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Each year, hundreds of thousands of people in the U.S. are hospitalized from flu. People age 65 years and older are at increased risk for serious flu-related complications and account for 60 percent of seasonal flu-related hospitalizations. A CDC study published last summer found that flu vaccination reduced the risk of flu-related hospitalization among people 65 to 74 years old by 61 percent. Vaccinated people age 75 and older were similarly protected, with a 57 percent reduction of flu-related hospitalization. Hospitalization and recovery...
Alaska Health Fair’s Fall 2017 health fair season is now in full swing, so check out September event dates by reviewing the Senior Voice monthly edition or the Alaska Health Fair website. Try to make it to one of the fall events in your local community; you’ll find a variety of resources to help meet your family’s health needs and some great community gatherings. We are in need of volunteers who can help us with our mission, vision and core purpose to serve all Alaskans. Non-medical, medical and individuals who can draw blood. We would also...
Welcome to autumn! This season is when Medicare Beneficiaries are going to receive valuable and pertinent information in the mail about their benefits and upcoming changes in preparation for the Part D Open Enrollment period. The Open Enrollment Period is an important opportunity that is provided to Medicare beneficiaries annually to evaluate their prescription drug coverage and to make changes if they desire. It occurs from October 15 to December 7 annually. Medicare and You Handbook. Each Medi...
The Kenai Peninsula Family Caregiver Support Program will hold the following peer support meetings in September. This month’s meetings will highlight tips for Alzheimer’s family caregivers, featuring a DVD presentation by Dr. Peter V. Robbins, in support of World Alzheimer’s Month. Sept. 5, Caregiver support meeting at Sterling Senior Center, 1 p.m. Sept. 12, Caregiver support meeting at Soldotna Senior Center, 1 p.m. Sept. 19, Caregiver support meeting at Kenai Senior Center,1 p.m. Sept. 20, Caregiver support meeting at Anchor Point Senio...
E-cigarettes may help some smokers quit Vaping may be helping some people kick the habit. In the United States, the smoking cessation rate increased for the first time in 15 years. Researchers conducted a population-level analysis of national surveys conducted from 2001 to 2015. The study suggests e-cigarettes helped users of the electronic devices to quit smoking traditional cigarettes. The annual rate of people who quit smoking has hovered around 4.5 percent for years but in the 2014-15...
Going out to eat at your favorite restaurant can be a very pleasant experience – unless you get food poisoning. Eating at home or eating out is an important distinction because Americans are twice as likely to get food poisoning from food served in restaurants compared to food prepared at home, according to a 2014 study by the Center for Science in the Public Interest. Here in Alaska we have easy access to a lot of health information about most restaurants, but first a little background. Food poisoning is common and often quite serious. The F...
What is a Health Insurance Marketplace plan? If I have a Marketplace plan and I become eligible for Medicare should I switch? What are the advantages of Medicare over the Marketplace? How do I disenroll from my Marketplace plan? What if I didn’t switch to Medicare when I could have? What is Time Limited Equitable Relief and do I qualify for it? These are a few of the questions many people turning 65 are asking and we will try to answer for you. What is the Health Insurance Marketplace? First o...
Dear Savvy Senior: I’m worried about my 72-year-old mother who has been taking the opioid medication Vicodin for her hip and back pain for more than a year. I fear she’s becoming addicted to the drug but I don’t know what to do. Concerned Daughter Dear Concerned: The opioid epidemic is a national problem that is hitting people of all ages, including millions of older Americans. Here’s what you should know and do to help your mother. The cause The main reason opioid addiction has become such a problem for people over age 50 is because over th...
Hospice of Anchorage has several upcoming events that we would like to share with the community. In August, we hope you’ll join us for “A Walk to Remember,” which is a memorial walk, and in September, we host Camp Erin, a bereavement camp for kids and teens ages 6 to 17 years old. These events are at no charge to the community. In recognition of people who have experienced pregnancy loss, including miscarriages, ectopic pregnancies, fetal deaths, and neonatal deaths, as well as those who have lost a child, we gather for “A Walk to Remembe...
A painless microneedle patch for the flu Researchers have now come up with a dissolvable vaccine patch for combating influenza. It has been tested in a large number of volunteers and it fared well. A team of investigators has found that delivering the flu vaccine via a dissolvable microneedle patch appears to be safe and preferred over conventional injection in a new phase 1 trial involving 100 people. The study is the first randomized trial to test a self-administered, dissolvable microneedle...
The Kenai Peninsula Famiy Caregiver Support Program will hold the following peer support meetings in August. This month’s meetings will highlight National Immunization Month, reviewing what shots are needed and when to get them since they can prevent serious diseases like the flu and pneumonia. Aug. 1, Caregiver support meeting at Sterling Senior Center, 1 p.m. Aug. 8, Caregiver support meeting at Soldotna Senior Center, 1 p.m. Aug. 15, Caregiver support meeting at Kenai Senior Center,1 p.m. Aug. 16, Caregiver support meeting at Anchor Point Se...
Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium is presenting two “Alaskan Plants as Food as Medicine” events in September, one in Kotzebue and one in Kenai. The events promote traditional plant knowledge and ethical harvesting and last year featured a conference in August at Alaska Pacific University in Anchorage. That event will not take place this year, with efforts instead focused on supporting rural Alaska communities by holding smaller, regional symposiums, according to the organization’s website, www.alaskanplants.com. So far, two of these event...
