Mindful Awareness The practice is gaining popularity, but what is mindful awareness?
By Jim Miller
Simple Television Remotes Designed for Seniors Dear Savvy Senior, Can you recommend some easy-to-use television remote controls for seniors? I got my 74-year-old mother a new HDTV for her birthday, but the remote control is very confusing for her to operate. Shopping Son Dear Shopping, It seems like most television remote controls today come with dozens of unnecessary buttons that make them very confusing to operate. Add in the fact that many people use two or three remotes to operate their home entertainment equipment (TV, cable box, VCR and DVD player, etc.) it compounds the problem even further. Fortunately, there are several universal TV remotes available today that are specifically designed for seniors and the technically challenged. These remote controls have bigger buttons and fewer options that make them much easier to see, program and operate.
Simplified Remotes Two popular senior-friendly products to consider are the Flipper Remote and the Super Remote SR3. The Flipper works all major TVs including cable, satellite and digital TV receiver boxes with only one remote. Available for $25 at flipperremote.com, it offers a tapered design that makes it easy to hold, and for simplicity it has only six large color-coded buttons that are exposed (On/Off, Channel Up and Down, Volume Up and Down, and Mute.) All others buttons are accessed by sliding the top panel down, so they won’t get in the way during day-to-day TV watching. Flipper also has an optional feature that lets you program up to 30 of your mom’s favorite channels for easy access. The Super Remote SR3 from
By Deborah Jeanne Sergeant
Universal Remote Control, Inc. (sold through amazon.com for around $13) is a slightly more sophisticated userfriendly remote that can control three devices — TVs, cable or satellite boxes, and DVD players. It offers a light-weight ergonomic design, large easy-to-see numeric buttons each in the shape of the number it represents, and a centrally located My Button that gives your mom the ability turn on the TV and set the tuner to her favorite channel with a single button press. It also provides four Favorite buttons for one-touch access to her favorite channels, and an All Off button that lets her shut down the entire home entertainment system with a single button press.
Super-Sized Remotes There are also a number of oversized TV remotes that are ideal for seniors with vision problems. The Tek Partner, Big Button, and Tek Pal remotes all made by the Hy-Tek Manufacturing Company (bigbuttonremotes. com, 630-466-7664) in Sugar Grove, Ill. are three solid options to consider. If you’re interested in an extra large remote control, the $40 Tek Partner — which is 5 1/2 inches wide and 8 1/2 inches long — is their biggest. It offers huge brightly lit buttons with big readable characters, and a narrowed center (3 1/2 inches), which makes it easy to handle for a big remote. It also contains only the essential functions making it easy to use and program, and it operates any combination of TV‘s, VCR’s, DVD players, cable boxes and satellite dishes. If you’re looking for something a little smaller (2 1/2 by 9 1/2 inches), there’s the $25, rectangular-shaped Big Button remote that offers the same large and illuminating buttons as the Tek Partner and the exact same features. Or, if you only want a basic remote for the TV, there’s the Tek Pal that comes with just six large buttons (On/ Off, Mute, Channel Up and Down, and Volume Up and Down buttons) that light up when pushed. Available for $19, the Pal will only work with televisions that have cable wired directly into the TV.
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he likes of media tycoon Rupert Murdoch and former South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford have publicly embraced mindful awareness. The Mental Health Foundation estimates upwards of 30 percent of general practitioners advising the therapy for depressed patients. So what is mindful awareness therapy? Some trace its roots to ancient meditation or spirituality. Others say it developed from secular psychology of the ‘70s. Perhaps both contributed to the practice. Anne Marie Farage-Smith, licensed mental health counselor with Counseling Connections in Rochester, explained how mindfulness therapy works. “A therapist can sit down and work with a client on different mindfulness exercises like focusing on the breath, sitting and walking meditations,” she said. “It’s about being in the present moment and not thinking about the past or worrying about the future. It’s something that takes practice on a daily basis until it’s a part of you. You learn to observe and notice disturbing thoughts and shift your focus from those to something not distressing to you.” The therapy can help a variety of Johnston mental health issues. Farage-Smith mentioned depression, anxiety, and addictions. “You can get a better understanding of how your thoughts relate to your behavior,” she added. “You can respond rather than react to the situation.” Our reaction to stressors can impact physical health, too. Frank Johnston, owner and therapist with Johnston Psychology Associates in Rochester, said that there are two forms of stress: how the body reacts and how the mind thinks about things. “Stress triggers cortisol, the stress hormone, and that reacts to our DNA dispositions,” he said. “If we didn’t have that stress, that DNA wouldn’t be triggered. If you study a group of people who have a very stressful
Send your senior questions to: Savvy Senior, P.O. Box 5443, Norman, OK 73070, or visit www.savvysenior. org. Jim Miller is a contributor to the NBC Today show and author of “The Savvy Senior” book. July 2013 •
event, two to three years later, there are molecular, biological changes.” Mindful awareness therapy skills can help the person better cope with current and future stressors. After a 10 to 12 week program, many patients are equipped with the skills they need to better deal with stress. Janet Chaize, licensed mental health counselor practicing in Rochester, explained that instead of letting the brain stay in the stressed “survival mode,” mindful awareness skills enables the individual to process what’s happening in a more objective fashion without negative internal messages or judgment. “You can interrupt the automatic process,” she said, “and you’re in the moment. You can see what’s going on without being so enmeshed in it. You practice it when you’re not upset so when you’re stressed, you can take three breaths, say, ‘This will change and I know what to do.’ It decreases the stress.” Instead of turning to negative means of handling stress, such as suppressing emotions, abusing substances or behaving irrationally, people can work through emotional upheaval in a positive way. “I give clients tools to move up to that non-stressed state of mind,” Chaize said. “I help clients learn to say things like, ‘Do not judge; this will pass.’ If they have a lot of negative feelings, I teach skills on doing a natural flow of feelings, expressing anger, sadness, guilt and they realize there was something unfair going on in their lives. “I help people learn to self-regulate their feelings and to lovingly observe themselves and develop a sanctuary within themselves where they’re safe. They can have compassion for themselves.”
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