Sorted by date Results 1790 - 1814 of 2084
Yoga may help boost brain function in older adults A simple yoga program may be good for the brain in unexpected ways. University of Illinois researchers are now reporting that practicing hatha yoga three times a week for eight weeks may help improve sedentary older adults’ performance on cognitive tasks that are relevant to everyday life. The findings involved 108 adults between the ages of 55 and 79 years of age. Among the 108 adults, 61 attended hatha yoga classes. The others met for the s...
The Kenai Peninsula Family Caregiver Support Program will hold the following peer support meetings in February. This month’s theme is National Heart Month. Feb. 3, Caregiver support meeting at Sterling Senior Center, 1 p.m. Feb. 10, Caregiver support meeting at Soldotna Senior Center, 1 p.m. Feb. 12, Caregiver support meeting at Kenai Peninsula Family Caregiver Support Program in the Blazy Mall, 5 p.m. Feb. 17, Caregiver support meeting at Kenai Senior Center, 1 p.m. Feb. 24, Caregiver support meeting at Soldotna Senior Center, 1 p.m. Please j...
The 7th Annual We Are All Elders In Training Summit will be held March 3 and 4 in Fairbanks at the Raven Landing Community Center, 1222 Cowles Street. This year's theme is "Inspired Aging; Limitless Opportunities." The event features presentations by elders sharing their life experiences and strategies for aging and well-being. Each sharing will be followed by group discussions targeting issues around aging and mental health. The public is encouraged to join for group discussions and closing...
Medicare is like a government octopus, with its tentacles stretching into almost every aspect of senior life. With its policies affecting 50 million beneficiaries, this agency has a lot going on simultaneously. Sometimes, policies it puts in place get lost in the shuffle, as it has with its obesity program (see below). Other times, people figure out how to game the system, resulting in huge fraud and abuse. So as often happens at year end, the agency, formally known as the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), has been issuing...
The New Year, 2015, represents a landmark year for one agency, AK Child & Family. "It's our quasquicentennial," states Denis McCarville, president and CEO. "How many organizations or businesses in Alaska can make that claim?" Hardly any, even if they know what quasquicentennial means. "The agency can trace its roots back to 1890, so it is our 125th anniversary, our quasquicentennial," he explains. The history of AK Child & Family underscores not only its roots as a faith-based center meeting uni...
Seniors in Alaska are asked to complete many surveys, needs assessments and questionnaires that try to determine who people are and what they need. These surveys help policy makers and service planners to know where gaps are and how funds should be distributed. But until now there has never been a survey that tries to identify who older lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people are and how their aging experience might differ. At last January’s annual Alaska Public Health Summit, three organizations presented a seminar on the u...
It happens every New Year. Immediately following January 1st, all of the treadmills will be occupied and classes at your local gym will be full of people looking for a healthy start to the year. According to USA.gov, two of the top six New Year’s Resolutions every year are “Get Fit” and “Lose Weight.” After all of the delectable temptations seasonally popular between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day, it’s easy to see why improving one’s health through exercise is always a top resolution. Your Better Business Bureau recommends taking a look at BB...
Millions of Americans are suffering needlessly with chronic pain, according to a new book, A Nation in Pain. The author, Judy Foreman, calls the opioid wars not only medical but psychological, economic, political and cultural. We are suffering needlessly in what she calls “an unrecognized health epidemic.” Pain is the main reason seniors visit their doctors. Research has shown that 50 percent of older adults who live on their own and 75 percent to 85 percent of the elderly in care facilities suffer from chronic pain. Yet, pain among older adu...
Attitudes about marijuana and its use are changing nationwide. Alaska, along with Washington, Colorado and Oregon, has lifted the prohibition on its use. The voter-approved changes in each state are expected to bring in millions of dollars through taxes. However, the real windfall may be for Alaska residents and others with chronic health problems. The active ingredient in marijuana, tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, is now showing promise for treating chronic pain conditions, nerve pain and nausea...
If affording your prescriptions is a challenge, please don’t turn to ‘cost-cutting’ measures like going without, or maybe taking one pill a day instead of two, or splitting your pills and only taking half your prescribed dose. These can end up costing you far more than they save you. There are almost always ways to make your prescriptions affordable. First, tell your pharmacist you need something cheaper. Sometimes you can take a less expensive medicine instead. For example, the New York Times...
Breast cancer vaccine showing promise The New Year is ushering in new hope for women who have advanced breast cancer. Researchers are now reporting success with a novel breast cancer vaccine that appears to be safe and effective for helping women with metastatic breast cancer. Preliminary evidence also suggests that the vaccine specifically primes the patients’ immune systems to attack tumor cells and help slow the cancer’s progression. The vaccine causes the body’s immune system to hone in on...
The Kenai Peninsula Family Caregiver Support Program will hold the following peer support meetings in January. This month’s theme is National Senior Independence Month. Jan. 6, Caregiver support meeting at Sterling Senior Center, 1 p.m. Jan. 13, Caregiver support meeting at Soldotna Senior Center, 1 p.m. Jan. 15, Caregiver support meeting at Kenai Peninsula Family Caregiver Support Program in the Blazy Mall, 5 p.m. Jan. 20, Caregiver support meeting at Kenai Senior Center, 1 p.m. Jan. 27, Caregiver support meeting at Soldotna Senior Center, 1...
