Giving Back: To the Community

The effects of aging could make some seniors feel they can no longer give back to their community or help family and friends.

But every day, older adults across North America prove that – with a little help – seniors can still make a difference. The Home Instead Senior Care^® network has captured simple and adaptable ideas from seniors and care community professionals to create the “Give-Back” program.

The “Give-Back” program is a series of resources for caregivers and care community activity professionals who are trying to help keep even frail and isolated seniors engaged and provide them opportunities to help others. Some projects can be adopted by an individual; others are ideal for group projects or as a meaningful activity with friends.

The need to be needed does not diminish with age, experts say. Keeping seniors connected and giving back might even help them age with better health, and help reduce feelings of isolation and depression. 

Most of us know someone who is ill, isolated, depressed or down on their luck. Look for opportunities to encourage a senior to help others. A family caregiver can assist by providing transportation and encouragement.

·         Churches/Faith Community – A senior could be a greeter, either standing or sitting. Or perhaps that older adult could help make a meal, bake cookies or even send greeting cards. Get started: Contact your local church or synagogue to find out how your senior may help.

·         Shelters – Homeless shelters and other emergency shelters rely on the goodness of others to survive with donations of time, talent, food and clothing. Get started: Call local homeless shelters and emergency shelters to discuss their needs and how to help.  

·         Where others need a friend – Encourage your senior to invite a friend to dinner, the mall, a museum or a local attraction, such as a botanical garden. Remember those in care communities likely want to go on outings if they still can.  Get started: Help coordinate a fun activity for a senior and his or her friend.

·         Senior Center – Senior centers can be great places for older adults to volunteer. Many centers need kitchen assistance, help with repairs and cleaning, or greeters who can make others feel at home. Get started: Encourage a senior to get involved by eating meals at the local senior center or taking part in the center’s activities.

·         Where people need help – Needs are all around, from reading to the blind to providing expertise for a community service project. Get started: Contact your local Area Agency on Aging or Chamber of Commerce to find out what’s going on and how a senior could help.

For more resources and volunteer stories, go to SalutetoSeniorService.com.

New Report: Seniors Vulnerable to Extreme Heat

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are urging people – senior citizens in particular – to prepare themselves for the extreme heat of summer after releasing a report showing the U.S. averages 658 deaths a year from this heat. That’s more deaths than from tornadoes, hurricanes, floods and lightning combined. In this new report, more than two-thirds of the deaths (69 percent) occurred at home, and 91 percent of those homes lacked air conditioning. Most of those who died were unmarried or living alone, and 72 percent were male.

“Taking common sense steps in extreme temperatures can prevent heat-related illnesses and deaths,” says Robin Ikeda, MD, MPH, acting director of the National Center for Environmental Health and Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. The CDC is urging Americans to stay cool, hydrated and informed. Extreme heat affects everyone, but the elderly, children, the poor or homeless, persons who work or exercise outdoors, and those with chronic medical conditions are most at risk.

Extreme heat can lead to very high body temperatures, brain and organ damage, and even death. People suffer heat-related illness when their bodies are unable to compensate and cool themselves properly.

A study released recently in CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report found that 7,233 heat-related deaths occurred in the United States from 1999 to 2009. And, an analysis of 2012 data indicates that deaths are on the rise. In a two-week period in 2012, excessive heat exposure resulted in 32 deaths in four states – four times the typical average for those states for the same two-week period from 1999-2009.

http://www.cdc.gov/extremeheat/seniors.html

Driving with Pets Not a Good Idea

Seniors who regularly put their dog in the car whenever they drive are increasing their risk for being involved in a vehicle collision, say University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) researchers. They say both overall and at-fault crash rates for drivers 70 years of age or older were higher for those whose pet typically rode with them.

 “This is the first study to evaluate the presence of pets in a vehicle as a potential internal distraction for elderly drivers,” said Gerald McGwin, Ph.D., a professor in the Departments of Epidemiology, Ophthalmology and Surgery and senior author of the study.

The study was published in Accident Analysis and Prevention. Distracted driving has become a focal point for the National Highway Safety Traffic Administration and is defined as anything that could potentially remove a driver’s eyes from the road, their hands from the steering wheel or their concentration from the task of driving.

The study, conducted in the Clinical Research Unit in the UAB Department of Ophthalmology, enrolled 2,000 community-dwelling (those who do not live in assisted living or nursing homes) licensed drivers age 70 and older, of whom 691 had pets.

The crash risk for drivers who always drove with their pets was double that of drivers who never drove with a pet, while crash rates for those who sometimes or rarely drove with pets were consistent with the rates for non-pet owners.

More than half the pet owners said they took their pet with them in the car at least occasionally, usually riding on the front passenger seat or in the back seat.

Holiday Program Helps Lackawanna County Seniors Struggling With Poverty and Loneliness

Be a Santa to a Senior^®, the popular campaign that in last year delivered more than 1,800 gifts to local needy seniors, is being planned again this holiday season as older adults continue to face financial challenges and loneliness.

Janet Zaleski, Oakwood Terrace and Jessica Engel,

Home Instead Senior Care prepare gifts for local seniors

The area office of the Home Instead Senior Care^® network, the world’s largest provider of non-medical in-home care and companionship services for older adults, is joining Compassionate Care Hospice, Gino Merli Veterans’ Center, Golden Living Center, Highland Manor, Meals on Wheels of NEPA, Oakwood Terrace, and Serving Seniors, Inc. together with Abington Community Library, Geisinger Community Medical Center, Gertrude Hawk Chocolates, Keystone College, Marshalls, Peebles, Walgreens, and Wal-Mart to provide gifts and companionship to seniors who otherwise might not receive either.

“Seniors faced with medical bills and the escalating cost of living typically find they have little or nothing left at the end of the year,” said Bob Vielee, owner of the Home Instead Senior Care office serving Lackawanna County. “That’s not the only issue, though. Worries become magnified for so many living alone with no one to share their problems.”

Here’s how to help these struggling seniors: Pick up ornaments with the first names of seniors and their gift requests from Christmas trees, located at:

·         Abington Community Library (1200 W Grove Street, Clarks Summit)

·         Marshalls (1118 Commerce Boulevard, Dickson City)

·         Peebles (89 Brooklyn Street, Carbondale and State Routes 435 & 502, Moscow)

·         Walgreens (330 S. Main Street, Scranton)

·         Wal-Mart (900 Commerce Boulevard, Dickson City)

Jessica Engel, Home Instead Senior Care and a 2011
Be a Santa to a Senior gift recipient.

The trees will be up now through December 10. Buy the item(s) on the list and return it unwrapped to the store, along with the ornaments attached. A gift-wrapping party, hosted by the Sports Management and Recreation Team at Keystone College, will be held at the school on December 12.

“Helping a needy older adult can bring joy to the giver as well as the receiver – it does make a difference,” Vielee said.

For more information about the program, visit www.beasantatoasenior.com or call Jessica Engel at 570-687-4755.