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“Mind after Midnight”— Why Our Brains Want to Go to Sleep Earlier

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You’ve probably heard the saying, “nothing good happens after midnight.” Now new research shows there may be some truth to going to sleep earlier rather than staying up late.

A new study published in the journal Frontiers in Network Psychology suggests that the mind is not “designed” to be active after midnight.

The research goes on to say the mind doesn’t work the same way at night as it does during the daytime. And those physiological changes at night can lead to “psychiatric disorders and unsafe behaviors.”

“I think everyone knows that getting good sleep is important for thinking clearly and making good decisions, mostly because we’ve all felt stupid and made bad choices after a bad night of sleep,” said Andrew Tubbs, one of the study’s authors from the University of Arizona College of Medicine in a recent interview. “But the amount of sleep you have is just one part of a bigger puzzle because sleep happens in the context of our circadian rhythms, the 24-hour cycles in which we live our lives.”

Mind over Matter

According to Tubbs, “People are more likely to make bad decisions when they haven’t had enough sleep and they’re awake when their circadian rhythms are telling them to be asleep. For most people, that’s between 2 and 3 AM.”

The study does point out that many people reported that their creativity spikes after midnight. Tubbs said this fits into their Mind after Midnight hypothesis. “We think that one of the big drivers of risk is behavioral disinhibition, such that people say or do things they wouldn’t ordinarily do. For someone creative, this disinhibition may help them turn off their inner critic and push forward with new and exciting ideas.”

Tubbs also added that there is very little data on what people do in the middle of the night. The study suggests further research is needed to explore the effects of nighttime activity on mental health.

 

About Advena Living

Whether you’re a night owl, early bird or self-proclaimed exhausted pigeon, there’s a place for you at our Advena Living communities. We’ll encourage a restful night’s sleep but we won’t tell you when you have to go to bed. That’s because we honor choice and we believe that community members get to have a say in how they live their lives.

We will work hard to accommodate what you want your schedule to be every day. If you typically wake up at 6 AM and start your day off with a fresh cup of coffee and a newspaper, we’ll make that happen. Similarly if you’d rather sleep in and ease into your day, we’ll help you with that too.

Advena Living specializes in skilled nursing, long-term care, rehabilitation and assisted living services throughout the state. Our name “Advena” means newcomer. We welcome newcomers seeking a senior living environment where they may continue to enjoy a full life, as well as passionate employees who want to feel fulfilled in their careers.

The Latest Buzz: Drinking Coffee Helps You Live Longer

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Your morning cup of Joe might do more than keep you awake. Turns out, drinking coffee every day could increase your lifespan.

A new study in the Annals of Internal Medicine followed the coffee habits of 170,00 people in the United Kingdom over seven years. The participants ranged from 37 to 73 years old. None of them had cardiovascular or cancer at the start of the study.

Researchers controlled factors like lifestyle, socioeconomic status and chronic medical problems.

The study found 1.5 to 3.5 cups of unsweetened and sugar-sweetened coffee was consistently associated with a lower risk for early death. This was not true for artificially sweetened coffee.

Previous studies have looked at the correlation between coffee drinking and mortality. In all studies, it was suggested that the benefit came from the substances in coffee, rather than the caffeine. That implies the benefit comes from both caffeinated and decaffeinated coffee.

Researchers are quick to point out: correlation does not necessarily mean causation.

 

About Advena Living

Start your day off with a hot cup of coffee at Advena Living. If you prefer warm tea, we have that too. It’s important to us that our community members feel at home. We believe everyone should have a say in their lives. That means deciding when to eat, wake up, go to sleep and participate in activities.

Advena Living is a family-based company in Manhattan, KS. We specialize in skilled nursing, long-term care, rehabilitation and assisted living services throughout the state.

Our name “Advena” means newcomer. We welcome newcomers seeking a senior living environment where they continue to enjoy a full life, and where their personal choices are respected and upheld.

The Importance of Having Fun in Long-Term Care

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We saw a fun video on TikTok where a senior living community did dolphin rides with their residents. They inflated a dolphin float, put it on a dolly and wheeled people through the building. It looked like so much fun that we knew we had to try that at Advena Living of Bonner Springs. As you can see in this video, our community members had a fantastic time! (Be sure to check out our Advena Living of Bonner Springs Facebook page for more fun photos and videos.)

