Dutchess County Office for the Aging’s
AGING NEWS
For the week of July 2
Note: the Office for the Aging is closed on Wednesday, July 4, for the federal Independence Day holiday. The next Senior Picnic, for Hyde Park and Clinton residents, takes place in Hyde Park on Wednesday, July 11th. If you’d like to volunteer at the picnic, email bjones@dutchessny.gov or call (845) 486-2555.
Other note: If you attended the recent Senior Picnic in Wappingers and are noticing that your car is missing a license plate, we have it at our Poughkeepsie office. You can pick it up during regular business hours. Your plate number is printed on your vehicle registration, if you can’t recall it immediately.
Golden Living . . . News for Seniors, Their Families and Caregivers
Todd N. Tancredi, Director
Dutchess County Office for the Aging
THE NEW “SPOTLIGHT” ARRIVES
The Summer 2018 edition of the Office for the Aging’s quarterly newsletter, “Spotlight on Seniors,” is now available. It features the remaining Senior Picnic schedule, pictures and information from the Celebration of Aging, as well as information about upcoming events of interest to seniors. You can access the newsletter online, and archived copies of the “Spotlight” going back to 2010, at: www.dutchessny.gov/aging. We also have copies available at libraries and town/village halls countywide.
If you would like to become a regular subscriber to the “Spotlight” and our weekly Aging News emails, send a request to bjones@dutchessny.gov. If you prefer a hard-copy version of the “Spotlight,” call the office at (845) 486-2555. We’ll have one mailed to you, and you’ll be on our mailing list for all future issues, including the annual Medicare-focused edition of the “Spotlight,” published each September, in advance of the Medicare open-enrollment period that begins in October.
If you need to change your mailing address, please contact us using the information above.
BROUGHT TO YOU BY THE LETTERS Z, Z AND Z
It’s a common misconception that seniors’ need for sleep declines with age, although for many seniors it does become more difficult to get the recommended seven to nine hours of daily sleep all in one session, because people’s sleep patterns change as they age. An older person tends to spend more time in the “lighter” stages of sleep than in the deeper and more restorative sleep that helps organize memories. Additionally, they’re more likely to suffer from sleep-interrupting disorders like apnea and restless-leg syndrome, and many common medications count insomnia among their side effects.
According to the National Institutes of Health, a lack of restorative sleep is associated with depression, memory problems, falls, and irritability. There are many things you can do to make a good night’s sleep more likely, including:
- making sure you’re on the same sleep schedule every day – including on weekends;
- keeping your bedroom as dark and as quiet as possible, not too warm and not too cold;
- avoiding caffeine after mid-afternoon, and avoiding alcohol in the evening. Sleep experts say the alcohol may get you to fall asleep more quickly, but it will also lead to more unsettled sleep later;
- checking with your physician if you think your medications may be affecting your sleep, and asking if there are alternatives with fewer side effects;
- avoiding late-afternoon naps, as they may lead to difficulty falling asleep at night.
For more information, check http://go.usa.gov/cStqh – but not too close to bedtime, as screen time of any kind, from a TV down to a handheld device, can also be detrimental to a good night’s sleep.
Golden Living is prepared by the Dutchess County Office for the Aging, 27 High Street, Poughkeepsie, New York 12601, telephone (845) 486-2555, email:ofa@dutchessny.gov website: www.dutchessny.gov/aging
Office for the Aging upcoming events
Unless otherwise indicated, call (845) 486-2555 for more information
Tue 7/17, 11 a.m. – “Food Safety while Traveling”
With OFA nutrition coordinator Nimesh Bhargava
Red Hook Senior Friendship Center, 59 Fisk St.
Thu 7/19, 11 a.m. – “The Importance of Hydration”
With OFA nutrition coordinator Nimesh Bhargava
Tri-Town Senior Friendship Center, 55 Overlook Rd., Poughkeepsie
Fri 7/20, 11 a.m. – “Food Safety While Traveling”
With OFA nutrition coordinator Nimesh Bhargava
City of Poughkeepsie Senior Friendship Center, 110 South Grand Ave.
