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Southgate at Shrewsbury

Retirement community near Shrewsbury and Worcester, MA

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1.800.492.8331

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The Best Stress Relief Methods for Seniors

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There are great benefits to maintaining good physical health, but it is also important to take care of your mental health. Staying relaxed and centered can be a great way to keep stress at a distance, all the while improving your overall well-being.

The best part of stress relief techniques is that they not only benefit our mental health but our physical health as well. A well-rested mind and body is a recipe for a happy, healthy lifestyle. Here at Southgate, we want nothing more than for you to feel at home and stress-free.

Southgate offers many amenities and activities within the community that are perfect for taking care of your mental health and getting some much-needed rest and relaxation.

Go to the theater – Our very own Southgate theater has 200 seats and a beautiful balcony. Not only do we offer lectures, seminars, and musical performances, but in the summer we have a Tuesday concert series for everyone to enjoy. Getting out and seeing a performance can stimulate the brain and create bonding experiences among seniors.

Take a walk – Nothing clears your mind like a nice long walk, and our campus has a 3-acre park to stroll through on a sunny or cloudy day. Health experts maintain that getting exercise for just 30 minutes a day can lead to drastic health improvements, and it’s an activity that can be done alone or with a friend.

Meet up with friends – One of the best ways to relieve stress and increase mindfulness is to socialize. Maintaining social relationships and friendships can do wonders for your happiness, and there are plenty of activities around Southgate’s campus that allow you to catch up with friends. From hitting the arts and crafts studio to talking over drinks at the cocktail lounge, there’s no shortage of things to do alongside friends.

Grab a book from the library – Sometimes the best way to relieve stress is to take a break. Luckily, Southgate has a library with a fireplace and books that will allow you to escape for a bit into the world of fiction (and non-fiction too, of course!). Reading not only stimulates the brain, but is also a quiet and peaceful activity for all to enjoy.

Get some light exercise – Southgate offers many different physical activities that are both fun and count as daily exercise. The health club offers machines to get your body moving, and the indoor pool is a great place to practice different strokes while clearing your head.

It’s important to take care of your mind and body every day, and to do things that will make you feel as relaxed as possible. Southgate’s goal is to promote happy and healthy living in a stress-free environment and we hope that all of our amenities will make you feel more at ease than ever before!

The Health Benefits of Low-Impact Activities

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It’s safe to say that people are more health conscious than ever before. Seemingly every day, medical research reveals additional evidence confirming the critical roles that diet, lifestyle and exercise play in maintaining our mental and physical well-being.

Significantly, health experts constantly reinforce that physical activity need not be strenuous—or inordinately lengthy in duration—to be beneficial. The key is to adopt an exercise regimen that is within your range of capability and participate in it on a consistent basis. (As always, your safety is the number one priority, so you should consult your healthcare provider before beginning any exercise regimen.)

At Southgate, we emphasize fitness in both mind and body. (Remember: Even activities that have few physical requirements can do wonders in helping enhance your concentration and cognitive abilities.) That’s why we offer a wide range of activities—from more strenuous (e.g., bowling and swimming) to less strenuous (e.g., card playing, woodworking and arts & crafts), with low-impact activities like Tai Chi, yoga and Pilates falling somewhere in the middle.

In our on-site health club and spa, we offer periodic sessions for all three of these low-impact activities. In fact, each resident can get a customized exercise plan developed specifically for them to accommodate their current fitness level and goals.

Since there is generally less familiarity with these types of activities, this blog provides a brief overview of each one.

Tai Chi –  Originating in 12th-Century China, Tai Chi is a discipline devoted to achieving unity and harmony between mind and body. Tai Chi is highly influenced by Taoist and Buddhist traditions and recognizes maintenance of one’s health as a basic tenet (further defined as comprising the three modules of health, meditation and martial arts).

Principally involving the practice of slow movements, Tai Chi helps improve a person’s ability to balance under a variety of conditions, while simultaneously helping enhance their stability.

Pilates – Named after an early 20th-Century German physical-culturist, Pilates is a combination of exercises that promote flexibility, muscle strength, fat loss and endurance. Specifically, Pilates tends to focus on spinal and pelvic alignment, development of core strength and improvement of physical coordination and balance.

Yoga – With its roots in Northern India dating back 5,000 years, yoga is a mind and body practice that combines physical postures, stretching exercises, breathing techniques and meditation. Yoga can improve flexibility, muscle strength and range of motion. Yoga styles vary from slow and gentle to athletic and vigorous.

Many people find it easy to engage in low-impact activities, since they do not put stress on the body’s joints. In general, the benefits of Tai Chi, Pilates and yoga often include:

  • Lower blood pressure
  • Improved balance and flexibility
  • Improved sleep
  • Reduced anxiety and stress levels
  • Reduced back pain

Here at Southgate, we encourage exploring, growing and learning as the means to expand your horizons—and thereby enrich your day-to-day life. So who knows? You just may discover that one (or all!) of these low-impact activities works for you like no other you’ve tried!

