How to Keep Aging

and Comforted During COVID-19

What can you do when you or your loved one are stuck at home during an outbreak?

How will you manage personal care or picking up groceries? How will you manage the feelings of isolation and anxiety?

Many of us feel anxious and fearful about COVID-19. If you have an elderly or at-risk loved one, we can help inform you about how professional caregivers support elders, and what YOU can do to slow the spread of infection.

3 Ways Caregivers Keep Elders Safe and Comforted at Home One of the recommendations to limit the spread of COVID-19 is physical distancing. Practice physical distancing by avoiding public places and traveling. Stay at home except when absolutely necessary to access essential goods and services, such as food, gas, and medications.

We know for a fact that staying at home reduces your chance of catching or spreading coronavirus. Your loved ones may find physical distancing especially difficult and isolating. That’s why having a professional caregiver helps achieve these 3 vital goals:

1. Make it Easier to Stay at Home The safest place for even relatively healthy elders is often in their own homes. In-home caregivers help to make sure their clients’ needs are met.

For example, a home caregiver will help clients stock up on supplies. A home caregiver can assist with a shopping trip. Caregivers can make sure the house is stocked with necessary over-the-counter medicines and supplies to treat fever and other virus or cold symptoms. Home caregivers also can prepare healthy meals.

2. Provide Company Elders who live alone already are at risk for isolation and loneliness. Your loved one may feel anxious and disconnected from others during this uncertain time. If you can’t visit, a home caregiver can help your loved one get in touch -- and stay in touch -- with family and friends.

A caregiver can assist with a hobby, help with at-home exercises or set up ways to communicate with loved ones such as writing letters, phoning, or using video calls.

3. Protect and Reassure Your Loved One Professional caregivers are trained in

recognizing the warning signs of illness. They are also taught how to prevent the spread of illness.

A caregiver can assist your loved one with:

- Identifying and reporting symptoms - Remembering to regularly wash hands - Reminding clients to cover a cough or sneeze - Effectively cleaning and disinfecting surfaces - Monitoring medications

Being alone during a time of uncertainty can lead to fear and anxiety. Your loved one needs to know that support is available. As a family caregiver, you are doing your best to meet the needs of those who depend on you while following safety recommendations.

Consider home care as a good fit for keeping your elderly loved one safe while they stay at home.

What is COVID-19 and What are the Symptoms? COVID-19 is an illness caused by an unusual type of coronavirus germ, first identified in December 2019, in the Chinese city of Wuhan.

If you or a loved one is infected with the coronavirus, you might notice symptoms such as:

I Fever I Cough

The people most likely to develop serious symptoms are older adults (whose immune systems are not as robust as younger peoples) and people with compromised immune systems or respiratory systems.

How Does COVID-19 Spread? COVID-19 spreads from person to person through respiratory droplets. Respiratory droplets can travel about 6 feet through the air, and are spread through:

I Coughing I Sneezing I Loud talking I Blowing your nose I Touching your mouth, nose, or eyes after touching a contaminated surface

How to Prevent the Spread of COVID-19 The most reliable way to prevent getting sick is to not be exposed to the virus.

You CAN reduce your risk of exposure or spreading the virus: reduce your contact with other people.

Here’s how: - Remain at home and avoid contact with other people - Avoid gatherings of more than 10 people - Avoid traveling, shopping and social visits if possible - Use a drive-thru, takeout or delivery instead of eating at restaurants - Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth - Clean and disinfect objects and surfaces that people touch or use often - Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds - Maintain extra physical space (at least 6 feet) between yourself and other people if you must go out

If you feel ill: - Stay at home - Call your medical provider - Postpone visits to residents of nursing facilities, retirement communities, and assisted-living buildings - Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue when you sneeze or cough and immediately throw out the tissue - Wear a face mask when around other people Resources Centers for Disease Control https://www.cdc.gov/

World Health Organization https://www.who.int/

Free Subscriptions www.RiverRegionBoom.com

{Capital City Master Gardeners Annual Plant Sale, April 25th 7:00 to 12:00, Has Been Cancelled}

A few years ago a friend told us she was going to share some loofahs that she grew. I had to stop and ask- you mean they don’t come from the ocean?

Loofahs may look like they should come from the sea, but they are actually a gourd in the cucumber family. They are easy to grow in Alabama. We have grown them successfully for several years now. In fact, last year, our entire loofah crop came from one plant that returned on its own. A handful of seeds can produce dozens of plants with vines bearing the fruit of more loofahs that you could ever share with friends and family.

The vine likes plenty of room to spread out. The plants produce beautiful big yellow flowers that pollinators love. After a few weeks, small fruit resembling zucchini begin to form from the bloom. Don’t be disappointed or give up when you find the early crops fall off. As the summer rises to full sun and heat, the fruit that form will grow

to giant club like shapes. I have never weighed one, but I would imagine that they could easily weigh as much as three or four pounds. The vines will continue to spread and bear more and more fruit. Although it’s not necessary to water them, the plants really respond positively to water.

As tempting as it may be to harvest the loofah from the vine, the best way is to treat them like a gourd. Let them dry on the vine. To make them useful as a sponge like material, the outer layer of skin will need to be removed as well as the dozens of seeds inside. Letting Mother Nature help you with this is a good idea. As you approach the time of frost, go ahead and pick them. Allow the Loofahs to continue to dry in a well ventilated area. This will prevent mold. I find the best way to strip the outer skin is to give them a few good whacks on the picnic table. Then twist them back and forth a bit and the skin should peel off. What is left is a coarse spongy material. The earlier in the season that you peel them, the more moisture there will be inside. Again, set them aside and allow the freshly peeled loofahs to continue to dry. Once dry you can remove any remaining seeds or skin.

