Those of us who have reached older adulthood know that with age comes wisdom and experience, but not everyone sees it that way, especially not the rental car industry. Due to soaring insurance rates for seniors over 70, many rental car agencies in San Jose refuse to rent to older adults, but they might not tell you that until you show up to claim your wheels. To prevent any issues with your trip planning, keep the following tips in mind when trying to rent a car as a senior:

1. Ask about age maximums – many rental car companies, or individual rental franchises in certain cities may very with their age limits. While some may not allow seniors over 70 to rent a car due to the potential cost of insurance following an accident, others may put no restrictions on maximum driving age
2. Check your insurance – check with your existing insurance policy and see if it will cover a rental car if you’re driving away from your San Jose home. Using existing insurance or purchasing new insurance may allow you to rent a car from a company that otherwise has age limitations
3. Start at home – if you determine that it’s cheaper to rent a car from a local San Jose agency, get your car at home and make it a longer road trip to your destination if the savings are worthwhile!
4. Pick up the phone – while looking at car rental agencies online might be a great way to get costs, companies don’t always post maximum age limitations online. Pick up the phone, and don’t be modest about your age. Tell them you’re a senior and find out if there are any restrictions or special steps that will need to be taken to rent a car at your age

Via: About

Call Home Instead Senior Care serving elders in San Jose, Los Gatos, Santa Clara and Saratoga when seeking help for your aging parents - 408-370-6360.

When my family decided to move my mother into our San Jose home, we knew it would bring changes to the household and that it would probably be stressful since we hadn’t lived under the same roof since I was 18 years old. After talking about the fact that grandma was coming to live with us with my young children, my 4 year old daughter came to me in asked “Is Grandma going to be like our new mother?” Although I explained to my children that nothing would change in terms of the roles in our family, I had to take a big step back and wonder if this would in fact be true. I could foresee some serious problems in the future with my mom overstepping her boundaries in our household, so I talked to a San Jose doctor who treats seniors primarily. He presented the following tips, which we certainly kept in mind when bringing my mom and our children’s grandma into the home to ensure that we didn’t have any tension. I’d recommend these tips to anyone, although I will give you one warning – some tension will still occur despite your best efforts, but I’ve been told and keep telling myself that this is normal when there’s too many adults living newly under the same roof!

• All members of the family should be allowed to voice their thoughts – even after a decision has been made to move in mom or dad, every member of the family, including children should be allowed to speak their minds and make suggestions on how to make the living arrangements work for everyone
• Define roles and set expectations – all family members living under the same roof should have their roles defined in advance and should know what to expect of the changes that will be occurring
• Ask for help – when adult caregivers live with their elderly care recipients, they can feel like they’re overwhelmed with responsibility that they can never get away from; ask other siblings or family members to step in to provide respite care or help around the house
• Focus on family – establish family rituals that bridge the generational gap between all of the family members. Plan a movie night, or a family dinner so that everyone can bond over a shared enjoyable experience

Via: Home Instead Senior Care

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Call Home Instead Senior Care serving elders in San Jose, Los Gatos, Santa Clara and Saratoga when seeking help for your aging parents - 408-370-6360.

If you’re a retired San Jose senior, you’ve either played golf or know someone who does regularly, because it’s one of the most popular activities for men and women once they have retired. It’s ideal, because it combines cardiovascular activity with strength training, and allows seniors to adjust their game based on their own fitness level, either by walking the golf course or taking a cart.

As with any activity, while golf may be an ideal sport, seniors do need to exercise caution in order to prevent injury since golf can put physical strain on the wrist, shoulder, the hips and other parts of the body. Plus, when walking over uneven or hilly terrain at the golf course there is always the potential that seniors could fall or injure themselves.

There’s no such thing as being too old to golf, and as long as some simple safety tips are kept in mind, seniors can benefit from getting out in the fresh air and remaining active.

• Always warm up – seniors need to stretch before beginning a golf game, with special focus upon the arms, shoulders and upper body
• Adjust if your technique is causing pain – seniors who find that their golf swing results in pain in different areas of their body can talk to a golf professional about adjusting their swing
• Invest in the right equipment – while it may seem most economical to borrow clubs from someone who is no longer using them, clubs need to be the right weight and size for seniors otherwise they can cause strain and injury. Clothing is also important, proper, good fitting shoes that provide support can prevent injuries
• Seek medical help for pain – treat injuries immediately with ice or a hot compress in order to reduce swelling or pain, and if the injury remains, see a doctor and rest the area

Sources:

1. Suite101
2. About

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Call Home Instead Senior Care serving elders in San Jose, Los Gatos, Santa Clara and Saratoga when seeking help for your aging parents - 408-370-6360.