Tue 7/24, 11 a.m. – “Food Safety While Traveling”
With OFA nutrition coordinator Nimesh Bhargava
Beacon Friendship Center, 1 Forrestal Heights
Thu 7/26, 2 p.m. – “Food Safety While Traveling”
With OFA nutrition coordinator Nimesh Bhargava
The Landing of Poughkeepsie, 251 Boardman Rd.
Tue 7/31, 11 a.m. – “Food Safety While Traveling”
With OFA nutrition coordinator Nimesh Bhargava
Millerton Senior Friendship Center, 21 Dutchess Ave.
Sat 9/22, 9:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. – at the Golden Gathering
Arlington High School, 1157 NY 55, LaGrangeville
(845) 229-0106 or email goldengathering41@gmail.com for information
Mon 10/15, 12 noon – 4 p.m. – Office for the Aging Senior Prom
Villa Borghese, 70 Widmer Rd., Wappinger
This year’s theme: “The Big Game” – dress as a spectator or participant in your favorite sport or athletic activity. Any other questions? Emailbjones@dutchessny.gov.
(We’ll have prom entry forms in future issues of the Aging News coming up later this summer.)
To request an Office for the Aging presentation for your senior, social and/or civic group, get in touch with outreach coordinator Brian Jones at (845) 486-2555 orbjones@dutchessny.gov. All your group needs to provide is a venue that’s wheelchair-accessible and open to the public, with space to set up a projector and screen. We have our own projector and screen – but if you have those, let us know.
We feature presentations on Successful Aging, Office for the Aging services, Medicare/Medicaid, senior housing, a wide range of topics related to nutrition, and more!
MORE PHONE SCAMS…
The Dutchess County Sheriff’s Office would like to warn the residents of Dutchess County and surrounding areas about phone scams that seem to be on the increase as of late.
Phone scams are ways in which criminals will attempt to get money from people by calling them and making up elaborate false stories. In most of these cases the perpetrators have tried, sometimes successfully, to use the victim’s emotions about a loved one in trouble to get money. It’s also common for the perpetrators of these scams to try to get money by telling people that one of their relatives has been seriously hurt or is in jail, and that they need money right away. In many cases they will pose as a law enforcement official or another relative to try and convince the victim that it’s legitimate. In one recent scam the person was told that their local Sheriff’s Office would come to their house and arrest them if they didn’t pay.
The Sheriff’s Office would like to offer the following tips to help people avoid these types of scams:
- Do not meet up with someone that you don’t know; if you’re asked to do this it is surely a scam, and it is very dangerous as well.
- If you’re called by someone you don’t know asking for money, for any reason, that’s a signal that it’s most likely a scam. Normally people will not just call people they don’t know out of the blue and ask for money.
- If someone sends you either money or merchandise that you weren’t expecting, it is most likely part of a scam, and in most of these cases they will ask you to cash the check and then send them a portion of it back. If this happens to you, use extreme caution, don’t cash the check, and call the Sheriff’s Office.
- If someone calls you and tells you that a relative has been hurt or is in jail, confirm it first before sending any money. Call other relatives or a legitimate law enforcement agency for confirmation before any money is sent. If they’re posing as a relative, contact that relative for confirmation.
- Sending money overseas is especially risky; use extreme caution.
- Ask the person for their call back number and ask to speak to their supervisor to confirm the info; if it’s a scam they will most likely hang up at this point.
- If the person is telling you that a loved one is in the hospital or jail, find out which one and contact the institution yourself to confirm.
- If a loved one has recently passed away be wary, in some cases perpetrators have even preyed on victims by using information in an obituary. The information in an obituary is public so it can be easily accessed by scammers for identity theft and other frauds/scams. When it’s time to write an obituary give the age but leave out the actual birth date, middle name, home address, birthplace, and mother’s maiden name. In addition, if you get calls from people you don’t know soon after someone passes away, be careful and confirm it before you send any money.
