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Editor's note: This story in our print edition included an error regarding the timeline of these Senior Benefits Program changes. In the second to last paragraph, the date should have read July 1, 2019, not 2018. Fairbanks’ Senior Recognition Day, an event to honor Alaskans 65 years and older as part of Older Americans Month, included an additional celebratory event this year - the official signing into law of House Bill 236, otherwise known as the Senior Benefits Program extension bill, by Governor Walker. As of May 10, the program will be ext...
I’ve been receiving a lot more robocalls lately. What can I do to prevent scammers from calling my phone? If you feel like your phone has been plagued with more robocalls lately, you’re not exaggerating. In the past year, BBB Scam Tracker has received over 500 reports of robocalls throughout the country. According to YouMail, the volume has skyrocketed in recent years, reaching an estimated 3.4 billion in April, equaling to 112 million calls each day nationwide. April’s monthly total marks the nation’s highest robocall rate since the YouMail...
Editor’s note: This press release was received May 22, 2018. One-in-four of the nearly 40 million family caregivers in America is a millennial. Millennials are defined as those born between 1980 and 1996. AARP’s latest report, “Millennials: The Emerging Generation of Family Caregivers,” spotlights the unique experiences and challenges this generation faces as more support a parent, grandparent, friend or neighbor with basic living and medical needs. According to the report, millennials are more likely to care for someone with a mental health...
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the passage of Fair Housing Act, a pivotal piece of legislation that laid the groundwork for housing protections for marginalized populations in the United States. They say those who don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it, so it's worth a look back at how things have and have not changed in terms of fair housing since 1968-and just how the legislation was passed in the first place. In 1968, America was an extremely segregated society with distinct white and black neighborhoods. Racial and...
As a Girl Scout, I learned the motto, "Be Prepared". This mostly meant building first aid kits, knowing how to start a fire, setting aside water and food or other preparations for emergencies. In my current career (no longer a Girl Scout), the advice to be prepared takes on a bit of a different meaning, although no less practical or important. Being prepared can mean saving time and money on food and food preparation as well as helping meet nutrition goals like eating more fruits and...
Men age 50 and older and living in Alaska should discuss blood testing for prostate cancer with their physicians. The guidelines are now changing because of concerns that some men who could benefit from screening are not getting screened. The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) now recommends that men 55 to 69 who are interested in screening talk to their doctors about potential benefits and harms of screening for prostate cancer before deciding whether to undergo periodic...
Many of you may have heard that there is a new vaccine available for the shingles virus that is proving to be more effective than the previous vaccine, Zostavax. The new vaccine is recommended for people age 50 and older. Called Shingrix, the vaccination does require two doses, the second to be administered between two to six months after the first. Medicare requires all Part D (prescription drug coverage) plans to cover both shingles vaccines. Shingles, also known as herpes zoster, appears as a...
June is the month the state begins distributing coupon booklets for the Senior Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program. Each book includes six coupons, worth $5 each, which can be used through Oct. 31. Coupons are issued to low-income seniors and can be exchanged for fresh Alaska-grown fruits, vegetables, fresh-cut herbs and honey at farmers’ markets and authorized farms and roadside stands. The program distributes the coupons to senior centers and other agencies, which pass them on to seniors age 60 or older who meet the program’s income guide...
Many individuals, at some point in their lives, will find themselves in the unique position of caring for a relative, friend or neighbor. This role of informal caregiver can present serious demands, especially if the care recipient is experiencing physical or cognitive declines due to illness or disease. Caregivers in Southeast Alaska face the additional obstacle of not always having access to training and education. The Senior and Caregiver Resource Center, designed to assist families throughout the Southeast region, works to combat this...
The Kenai Peninsula Family Caregiver Support Program will hold the following peer support meetings in June. This month’s focus is World Elder Abuse Awareness Month. It is not a celebratory occasion, but rather a day to talk about preventing, identifying and responding to elder abuse and financial exploitation. June 5, Caregiver support meeting at Sterling Senior Center, 1 p.m. June 12, Caregiver support meeting at Soldotna Senior Center, 1 p.m. June 19, Caregiver support meeting at Kenai Senior Center, 1 p.m. June 26, open house and workshop a...
High egg diet may be beneficial A diet that includes a lot of eggs may be packed with nutrients and not elevate your risk for heart disease. At least that is the latest findings from researchers at the University of Sydney. They have just published a study showing that eating up to 12 eggs per week for a year did not increase cardiovascular risk factors in people with pre-diabetes and type 2 diabetes. Published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, the research extends on a previous...
About eyes. Contrary to popular belief, some people can keep their eyes open when they sneeze. Also, green is the rarest eye color to have. About that trick knee. Some of you have a trick knee (or shoulder) that can predict weather. Basically, you can tell when bad weather or a storm is coming with one of your bum joints. As the barometric or atmospheric pressure drops (before a storm), tissues in joints expand a little bit, and your knee or shoulder may feel it and alert you by experiencing pain. About spinach. Some nutritionists still...
