Staying well in retirement by self monitoring: How Sandra supports Ron to be active every day

HUNTINGDON, U.K. - Sept. 4, 2013 - PRLog -- Being active throughout our lives is one of the best investments we can make in our health, especially as we get older. Dementia, Alzheimer’s, loss of cognitive function as well as long term conditions such as: diabetes, heart disease and cancer are all diminished or held at bay if we stay busy and keep our levels of physical activity high.

Sandra and Ron have taken the initiative to do just that and use the technique of self monitoring to ensure that they remain well in their retirement.

Sandra helps Ron (80 years old) to be active by monitoring the number of steps he takes every day with the Activ8rlives system. They have gained insights and valuable lessons by self monitoring and this is helping them in their planning. Ron and Sandra spend the winter months in Malta and the summer in the UK. Sandra immediately noticed that Ron’s daily levels of activity were influenced by the climate and day length. During their time in Malta, Ron typically achieves 12,000 steps per day (about 90-100 minutes of activity a day - excellent for anyone of any age) but as soon as he returns to the UK in March, his activity levels decrease by 50%. This gradually increases again as the days become warmer and the day length increases as the UK's "summer" arrives.

By working together and through self monitoring, Sandra and Ron have learned about their activity patterns and are working on simple ways to make small changes during colder weather to ensure they remain active. Ron is well on his way to achieving a Gold Medal with Activ8rlives, which means he would have completed 175 days of doing 10,000 steps a day, which equates to about 80+ minutes of walking for Ron on each of those days.

Sandra explained: “When Ron goes to the out of town supermarket he always parks far away from the entrance so he has a good walk and the same when he is in town, he will park in side streets away from the town centre and walk into town. If the weather is fine he will walk down to get the newspapers instead of using the car. It all helps!” And saves on parking charges too!  When it is colder, he has taken to walking around the indoor shopping mall to get his step count up.

Few developed societies around the world have tackled the magnitude of the problem of long term care of the elderly. With increased longevity the burden of long term health conditions and disabilities will fall increasingly to informal care.

The KPMG's report: An Uncertain Age: re-imagining long-term care in the 21st century, argues that an ageing population coupled with greater geographical mobility, means that a reduction in family support is becoming a reality.

With long term care being highly labour intensive, embracing the use of technology should bring significant efficiencies and improved quality of life for the elderly: “Health monitors are especially useful for people with cognitive and physical disabilities as carers and health professionals can monitor vital functions and detect emergency conditions and developing diseases at an early stage.”

Richard Humphries a Senior Fellow at The King’s Fund commented within the report, “Telecare is just taking off. There is more evidence now about its benefits in terms of keeping people out of hospital, keeping people independent and the prices are now coming down. We need to shift to a model where people can buy these Telecare products themselves.”

Activ8lives says: If we are as active as Ron when we are 80 years of age, we will be very pleased with ourselves. Research studies consistently demonstrate that being active in later life and in retirement delays dementia and other conditions associated with old age – much more so than doing brain training exercises or the crossword every day. It also helps us to control our existing health conditions that we tend to develop as each of us gets older. This case study also shows how people of all ages can learn to use self monitoring techniques for themselves and can use this to adjust their daily routine so as to defend themselves against illness. This does not require healthcare professionals to be monitoring us all the time - most of us can monitor ourselves if we have the tools available and we are taught how to use them.

Keep it going Ron and Sandra – what a great example to us all.

For more information on Aseptika Ltd and Activ8rlives and products, please visit: www.activ8rlives.com

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Activ8rlives and Activ8rlives.com are trademarks of Aseptika Ltd.

About Activ8rlives

Activ8rlives provides tools for self-monitoring with the ability to receive eMentoring from the family group, self-help groups or from clinical teams. The Company offers a range of health monitors, from step counters through to electronic “smart” scales, smartphone food diary apps to peak flow meters and pulse oximeters. The online communities combine empowerment through self-monitoring with the added dynamic of group support and motivation. Groups can be led by clinicians or used to provide one to one coaching, to improve clinical outcomes.

Users can track: physical activity, body measurements and weight, lung function and cardiovascular health, blood glucose, HbA1c, cholesterol, C-reactive protein, International Normalized Ratio (INR), medication and bacterial infection markers. Custom trackers such as: dress size, training sessions, pool laps per session, and runs per week, sleep duration, allergy reactions, mood, fertility, temperature - in fact anything that can be measured – can be created. Users can join groups of like-minded people or set up their own group to share their successes with family, friends or colleagues in a secure environment. Activ8rlives is free to use and there are no joining or subscription fees.

Caption 1: Retirees Sandra and Ron keep active every day to maintain their health and wellness.


For press information, please contact:

Jessica Auton, Marketing Director, Aseptika Ltd (Activ8rlives)

jessica.auton@aseptika.com

Direct +44 (0)1480 352 821

Mobile +44 (0)7455 922 122