Sorted by date Results 1740 - 1764 of 2084
The Kenai Peninsula Family Caregiver Support Program will hold the following peer support meetings in June. This month’s topic is Safety in Your Home’s Surroundings. June 2, Caregiver support meeting at Sterling Senior Center, 1 p.m. June 9, Caregiver support meeting at Soldotna Senior Center, 1 p.m. June 11, Caregiver support meeting at Kenai Peninsula Family Caregiver Support Program in the Blazy Mall, Soldotna, 5 p.m. June 16, Caregiver support meeting at Kenai Senior Center, 1 p.m. June 25, Caregiver support meeting at Forget-Me-Not Adu...
I was reading an article by Dr. Martin and he was talking about natural dementia prevention. He said that “dementia does not have to come with the territory as you get older.” At a recent Alzheimer’s Association International Conference held in Honolulu, a study was presented and the conclusion was that there are three things that should be a big part of your life to stave off the dementia demon: • vitamin D • tea • exercise Let’s start with exercise. Researchers tracked 1,200 elderly people for 20 years as part of a study on cardiovascula...
Dear Jonathan: My wife and I have a pretty modest estate. Basically, we have our home and a couple of bank accounts. We only have one child, a daughter, who will be the beneficiary of all of our assets. We know we don’t need a complicated estate plan, but at the same time, we want to make sure that what assets we do have pass to our daughter without having to go through probate. From doing our own research, we realize that we could set up a trust and retitle our home and bank accounts to that trust. If we do that, it is our understanding t...
After 17 temporary fixes over the past 11 years, Congress has approved legislation permanently blocking perennial cuts in physicians’ Medicare fees. In a rare show of genuine bipartisanship, the House and Senate both overwhelmingly passed the bill. It should become easier for doctors to make a living while taking Medicare patients and help seniors keep their doctors who accept Medicare. In a 1997 budget agreement, Congress set up a formula, known as the Sustainable Growth Rate, or the SGR, which called for annual cuts in Medicare physician p...
Health care and the ways we find health information have changed drastically over the years. New technologies in and out of the doctor's office have allowed us access to information like never before. It's incredibly easy to pull out your smartphone or tablet and search "diabetes symptoms" or "home treatments for the flu." But should we trust everything we read online? The National Library of Medicine (NLM) and Linda Shepard, registered health ministry and community outreach nurse at Providence...
About 90 percent of long-term, informal health care in the United States is provided by unpaid caregivers, typically women, who spend more than $5,000 annually in out-of-pocket expenses. A survey from the University of Alaska Fairbanks and Fairbanks Memorial Hospital seeks to better identify the strengths and needs of Alaska’s informal caregivers and to ultimately help them. “These unpaid caregivers are the backbone of our health-care system,” said Ellen Lopez, project leader and public health researcher at the University of Alaska Fairb...
As of this writing it is difficult to wrap-up the legislative session, as they are still in session (day 4 past the regular 90 day period). Legislators have not yet come to agreement on the state’s budget, which they must pass, according to the state constitution. Nevertheless, it has, to this point, been an interesting, if not altogether productive session. There are many reasons for this. This is the first year of the 29th Legislature, with many new faces in the House and Senate, as well as a new administration. After an election, there is a...
In the past few years, more than one older Alaskan has been in the news for a driving accident while medicated — with tragic or near-tragic consequences. An 82-year-old man was driving his 6-year-old grandson to school when he went through a red light, swerved onto a curb and almost hit a patrol car, the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reported. He faced charges of endangering the welfare of a child, reckless driving, and driving under the influence of several drugs, including Oxycodone and muscle r...
Comparing services using the Medicare website This month, I am going to use the Medicare website (which you too can easily use at www.Medicare.gov/home health care). The three homes I picked out to compare are the Fairbanks Memorial Hospital, the Hospice & Homecare of Juneau and the Mat-Su Regional Home Care. The first two are privately owned and the third is proprietary. All three of these institutions compare favorably as to Nursing Care, Physical, Occupational and Speech therapy, Medical...
Senior centers around Alaska are beginning to offer the Tai Chi for Health Institute’s Tai Chi for Arthritis classes just in time for May’s Arthritis Awareness Month. Created by Dr. Paul Lam, the Tai Chi for Health Institute’s 12 week program provides knowledge and exercises that are perfect for home, work or anyplace you need relief from arthritis-related pain. “We’re very excited,” says Ali Young, certified Tai Chi for Arthritis instructor at Wasilla Senior Center. “We just got certified last month.” Arthritis is the number one cause of di...
Can eating eggs help prevent type-2 diabetes? Researchers in Finland are reporting that eating eggs may benefit blood sugar metabolism. In the past, egg consumption has either been associated with an elevated risk of diabetes or no association has been found. The findings from this new study suggest that some compound or combination of compounds in eggs may help combat diabetes through an anti-inflammatory effect. The researchers looked at the dietary habits of 2,332 men between the ages of...
An interactive workshop exploring the challenges faced by organizations and facilities in providing dementia care will be offered in King Cove and Wrangell this month. • May 12, King Cove Clinic conference room, 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Contact: Kimberly Jung, 907-561-3313 or kjung@alzalaska.orgkjung@alzalaska.org. Online registration deadline: May 8 • May 21, Wrangell, at the Fire Dept. Training Hall, 9 a.m. to 1:15 p.m., or 4 to 8:15 p.m. Contact: Amber Smith, 907-586-6044 or asmith@alzalaska.orgasmith@alzalaska.org The workshops are designed for...
