Dutchess County Office for the Aging’s
AGING NEWS
For the week of December 2nd
Note: the Office for the Aging will be closed for the Thanksgiving Day holiday on Thursday, November 28th. There will be no OFA Home Delivered Meals service on the 28th and on Friday, November 29th. HDM clients will receive shelf-stable meals as needed in advance of the holiday weekend.
The Office for the Aging will be OPEN on Friday, November 29th, but all OFA Senior Friendship Centers will be closed on the 29th.
Golden Living . . . News for Seniors, Their Families and Caregivers
Todd N. Tancredi, Director
Dutchess County Office for the Aging
REDUCING SENIORS’ REPEAT HOSPITAL TRIPS: AN OFA GOAL FOR 2020
A trip to the hospital for a medical emergency may save your life, but we’re confident in saying it’s not an experience you or the person you care for would want to repeat. We’re aware that many frail seniors can feel unsafe in their own homes, especially when returning there after a hospital stay. And yet many of these seniors do find themselves returning to hospitals and emergency rooms, and often.
The Office for the Aging this year began an effort to coordinate with the care teams at local hospitals, rehabilitation centers, skilled nursing facilities and urgent care centers, aimed at reducing the risk of return trips to the hospital. It’s part of our mission to help Dutchess County seniors continue living independently for as long as is safely possible, and to pursue alternatives that can break the pattern of hospital re-admissions.
To avoid these return trips, we have four areas that can serve as a good place to begin:
- Measure your risk
Health care professionals use tools to identify which older adults are most likely to return to an emergency department after leaving the hospital. It’s information that could help you as well. Seniors and their caregivers can advocate for themselves, simply by asking about the senior’s risk for repeat hospital visits.
- Have a care plan ready when discharge time comes
Don’t go home from the hospital without asking health care providers about what kind of plan will meet a senior’s unique needs as they continue their recovery. The Office for the Aging can be a key part of planning a senior’s successful recovery, which is why we’ve been coordinating with care teams throughout the county. This effort is just beginning, and as it continues we expect to see more Dutchess seniors and residents seek out OFA services.
- Get the pharmacist in the mix
A senior taking multiple medications is at risk of drug interactions that lead to serious side effects Having a pharmacist review the medications can help a senior align the timing and dosage of medications for desired effectiveness. If a change in medications is ordered, the Office for the Aging can direct you to local resources where you can safely dispose of the medications that are no longer needed.
- Listen to that wake-up call
If the senior’s hospital visit was unplanned, a combination of lifestyle factors may have led them to their current situation. It’s never too late to quit smoking, improve diet and exercise, and eliminate other substance use. These changes will improve your quality of life and keep you away from the ER. The Office for the Aging’s website (www.dutchessny.gov/aging) has plenty of tips available. Look for the “Nutrition Services” and “Health and Wellness” sections to find out more.
Golden Living is prepared by the Dutchess County Office for the Aging, 114 Delafield St., Poughkeepsie, New York 12601, telephone (845) 486-2555, email: ofa@dutchessny.gov website: www.dutchessny.gov/aging
Office for the Aging events schedule
To find out more, see the events calendar at www.dutchessny.gov/aging
or call (845) 486-2555 (unless a different number is indicated)
(All events subject to change)
Tue 12/3, 11:00 a.m. – Home Safety and Fire Prevention
With Dave Surico, Rebuilding Together Dutchess County
Tri-Town Senior Friendship Center, 110 S. Grand Ave., Poughkeepsie
Mon 12/16, 11:00 a.m. – Healthy Holiday Cooking and Eating
With OFA nutrition coordinator Nimesh Bhargava
Location to be determined
Tue 12/17, 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. – OFA Open House and Holiday Lunch (Reservations required – space extremely limited)
Poughkeepsie Senior Friendship Center, 114 Delafield St.
Call (845) 486-2555 to reserve your seat
More information below
OFA OPEN HOUSE AND HOLIDAY LUNCH (Tue 12/17 – reservations required)
Our first OFA Open House, held back in May, was a big success – so much so that we plan to hold additional Open Houses to accommodate the demand. The next Open House is taking place on Tuesday, December 17th, from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at the OFA Poughkeepsie Senior Friendship Center, at the main OFA facility at 114 Delafield St., just off Route 9. You’ll see what a day at the Friendship Center is like for its senior clients; enjoy a nutritious holiday lunch; and hear from County Executive Marcus Molinaro and OFA Director Todd Tancredi.
Because we have a very limited amount of seating, reservations are required and can be made by calling the Office for the Aging at (845) 486-2555.
For those who can’t make it on that day, or who find that all the seats have been reserved, there will be more open houses during 2020.
NOMINATE A 2020 SENIOR CITIZEN OF THE YEAR
Every May, the Office for the Aging honors Dutchess County seniors whose remarkable efforts on behalf of the community are worthy of public recognition.
You can nominate a senior for a “Senior Citizen of the Year” honor, which will be awarded at the “Celebration of Aging,” tentatively scheduled for May 18th at Villa Borghese in Wappinger Falls.
In early April, a subcommittee of the OFA Advisory Board will choose the honorees from all nominations received by the March 27, 2020 deadline.
Qualifying is simple: a nominee must be at least 60 years old, a resident of Dutchess County, and not a previous “Senior Citizen of the Year” honoree. Previous nominees who were not selected for honors can be nominated again.
The nomination form is posted at the Office for the Aging website (www.dutchessny.gov/aging), and will be included in the Winter 2019/20 issue of our “Spotlight on Seniors” newsletter, due for mailing in early December.
SENIOR PROM VIEWING ON “PANDA” PUBLIC ACCESS TV
TV viewers with access to PANDA (Public Access Northern Dutchess Area), channel 23, will be able to see video of October’s OFA Senior Prom on the following dates at the following times:
November 30th, 9 a.m.
December 1st, 8 p.m.
December 6th, 9 a.m.
December 7th, 12 noon
December 8th, 4 p.m.
December 11th, 2 p.m.
Other aging news online:
With holiday shopping getting underway, gift card scam attempts are likely to become more common. Many businesses that sell gift cards are getting out in front of the issue, advising their employees to watch for and stop suspicious sales of large quantities of gift cards – often to seniors who’ve been called by a scammer and told to buy the cards.
Here’s the Federal Trade Commission’s thoughts on the issue: https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/paying-scammers-gift-cards
This week in senior birthdays:
12/2: Author/sportswriter Dan Jenkins (90)
12/3: Musician/reality-show star Ozzy Osbourne (71)
12/4: Game show host Wink Martindale (86)
12/5: Novelist/screenwriter Joan Didion (85)
12/6: “Craigslist” founder Craig Newmark (67)
12/7: Baseball Hall-of-Famer Johnny Bench (72)
12/8: Irish flute player James Galway (80)
And a Bad Joke, of course:
It takes a big man to admit when he’s wrong.
It takes an even bigger man to give a giraffe a haircut.