- In some cases, someone will call and tell the victim that they’ve won money, but to “process the claim” they need to first send money. Beware this is most definitely a scam and don’t send any money – you should never have to pay money to claim a prize. If it seems too good to be true, it most likely is.
- If there’s any doubt about a phone call you’ve received, contact the Sheriff’s Office before sending any money.
It is very important to not send any money to anyone that you don’t know until you’ve confirmed the situation through an independent source and feel comfortable with it. If it’s a scam once the money is sent, it’s very difficult, and most times impossible, to get it back. If anyone thinks they may have been a victim of this type of scam, or if they receive these types of calls in the future, they are encouraged to contact the Sheriff’s Office at 845-486-3800 or via the tipline at 845-605-CLUE or dcsotips@gmail.com.
…AND MORE HEAT
As this edition of the “Aging News” was being prepared, the weather forecast for the next week called for high temperatures over 90 degrees every single day, including highs in the upper 90’s on Sunday, July 1.
Following are some excerpts from a two-part series on dealing with summer’s heat, published by the Office for the Aging last summer:
Older people are more susceptible to heat’s effects for many reasons. Older people generally do not adapt to quick increases in temperature as well as younger people; some medications may affect the body’s temperature regulation; and some chronic health conditions also interfere with temperature regulation.
If you don’t have home air conditioning and meet eligibility requirements, the New York State Cooling Assistance Benefit is worth exploring. If you are eligible, you may receive one Cooling Assistance benefit per applicant household for the purchase and installation of an air conditioner or a fan to help your home stay cool.
According to state guidelines, you may be eligible for a Cooling Assistance HEAP benefit if:
- your household’s gross monthly income is at or below the current income guidelines for your household size, or
- you receive Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly known as food stamp) benefits, or
- you receive Temporary Assistance (TA), or
- you receive Code A Supplemental Security Income (SSI Living Alone), and
- you and your household members are United States citizens or qualified aliens, and include an individual with a documented medical condition that is exacerbated by heat, and
- you received a regular benefit greater than $21 in the current program year, and
- you currently do not have a working air conditioner or the air conditioner you have is five years old or older, and
- you did not receive a HEAP-funded air conditioner within the past ten years.
That may be a lot to digest all at once, so if you have questions about your eligibility, call the Office for the Aging at (845) 486-2555 or visit the following link:https://otda.ny.gov/programs/heap/#cooling-assistance
…
If you don’t have air conditioning at home, it will be helpful if you can get to an air-conditioned place like a movie theatre, shopping mall, senior center, or library. A house fan offers only partial respite from the heat, because it’s simply moving hot air from place to place unless cooler air is somehow being brought inside. If your home is as hot inside as it is outside, a fan will not help prevent heat-related illnesses. Opening windows at night and closing them in the early morning will prevent some hot air from getting into your house, but that’s also only a partial solution. More helpful are cool baths or showers, or even a tub full of cool water to soak your feet in. Cool water removes heat 25 times faster than cool air. If your grandchild wants to go down to a stream and wiggle his toes in the mud with you, take advantage of the opportunity!
If your home has an attic exhaust fan, run that as well. Attics can heat up to well over 120 degrees in the mid-summer, and the attic fan will move this extremely hot air out of your house. In much the same way, a box fan placed in an upstairs window with the fan blowing out will draw cooler air up from downstairs and force warm air to the outside.
When you go outside, wear light and loose-fitting clothing. Light-colored clothing reflects sunlight away from you. Drink plenty of fluids, but stay away from alcohol and caffeine, both of which have dehydrating properties. Take frequent breaks in a cool or shady area, and hold off on more strenuous outdoor activities until it’s cooler, especially if the heat comes with humidity.
PINE PLAINS LIBRARY / SUMMER HOURS
In July and August, the operating hours for the Pine Plains Free Library (7775 South Main St. (Route 82), www.pineplainslibrary.org, (518) 398-1927) will change somewhat.
There will be extended hours of 10 a.m. – 7 p.m. on Thursdays; Saturday hours will be 9 a.m. – 1 p.m. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday hours will be 2 p.m. – 7 p.m.
