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Running Start/HEA150 - Health/Week 10/Discussion Replies Week 10.md

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+### Replying to Robert
+Hi Ruopu,
+ I didn't read the article about safe practices for online dating, but I agree that older people might not be as familiar with things that seem obvious to us now. Especially since online dating is something that really wasn't a thing too long ago, many people who are now older didn't grow up with it existing and learning about the benefits and downsides. For the video from Jimmy Kimmel I was actually surprised with how much the interviewees were willing to share. It did seem like many of them were hesitant but a lot of them did end up answering the questions asked.
+
+
+### Replying to Rui
+Hi Rui,
+I also read an article about the difficulties that LGBTQ+ people face in assisted living homes. One of the things that stood out to me was the idea that many of these people have to go "back into the closet" and hide who they are in order to get adequate care in an assisted living home. I agree that it is essential to create environments for older LGBTQ+ people to live as they age and I hope that the introduction of new training for staff and programs can help.
+
+### Replying to Hassen
+Hi Hassen,
+I also read the article about the challenges for LGBTQ+ people in places for long-term care. The statement about having to "go back into the closet" stood out to me when reading as well since it seems like they have to move backward in terms of their self-identity in order to move forward in their life. Especially since assisted-living homes are supposed to be a place to receive care and have more opportunity than living at home, it seems counter intuitive that many people have to leave an integral part of themselves behind to receive this care.
+
+### Replying to Johan
+Hi Johan,
+When reading the article about the challenges faced by LGBTQ+ people in assisted living facilities I also didn't make the connection about the backgrounds of many nursing home staff. It seems like there are many different factors that come to together including the cultural norms from the nursing staff, lack of training, and cultural norms from the others living there. It is especially challenging now since the people currently in assisted living homes grew up during a time when social norms in the United States around gender were much more restrictive and less accepting than they are today.

Running Start/HEA150 - Health/Week 10/Discussion Response Week 10.md

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+1. I read the article "What LGBTQ Seniors Face in Assisted Living and Care Facilities" from the Minneapolis-St. Paul Magazine. This article discussed many of the challenges of aging LGBTQ+ people who are starting to need to go into long-term care. It discusses how many assisted-living homes have a lot of discrimination and how many LGBTQ+ people have to go into the closet for long-term care. The article then goes into the current lack of training for staff on meeting the needs of LGBTQ+ people. This results in them not knowing how to properly care for everyone and means that many assisted-living homes are not a good option for aging LGBTQ+ people. One part of this article that stood out to me was when it discussed that another challenge for aging LGBTQ+ people currently is that many of them do not have adult children to help care for them. This is dues to same-sex marriage not being legalized when most of them were of childbearing age and adoption and fertility options being much more limited. I hadn't thought of this, and it was memorable since it is a unique challenge that only current aging LGBTQ+ people are facing.
+2. I chose to read the article "Sexuality and Intimacy in Older Adults" from the National Institute on Aging. This article discussed many changes that might occur in people's sexual lives as they age. It says how many older people redefine what sexuality and intimacy mean to them and might look for different things than they had previously. The article talks about both physical and emotional changes such as fewer distractions, more time, and health conditions. It then goes through a list of things that might cause problems in the sexual lives of older adults such as arthritis, chronic pain, dementia, and heart disease. There are many medications and other ways to get around these challenges, and this reading suggests solutions such as exploring new options or looking for medications.
+3. One of the things that I was surprised about in the video was the openness that many of the older people interviewed discussed their sex lives with. The older adults in my life don't discuss these things, likely since there is the idea that they aren't appropriate to discuss with others. It seems like especially with older people it is seen as socially inappropriate to discuss sex or sexuality with others.

Running Start/HEA150 - Health/Week 10/Search and Report Week 10.md

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+[[Health Week 10]]
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+1. I inquired on behalf of myself and chose the web-based questionnaire.
+2. The questionnaire started by giving me 4 words to remember. After giving me the words it had a list of 10 simple math questions to answer such as 14 - 6 or 26 + 15. Once these were done, There were 10 questions where I was given a color with a letter removed and had to type the full name of the color. The questions included words like "gren" and "ble" and I had to type in "green" and "blue." After this they asked you to type in each of the four words that were given to you at the start to see if you had remembered them. I was able to remember all the words without any clues so the site said that there is likely no cause for concern for my thinking or memory.
+3. I watched the video "Ray and Mariel: Living with Young-Onset Dementia." This video described the story of Mariel and her father Ray who was diagnosed with Alzheimer's at the age of 52. The video illustrates the challenges that come with early-onset dementia and the many changes that take place in those who have the condition. One of the things it describes is how Ray lost his ability to speak and form coherent sentences which shows an impact to his intellectual wellness since he is no longer able to focus on speech. The video also describes how "to an extent his world has shrunk a lot" which shows an impact on social wellness as well. Since it is much harder for Ray to leave the house and he isn't able to communicate with others very well it is likely hard for him to maintain social relationships outside his direct family who are caring for him. Early-onset dementia can also have impacts on the wellness of those around the person diagnosed. The stress of having to care for someone with this condition can have an effect on emotional, intellectual, and social health since so much time has to be put in to care for them.
+4. One item on the list from the Alzheimer's Society that could help to reduce my risk for dementia is making sure to regularly exercise. I do exercise now, although most of the things that I do are focused on strength work and not cardio. The Alzheimer's society recommends working on both strength and cardio regularly to reduce the risk of dementia. This could look like me going on a run a few times a week in the morning to work on my cardio as well as continuing to do strength work.