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Traveling outside of the United States obviously requires a lot of planning, and even more so for people with health issues. Many seniors who are covered by Medicare don’t realize that once they leave the United States, Medicare coverage is minimal or nonexistent. However, if you are traveling to a U.S. territory, such as the Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, American Samoa, or the Northern Marian Islands, you are probably covered. Otherwise, don’t make the mistake of relying on Medicare. So what happens if you do end up needing medical care while o...
Thirty-two years of teaching seemed like a long stretch to Chris Walker. Time to try something new? She pulled the plug on her teaching career and looked forward to retirement. "I was happy. I decided to do all those activities I'd put on hold but had never had time to do. Here I go," she thought. That lasted a relatively short time. "I volunteered at the Palmer Library and for Girl Scouts and my church boards. I tried gardening; my back didn't like that and talked back. I tried yoga and...
Older Persons Action Group exists to serve all Alaska, with a special emphasis upon the senior community. Our mission is to reach out and advocate regarding senior issues. We do that by providing relevant information to seniors and advocating for their collective benefit through our publication, Senior Voice This has been a year of retrenchment. OPAG’s executive directory, Gary Wells, and assistant, Maggie Zabinko, have done well in stabilizing the internal working of OPAG. David Washburn, as editor of Senior Voice, assures that relevant i...
The legislature’s clock is ticking. The last day of the 2014 Alaska legislative session falls on Easter Sunday, April 20. Top issues being discussed among legislators include increasing Alaska’s oil and gas production, meeting in-state energy needs, education reform, workforce development, preventing Fetal Alcohol Disorder, promoting healthy communities, among other issues. Responsible spending is this year’s theme for framing budget discussions, with an emphasis on funding programs that can demonstrate measurable outcomes. During our recen...
Many Alaskan Seniors are on a fixed income, which has less and less buying power over time. I watched how difficult it was for my grandmother to cope with balancing her basic needs over her last few years. I can only imagine the trouble posed for seniors without a family structure to support them. A small, additional income helps our neediest seniors make essential purchases like food, medicine and housing. Unfortunately, the Senior Benefits Program, which helps nearly 11,000 needy seniors, is set to expire June 30, 2015. This is why I...
This year, I have assumed the duties of the Democratic leader in the Senate. Senator Johnny Ellis passed the torch to me, and taking over from such a people’s champion is humbling. I want to take a moment to bring you up to date on what’s happening in Juneau. Last spring I wrote about oil tax reductions that had narrowly passed. I reported that as a result of that decision we had lost $4.5 billion to three of the richest corporations in the world, and I expressed my concern that this would lead to a loss of funds for vital services such as K-12...
When you turn 50 these days, three things generally happen: you ‘re invited to join AARP, a “friend” gives you a birthday card that makes you sound really old, and your doctor tells you it’s time to be screened for colorectal cancer. You may be surprised to know that colorectal cancer is the second most deadly cancer after lung cancer, but also the most preventable form of cancer. Screening lets your health care provider find and remove polyps before they turn cancerous, or to catch them in an early stage when the disease is most treatab...
Health care experts are rediscovering an old-fashioned concept that may help lower health care costs and improve the quality of health care: shared decision making. What is shared decision making? It is when you and your doctor work together as co-pilots as you travel through the health care system. And you have the right to ask your doctor to use shared decision making whenever you need to decide among several treatment options. What does shared decision making mean? Shared decision making can mean different things depending on the situation....
For those of my readers who are on the Senior Benefit Program, there is some bad news. The Senior Benefits Program was established on August 1, 2007, and was the program we were given when the Longevity Bonus was taken. To be eligible for this program you must be an Alaskan on a permanent basis, 65 years of age, have a Social Security number and have countable income that does not exceed the income limits of the program. Resources (assets) do not count in this program. The cash benefits are...
Need help through the Medicare maze? Come find your best Medicare deal with help from Alaskan Medicare experts. The state Medicare Information Office will offer a free workshop April 2 at Wasilla Area Seniors Inc., 1301 S. Century Circle, from 6 to 8 p.m. Reservation required. Call 373-3632. The Medicare Information Office is also seeking Medicare volunteers. For details, call 269-3680 (Anchorage) or 1-800-478-6065 (toll-free statewide) or visit www.medicare.alaska.gov....
This is the second of a two-part series. Part one appeared in the February 2014 Senior Voice. Thanks to all the veterans who took the time to comment on last month’s column. This is your column and the Senior Voice will try to address any matters important to you. To recap Part One, many of our senior Alaska veterans were exposed to mesothelioma while serving our country and may just now be showing symptoms. Some veterans who have been diagnosed with lung cancer may in fact have this disease. This month’s follow-up addresses some avenues for...
Ask anyone who attends a meeting of AA (Alcohol Anonymous) or NA (Narcotic Anonymous), the road to recovery from alcohol or drug addiction is often a bumpy and long one. Days, weeks, months and even years of sobriety can be set back by a relapse to a former life controlled by alcohol or drugs. If a person has a long history of addiction, the longer and harder it may be for their recovery. Early intervention, as in most cases of disease recovery (such as in dealing with breast or prostate...
