Sorted by date Results 1258 - 1282 of 2084
Dear Savvy Senior: Does the VA provide any special burial benefits to old veterans? My dad, who has late-stage Parkinson’s disease, served during the Vietnam War in the 1960s. - Only Child Dear Only: Most U.S. veterans are eligible for burial and memorial benefits through the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) National Cemetery Administration. Veterans who were discharged under conditions other than dishonorable are eligible. To verify your dad’s discharge, you’ll need a copy of his DD Form 214 “Certificate of Release or Discharge from Ac...
The Alaska Department of Public Health and Social Services has awarded two grants totaling $10,000 to the Anchorage Senior Activity Center to initiate new physical fitness programs for Alaska seniors - programs to keep seniors active both indoors and outdoors. The grants include $7,000 to enable the senior center to offer the Go4Life Program, an innovative approach to developing an exercise and physical fitness program at indoor facilities, and $3,000 for an outdoor trail-walking groups project...
My husband Gary burst in the door of our cabin, peeled off his outer gear, and said, "I volunteered us to cook the turkey in our wood cook stove. They'll do everything else on their Coleman stove. Thanksgiving dinner will go on as planned!" He had just returned by snow machine from checking on our neighbors, and said he would go back to their house with the sled in a while to fetch the bird. We all had awoken to no electricity that snowy November morning back in 1979. Gary and I had only lived...
As the holidays approach we have an opportunity to enjoy our traditions, remember family members who have passed, and recount the familiar stories that brings us together as a family. Those stories have the power to shape the ways we live our lives. They are important and are perhaps best told by our seniors. Just as we may be curious about where our elders came from, what they looked like, or even what jobs they held, equally important is the gathering of our family’s health history. Knowing what diseases grandparents or parents lived with o...
The Heating Assistance Program (HAP) is designed to promote the general welfare and safeguard the health and well-being of Alaskans by offsetting the cost of home heating for eligible Alaskan residents. HAP assists households with income at or below 150 percent of the federal poverty income guidelines, who have a minimum of $200 in out-of-pocket heating costs per year, and meet all other eligibility criteria. The benefit is a one-time payment to the household’s vendor, sent to the vendor, and applied to the customer’s account as a credi...
Older Persons Action Group, Inc., earned honors for its monthly, statewide publication Senior Voice in the 27th annual National Mature Media Awards Program. The program, presented by the Mature Market Resource Center, a national clearinghouse for the senior market, recognizes the nation’s finest marketing, communications, educational materials and programs designed and produced for older adults. Senior Voice received four awards for feature stories: Long-time Senior Voice contributor Dianne Barske won a merit award for her feature story, ...
AARP Alaska, Older Persons Action Group and the Anchorage Senior Activity Center will launch a series of monthly forums in October. “Age Smart – Let’s Talk,” will be held on the second Tuesday of each month, 6:30 to 7:30 p.m., at the Anchorage Senior Activity Center. The Age Smart – Let’s Talk series is a monthly forum that focuses on a topic of interest and importance to Alaskans who want to be thoughtful about how to make good choices as they grow older. The series is developed to provide working age adults with information necessary t...
It could be worse. In fact, it was worse. In the 1800s, if you were both poor and elderly, the chances are that your family was too poor to care for you. Moreover, contemporary researchers note that, “The elderly poor were regarded as ‘a burden on the local taxes’ and were ‘despised and often treated as outcasts.’” In some places you could attend an auction selling the labor of old persons, who were then forced to work in agriculture. Gives me the heebie-jeebies. If you were poor and elderly you were likely to spend your final years in th...
Older drivers are often stereotyped as being unsafe on the roadway, however data regarding their safe driving practices reveal quite the contrary. For example, according to a recent survey from AAA, AARP and the American Occupational Therapy Association, nine in 10 older drivers fasten their seat belts when they get behind the wheel and more than a third have taken driver improvement courses. As we age, the body becomes more fragile and therefore injuries may be more severe in the event of a...
BAs many of you know, Hospice of Anchorage has been around since 1980 and is a nonprofit, 501(c) (3) organization and a partner agency to United Way of Anchorage. We are a community agency comprised of an interdisciplinary team – volunteers, nurses, social worker, volunteer coordinator and a clinical coordinator. We provide assistance with transition from life through death and to cope with loss and grief. This may be a one-time visit, periodic contact or may grow into an ongoing relationship lasting weeks, months or years. All services are pro...
The month of October is a really busy time for Alaska Health Fair, with events in many locations around the state. Our events offer free health screenings, health and safety education (for all ages), plus 11 affordable, comprehensive and private blood tests (starting at $20 and are only offered to those ages 18+). These tests can help you learn about your overall health and detect potential problems early, when treatment or changes in personal habits can be most effective. Take note that our most popular test is the Chemistry/Hematology...
The Kenai Peninsula Family Caregiver Support Program will hold the following peer support meetings in October. This month’s training focus “Awakening the Five Senses of Persons Living with Dementia.” Oct. 2, Caregiver support meeting at Sterling Senior Center, 1 p.m. Oct. 9, Caregiver support meeting at Soldotna Senior Center, 1 p.m. Oct. 16, Caregiver support meeting at Kenai Senior Center, 1 p.m. Oct. 23, open house and workshop at Kenai Peninsula Family Caregiver Support Program office in Soldotna, Blazy Mall, Suite #209, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m....
