This guest blog was written by Theresa Brereton, Visiting Nurse Service of New York Regional Nutritional Manager.

Looking for easy ways to make your favorite meals a little healthier? Try these 10 simple tips—you won’t have to give up the things you love when you learn a few heart-healthy cooking skills.

Roast
Try it for meats and vegetables. Use a rack so meat/poultry does not sit in its own drippings. Baste with fat-free, unsweetened liquids like wine, or salt-free or low-sodium tomato juice or lemon juice.

Bake
Add a little extra liquid to meats and vegetables,…

Standing on the boardwalk at Beach 84th Street and the Shore Front Parkway, facing the serene Atlantic Ocean beachfront, it’s easy to see why Rockaway, Queens was once an alluring vacation spot for many New Yorkers. When the area’s popularity started to decline in the years after World War II, the city built many housing projects, in the name of urban revitalization. In the decades since, the community has become a residential neighborhood of limited means. If you turn away from the water, walk inland down Beach 84th Street, you’ll…

Mary Winters talks about why a home health care agency provides hospice care in a hospital setting, and why the Haven, VNSNY’s Hospice Specialty Care Unit at Bellevue Hospital, has the potential to change how New Yorkers receive end-of-life care.

It seems counterintuitive that a home health care agency provides care in facilities—especially hospice. Isn’t the goal of hospice to allow patients to avoid hospitals?
Most patients’ symptoms can be managed at home and they are able to die comfortably at home. At the Haven, our in-patient unit at Bellevue, we provide around-the-clock…

By Nina Priya Ma David

I originally founded Creative Yoga Therapy to provide inspiring, therapeutic services for a wide variety of needy populations. As a result, I have had the honor of sharing Yoga with a multi-cultural elderly population.

While some of my elderly students are ambulatory, alert, responsive and agreeable, others are not. Many are physically disabled. Some are de-conditioned and extremely weak. Some take medication that makes them drowsy or irritable. Some are mentally impaired. Others are so anxious or depressed that, no matter what you say or do, they resist…

@stavieb: Welcome everyone to our first Twitter Chat, it’s Stav, usually tweeting as @VNSNY_news and today I’ll be acting as moderator. #VNSNYchat
April 19, 2012, 5: 00 pm

@stavieb: We’re talking about falls risk, especially in older adults, how 2 spot signs & prepare in advance to help avoid an injury. #VNSNYchat
April 19, 2012, 5: 00 pm

@stavieb: During chat @VNSNY_news will be Dr. Eileen Bach. She’s a PT w/ clinical doctorate & Director of Rehabilitation QA & Ed at VNSNY #VNSNYchat
April 19, 2012, 5: 01 pm

@stavieb: Why don’t we spend a few minutes introducing…

Eileen Bach PT, DPT is the Director of Rehabilitation QA and Education at VNSNY

As we begin the spring season in NYC, the longer days and warmer weather are a welcome sight. The layers of hats, gloves and coats will be replaced by lighter clothing–but what will replace those winter boots?

If you are 65 years old or older, what you wear on your feet is an important part of helping to prevent or avoid slips, trips and falls. Barefoot is not recommended! Shoes that are helpful in decreasing your falls risk include:

• Shoes…

Being a father is difficult at any age, specifically for young fathers in our Bronx community. Fathers may feel overwhelmed by the responsibility, unsure of what it means to be a dad, fearful, and many want out. But research shows, when fathers are involved in their children’s lives, children do better in school, display healthier social behaviors, have improved self-esteem, and lead overall healthier, happier lives. So the Visiting Nurse Service of New York created the Bronx Fatherhood Program to engage young fathers and give them the support they need…

Contribute your thoughts to a blog about our longest-serving nurse.

This guest blog was written by Yael Reich, Clinical Nurse Specialist and Diabetes Educator.

“I can never give up chocolate!” announces Anna P., who has been newly diagnosed with diabetes.

It’s a sentiment that many diabetes educators hear from patients and one that we are happy to say can be accommodated (having diabetes means eating certain foods in moderation, not cutting them out entirely). In fact, there are many myths that surround diabetes and part of our work as diabetes educators at the Visiting Nurse Service of New York, is to dispel…