Dutchess County Office for the Aging’s AGING NEWS
· Meals on Wheels Deliver
· SNAP – Food Stamps
· Is it Rheumatoid Arthritis? (4/22)
· Thoughts on the Divine (4/22)
· Town of Poughkeepsie Exercise Class (5/5)
· Beware of Tax Scams
LOOKING TO GET OUT AND WALK? – Join us every Tuesday morning at 9 AM on the Walkway Over the Hudson (Washington St. entrance) or every Friday morning at 9 AM at the Morgan Lake entrance to the Rail Trail. A volunteer will be waiting to greet you! Call 486-2555 for more information.
Golden Living . . . News for Senior Citizens
Mary Kaye Dolan-Anderson, Director
Dutchess County Office for the Aging
MEALS ON WHEELS DELIVER MORE THAN FOOD
A study released last month by Brown University’s Center for Gerontology and Healthcare Research found the daily interactions seniors have with volunteers who deliver meals have a wide range of benefits in addition to good nutrition. The report concluded the service also reduced their feelings of isolation, helps them stay in their homes longer and saves the government money by keeping seniors out of hospitals and nursing homes.
Our Nutrition Director, Patricia Brown RD MS CDN RN, was not surprised by the national findings as they mirror the local feedback from clients in the Office for the Aging’s Home Delivered Meals program. “One hundred percent of our home delivered meal clients stated our program helped them remain independent according to last year’s satisfaction survey,” stated Brown. “Eighty-nine percent felt the interaction with the driver helped them feel less isolated, and sixty-four percent felt the program helped them learn about other beneficial programs and services.”
The Brown University study was funded by AARP and was conducted in light of state and federal funding cuts to Meals on Wheels agencies nationwide and the threat of for-profit vendors competing with delivery of weekly boxes of frozen meals to homebound seniors. Researchers concluded that seniors living alone who received the traditional daily meal delivery showed better outcomes in the areas of lower feelings of isolation, less anxiety about staying in their homes alone, as well as fewer falls and hospitalizations.
Speaking of food and nutrition, did you know a large number of the elderly eligible for benefits in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) are not receiving the benefit? Many right here in Dutchess County are considered nutritionally at risk because they cannot afford to make healthy food choices. Some may be forced to choose between buying nutritionally sound groceries and paying for necessities like medication or rent. Others may simply be embarrassed to use the program which used to be called “food stamps.”
SNAP money is now provided to the consumer in an easy to use credit card format. Only you and the cashier at the grocery store know that you are using SNAP money to pay for your food. The average benefit amount is about $90 a month. Your eligibility and benefit level is determined based on household size, income, expenses and other factors. A senior living alone with a monthly gross income of less than $1,945, or a two person household grossing less than $2,622 might be eligible for benefits.
For more information on how to apply for SNAP, call the Dutchess County Office for the Aging at (845) 486-2555. A trained counselor can help you fill out the necessary paperwork and check if you are eligible for any other benefit programs.
5:30 p.m., Wednesday, April 22
Cafeteria Conference Room, Northern Dutchess Hospital
Rheumatoid arthritis is a serious autoimmune disease that attacks your joints and other body parts, but can sometimes feel like a sprain, body ache, muscle stiffness or carpal tunnel syndrome. Learn about the signs and symptoms and get answers to your questions.
Speaker: Dr. James Wise – Health Quest Medical Practice Division of Rheumatology
Topic: God. Clergy of Different Faiths Discuss Their Personal Take on the Divine
Fourth in a series: Rev. Heather Moody, First Congregational United Church of Christ, and Rev. Walter LeFlore, Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Poughkeepsie
Hudson Valley Community Center 110 S. Grand Ave., Poughkeepsie, 11:30am – 12:30pm
Free (voluntary donation gratefully accepted); program and lunch afterwards ($5/person).
Please call 845-471-0430 for more info, lunch reservations, and last-minute schedule changes.
The Town of Poughkeepsie is starting a Senior Exercise Class beginning May 5. The class will meet at the Town Senior Center, 14 Abe’s Way every Tuesday & Thursday at 9:30 AM. This class is open to Town Residents only. Please call 845 462-0265 to get an application.
Around Tax Day looms each year, many unsuspecting individuals are targeted by fraudsters and scam artists intending to steal personal and financial information from consumers. The IRS and other legitimate government agencies never contact you by phone, and you should never give out personal information. The Attorney General encourages anyone who believes they were the target of a scam to contact their office at 1-800-771-7755.