At Advena Living, we believe you shouldn’t have to give up who you are or stop having fun just because you’re moving to a new environment.

That’s why it’s important for all of our communities to have activities and events that are entertaining and engaging.  We try to have a variety of things going on from daily activities, to events for family members and friends, to outings around town.

We value input from our community members and try to tailor our social calendars to their preferences.

About Advena Living

At Advena Living, we want everyone who lives at our communities to feel at home. Each person gets to live how they want, on their own schedule. That means having a say in when to eat, wake up, go to sleep, and participate in activities. Because we follow a person-centered care approach, we include community members in decisions that affect them.

We are a family-owned company with skilled nursing and rehab in seven locations through Kansas. Our name “Advena” means newcomer. Communities welcome newcomers seeking a senior living experience where they may continue to enjoy a full life, and where their personal choices are respected and upheld.

What to Know About Short-Term Rehabilitation

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Life is unpredictable. One minute you’re fine and the next, an accident or illness changes everything. After a visit to the hospital, the doctor may recommend a short-term rehab stay before you return home. While it may seem daunting, communities like Advena Living exist to help you get stronger and back home quicker. So what can you expect?

 

What is Rehabilitation Therapy?

Short-term rehab services or post-acute care is for individuals who are working hard to recover and return home after surgery, illness or injury.

Advena Living and other rehabilitation communities offer safe and supportive environments along with intensive therapies to help accomplish each person’s specific health goals.

 

Types of Therapies

Physical therapy focuses on improvement of coordinator, balance, strength and endurance.

Occupational therapy uses goal-directed activities to help restore, maintain and improve daily living skills.

Speech and language pathology looks at how to improve swallowing, hearing, speech and language. Speech therapists assess and provide treatment to help individuals recover lost skills or develop new ones.

 

Length of Visit

The typical length of stay is about 20 days, according to various sources, although it could be shorter or longer depending on your progress.

Medicare covers inpatient rehab in a skilled nursing community for up to 100 days, after a qualifying hospital stay meets the 3-rule. That means you must be admitted to the hospital as an inpatient for at least 3 days. The AARP Medicare Plans website provides more detailed information on Medicare Coverage.

 

Packing for a Short-Term Stay

If you do have to complete a post-hospital rehabilitation stay, you will need to bring comfortable loose clothing for therapy, as well as other personal items.

Here are a few suggestions of necessary items for your stay:

  • Shoes with non-skid soles
  • Comfortable clothing
  • Underwear, socks
  • Pajamas, robe, slippers with tread
  • Toiletries: shampoo, soap, cosmetics, toothpaste and toothbrush, etc.
  • Other personal hygiene products
  • Dentures, glasses, hearing aids, cane, walker
  • Cell phone and charger
  • Entertainment: laptop or tablet, books, magazines, crossword puzzles, cards, knitting

It is not recommended that you bring valuable items, jewelry or cash.

It is also not a requirement to bring bedding, but if you have a warm blanket or pillow that will make you more comfortable, bring those items.

 

Learn More about Short-Term Rehab

To learn more about short-term rehabilitation stays at Advena Living, call our Marketing and Admissions Director at (785) 233-8918.

 

About Advena Living

If your goal is to get well, strengthen and return to your home in the greater community, the team at Advena Living will make that our goal as well. We provide in-house physical, occupational and speech therapy services seven days a week, and we specialize in return-to-home plans and services. We can help you restore mobility, independence and autonomy as we work together on a plan to accomplish your goals to the best of our ability.

While the intention is to go home, that doesn’t always happen. For different reasons, an individual may not meet their goals and may require long-term care. Advena Living specializes in skilled nursing, long-term care, rehab and assisted living services throughout Kansas. Our name “Advena” means newcomer, which is what we do—welcome newcomers seeking a senior living environment where they may continue to enjoy a full life, and where their personal choices are respected and upheld.

The Speed of Aging: How We Age Predicts Health Issues

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Have you ever looked at someone the same age as you and thought that person looked much older or younger than you? Perhaps it’s because you are actually aging at different speeds.