"Honey, did you walk the cat?" What? Walk the cat? Yes, you heard that right. Cats have spent too much time lying around inside, bored and under-stimulated while dogs are treated to walks, play dates and time in the yard. But wait...is it safe to let your cat outside? And what about birds and other wildlife they may kill? There are many safe ways to get your cat outside while also keeping birds and wildlife safe from them (remember, cats are small but fierce predators). Let's start with catios....
Drug prices in the United States are too high – nearly everyone agrees. But political consensus stops at how to lower prices and fix the problem. If it were easy, a simple solution would be found. But paying for prescription drugs is a complicated web of prices, incentives, rebates and discounts among the drug companies, insurance companies and the pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) who are the middlemen who negotiate with the drug companies on behalf of insurance companies. Think of solving the drug prices mess like a complex jigsaw puzzle. J...
My husband, Gary, and I sat visiting with two couples after dinner one June evening several years ago. At the time, we were operating Nabesna House B & B out of our home in Slana. One gentleman asked, "Is there more road construction on Highway number 1?" He was greeted with a couple of blank looks and then we had to ask, "Which road is number 1?" This was our fifth summer to accommodate bed and breakfast guests and the questions were usually in regard to traveling north or south on the Tok...
Our household recently replaced a bathroom vanity cabinet, something long overdue. The process revealed something else long overdue – bottle after bottle of expired, unused, leftover prescription medications. They were in drawers, travel kits, on shelves. Inventorying them was like looking through years of health records, remembering this or that injury, infection, condition, you name it. Besides pills, there were prescription-strength inhalers, skin creams, syrups. Not something that should be lying around and yet there it all was, much m...
In partnership with the Alaska Forget Me Not Coalition, the U.S. Dept. of Veterans Affairs holds an annual Mental Health Summit with the goal of improving collaboration with community partners to address the mental health needs of veterans. This year’s summit, the 6th annual, takes place June 26 in Anchorage at the Southcentral Foundation Nuka Wellness and Training Center, 4085 Tudor Center Drive, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Participation is free and there are also free CME continuing education credits available. Community-based providers of s...
Anchorage’s Mabel T. Caverly Senior Center and Services will move into a new location, effective July 1. The new location will be in the VOAA (Volunteers of America Alaska) Building, 509 W. Third Ave., Suite 103, Anchorage, AK 99501. The phone number will remain the same, 276-1496. The center runs a number of programs for senior Alaskans, including transportation to appointments, grants for dental work, small emergency needs grants, the Phone Pals calling program, and the Anchorage Senior Friendly Project. For more information, visit w...
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 Service Providers Breakfast (formally known as the Interagency Breakfast), sponsored by Older Persons Action Group, is an opportunity for all the above. Informal, early and free, with breakfast provided. The June meeting is June 13, hosted by Older Persons Action Group, Inc. Begins at 8 a.m. RSVP by calling Older Persons Action Group, Inc. for more information on these events or...
Among the memorials in the Anchorage Municipal Park Cemetery stands a small, pink marker adorned with a palette. It is the final resting place of Sydney Mortimer Laurence, one of Alaska's greatest artists, who died in 1940. Known for his dramatic landscape paintings, Laurence was one of the first professionally trained artists to live in Alaska. His works, which often featured Denali, hang in the Musee du Louvre in Paris, the National Art Gallery in Washington, D.C., and many other locations aro...
Fifty years ago, The Seekers were a pop music sensation. Featuring members Athol Guy, Keith Potger, Bruce Woodley and lead vocalist Judith Durham, the Aussie group's pop-folk fusion proved popular in America and their hit, "Georgy Girl," was a nominee at the 1967 Oscar ceremony for 'Best Song' for the film of the same name, although it lost to "Born Free." The Seekers had burst onto the world music scene just two years earlier with their 1965 hit "I'll Never Find Another You," but Durham struggl...
One great result of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act is that most people see money in their paychecks, because less is being withheld. Our standard deductions have nearly doubled, and the tax rates have dipped. Those are good things. But the personal and dependent exemptions have been eliminated. For myself, I saw my paycheck jump $50 every two weeks. I get 26 paychecks a year, so that equates to an extra $1,300 without me lifting a finger. I love that, but because other changes in the new law will also have an effect, I wanted to make sure I was...
If you receive Social Security and/or Medicare, make sure you inform the Social Security Administration (SSA) when you move. That’s especially important now while the SSA is mailing out new Medicare cards. Even though the Internet is a virtual playground for scam artists, snail mail is still vulnerable to thieves. They’ve been known to file a change of address notice with the local U.S. Post Office, to snag your personal information, checks, and to keep you from finding out that they’ve opened accounts in your name. It’s not as easy as it used...
Staff from Alaska’s Social Security office will be available for questions via videoconferencing at the following locations and times in June: Kodiak Job Center, on the second and fourth Tuesday of each month (June 12 and 26), 9 a.m. to noon. Kenai Senior Center, on the first and third Wednesday of each month (June 6 and 20), 9 a.m. to noon. Ketchikan Job Center, every Thursday (June 7, 14, 21 and 28), 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...