Dear Savvy Senior: I have arthritis in my hands that affects my grip strength and dexterity and makes brushing my teeth difficult. I’ve read that electric powered toothbrushes help make the job easier. Can you make any recommendations on what to get? -- Still Smiling Dear Still: For seniors who suffer from arthritis or have other hand weaknesses, an electric toothbrush is a great solution to keep your teeth clean. At the push of a button, an electric toothbrush will do everything but shake, rattle and roll to do the cleaning for you, and m...
A new tool against the flu A single dose of a new influenza drug may significantly shorten the duration of the illness in adults, according to a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine. Researchers conducted two multicenter, double-blind, randomized clinical trials. Both trials found that the drug, baloxavir marboxil, shortened the duration of flu symptoms by about one day and more quickly cleared the influenza virus compared with placebo in otherwise healthy adults. A larger,...
One of the best things about Alaska is its ease with intergenerational relations. It's not unusual to see a 90-year-old walking along a beach with their 10-year-old friend, or generations still living under the same roof. And it is especially important here where Alaska Native languages and cultures can sometimes be undercut by modern life. First Alaskans Institute will address this at its annual Elders and Youth Conference, October 14 through 17 in Anchorage. This year's theme, Na Ganiyaatgm,...
Who in Alaska is glad to hear that Medicare is not going bankrupt? Certainly the 84,000 Medicare beneficiaries in Alaska are glad to hear that Medicare is not going bankrupt. And by the way, not all those beneficiaries are elders. Medicare beneficiaries in Alaska include about 13,000 people who are younger but disabled. In 2014, the most recent year for which this information is available, total Medicare spending in Alaska was $741 million. That contributes to the incomes of thousands of healthcare providers and other health care workers in...
Whenever I tell people that I work in the field of aging, it raises more than a few eyebrows. I started working with the Diverse Elders Coalition before my 30th birthday, and even though I'm a few years older and wiser now, it still feels like few of my peers are thinking about aging, much less how they can support the generations who have come before them. And yet, it feels like all of us, regardless of age, should be thinking about aging and elders all the time. There seem to be silos that...
A growing number of grandparents are taking care of grandchildren due to the opioid abuse crisis that has swept the nation, as well as other circumstances. Of the 65 million grandparents in the United States in 2012, 7 million, or 10 percent, lived with at least one grandchild, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. And the numbers are growing. Assisting families Other factors— illness, death, loss of employment — also threatens the fabric of a family. “We actually supported a grandfather whose wife had to go to the hospital and who had a brother...
The Alaska Training Cooperative presents “Traditional Health Based Practices: Behavioral Health Continuing Education,” a foundational course on traditional lifestyles and health practices of people living in Alaska prior to western contact. Eight-hour class sessions are offered from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sept. 28, Nov. 9, Dec. 7, Feb. 8 and Mar. 8 in Fairbanks and other sites throughout the state via live, interactive, web-based delivery using Zoom. Trainees will be introduced to beliefs, attitudes, and knowledge of health promotion and mai...
Perhaps you have heard advertising that you can purchase back braces, knee braces, and other items with little or no cost to you and that Medicare will pay for them. Let’s get to the truth of these advertisements. First of all – what is Durable Medical Equipment (DME)? DME is defined as equipment that is durable, reusable and is needed to treat an illness or an injury, or to improve the functioning of a malformed body part. These are items that are designed to withstand repeated use. Med...
Daily fruit and vegetable intake matters Eating five or more servings of fruits and vegetables a day may make a bigger difference than previously recognized. A new study has found that women who eat a high amount of fruits and vegetables each day may have a lower risk of breast cancer compared to women who eat fewer fruits and vegetables. Researchers from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health found that cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli, and yellow and orange vegetables, had a...
September is jam-packed with lots of great health fair choices in your local community. Alaska Health Fair events offer free health screenings, health and safety education, plus 11 affordable, comprehensive and private blood tests (starting at $20). These tests can help you learn about your overall health and detect potential problems early, when treatment or changes in personal habits can be most effective. Alaska Health Fairs will be held at the following locations and times during September. For more information, call 907-278-0234...
The Kenai Peninsula Family Caregiver Support Program will hold the following peer support meetings in August. This month’s focus is part two of “Designing a Supportive Dementia Care Environment,” with showings from a training DVD by dementia expert Teepa Snow. Sept. 4, Caregiver support meeting at Sterling Senior Center, 1 p.m. Sept. 11, Caregiver support meeting at Soldotna Senior Center, 1 p.m. Sept. 18, Caregiver support meeting at Kenai Senior Center, 1 p.m. Sept. 25, open house and workshop at Kenai Peninsula Family Caregiver Suppo...
The Alaska Commission on Aging (ACoA) will conduct a Rural Outreach Meeting in Nome, September 12-15, 2018, for purposes of learning about elder-senior needs in Norton Sound. This meeting will include a visit to Shishmaref to meet with elders/seniors and agencies serving seniors as well as in Nome. In addition to ACoA’s board meeting and agency visits, the focus will be to gather input from seniors and their families, providers, and other public members about what is working well in Nome for older adults and what needs improvement with r...
Although Medicare Part A and Part B cover a wide variety of services and products when you are in the hospital or being seen as an outpatient, there are still cost sharing “gaps”. These include deductibles, coinsurance costs, and copayments. These additional costs can wreak havoc with your finances. Medicare Supplemental Insurance Policies, also known as Medigap policies, are designed to follow behind Medicare Parts A and B to “fill in these gaps” that are left after Part A and Part B have pa...