A 2015 study looked at the pace of aging by studying biomarkers such as blood pressure, gum health, cholesterol, lung and kidney function, among others. The participants were all 38 years. Shockingly, after studying those biomarkers, the biological age of individuals actually varied between 28 years old to 61 years old. Those who were aging more quickly appeared older and reported more health issues.

This year, research supported by the National Institute on Aging took that data one step further to see if studying these biomarkers and the rate of aging could serve as early indicators for chronic conditions.

Aging Rate Predicts Health Problems

Researchers looked at the same participants, now seven years later at the age of 45 in hopes of coming up with a “Pace of Aging” score which would determine if someone was aging one year each calendar year, or if they were aging faster or slower than that.

The test found mid-life and older adults who scored higher were at increased risk for chronic disease, disability and mortality. The study also found young adults with childhood adversity indicated faster aging.

“Together, these measurements can help us understand the factors that drive accelerated aging in at-risk populations and identify interventions that can slow aging to build aging health equity,”

said Daniel Belsky, an assistant professor of epidemiology at Columbia University and the first author on both the 2015 and 2022 studies.

To learn more about this research, click here.

 

About Advena Living

At Advena Living, we know that age is just a number and it’s more about how you feel. That’s why we strive to be more than a traditional, institutional nursing home to give people a better quality of life. We want community members to able to continue to enjoy the simple daily pleasures, rituals and activities that make them who they are.

We know that moving to a long-term care or assisted living community can be a challenge. That’s why our team works to ensure that new residents do not feel alone and are comfortable in their new environment. We strive to make the concept of “home” a real thing for everyone who lives at our communities, no matter how they define it.

Advena Living is a family-owned company that specializes in skilled nursing, long-term care, rehab and assisted living services throughout Kansas. Our name “Advena” means newcomer, which is what we do—welcome newcomers seeking a senior living environment where they may continue to enjoy a full life, and where their personal choices are respected and upheld.

Happy and You Know It: 10 Real Ways to Attain Happiness

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Within the past couple of decades, there have been numerous studies on happiness and how to attain it. While there haven’t been any groundbreaking discoveries, a team of international researchers were able to pinpoint certain activities that are actually achievable.

Seeking Happiness

In the study, the team came up nearly 70 ways people are often told how to be happier. That number alone shows that this is a widely studied topic and people are often seeking ways to achieve happiness and lead more fulfilled lives.

Researchers then asked academic experts on the science of happiness to rate those dozens of ways to determine which ones were most feasible and effective.

Achievable Strategies

At the top of the list, they found these 10 strategies can lead to greater happiness:

  1. Invest in time with friends and family
  2. Join a club
  3. Be active both mentally and physically
  4. Practice your religion
  5. Get regular physical exercise
  6. Be nice to others
  7. Be generous
  8. Check your health
  9. Experience nature
  10. Socialize with colleagues outside of work

For the complete list, which includes volunteering, sleep and gardening, click here.

About Advena Living

At Advena Living, we believe our community members should continue to enjoy the simple daily pleasures, rituals and activities that make them who they are.

We know that moving to a long-term care or assisted living community can be a challenge. That’s why our team works to ensure that new residents do not feel alone and are comfortable in their new environment. We strive to make the concept of “home” a real thing for everyone who lives at our communities, no matter how they define it.

Advena Living is a family-owned company that specializes in skilled nursing, long-term care, rehab and assisted living services throughout Kansas. Our name “Advena” means newcomer.  We welcome newcomers seeking a senior living environment where they may continue to enjoy a full life, and where their personal choices are respected and upheld.

Making Mondays Matter: Health Habits That Stick

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The start of the new year is often filled with optimism. Resolutions are made and one-word intentions are set for who we want to become, what we hope to achieve, and what we need to change. For many people, those goals are centered around improving their health.

Still at the top of the resolutions list are exercising more, eating healthier or losing weight, and quitting smoking, according to various studies. The problem is that many people don’t follow through on their New Year’s resolutions. A report from U.S. News & World Report found that 80% of resolutions fail. Most are abandoned as early as the middle of February.

As we try to make choices to improve our health, it can be discouraging when we fail. But we need to give ourselves grace and the option to start over. The Monday Campaign, in collaboration with the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, started a public health initiative for a “fresh start” Monday mindset. Their research showed people are most open to positive change at the start of the week, and view Mondays as a time to re-set.

