Episode 34: Aging Evolved with guest Guiselle Miranda
Meet Guiselle & Kathleen
Guiselle Miranda has been an occupational therapist (OT) for a little over seven years. Her primary experience is in acute care hospitals with patients post fall, surgery or illness. She has also worked in inpatient rehabilitation and home health care. Currently, she is a travel therapist taking contracts around the United States of America in areas with urgent need for therapists.
Together, with her business partner, Kathleen Nguyen, they started “Aging Evolved” to help elevate the concept of aging into something empowering and help older adults remain independent for as long as possible.
Kathleen is also an OT who has worked in inpatient rehabs and geriatric units doing travel therapy. She is current working in an inpatient rehabilitation hospital with a primary stroke population.
What is an occupational therapist?
Simply put, an occupational therapist (OT) focuses on increasing independence through meaningful activities. OTs enable people of all ages to live their best life by helping them promote health and prevent injury or disability.
OTs work with a variety of different populations. For example, some work with:
Kids in school
Moms and breastfeeding
Seniors at home
Guiselle and Kathleen work with seniors at home helping people with self-care and enabling people to remain active in their communities. As OTs, Guiselle and Kathleen have holistic perspective, so their focus is on adapting the environment and the task to fit the person. They work together with the person to help them reach their highest level of independence.
About Aging Evolved
Aging Evolved started as a passion project for Guiselle and Kathleen. They know first-hand how difficult it can be for families to have to plan home safety for discharge from a hospital without being prepared. So, by starting their Aging Evolved initiative, they hope to empower the aging population and their families to better prepare for home safety after being discharged from hospital, and importantly, preventing a fall from even happening in the first place.
Through their platform, Aging Evolved, they provide safety tips for families who like to do research and take action on their own. They also provide home safety assessments. They are also able to help people through video calls and are equipped to reach those who need a little bit more help with home setup.
Aging-in-Place
“Aging-in-place” means to stay in your home while you age. For Aging Evolved, it means adapting your home, so that you can remain independent for as long as possible and live your life to the fullest.
How do you hope to evolve this concept of aging?
At Aging Evolved, they want to remind the aging population and their families that remaining independent is possible. Guiselle and Kathleen want to shift the concept of aging from debilitation to empowerment. They want to encourage people to take control of their life while they age. Aging should not be seen as a negative phase in life. At Aging Evolved, they believe that - with the proper resources - people will feel empowered and capable of making the best decisions for their life. They want the aging population to feel proud of the stage that they're in.
Why do you focus on prevention?
The focus at Aging Evolved is on prevention, because it is much more difficult to recover from a fall than it is to prevent one. Preventing a fall can save a person time by means of physical hardship and it can provide more confidence. Fear of falling can take a huge toll on a person's emotional well-being. If someone is experiencing a fear of falling it can also limit them in terms of the types of activities they choose to engage in on a regular basis.
Research also shows us that falls are associated with increases in cognitive impairment. If someone experiences a big fall and they have to stay in the hospital for a long time, they will need to spend a lot of time and effort rehabilitating. This takes a huge toll on someone's overall health and ultimately impacts their cognitive health.
Tips for Setting up your Home to Prevent Falls
First, ask yourself a few questions:
Do you feel uncomfortable or unsafe getting around your home?
Do you have a history of falls?
Do you feel like you must hold on to the walls or furniture to get around?
If you answer yes to any of the above questions, you may benefit from making some changes at home. At the Aging Evolved website, they have a free home safety checklist that can help guide you to self-evaluate your home or safety concerns (for more information you can visit their website by clicking here).
Top three tips for increasing the safety of your home
Check the height of your bed. Can you touch your feet to the floor when you're sitting on the edge of your bed? Can you get in and out of your bed easily or do you have to climb in?
Check your bathrooms: Add bars to the shower tub and near the toilet. Is the height of your toilet okay for you sit and stand?
Put items that you frequently use in an “easy to reach” area.
In Guiselle’s experience working in the hospital, most patients who have had a fall have fallen off the bed, in the bathroom or reaching overhead or below.
What about the aesthetics?
There are many contractors and interior decorators who are willing to work with you to make any safety modifications match the style of your home. So, there are a lot more options out there.
What if you and your living partner have differing mobility needs?
Most safety equipment can be added and removed as needed. For example, the shower chair can be placed in the shower for the person who needs it and removed afterwards. There are ways to adapt to multiple levels of independence and physical abilities within the same home. Aging Evolved is a great resource in this regard, as they would be happy to talk you through what these varying needs might look like.
Safety concerns about rugs
Rugs are a fall hazard. If you're going to keep the rugs in your home, make sure they are firmly fastened. Look for the little tabs that you can fasten to the ends of the rug, to prevent it from lifting when you're walking by.
Win a free home safety assessment via video call!
To kick off the new Aging Evolved initiative, and for a limited time only, Guiselle and Kathleen will be giving away 2 FREE home safety assessments via video call. Be sure to follow them on social media @agingevolved (Instagram and Facebook) to find out how to win a free home safety assessment.
NOTE - This giveaway is for a limited time only. Once Aging Evolved ends this promotional offer, it will no longer be available.
Conclusion
There are many small, but significant, modifications you can make to your home that can have a tremendous impact on how you live your everyday life and help to ensure your safety and independence for years to come.
To learn more about the work that Guiselle and Kathleen are doing over at Aging Evolved, read their blog, and get a free home safety checklist, you can visit their website: www.agingevolved.com
For a chance to get a free home safety assessment and gather more home safety tips, follow them on social media:
Phone: 1 -832-303-2313