Dutchess County Office for the Aging’s AGING NEWS For the week of September 12

Dutchess County Office for the Aging’s

AGING NEWS

For the week of September 12

Golden Living . . . News for Senior Citizens

Todd N. Tancredi, Director

Dutchess County Office for the Aging

BUT WHO’S TAKING CARE OF YOU?

It’s not unusual to find yourself caring for an aging loved one and fielding countless questions about their well-being. What’s less common is fielding questions about your own well-being as you take on a difficult responsibility, often while balancing additional demands of children and a career. The AARP estimates 40 million Americans have been in the position of caregiver for an aging friend or relative, taking care of cooking, cleaning, errands, medications and more. The annual value of this unpaid labor comes to over $470 billion. Caregiving without taking proper care of yourself creates a situation that can lead to chronic stress and burnout for you, and a feeling that you no longer have control of your own life. Those can all be contributing factors to a decline in your own mental and physical health, leaving you in an even poorer position to care for somebody else.

Even with so many people in your situation it has historically been difficult to find the tools you need in one place to help you take care of yourself. The Dutchess County Office for the Aging is aiming to remedy this situation by presenting a new evidence-based educational series called “Powerful Tools for Caregivers” (PTC).

The six-week series of classes will benefit you whether you are helping an aging parent, spouse or friend, whether they live at home, in a nursing home or assisted-living facility, or elsewhere in the country. It’s also helpful for caregivers of adults of any age with chronic conditions, as well as children with special needs and behavioral needs.

The program helps caregivers reduce stress, improve self-confidence, communicate and recognize feelings more effectively, balance their lives, increase their ability to make difficult decisions, and locate helpful resources. Continuing research has shown that PTC classes have been effective for caregivers in a variety of situations, including ethnic minorities, rural settings, adult children of aging parents, spouses, and people from a wide variety of financial and educational backgrounds.

There will be one PTC session each week. Each class will be led by two experienced class leaders, who in many cases are experienced caregivers in their own right, and who have applied the classes’ techniques successfully.

Limited spaces are available in the first PTC class, which will take place at the Office for the Aging at 27 High St. in the City of Poughkeepsie, Tuesday, October 4^th from 2:00-3:30 p.m. To register, call Office for the Aging Case Supervisor Judy Hearney at (845) 486-2555. Watch upcoming “Golden Living” columns and “Aging News” e-newsletters to find out when and where future PTC classes will be taking place. You can subscribe to the “Aging News,” which includes each week’s “Golden Living” column and a lot more, by emailing Outreach Coordinator Brian Jones atbjones@dutchessny.gov.

As challenging as it may be, caregiving balanced with good self-care can also be one of the most rewarding things you ever do in life.

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: http://www.dutchessny.gov/CountyGov/Departments/Aging/AGIndex.htm

SENIOR PROM REGISTRATION FILLING UP

Just a reminder: the prom is coming up Monday, October 17 at Villa Borghese, 70 Widmer Rd. in Wappingers Falls. For more information and a printable entry form, go to http://www.dutchessny.gov/CountyGov/Departments/Aging/senior-prom-office-for-the-aging.htm

Admission is $20 per person for all prom sign-ups received by September 23 or the event sells out, whichever comes first. After September 23, admission will be $30 per person.

Checks can made out to “Dutchess County Office for the Aging”. Our mailing and delivery address is 27 High St., Poughkeepsie NY 12601.

TO AFRICA, VIA MILLBROOK

The Fountains at Millbrook (79 Flint Rd., 677-8550) presents a talk on the wildlife of Tanzania, including lions, elephants, leopards, buffalo and rhinoceros, on Monday, October 3 at 2:00 p.m., by John and Barbara Marmillo, CLS. The event is free and open to the public, with refreshments provided.

OTHER AGING NEWS ONLINE

Loneliness has been connected to health difficulties, especially in seniors: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/06/health/lonliness-aging-health-effects.html?smid=fb-nytscience&smtyp=cur&_r=0

Speaking of solutions to loneliness, here’s a phenomenon that’s been helping elderly men in particular, in the UK, Ireland and Australia…anybody ever hear of such a thing here in the US? http://menssheds.org.uk/what-is-a-mens-shed/

Here’s the latest Alzheimer’s Association newsletter: http://act.alz.org/site/MessageViewer?autologin=true&em_id=223877.0

A new UK study indicates that elderly drivers are NOT more dangerous than their younger counterparts, although elderly drivers fare worse in crashes: https://www.theguardian.com/science/2016/sep/06/elderly-drivers-not-more-dangerous-than-younger-motorists-study-claims

New information on the possible positive effects of vitamin B12: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/06/well/mind/vitamin-b12-as-protection-for-the-aging-brain.html?rref=collection%2Ftimestopic%2FElderly
A 102-year-old tries out social media: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/sep/09/grandmother-social-media-innovation-cell-phone-emergency

This week in senior birthdays:

Mon 9/12: Actor Ian Holm (85)

Tue 9/13: NY Rangers player/coach Emile Francis (90)

Wed 9/14: Star Trek actor Walter Koenig (80)

Thu 9/15: World’s verified oldest man and oldest Holocaust survivor Yisrael Kristal (113)

Fri 9/16: Actor/boxer Mickey Rourke (63)

Sat 9/17: NY Knicks player/general manager Phil Jackson (71)

Sun 9/18: Voice actress June Foray (99)

Brian Jones
Outreach Coordinator