In the full report, the study’s authors Jillian Fry, MPH and Roni Neff, PhD, MS seek to “reframe Monday as a positive experience and an opportunity to begin the week with a new perspective.” In fact, during their research, they found that more than half of the 1,500 adults they surveyed viewed Monday as a day to “get their act together or a day for a fresh start.” Almost half of those surveyed said they would start a diet or new exercise program on a Monday.

The Healthy Monday Refresh proposes that by setting intentions in the beginning of the week we can develop lasting habits over time. The steps to making it happen couldn’t be easier: set an intention, pick an action, and make it happen. And remember, if at first you don’t succeed, there’s always next Monday.

At Advena Living, we welcome individuals to our community who are looking to make positive changes for their overall health and wellbeing Monday and every other day of the week– whether it’s a short-term rehab stay to get your strength back after surgery, or it’s a move to an assisted living facility or nursing home because you need a little extra help. By following a person-centered care philosophy, we respect and accommodate community member’s individual choices, while trying to make them feel at home. Our team values your input as we develop specific health plans to get you on the right track.

Calming Music at Bedtime: Improving Sleep for Older Adults

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Ask any parent or grandparent how to put a fussy baby to sleep, and they’ll tell you to play or sing a lullaby. The soft, lilting notes of a lullaby have long been known for putting babies and children fast asleep. What many didn’t realize until recently is that calming music can be just as effective for sleep problems among older adults.

According to HealthinAging.org, as many as 40 percent of older adults experience insomnia, and up to 70 percent have some type of sleep problem – like trouble falling to sleep, waking up too early, or waking up several times during the night. Sleep problems are nothing to yawn at either. Poor sleep can lead to falls, accidents, memory problems, depression, or just plain feeling irritable the next day.

Prescription and over-the-counter sleep aids have their own list of side-effects, so a prescription for calming music as the solution to sleep problems might be just what the doctor orders.

The study defines calming music as music with a “slow tempo of 60 to 80 beats per minute and a smooth melody.” Rhythmic music that is faster and louder is not as helpful, studies showed. The researchers believe calming music lowers levels of stress and anxiety, slows heart rate and breathing, and lowers blood pressure.

Listening to music for longer than four weeks, apparently, is more effective for improving sleep quality than shorter efforts – so if it doesn’t work the first time, keep playing the music for 30 minutes or more each night for at least a month.

At Advena Living, we love improving the lives of the people who are part of our assisted living, long-term care and skilled nursing communities. There are all sorts of cutting-edge medical interventions for health issues that arise, but there are also simple little techniques that can make people’s lives better. We believe in the power of a calming environment, not just in a musical sense, but also in the look, feel and freedom we provide our community members. Reach out to us today for assistance with any questions you have or problems you’d like to discuss, including sleep issues.

About Advena Living

Advena, which is Latin for newcomer, is built on welcoming newcomers to our communities and creating a culture that means “home” to them. Because our community members are considered part of our extended family, we give them the flexibility and freedom to live the life they want, while providing the person-centered care they need. Your life, your choice – welcome home.

Finding Your Superpowers: Nine Keys to a Long & Happy Life

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Last month, we introduced you to the concept of the Blue Zones lifestyle and its patented blueprint for happiness. Through their blue zone research, experts were able to extract nine lifestyle habits helping so many in “blue zone” populations reach the age of 100 with health and happiness. Dan Buettner of National Geographic, who helped spearhead this research, calls them the Power 9.

Think of the Power 9 as your very own superpowers, and find ways to fold them into your lifestyle or your loved one’s lifestyle:

  1. Move – and do it in ways that blend naturally into your lifestyle and are not stressful (e.g., gardening, dancing, hiking, etc.)
  2. Find purpose
  3. Downshift and de-stress
  4. Eat less meat and more plants – especially beans (yes, the musical fruit)
  5. 80/20 rule – stop eating before you’re full (stop yourself at maybe 80% full) and try to stop eating after an early dinner
  6. Have wine with that dinner (and at Advena you can)
  7. Belong to a faith community – it’s been consistently proven to add years to your life
  8. Put your loved ones first – invest in your children, love your partner for a lifetime, remain involved in the lives of your elders
  9. Find your right tribe – choosing the right people to surround yourself with can be critical. Bad habits are contagious, but so are good ones

At Advena, we want you to live long – and live well. Making a decision to choose Advena for yourself or a loved one is an easy way to achieve many of the goals on Buettner’s Power 9 list. Opportunities to live the Power 9 are all here for you and your family.

