Aetna recently teamed up with Grandparents.com on a survey to find out what healthy means to more than 5,000 Grandparents.com members. There is a strong focus on connections between the past and the future.
- Many grandparents these days live with family, with almost one in five respondents reporting that they live with children or other family at least some of the time. My mother lives alone but my sister lives nearby and sees her twice a week.
- A grandparent never really retires: A large number of survey respondents still work either full- or part-time. My mom sells wellness products so I can attest to that! I think a part-time vocation keeps my mom active.
- Grandparents are online! Almost half (46.3 percent) say they use mobile devices such as phones and tablets for Internet searches about health. My mom is on Facebook!
- Grandparents have a health focus. More than a quarter (27.2 percent) say they wish they had started exercising 20 years ago. More than one in seven (14.4 percent) state they wish they had started taking better care of their emotional health 20 years ago through activities like yoga and meditation. My mom takes weight lifting and line dancing classes.
One lesson we can all takeaway from our elders is to have conversations — even those difficult ones — about health and the future like a health care proxy. Another is to understand and record the family tree medical history.
Open Enrollment for health care benefits is coming up in November and if your parents or other loved ones are eligible for Medicare, it’s a good time to learn more. My mother just turned 92-years-young and she uses a concierge doctor who doesn’t take insurance. I asked an advisor at Aetna about Medicare for her and got great advice about how Medicare complements her concierge doctor by covering lab tests, medical equipment and specialists.
There are five Medicare plan choices at Aetna so there’s definitely a lot to consider to find the right one for her. I’d advise her to go with a PPO plan since her concierge doctor would recommend any specialists for her, should she need one, and the PPO will allow her to see out-of-network doctors.
Grandparents are having important health conversations with their family members. The majority (72.4
percent) of respondents say their families would know their preferences for care if they were to face a serious health concern. I think that’s great and really important.
How about you? What concerns do you have for your parents? Please share!
This is a sponsored post for Aetna. My opinions, as always, are my own.
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Such an inspiring blog to read. We should be like this, never giving up and always working hard until we managed to have a healthy life. We all have one life so why waste it on something that is not important. Doing a daily exercise and proper diet will sure to give you a healthy living.
Hi Bariatric Eating,
Yes, daily exercise and healthy eating is key! But also, less sugar consumption and anti-oxidents don’t help. I went to Spring Chicken author event and learned about the latest research on aging.
Your mom sounds awesome!! Also a true blessing for us to live next door to Ken\’s mom and have those conversations often. Thanks.
Hi Patti,
Thanks so much! Ken’s mom is lucky to live near you!
This is a great post to read. The information provided in this post has been valuable for me.
Thanks for sharing the post with the readers. 🙂
Glad it helped you Gloria!