or getting help to quit), and not using illegal drugs or misusing prescription drugs.

Tests that women in their 60s and 70s should ask their medical professional about:

  • Blood pressure
  • Cholesterol (75 and younger)
  • Colorectal cancer (75 and younger)
  • Diabetes (70 and younger)
  • Flu
  • Hepatitis B and hepatitis C
  • HIV
  • Lung cancer
  • Mammogram (74 and younger)
  • Osteoporosis (65 and older)
  • Pap and HPV (65 and younger)
  • Pneumonia

Women in their 70s should also ask about shingles, sexually-transmitted infections and tuberculosis, while women in their 60s should ask if they need to take a low-dose aspirin.

Women in their 80s and 90s should ask about:

  • Blood pressure
  • Flu
  • Hepatitis B and hepatitis C
  • HIV
  • Osteoporosis
  • Pneumonia
  • Shingles
  • Sexually-transmitted infections
  • Tuberculosis

Women 80 and younger should also ask about a lung cancer test.

Posted in Sage Stories on May 9, 2017

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