Southgate & CVS Vaccinate Residents Successfully

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After several weeks of preplanning, Southgate at Shrewsbury and CVS Pharmacy orchestrated six successful vaccine clinics to deliver the COVID-19 vaccine safely and efficiently to their residents and staff.

CVS & Southgate Teams. Featured in this Photo are Kate Aleksiewicz, Lead Pharmacist and members of her CVS pharmacy staff, Southgate employees Sheila Meucci, Health & Wellness Director; Kara Ewick, Resident Services Director; Deborah Bourque, Resident Liaison; Rogerio Neves, Housekeeping Director; William Zangarine, Hampton Suites Director.

Southgate at Shrewsbury management organized the clinic to ensure that social distancing protocols were followed and that common surfaces were sanitized between each appointment. Many Southgate staff volunteered to assist in setting up and running separate pre-registration areas for temperature screening, a quiet area where staff could assist residents with paperwork, a CVS registration table, and four screened-off areas for vaccination and observation.

Not even a challenge from an impressive Nor’easter storm could halt the efforts of Southgate and CVS to safely vaccinate residents and staff. To ensure delivery of the second vaccine, Southgate provided their guest apartment with dining accommodations to CVS pharmacists, who stayed overnight to ensure the clinic could be held the day following the storm.

Lead Pharmacist Kate Aleksiewicz and her CVS Pharmacy team brave a nor’easter  to vaccinate over 200 Residents and Employee

In a letter to Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker, Southgate CEO Dana Levenson wrote, “We could not have higher praise for the folks from CVS. Our residents and employees have been thanking us for the vaccinations, but it truly should be us thanking you and CVS.”

Of the team at Southgate at Shrewsbury, Executive Vice President Patricia A. LaCross provided the following comment:

“Our Southgate staff have been very present during the last 11 months of COVID, stepping up to guard the stations at our entrances to screen guests 24 hours a day, providing services safely to the best of their ability, and working the day-long vaccine clinics to assure that operations ran smoothly, so there were no missed opportunities to vaccinate our Residents. We have a real committed staff, and I honestly couldn’t be prouder of our team. I call them Southgate Warriors!”

Last Clinic Day: Bill Zangarine and Kara Ewick presented several gift baskets to the CVS Pharmacy Team in thanks for their extraordinary effort to vaccine our entire Southgate Community.

 

Prediabetes Awareness & Diabetes Prevention: What You Need To Know

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Diabetes awareness and prevention is always a hot topic among the senior population, but what about prediabetes? Awareness of prediabetes is incredibly important to our overall health, yet the CDC estimates a staggering 88 million American adults have prediabetes and 84% of those are unaware they have it!

So what is prediabetes? Simply put, prediabetes occurs when blood sugar levels are higher than normal, but not high enough to be considered type 2 diabetes. Prediabetes doesn’t have any clear symptoms, so it often goes unnoticed and undiagnosed.

The good news is that a prediabetes diagnosis does not mean you will surely progress to having type 2 diabetes. It means you are at greater risk, but with proper mitigation and the guidance of a medical professional, it also means you are better educated and able to make the changes necessary to avoid type 2 diabetes.

How Do I Know If I Have Prediabetes?

Talk to your doctor about getting your blood sugar tested, regularly. Particularly if you fall into any of these more at-risk groups:

  • Having a family history of diabetes
  • History of gestational diabetes
  • Being overweight
  • Limited physical activity
  • African American, Hispanic/Latino American, Native American or Pacific Islander
  • Diet rich in processed meat & sugar-sweetened beverages
  • Over 45 years old
  • Tobacco user
  • Polycystic ovary syndrome
  • Disrupted sleep patterns or sleep apnea

I Have Prediabetes. What Now?

In a way, finding out you have prediabetes is a beneficial tool in preventing type 2 diabetes. Because you haven’t progressed to type 2 diabetes, you likely aren’t experiencing the symptoms associated with diabetes. You can make a few simple lifestyle changes to control your blood sugar levels and prevent the onset of type 2 diabetes.

Change Up Your Diet

If you have a lot of red meat, processed foods or sugar-added beverages in your diet, start switching those out for healthier snacks and beverages. Introduce more fruits, vegetables, nuts and whole grains into your diet. Switch your vegetable and canola oil out for healthier olive and avocado oil, and make sure to cut down on the processed foods and meats.

Cutting out those sugary beverages can be tricky if you’ve become accustomed to the sweetness. Try phasing them out by introducing new beverages you can make easily at home such as infused water or replacing it with kombucha or green tea.

Increase Your Activity

Increasing your activity levels will also help stabilize your prediabetes. You don’t need to start running marathons, just simply introduce 15–30 minutes of moderately strenuous activity into your daily routine!

woman swimming

This can take many forms, whether it be walking, jogging, swimming, or exercising with weights and machines. Physical activity helps moderate your blood sugar levels, but you will want to stay consistent!

Prediabetes awareness is very important, particularly for seniors, as it can help us make the lifestyle changes we need to ensure a longer, healthier and happier life. Be sure to talk to you doctor about getting your blood sugar levels tested regularly, and check on your diet and lifestyle. Your golden years should be just that—golden!