If you’re like most of us, you detest those darn child-proof caps that come on every medication. In fact, you may have tossed the troublesome lids. And you may be in the habit of keeping your medications on bedside tables or other easily reachable places. You should know, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reports that 80 percent of emergency room visits are from medication overdose among kids 12 and under, usually because they were curious when they found medicines that resembled candy. That’s the equivalent of four busloads of kids, eve...
An ethical will is a document which expresses your wishes, hopes and maybe blessings. It’s something you share with family members while you are still alive. Sound unimportant? Think about it. You could look at it as a way to impart wisdom to those you will leave behind. It’s easier than a memoir and a good way to convey important ideas. I had a friend – Annette – who suffered a serious brain injury at age 42. Before she went into a surgery, which she knew she might not survive, she wrote short letters to her daughters, husband, parents...
Medicine helps us tremendously, but occasionally we experience negative side effects, allergic reactions or other problems. Sometimes they’re quite serious. It’s important to be aware of potential problems so you can watch for them and report them right away before they become dangerous. An Anchorage woman recently contacted me and asked me to share her tale, in the hopes that it might spare others some of the trouble she’d had. I agreed, because I’ve heard so many similar stories over the yea...
My friends, I always regret it when I have to report not so good news to you. The Medicare Part D Prescription Drug Plans for 2015 are the unpalatable ones that I always knew they would be since the program started – there are no good policies that I can suggest to my clients. The lowest premium (Humana Walmart) is $15.60, but it comes with a whopping $320 deductible. In fact, most of the plans have a deductible of $320. Why do you think that is? Is this collusion? And why is there still a ...
This month I am foregoing my monthly Veteran Healthcare Report to allow the following story to run. The article is the sole opinion of the author and does not constitute an endorsement by the Senior Voice. Self inspection record raises questions about 176th Medical Group By LINDA DUNEGAN, Lt. Col., AKANG, MSC, PhD, Ret. What is the mission of the Alaska Air National Guard? They are citizen airmen / militia. They defend and protect Alaskans from the enemies both foreign and domestic. Alaska’s 1...
Healthy Christmas party choices This Christmas season the nutritionists say think red wine, dark chocolate and berries for heart health. New studies show you need to watch for the calorie counts and added sugars but these foods in particular may help fight heart disease and protect the brain. Berries, including blueberries, cranberries, raspberries and strawberries are a good source of beta carotene and lutein, polyphenols, vitamin C, folate, potassium and fiber. Red wine contains resveratrol,...
Last summer’s viral “ice bucket challenge” focused attention and helped raise money for ALS – amyotrophic lateral sclerosis – a disease that impairs motor function so people often can’t talk or even move. But while public attention focused people on the disease, Medicare changes already in the works could now seriously curtail coverage of communication tools that ALS patients need. Unless it is delayed, beginning Dec. 1, people with ALS could lose access to technological advances that allow them to better communicate, as a result of what Med...
The Kenai Peninsula Family Caregiver Support Program will hold the following peer support meetings in December. This month’s meetings will focus on fall prevention. Dec. 2, Caregiver support meeting at Sterling Senior Center, 1 p.m. Dec. 9, Caregiver support meeting at Soldotna Senior Center, 1 p.m. Dec. 11, Caregiver support meeting at Kenai Peninsula Family Caregiver Support Program in the Blazy Mall, 5 p.m. Dec. 16, Caregiver support meeting at Kenai Senior Center, 1 p.m. Dec. 30, Caregiver support meeting at Soldotna Senior Center, 1 p.m. P...
A series of online trainings will be available beginning in January, sponsored by the Area Health Education Center (AHEC), UAA Office of Health Programs Development, and the Trust Training Cooperative. The series is a partnership with the Northwest Geriatric Education Center, and will offer 10 weeks of trainings from Jan. 6 through March 10, to Alaska via virtual classroom on the Internet. The series is designed to give community-based providers working in the field of aging – physicians, nurses, physical and occupational therapists, p...
The Alaska Commission on Aging will hold its quarterly meeting Dec. 10 and 11 in Anchorage at the Anchorage Senior Activity Center. Public attendance is encouraged. Commissioners will hear presentations from and about senior service programs and agencies, including the Division of Senior and Disabilities Services; Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority; Anchorage Senior Advisory Commission; UAA Geriatrics; Alaska Housing Finance Corp; Long Term Care Ombudsman; AARP; AgeNet and more. A public comment period will be held Dec. 10 from 11 to 11:30...
The Juneau Economic Development Council (JEDC) has released the Juneau Senior Housing and Senior Services Demand Study, completed by AgnewBeck Consulting and Northern Economics. The report estimates current gaps and forecasts the demand for housing and services needed by Juneau’s seniors in the coming decades. The study’s goals were to estimate the number of Juneau residents that need and are likely to move into assisted living if it were available, as well as educate the public about senior housing and services available in Juneau, waiting lis...
Dear Jonathan: I am a widower and 50 percent owner of a small business which employs two of my children. I am at retirement age now however I am not ready to stop working quite yet. I am thinking that I should probably update my estate planning because the last time I did this was over 30 years ago when my wife was still alive. Another reason that I want to update is that my children who work at the company have expressed an interest in receiving my ownership in the business after I am gone, so I want to make sure I address that in my plan. Doe...
Q. How can I explore the various settings in Gmail without messing up what I currently have? Is there any place I can see demonstrations of what the various Gmail features and options do? A. Any changes you make to Gmail through its user settings are easily reversible by returning to the setting in question and changing it back to the way it was. As an alternative, since Gmail is free, you can create a test email account for yourself, then experiment until your head explodes. If you test settings in this manner and find something you...
