How Telehealth Benefits Seniors

At Renew Senior Communities, a senior housing company in Aurora, CO, CEO Lee Tuchfarber is highly knowledgeable in topics that impact eldercare. Lee Tuchfarber possesses a professional interest in technological innovations that affect senior health care, including wearable sensors, digital healthcare infrastructure, and telehealth.

Telehealth allows patients to access care through smart devices. Since most elderly people manage at least one chronic illness, they require ongoing medical care to monitor their health. Telehealth eliminates the need for time-consuming and costly in-person visits. Remote health care is also ideal for patients who cannot risk exposure to pathogens because of weak immune systems.

Telehealth portals can also be enhanced by the use of sensors or other apps that record things such as blood sugar and medication adherence. Telehealth options also reduce rehospitalization rates since patients recovering from acute conditions are actively monitored. With telehealth, homebound seniors can receive high-quality care without visiting a medical center.

How Brain Games Boost Brain Health

Senior housing executive Lee Tuchfarber serves as the CEO of Renew Senior Communities, a company that offers memory care, respite care, and assisted living options in Glenwood Springs and Aurora, CO. Lee Tuchfarber follows scientific developments and research on topics related to senior health, including evidence-based methods of delaying age-related cognitive illnesses such as Alzheimer’s disease.

Research has shown that activities that stimulate seniors’ problem-solving skills can slow down the degeneration of neural connections. Activities known as “brain games” are specifically designed to boost neuroplasticity, which is the brain’s ability to build and strengthen the communication between its cells.

The best-known brain games include crossword puzzles, Sudoku, and memory games. The most effective games constantly present new challenges, which increase interest and force the brain to work harder. When combined with at least two and a half hours of weekly exercise, brain games can help seniors build a cognitive reserve that helps protect them from the effects of neurodegenerative disorders.

New Insight Into Brain Structure May Shed Light on Alzheimer’s

Since its inception, Lee Tuchfarber has served as CEO of Renew Senior Communities, which oversees a portfolio of senior living communities in Glenwood Springs and Aurora, CO. Focused on the well-being of seniors, including those in memory care, Lee Tuchfarber has a keen interest on the important research studies related to Alzheimer’s disease.

A type of neurodegenerative condition, Alzheimer’s was the subject of a recent Wellcome Sanger Institute study that focused on understanding the brain structure. Published in Nature Neuroscience, the research team found that glial cells have a much more important role than serving as a glue or putty that structures and protects the neuron cells.

The Cambridge, UK-based team set about creating a 3D representation of a type of glial cells, astrocytes, within the brain’s cerebral cortex. What they found was that the star-shaped astrocytes were arranged in complex layers that were similar to the arrangement of neuronal layers.

This adds a new level of complexity to scientists’ understanding of the functioning of the brain. In particular, it is posited that through understanding their function, independently and in relationship to neuronal cells, it may be possible to more accurately chart the progression of dementia and identify specific triggers that cause Alzheimer’s disease.

The Importance of Respite Care for Caretakers

A commercial real estate development professional, Lee Tuchfarber focuses on innovative senior living facilities that help residents maintain a high quality of life. Lee Tuchfarber is CEO of Renew Senior Communities, which has locations in Glenwood Springs and Aurora, CO, and offers options for assisted living, memory care options, and respite care for patients with dementia.

According to the Alzheimer’s Association, more than 16 million Americans are currently caring for a person with Alzheimer’s disease or dementia. This type of caregiving can be extremely taxing, especially in combination with a job and other responsibilities. Respite care for the patient requiring assistance, whether for a few hours or a few weeks, offers caregivers a chance to rest and replenish their energy.

According to CaringToday.com, caregivers experience chronic illness and depression at twice the rate of the rest of the population. Intermittent relief is a vital aspect of caregiving, as it reduces stress and allows the immune system to recover from such intensive work. Additionally, gaining a bit of distance from a loved one with dementia is also helpful in maintaining perspective on the challenging situation and returning to the role with more energy.

How Learning a New Skill Improves Brain Health

Lee Tuchfarber is the CEO of Renew Senior Communities, a company with locations in Glenwood Springs and Aurora, CO. At these sites, Lee Tuchfarber oversees an operating team in charge of caregiving and respite care operations, deploying innovative experiential learning activities to improve the cognitive abilities of seniors with memory difficulties.

New experiences help generate new neural pathways and promote overall brain health. This is because the brain has an innate ability to adapt to environmental stimuli, something neuroscientists call neuroplasticity. Unlike a computer that is created with fixed specifications, the brain can continuously adapt and form new neural pathways.

Every time you learn something new, such as playing a musical instrument, the brain creates new connections between neurons, essentially rewiring itself to the new experience. When you practice the new skill, the density of the myelin builds, neurons are stimulated to allow better movement of electrical impulses, and the brain’s overall performance improves. This process enhances cognitive abilities, aids in recovery from strokes and traumatic brain injuries, and promotes overall brain health.

This effect is possible only when you learn new skills. Returning to a skill you learned years ago, but stopped, will not jumpstart the formation of new neural pathways; it will only activate dormant ones.

Proteins Predict Brain Areas Susceptible to Future Atrophy

Senior care living executive Lee Tuchfarber serves in the top position at Renew Senior Communities, with locations in Glenwood Springs and Aurora, CO. As the company’s CEO, Lee Tuchfarber oversees the assisted living and memory care facilities that work with patients who have neurodegenerative conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease.

Researchers studying brain changes in Alzheimer’s patients have linked the presence of a protein called tau tangles with Alzheimer’s symptoms. A recent study released by the University of California San Francisco Memory and Aging Center found that tau tangles may predict which brain areas will be affected by Alzheimer’s up to a year before the patient demonstrates any symptoms.

Previously, tau tangle development could be measured only on nonliving brains. However, an innovative technique now allows tau tangles in living people to appear on PET scans. In time, researchers hope this new technique will help develop individualized treatments for patients before brain atrophy begins.