The Trust Training Cooperate will offer an online class, “Traditional Health-Based Practices,” this fall on three different days. Course material will focus on traditional lifestyles and health practices of people living in Alaska prior to Western contact. Trainees will be introduced to beliefs, attitudes and knowledge of health promotion and maintenance that were practiced, and will examine major changes leading to the current health status of the Alaska Native community. A special emphasis will be placed on potential strategies for imp...
Alaska Health Fair’s fall 2017 health fair season is kicking off a month earlier than normal, so check out the August event dates and/or make it to one of the fall events in your local community by checking the Senior Voice monthly edition or the Alaska Health Fairs website. Alaska Health Fair, Inc. offers free health screenings and education, low cost blood tests and more. These tests can help you learn about your health and detect potential problems early, when treatment or changes in personal habits can be most effective. So take time out o...
Medicare and Medicaid are two programs that can offer a strong combination health insurance for seniors. Many people get the two programs confused because of the similarity of their names. Medicare is health insurance offered by the federal government for people over the age of 65, people who have been receiving Social Security Disability benefits for 24 months and for those of any age who have been diagnosed with End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD). Medicaid is a federal and state program offering...
The medical world can be a confusing place between insurance, medications, diagnosis, let alone understanding all of the medical jargon. Most people know about hospice care, but less people know about palliative care. Understanding the meaning of words can mean everything, especially around end-of-life, as it can be a sensitive topic. Not to confuse anyone, but we are Hospice of Anchorage and we are a palliative care agency. When it comes to treatment there are some differences in the timeframe and patient goals between hospice and palliative...
Nila Morgan, Master Certified Medicare Counselor and Fraud Education Coordinator, will walk you through how to read your Summary Notice and teach you to protect yourself from Medicare fraud at this workshop, July 13 at the Anchorage Senior Activity Center, 1 to 2:30 p.m. Bring along any confusing bills or statements as well as all documentation in your red, white and blue Medicare card. Call 770-2070 with questions or to RSVP. Seating is limited....
Wearable patch may help detect sleep apnea New treatments for diagnosing and treating sleep apnea may soon make it much easier to combat this problem. Scientists have now come up with a disposable diagnostic patch that effectively detects obstructive sleep apnea across all severity levels. The device is called SomnaPatch and it weighs less than one ounce and records nasal pressure, blood oxygen saturation, pulse rate, respiratory effort, sleep time and body position. The team developing this...
Alaska’s food-growing season is coming into its summertime peak and Alaska farmers grow some of the best produce in the country, so now’s the time to pick up your coupons for locally-grown fruits and vegetables. The coupons come from the Senior Farmer’s Market Nutrition Program and can be used at local farmer’s markets around the state through Oct. 31. Each eligible senior receives five $5 coupons for a total of $25. The program issues the coupons to senior centers and other agencies, which pass them on to seniors age 60 or older who meet th...
The Kenai Peninsula Famiy Caregiver Support Program will hold the following peer support meetings in July. This month’s meetings will feature presentations on and by the local Independent Living Center and Aging and Disability Resource Center. July 4, no meeting due to Independence Day holiday July 11, Caregiver support meeting at Soldotna Senior Center, 1 p.m. July 18, Caregiver support meeting at Kenai Senior Center,1 p.m. July 19, Caregiver support meeting at Anchor Point Senior Center, hosted by Paula Koch, 3 p.m. July 25, Caregiver s...
Men over the age of 50 are being continually targeted with advertisements for testosterone replacement gels and patches. However, research is now questioning the real risks and benefits associated with getting tested and treated for low testosterone levels. Testosterone supplementation is touted to improve cardiovascular health, sexual function, physical function and mood in men who have low levels of testosterone. However, a review of more than 200 clinical trials questions those claims. Dr....
Many women know the importance of getting screened for vitamin D levels and raising them if they are too low. However, many men over age 50 in Alaska may have low levels and need to take action, according to dietitian Stephanie Figon, who is with Alaska Weight Management and Diabetes Counseling in Palmer, Alaska. Figon said Alaskans have a very high prevalence of low vitamin D levels compared to the lower 48, partly due to the lack of sunlight during most of the year. “If an Alaskan is not e...
Are you aware that Medicare works with the State of Alaska to provide assistance programs that can help with your Medicare costs? These costs can include your Medicare Part A & Part B premiums deductibles, coinsurance charges and copayments. These programs are available to all Medicare beneficiaries. There are three programs known as the Medicare Savings programs (MSPs), each having different income limits and resource parameters. The income and asset qualifications are different if you are...
Hospice of Anchorage was founded in 1980 and is a nonprofit, 501(c) (3) organization and a partner agency of the United Way of Anchorage. We typically provide all our services at no charge, except those patients that do not yet qualify for Medicare Hospice. We also offer one-on-one grief support and peer grief support groups for anyone in the community, infant to adult, who has experienced a death loss. Volunteers are a crucial function of Hospice of Anchorage’s services. Hospice of Anchorage has three full-time and six part-time staff m...
Alaska Health Fair wishes to thank each of our dedicated and wonderful volunteers, phlebotomists and exhibitors who have helped us to put on some great community and worksite events and provide important health services to Alaskans over the past 37 years. We also want to thank our participants who have regularly attended our health fairs, as you are the reason we exist. We try to reach all statewide residents and share our mission and values: • Mission: promote statewide health education and preventative screenings • Vision: Optimal health for...