The Kenai Peninsula Family Caregiver Support Program will hold the following peer support meetings in May. This month’s theme is “Celebrate Your Age (It’s Older Americans Month”). May 5, Caregiver support meeting at Sterling Senior Center, 1 p.m. May 12, Caregiver support meeting at Soldotna Senior Center, 1 p.m. May 14, Caregiver support meeting at Kenai Peninsula Family Caregiver Support Program in the Blazy Mall, 5 p.m. May 19, Caregiver support meeting at Kenai Senior Center, 1 p.m. May 19, Caregiver support meeting at Anchor Point Senior...
The Medicare Minute Program is making its debut in Alaska. Launched in the summer of 2014 by the Medicare Information Office, it is quickly becoming a popular tool for seniors to educate their peers about their Medicare benefits and to protect themselves from Medicare Fraud. The brainchild of the Medicare Rights Center, Medicare Minutes was created and launched in New York in 2001. Medicare Minutes are short, engaging presentations on timely Medicare topics that are presented at local sites on a monthly basis. Volunteers are provided with...
Alaska Health Fairs, Inc. concludes its spring series of health fairs this month, featuring free health screenings and education, low cost blood tests and more. The tests can help you learn about your health and detect potential problems early, when treatment or changes in personal habits can be most effective. The test results give you and your health care provider important information about your physical condition and vital organ functions. A complete and comprehensive chemistry/hematology test is available for only $45 and panels 27...
Chickaloon Village Traditional Council (CVTC) celebrated construction of its new health and wellness building – Ahtnahwt’aene’ Nay’dini’aa den (Aht-nah Hwĭ-tănnă Nie-dĭnny-ah den) Gathering Place, meaning “Ahtna People Chickaloon Place,” – with a large group of elders, tribal leaders, community members, funders and partners at its groundbreaking early April in Sutton. The new 8,100 square foot facility will be located at 21117 E. Myers Avenue and will house an expanded C’eyiits’ Hwnax (kie-eetz haw-nah) Life House Community Health Center...
Dear Jonathan: I recently updated my estate planning, which included a new will, as well as a revocable living trust. I decided to go with the trust because I want to make sure that my estate is not probated at my death. I recently read that if all of your assets avoid probate, you don’t need to have a will because the will only controls assets you have to probate. Is this true? If so, why did my attorney insist on me preparing a will along with my trust? Jonathan says: The article you read is correct in that a will only controls the d...
We read a piece in Market Watch recently about the state of retirees today and the problems they won’t tell us about. If Market Watch is correct, and we have no reason to doubt it, then we would like to share some of our solutions to these listed difficulties. (Read the Market Watch article at http://www.marketwatch.com/story/10-things-retirees-wont-tell-you-2014-09-19) ‘Retirees are broke.’ According to the Census Bureau’s Supplemental Poverty Measure, the article notes, roughly 15 percent of people over age 65 live in poverty. Also, nearly...
Alaskan economics are connected to Petroleum prices. The price of petroleum is down and the state budget is under attack. The legislature and Gov. Bill Walker estimate the yearly budget deficit is between 3.2 to 3.4 billion dollars. There are only two ways to balance the budget; one is to reduce state spending and the other is to raise revenues. In an effort to reduce state spending the Governor has recommended cutting senior benefits by 25 percent. Senior benefits only go to those seniors whose incomes are between 75 and 175 percent of the fed...
Twice a year, Better Business Bureaus across the country sponsor free, local shredding events called “Secure Your ID Day,” in order to bring public awareness of the risks of identity theft. One of the events will be held in Anchorage on April 18 at The Mall at Sears, 600 E. Northern Lights Blvd., 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Shred Alaska will have shred trucks in the parking lot by Carr’s and will provide free shredding of up to 3 boxes. There will also be recycling for old cell phones. The Financial Fitness Fair will take place inside the Mall with...
The White House Conference on Aging (WHCoA), a special event held once a decade that began in 1961, is designed to generate ideas and discussion regarding policy development for senior programs and elder care to improve the quality of life for older people in the upcoming decade. The 2015 WHCoA is planned for July in Washington DC and will build on the work from a series of five regional forums, including one planned for Seattle on Thursday, April 2. The first regional forum was held in Florida on February 19 and can be viewed at this link http...
We’ve talked before about how our bodies process medications, alcohol and other substances differently as we age. So … what do we need to do with this information? Here are a few strategies to manage this change: Conduct a review Once a year, ask your provider to review your medicines and ask if she or he recommends any changes. The review should: • cover whether you’d benefit from a change in dosage for drugs you’ve been taking for a while, and • include a check to see if any medications...
While researchers continue to make progress in understanding the disease process of rosacea, lack of public awareness of the disorder remains a stumbling block to its control. The National Rosacea Society (NRS) has designated April as Rosacea Awareness Month to educate the public on the warning signs of this chronic and widespread facial condition, now estimated to affect more than 16 million Americans. In a recent NRS survey of 1,459 rosacea patients, 45 percent said they had never hear of rosacea prior to their diagnosis, and 95 percent said...
What retirement ‘security’? The United States ranked 19th in a recent international assessment of retirement security worldwide. This places the U.S. just behind France and just ahead of Slovenia in the rankings, while Switzerland, Norway and Australia took the top three positions. Nations were ranked in four categories: finances in retirement, health, quality of life and well-being. The United States’ comparatively low level of retirement benefits, in addition to a lack of workplace retir...
Just in time for spring celebration menus, it looks like many of us can drop the worry about eating a few eggs – yolks and all. Although the new dietary guidelines won’t be published until much later in the year, the Scientific Report of the 2015 Dietary Guidelines Committee suggests that the advice for heart healthy diets may shift from decreasing dietary cholesterol to decreasing saturated fat, sugar and refined carbohydrates. This isn’t really very new thinking – it is the painful, slow process of discovering that accepted scienti...