At this point you are ready to share them with friends or use them yourself. Slice thick pieces off making them easier and more practical to use. Of course, you can use them in the bath, but I mostly use them in the kitchen to scrub the dishes. If a piece gets too dirty, throw it in the dishwasher. If it gets too worn, simply compost it and carve another piece.

This summer, plant some loofahs and you will have more than enough to share before the holiday gift giving begins.

Terry Barber, a 2020 Master Gardener Intern in Montgomery. For more information on becoming a master gardener, visit www. capcitymga.org or email capcitymga@ gmail.com.

Part 2

Last month's Fitness over Fifty article focused on the numerous physiological and psychological benefits that deep and shallow water exercise offers its participants. This month our focus shifts to the physical laws and properties of water and how they can be used by the exerciser to “Work the Water” to his or her advantage.

Our bodies react to exercise on land differently as compared to exercise in water. Land- based exercise is affected primarily by the downward vertical force of gravity, but water exercise is largely governed by the interactions of numerous physical laws and properties which exist in an aquatic environment. Understanding some of these interactions can assist you in regulating the intensity of your own workout—whether you are participating in a class or exercising alone.

Inertia: Adding traveling movements to a water workout increases its intensity level by way of the Law of Inertia. This law states that an object at rest remains at rest unless a force causes it to move, and an object in motion tends to stay in motion (with the same speed and direction) unless acted upon by an external force. If you run forward in a straight line through the water for several steps, the water begins to move with you in the same direction. When you stop and reverse your body's direction you will also be trying to stop and reverse the water's motion. When you turn around, the water's inertia causes it to continue moving in its original direction at its former speed. Energy expenditure in this example has been increased by both total body inertia and the water's inertia. Action and Reaction: When exercising in water, one can use the Law of Action and Reaction to increase or decrease the intensity of a workout. This law tells us that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. To illustrate, suppose you travel backward through the water while kicking forward (alternating kicks toward the front); you are applying a force via your kicks in a forward direction, which results in a movement backward (i.e., the opposite direction). In this example, you are assisting your own travel, which is also backward, so the exercise seems “easy.” On the other hand, suppose you travel forward and continue to kick forward – you are still applying a force via your kicks in a forward direction which results in a movement backward. But . . . this time you are also traveling forward, so you are impeding your effort to advance; thus, the latter example is more intense than the first. Levers: A knee lift in water requires less muscular effort than a straight leg front kick. The straight leg kick requires that we overcome the water's resistance from the hip joint to the toes (longer lever). The knee lift only requires that we overcome the resistance from the hip joint to the knee joint (shorter lever). Likewise, a lateral lift with extended arms requires more muscular effort than a lateral lift with bent arms. Simply put, long-lever movements can be used in water exercise to increase intensity. Hand Positions: The surface area of the hand and its shape help determine how much resistance is created as it moves through the water. A closed fist or a hand that slices through the water like a knife creates minimal resistance. Alternatively, we can create a larger surface area with an open, slightly cupped hand with the fingers Fitness over Fifty by Peggy Myrick Guest Columnist

slightly spread. The open hand position generates more resistance, making movement through the water more challenging.

Frontal Resistance: Water has a very perceptible horizontal resistance because of its viscosity. Walking through water is similar, in a way, to walking through a windstorm. The size of the frontal surface area of an object affects the amount of energy required to move the object when it is presented against the horizontal resistance of the water. A larger surface area requires more energy to move than a comparatively smaller surface area. Presenting a smaller frontal surface area to the intended line of travel, produces a more streamline movement which requires less energy. Think about the human body—the surface area of the side of the body is smaller than the surface area of the front of the body. Thus lateral, or sideways, movement creates less frontal resistance than if you were to present the front of the body to the intended line of travel. For example, walking forward through the water with your arms held away from your body, palms facing forward and fingers spread, demands more energy than if you turn sideways (maintaining the same arm/hand positions) and side-step across the pool. Note: To encounter frontal resistance, the body must be traveling through the water. An on- the-spot jumping jack, for example, would not be affected by the water's horizontal resistance. YMCA Shallow Water Class, top and Deep Water Class bottom

Summing-Up: The following testimonies from two local ladies succinctly summarize why Boomers should “Jump Right In and Join A Water Class!”

Kimbi, 58: “Water aerobics allows me the ability to be more flexible than on land. It improves my balance and I feel, reduces my stress level. Water is comforting to me. Even though I have a handicap (below elbow amputation), I'm still able to do most if not all exercises with little or no adaptation. Anyone of any age or physical shape can do it!”

Alice, 71: “Before I started water exercise, I had participated in glide (gravity) classes for several years. When I started having problems with my lower back, my physical therapist suggested water exercises as there is less stress on the joints in the water. Initially, I worried that I might not get as strenuous a workout as I had with the glide class. However, I've learned that you get as much of a workout as you put into it. Today I participate in three different water classes and look forward to each one.”

Learn more about water classes in the River Region by contacting local YMCAs; area Country Clubs; and the AUM Wellness Center.