The Origin Blog:
Senior Health, Wellness, News, & More

As retirement communities evolve, they become more inclusive to all older adults and continue to add services and amenities that appeal to the public. At Origin at Longwood, our community not only features these amenities, but we also have a focus on enhancing the retirement experience through the Origin way.

As retirement communities begin to focus on enhancing the lifestyle of their community members, the value of living in one of these communities steadily increases. Many older adults are unaware of the luxuries and benefits that Origin can provide to them.

As scams continue to evolve and mask themselves as legitimate business practices, it’s becoming increasingly difficult for people to realize they’re being misled. There are hundreds of scams that use a variety of techniques to retrieve personal information, sell fake products, and steal your finances. Many of scams that are popular today target older adults because they believe they are less likely to be caught.

At Origin, we take scams that target older adults very seriously and want to urge our readers to learn more about the dangers of phishing, misleading schemes, online scams, and fraud. Although we couldn’t possibly list all of the scams that are out there today, we’ve decided to highlight a few that you’re most likely to see so you and your family can protect yourselves when and if the time comes.

When preparing for a visit to the doctor, remembering all of the things you will need to bring along to the visit can be challenging. On top of that, you’ll also have to present medical history, clinic visits, personal information, and other essential documents upon arrival. Not only is finding and remembering all of this information hard to do, but it’s also frustrating when you’re not prepared.

When caring for a senior, caregivers deal with unique experiences and situations that define an extensive journey. Between working full-time, balancing family life, and caregiving, it’s common for family caregivers to become overwhelmed with their situation.

Spring cleaning is a difficult task that many people avoid doing. Over the years, things begin to pile up and take up precious space in the home. Eventually, it will come time for those things to be organized, or discarded, if you and the senior in your life value a clean house.

Although the idea of spring cleaning isn’t complicated, the process can easily become overwhelming and frustrating. It can be beneficial to have a few tips that can help expedite your cleaning process and limit the use of harmful chemicals. Origin Active Lifestyle Communities would like you to share these five tips with you and your family to help finish spring cleaning and get back to an active lifestyle!

Typically, overall wellness encompasses seven areas: physical, emotional, intellectual, social, spiritual, environmental, and occupational. Physical health is perhaps the dimension most commonly associated with wellness, but Origin Active Lifestyle Communities wants community members to flourish in all areas of wellness. One way to assist with this is through our Evergreen Salon and Spa!

According to the Mental Health Commission of Canada (MHCC), “more than 1.8 million people over 60 years of age were living with a mental health problem or illness in Canada in 2016.” The term “mental disorder” can encompass a variety of conditions including anxiety disorders, and like a physical ailment, mental health problems can worsen without proper treatment.

This month, Origin Active Lifestyle Communities is excited to feature our Whitehorn Village community member, Elizabeth, in our Community Member Spotlight!

Elizabeth grew up in Germany and at 5 years old, remembers going through the struggles and hardships of WWII in Berlin. She recalls how difficult it was once the war ended – “everyone was starting from nothing and had access to very little food.” Once Americans were allowed to fly food into Germany, Elizabeth says “the food didn’t taste good at all; freeze dried eggs and canned corned beef, but it was better than nothing!”

Origin designs, developments, and operates innovative, industry-leading, active lifestyle communities throughout Canada. Our goal is to always stay up-to-date with the changes and new technologies introduced to the senior living industry to continually improve our level of senior care.