Spring cleaning: It’s about more than just your home
By Mitchel Rabinowitz, Occupational
Therapist with the
Visiting Nurse Service of New
York (VNSNY)
If you’ve watched the recent
Netfl ix hit Tidying Up
with Marie Kondo or read the
best-selling book behind the
craze, you likely understand
the importance that a good
“spring clean” and valuation
can have on your home and,
more importantly, your life.
Marie Kondo’s “KonMari
method” encourages people
to assess their belongings and
rid themselves of clothing,
books, papers, miscellaneous
items and sentimental items
(in that order) that no longer
“spark joy.” Her method has
been hailed not only as an effective
technique for organizing
people’s homes and environments,
but also for its
ability to completely shift the
psyche of all those who employ
it. Clutter—be it in your
apartment, your mind or otherwise—
can negatively infl uence
many aspects of human
health, including mood, stress
levels, memory and even emotional
intelligence. As Kondo’s
clients know, and as research
supports, the benefi ts of decluttering
can improve everything
from sleep to focus to
life satisfaction.
I may not be a best-selling
author or Netfl ix star like Ms.
Kondo, but as an Occupational
Therapist (OT) with the Visiting
Nurse Service of New York
(VNSNY), I do work with people
of all ages who, following
surgery or as the result of a
health crisis, need to pay special
attention to keeping their
homes organized, orderly and
safe.
One of the fi rst things OTs
do to help people streamline
or modify their everyday activities
(or “occupations”)
is to provide evaluations of
the home and other environments,
coming up with adaptive
training strategies and
educating patients and family
caregivers about new routines.
We do this all with the end
goal of making our patients’
environments and day-to-day
lifestyles work for them. So,
while Marie Kondo might ask
a client “What sparks joy?”
as an OT, my colleagues and
I are more likely to ask “What
works for you?”
In the spirit of spring cleaning,
here are a few bits of advice
I regularly share with patients
and their caregivers to
help them tidy up their homes
and lifestyle habits, allowing
them to stay engaged and
to maintain the skills needed
to function in day-to-day activities,
all of which operate
around the central subject of
what works for each of them.
Keep the Items You Use—
and Make a Plan for What You
Don’t
Mitchel Rabinowitz, Occupational Therapist with the Visiting Nurse Service
of New York (VNSNY), with one of his patients.
Soundview Coalition spreads news about vaping
BRONX TIMES REPORTER,76 APRIL 26-MAY 2, 2019 BTR
If you’re between 50 and 85,
it’s likely that your home has
accumulated, well, a lifetime’s
worth of stuff! It’s easy to let
years of tax returns, remnants
of old jobs, sentimental
objects from friends and family
and other relics of the past
amass, but a cluttered home
is not just an unhappy home:
It’s an unsafe home. Having
extra stuff around your house
exacerbates the risk of tripping
and experiencing a fallrelated
injury. What’s more, if
your eyesight is declining, it
can seriously increase the diffi
culty of fi nding items you do
need. Be merciless in your decision
making about what to
keep and what to let go of and
follow through once you decide.
Consider utilizing storage
rental spaces in your area
for items that are no longer of
use to you or donate anything
that could be of use to someone
else. Remember, stuff is
just that—stuff!
Small Modifi cations Prevent
Big Injuries
It’s easy to overlook things
in your home, especially when
they have been the same for
many years, but those with
mobility issues and those over
the age of 65 do so at their own
risk. The CDC reports that
more than one out of four older
adults experience falls each
year, and three million are
treated at the emergency room
for fall related injuries. Small
adjustments, such as taping
down a rug, installing a grab
bar in the shower or using a
rubber mat in the bathroom,
will make a substantial difference
in creating a safer home
environment in which to age
in place. Check out this How
to Prevent Trips and Falls in
the Home video for more suggestions.
Rearrange Your Stuff to
Meet Your Priorities
When I evaluate people’s
homes, I think about clients’
safety and convenience. Reorganizing
your home may seem
daunting, but it is critical to
reducing injury from overstraining
or falling. For example,
if you love to make eggs
every day, but reaching for the
frying pan is putting a strain
on your back, swap out your
pan location for somewhere
more readily accessible. Keeping
appliances—even small
appliances, like a hair dryer—
in a readily accessible place,
as opposed to the back of the
under-the-sink storage cabinet,
is a good way to avoid losing
your balance or risking a
fall. Simple steps can make all
the difference!
Mitchel Rabinowitz is an
Occupational Therapist with
the Visiting Nurse Service of
New York. To learn more about
the wide array of home care
services available through the
Visiting Nurse Service of New
York, please call 1-800-675-
0391, or visit www.vnsny.org.
Working with a grant
from the NYC Department of
Health and Mental Hygiene,
the Soundview Drug Free
Coalition has been going
throughout the Soundview
community warning community
groups about the dangers
associated with e-cigarettes
and fl avored tobacco
products.
One of the fi rst stops was
the Soundview Senior Center
where Anne Johnson,
the Coalition chairperson,
spends some of her free time.
“What’s unique about our
community,” said Johnson,
“is the fact that many of our
seniors are actually full time
caretakers for youth living
in Soundview Houses and
these same youth are the targets
of the vaping ads.” She
notes that “Ads like the one
below are not meant for an
adult audience and are specifi
cally targeted to young
people, suggesting that it’s
cool to Juul.”
Jamaal King, program director
at the nearby Phipps/
Soundview Community Center,
stated that “E-cigs and
Juul products have become
popular in the past year or so
and now they’re everywhere.”
In March, 2019, the Soundview
Community Center
sponsored a workshop on
vaping and fl avored tobacco
products attended by over 30
young people from the community.
According to King,
many of the young people
played down
the dangers of vaping,
noting that “everyone does
it” and that “it’s safer than
smoking real cigarettes.”
Dr. José Rivera, a substance
abuse prevention expert,
advised the young people
at the community center
that vaping most often results
in a higher amount of
nicotine going into the system
than even regular smoking
and that there are known
adverse effects of nicotine
addiction on the adolescent
brain.
For some of the parents
present, Dr. Rivera explained
that “the process, now known
as Juuling, refers to one of
the e-cigarette products that
looks almost identical to a
thumb drive for a laptop and,
thus, easily concealed.”
At the senior center program
in April, seniors in the
Soundview community were
given a thorough briefi ng on
all of the available e-cigarette
and fl avored tobacco products
available in the community.
Among the revelations
made at the senior workshop
was the fact that one pod inserted
in a Juul device and
consumed within 15 minutes
is the equivalent of smoking
a full pack of 20 cigarettes.
Dr. Rivera noted that “the
adolescent brain is already
susceptible to addictive substances
and the use of this
concentrated amount of nicotine
only makes the addiction
more likely to occur.”
The Coalition meets on
the second Tuesday of the
month at Odyssey House on
Soundview Avenue.
S SHOP OUR CLASSIFIED S
PAGES EVERY WEEK AND
SAVE MONEY
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