Sign up now for “Dementia Care Essentials,” a five-week training series on providing care for people with Alzheimer’s and related dementia, presented by Alzheimer’s Resource of Alaska. The classes meet in Anchorage on Mondays, April 7 through May 5, at 2702 Gamble Street, Suite 233, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. The purpose of the series is to enable participants to identify strategies they will implement into their care practice that will increase a sense of safety, security, comfort and quality of life for the person living with dementia. Partici...
Just how safe are e-cigarettes? There is considerable debate right now about whether e-cigarettes are a gateway to smoking or a gateway from smoking. For many adults age 50 and older, e-cigarettes may be a great way to transition off smoking. Ideally, if millions of people start using e-cigarettes as an aid to quit there could be a huge public health benefit. However, some health experts question whether e-cigarettes are just “an add-on” for chronic smokers and may be creating new problems. Cur...
A series of online trainings continues this spring, 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 offers trainings 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, psychologists, social workers, pharmacists and other interested p...
The Kenai Peninsula Family Caregiver Support Program will hold the following meetings and trainings in March. The caregiver training topic this month is “Eat Well to Feel Well and the Mayo Clinic Mediterranean Diet.” March 4, Caregiver training at Sterling Senior Center, 1 p.m. March 11, Caregiver training at Soldotna Senior Center, 1 p.m. March 17, Caregiver training at Kenai Senior Center, 1 p.m. March 25, Peer Support Meeting at Soldotna Senior Center, 1 p.m. There is no charge for these services and everyone is invited to attend. Tra...
Every time you visit your mom in the assisted living home, she complains she isn’t getting her medication. When you question staff, they show you the medication log and it seems to indicate she is getting what the doctor prescribed. Is your mom just forgetting that she was given her medication? I wouldn’t be so sure. Theft of prescription drugs is a growing problem nationally, especially controlled substances such as opioids for pain and benzodiazepines for anxiety. Health care workers have as...
Seward Senior Center's Annual Volunteer Appreciation Luncheon on Feb. 14, with a theme of "Dapper Trapper," became an afternoon of delightful laughter. Mike Little's famous fish fry and volunteer baker Beth Johnson's Gold Nugget Brownies and Klondike Gold Bars were only the beginning. Following lunch, the camera lights came on, grips ready to hand over props, and the dressing room was busy with wool felted hats, buckskins and fur shawls being passed around. Ready! Camera! Action! "Volunteers...
Lifelong farm researcher Sig Restad was awarded the "Life-Time Achievement Award" by the Mat-Su Farm Bureau at its annual meeting in Palmer on February 19. The Mat-Su Farm Bureau is organized to improve the economic well-being and expansion of agriculture in the Mat-Su Valley with a focus on enriching the quality of life for Alaskan farmers. Sig Restad worked as an Agriculture Extension agent in Minnesota when he received the opportunity to relocate to and work in Alaska in 1958. Restad...
"Standing here and looking far off into the northwest, I see the Russian as he busily occupies himself in establishing seaports and towns and fortifications on the verge of the continent...and I can say, 'Go on and build up your outposts all along the coast, up even to the Arctic Ocean; they will yet become the outposts of my own country – monuments of the civilization of the United States in the northwest.' " So predicted U.S. Secretary of State William H. Seward in a speech many years b...
As Star Trek's Mr. Spock, Leonard Nimoy created one of the most iconic characters in television history. But for the past two decades, Nimoy has transported his career to the other side of the camera and is now regarded as a leading contemporary American photographer. Early in his acting career, he recognized photography could be more than just snapshots on location. "I carried a camera with me wherever I went and began to realize I was missing the place I was in because my eye was behind the...
Interested in learning more about businesses and agencies providing senior services in the Anchorage area? Want to get the word out about your own service? The monthly Interagency Breakfast, sponsored by Older Persons Action Group, is an opportunity for all of the above. Informal, early and free, with breakfast provided for business and agency representatives. The March meeting is March 12, hosted by the Alaska Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired, 3903 Taft Dr. Begins at 8 a.m. Call Older Persons Action Group for more information on...
Staff from Alaska’s Social Security office will be available for questions via videoconferencing at the following locations and times: Kodiak Job Center, on the second and fourth Tuesday of each month (March 11 and 25), 9 a.m. to noon. Kenai Senior Center, on the first and third Wednesday of each month (March 5 and 19), 9 a.m. to noon. Ketchikan Job Center, Thursdays (March 6, 13, 20 and 27), noon to 3 p.m. Social Security provides toll-free telephone service to all of Alaska. Residents in Alaska’s southeast communities can call the Juneau Soc...
Dear Jonathan: My husband died six months ago. We didn’t have much but everything we had we held in joint names. Consequently, upon the advice of a family member some time ago, we never bothered to prepare wills because we were told that the survivor of the two of us would own everything so there was no need to have a will. Now that my husband has passed away, do you recommend that I now have a will? Also, I have received several telephone calls and letters from two different credit card companies threatening to turn me over to collection if I...
Q. I’m dithering between purchasing an SD card and a thumb drive for the storage of photos and documents. Is one better than the other or should I get an external hard drive? A. SD cards and thumb drives basically use the same technology. A thumb or flash drive plugs into a USB port and it is quickly removed so you can take it with you. Its small size also makes it easy to misplace so if your life is lacking drama and you enjoy a good adrenaline surge periodically, thumb drives are the way to go. In your situation, you can’t go wrong with eit...
