Last week, we celebrated the 10 year anniversary of our center. We were grateful to receive Proclamations from Mayor Bloomberg, the City Council of New York and Helen Marshall, Queens Borough President. We are proud to partner with New York City to help serve seniors in Queens and Brooklyn.

We had a wonderful celebration and I’d like to share some comments from our participants:

• Age has no meaning here.
• Without this place, I wouldn’t be going out.
• I have learned a lot since coming here.
• I feel accepted with open arms.
• The staff here appreciate seniors’…

Graeme Weatherston / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Many people are able to stay active outdoors with the assistance of canes, walkers, rollators and wheelchairs. However these devices are a safety hazard when certain parts start wearing out. Please take a moment to check the condition of your assistive device before going outdoors.

Brakes

Wheelchairs and rollators with worn brakes are a safety hazard. Your local surgical supply store or medical supply vendor can assist with repairing or replacing worn brakes.

Rollator Brake

Rubber Tips

Walkers and canes have rubber tips that provides traction and absorbs impact. Over time these…

Exercise is something many of us want to do more of, but we just can’t always find the time to do it or find the expenditure of energy overwhelming. In fact, sometime the mere mention of the word conjures up images of treadmills, heavy weights, and expensive gym memberships. (OK, perhaps it’s just MY images!) For many of our patients however, it can be a challenge to start or resume exercises and physical activity after surgery. Speak with your doctor or physical therapist about what activities would be safe for…

Photo by healingdream at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

We can all agree that routine walking is a great form of exercise especially for the elderly. However improper fitting or uncomfortable shoes can not only lead to foot problems but can cause pain or injury to the knee and the back.

Before you head to your local shoe store take a look at some of the helpful guidelines I found from the online AARP article “When Comfort Counts: Choosing a Walking Shoe”.

• Buy the right size. Don’t choose shoes by the size marked inside. Go by how they…

It Has Been a Few Years
To my surprise a man in his late 80’s who I’ll refer to as Mr. Ben had agreed to be seen for his annual physical therapy checkup for the first time in a few years. His visiting nurse warned me that he agreed to see me only for short period of time so I could assess his need for a cane due to a recent fall. If I were a betting man, my guess would be that I only had about 30 minutes for the…

Photo by Simon Howden

I recently had the pleasure of speaking with a group of elderly women on the topic of preventing falls. Of those in attendance, each lives independently in a senior building in Queens. To my pleasant surprise the planned presentation, which had four main points and an easy to follow handout, transformed into a dynamic conversation between the women.

As each person shared stories of their own falls and recovery, it was apparent their contributions injected relevancy into the statistics and insights I had presented. I appreciated their honesty…

(Photo by Ed Yourdon)

If you’re like me, you have every intention to celebrate Earth Day today, but also feel a bit overwhelmed by what it is you can possibly do to honor Mother Earth. She is giving us a whole bunch in the way of fruits, plants, fish, animals, gorgeous exotic locations, green trees and beautiful flowers, rainy days, green and blue oceans and a whole lot more. There is a lot to be thankful about when it comes to the wise ways of this planet.

Unfortunately, it’s impossible for me…

I was speaking to my aunt recently and we discussed a recent study reported on in The New York Times. It stated that researchers from the University of Missouri found that people who walk dogs are more likely to exercise and show improvement in fitness, as opposed to those who walk with friends and/or companions. One reasoning was that people who would walk together are more likely to make excuses to not walk and skip a day or two, but you can’t necessarily do that with a dog.

Teri before her walk

My aunt…

What comes to your mind when yout think of the typical college basketball player? As college hoops tournaments are starting to fill the airwaves, I wanted to share an inspiring video clip I had come across a few years ago featuring an atypical student athlete.

In a 2008 New York Times article featuring 73 year old Ken Mink, Jere Longman writes:

If the 6-foot Mink was good enough to play, he was good enough to be guarded, Woods told the Lambuth players. Then he turned to the freshman Kendrick Coleman and said: “If…

It’s below freezing outside with a slight breeze. Is taking a leisurely 30 minute walk outdoors the last thing on your mind?

97 years young

I recently visited a 97 year young man who lived within walking distance from the beaches of Far Rockaway, Queens. I was a bit surprised when he shared that after the visit, he was planning to go outside with his home attendant to start his daily 30 minute walk. It was about 25 degrees that morning, that’s right 25 degrees!

The man explained that the daily walk kept his…