Developing a strategy for living longer and living well is something all of us at Advena hold as our first priority. That’s why we’re always doing our homework in creating our living communities to keep our residents healthy – for a long time to come. Practice makes perfect, and we’d like to think we’ve developed a few superpowers of our own.

You can read more on Buettner’s Blue Zones website for details about diet, lifestyle and all the other details Buettner’s team identified as conducive to living the Blue Zone life.

Charting a Course to Your Very Own ‘Blue Zone’ – to Live Your Best Life Yet!

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Being blue for 100 years might sound like a bad thing, but some of the latest research on longevity and human well-being suggests it just might be the thing to make you happy. Have you heard all the buzz about Blue Zones yet?

It all started back in 1999, when a couple of demographic researchers – think of them as the Lewis and Clark on the frontiers of living well – noticed a high concentration of healthy, happy men living to be a hundred. These male centenarians were concentrated in a group of villages in Sardinia, Italy.

The researchers, Gianni Pes and Michel Poulain, used a blue pen to draw concentric circles on a map identifying these villages. After their findings were published in the Journal of Experimental Gerontology, a National Geographic fellow named Dan Buettner began building on their work and identified other longevity hotspots in the world that he dubbed “blue zones.”

Buettner worked with a team of researchers and experts to isolate the reasons for the longevity and well-being witnessed in these Blue Zones. The upshot of their work was a list of nine lifestyle habits – what Buettner calls the Power 9 – that were responsible for all the long, happy lives – of not just men but women, too.

Of course, there are no guarantees that adopting these lifestyle habits will make you happy or healthy, much less extend your life, but the odds are in your favor. After all, your good genes will only get you so far, accounting for only 25 percent of life expectancy. That means your lifestyle choices can have a huge impact on how long you live and how happy you are.

Discovering the fountain of youth has been a human endeavor since humans began figuring out how to escape saber tooth tigers. Developing a strategy for living your best – and longest – life is something all of us at Advena also believe is important. So we’ve been doing our homework in creating our living communities to keep our residents healthy – and happy.

Yes, happiness was another feature Buettner found in the Blue Zones. In his latest book, The Blue Zones of Happiness: Lessons from the World’s Happiest People, Buettner explained that we would be surprised to learn what truly makes us happy.

Surprisingly, safety and security are among the most important factors that makes people happy. Having financial security makes you happier than conspicuous consumption. Living in a community where you can walk or bike where you need to go makes you happier than having to drive. Believe it or not, people who go to the dentist more often rate higher on the happiness scale.

Another factor – one that’s not so surprising – is the importance of minimizing isolation. Buettner found that prioritizing at least five to six hours of daily socialization was crucial. The old Barbra Streisand song “People” reminds us that “People who need people are the luckiest people in the world,” but apparently, they’re the happiest people in the world, too.

So how does Advena rank on the happiness scale? At Advena, we’ve long understood the importance of community. We design our living communities to minimize isolation and maximize opportunities for socializing with friends, family, Advena staff and other residents. Safety and security are hallmarks of Advena communities.

Buettner’s book targets 50 evidence-based ways to reshape not so much yourself (unlike most self-help theories) but your surroundings. Even if you’ve had trouble changing yourself, changing your surroundings can have a huge impact, Buettner believes. (Who says the geographic cure can’t work?)

In a 2017 National Geographic article, Buettner featured Costa Rica, Denmark and Singapore as three of the happiest places on earth. The article also singled out 25 of the happiest communities in the U.S. You can read more on Buettner’s Blue Zones website about diet, lifestyle and all the other factors Buettner’s team identified as conducive to living the Blue Zone life.

Also, stay turned for our second article in this series next month where we’ll take a deep dive into the Power 9 Buettner believes are crucial factors for living to 100 and beyond. We’ll give you one to practice with until next month: find a routine that sheds stress for you. Be it meditation, yoga, walking, praying, reading or any of a multitude of paths to finding peace. The important thing is simplifying and de-stressing life to live longer and better.

We’ll explore the rest of the Power 9 in more detail next time.

© Advena
© Advena