THIS SUMMER, WATCH FOR POISON IVY…AND GIANT HOGWEED
While you’re enjoying summertime activities, remember to steer clear of plants that can cause serious health issues.
Poison ivy is a familiar menace, and one of the poisonous plants that’s most likely to intrude on your back yard as well as along hiking paths and beaches.
In recent years, a less common but much larger and potentially more-menacing hazardous plant called “giant hogweed” has gotten a toehold in the Hudson Valley. It’s the larger relative of the more common wild parsnip and cow parsnip. All three plants contain sap which can make your skin extremely sensitive to the sun, to the point of blistering and scarring – but the giant hogweed is the largest of the three, growing to 14 feet tall or higher with leaves well over a foot in diameter.
If you think you’ve spotted giant hogweed, don’t touch it, no matter how interesting it looks – and it’s interesting-looking enough to have been introduced in New York in 1917 as an ornamental plant. (Big mistake.) Take a picture of the plant instead, and email it to ghogweed@dec.ny.gov.
The state Department of Environmental Conservation reports that giant hogweed plants were eradicated at two locations in Dutchess County, and monitoring continues to ensure the plant does not return.
A useful guide to the region’s harmful plants is available here: https://www.dec.ny.gov/animals/105282.html
If you’re worried you brushed up against poison ivy, or got the sap from a hazardous plant on your skin, wash the affected skin thoroughly with soap and water as soon as possible. There’s an additional precautionary step in the case of possible exposure to giant hogweed, cow parsnip or wild parsnip: staying away from sunlight for 48 hours to be sure any remaining sap isn’t activated by the sun’s rays.
And for you music trivia lovers: the Coasters had a hit with “Poison Ivy” in 1959, while an early version of the band Genesis recorded a song called “The Return of the Giant Hogweed” in 1971.
Other aging news online:
A key US Senate committee is proposing a big increase in Alzheimer’s research funding: https://www.alz.org/news/2018/senate_answers_call_of_alzheimer_s_advocates?WT.mc_id=enews2018_06_28&utm_source=enews-aff-118&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=enews-2018-06-28
Meanwhile, here’s another example of Alzheimer’s research “breakthrough” hype: https://www.healthnewsreview.org/news-release-review/no-an-asthma-drug-tested-in-mice-does-not-bring-new-hope-for-alzheimers-patients-at-least-not-yet/
Walking briskly is said to be good for your health…but what does “briskly” even mean? https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/27/well/walk-health-exercise-steps.html
Taxes may have to increase to keep pace as baby boomers become eligible for Medicare: https://www.mcknights.com/news/despite-slower-medicare-growth-higher-taxes-may-be-needed-to-cover-aging-population-researchers-say/article/775650/
It’s been over 40 years since autism was officially identified – long enough that researchers are now taking a look at its effects on seniors with autism: https://asunow.asu.edu/20180619-discoveries-ageing-autism
Surprisingly, the age bracket reporting the highest degree of loneliness is not seniors, but the 18-24 group. Still, there’s a lot in common with seniors’ isolation:https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/25/well/to-counter-loneliness-find-ways-to-connect.html?rref=collection%2Ftimestopic%2FElderly
This week in senior birthdays:
7/2: Fashion designer Pierre Cardin (96)
7/3: Apollo 17 astronaut/former senator Harrison Schmitt (83)
7/4: Playwright/screenwriter Neil Simon (91)
7/5: Singer/songwriter Huey Lewis (68)
7/6: The Dalai Lama (83)
7/7: Trumpet player/conductor Doc Severinsen (91)
7/8: Actress/director Anjelica Huston (67)
This week’s Bad Joke:
I asked my local librarian where the books on paranoia were.
She whispered, “They’re right behind you.”
Brian Jones
Outreach Coordinator
Dutchess County Office For the Aging
Phone: (845) 486-2555 Fax: (845) 486-2571
Email: bjones@dutchessny.gov
Website: www.dutchessny.gov/aging
