Taking Care - a PBS Long-Term Care Series

PBS NewsHour has launched “Taking Care” - a series of six reports on the challenges of long-term care. The first one aired on May 30th and the video is provided below. It is a video profile of Mary Wyant. You can find supplemental information about the broadcast and links to Alzheimer resources here.


 

 

Watch A Mother and Daughter Portrait Of Long-Term Care on PBS. See more from PBS NewsHour.

19th Annual Hurricane Expo

The Pasco County Office of Emergency Management will be hosting the 19th Annual Hurricane Expo - on Saturday, June 8th. This seminar can help you to prepare your family and your home for hurricane season. Admission and parking are free. Here are the specifics:

Special Guest Speaker Steve Jerve - 

the Chief Meteorologist from Channel 8 News

 June 8th

10am - 2pm

J. Ben Harrill Recreation Complex 

2830 Gulf Trace Blvd.  

Holiday, FL 34691 

For more information, you can contact the Pasco County Office of Emergency Management at (727) 847-8137 or go online here. 

Disaster Preparedness Guide for Elders

The Florida Department of Elder Affairs has released the 2013 Disaster Preparedness Guide for Elders. This guide includes tips to prepare for:

• hurricanes
• floods
• fires
• tornadoes
• extreme temperature

In addition, there are sections about special needs, assembling a disaster supplies kit, and disaster recovery assistance for Seniors. Click here to access this guide. In addition, local disaster preparedness information can be found at the Pasco County Emergency Management website - here. You can also pick up a print "Disaster Planning Guide" at your local library in the Tampa Bay area. The Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council and local county emergency management agencies produced this guide, which also includes a hurricane evacuation zone map.

CARES Elfers Senior Center News

The CARES Elfers Senior Center in New Port Richey has moved to a renovated building at 4136 Barker Drive. This was an 11,000 square foot renovation, which was built with grant funding. This building now has a satellite branch of the New Port Richey Library - called the Avery Branch Library. This library will be staffed by CARES volunteers and contains over 1,000 books. This Senior Center will provide many activities including yoga, dancing ( ballroom and line dancing), music, tai chi, card games, computer classes, and craft programs. You can access their calendar here. 

You can learn more about the CARES Elfers Center on their website. If you are interested in volunteering at the Elfers Center, please call 727-847-1290.

New Report on Older Adults

The Administration On Aging, the Administration for Community Living, and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services have published a new statistical report: "A Profile of Older Adults: 2012". The statistics in the report are mainly from the U.S. Census Bureau, the National Center for Health Statistics, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics. This report defines older adults as age 65+. Here are some of the highlights from the report:

• Over one in every eight, or 13.3 %, of the population is an older American.
• People reaching age 65 have an average life expectancy of an additional 19.2 years ( 20.4 years for females and 17. 8 years for males).
• The median income of older persons in 2011 was $27,707 for males and $15, 36 2 for females. 
• Almost 3. 6 million elderly persons (8.7 %) were below the poverty level in 2011 .
• In 2011, approximately 497,000 grandparents aged 65 or more had the primary responsibility for their grandchildren who lived with them.

 You can read the entire report here.

Older Americans Month 2013

May is Older Americans Month.  This observance was originally called "Senior Citizen's Month" when it was created in 1963, but it was renamed "Older Americans Month" by President Carter in 1980.  The Administration on Aging has announced the theme for this year - "Unleash The Power of Age".   

This is a very special celebration, since it is the the 50th anniversary of Older Americans Month. One in eight Americans is an older adult. This May, celebrate this growing segment of our population. Their achievements have made this nation what it is today. 

You can celebrate Older Americans Month by contacting the Area Agency on Aging of Pasco - Pinellas and finding out about volunteer opportunities with programs which help Older Adults in our community. Another way to celebrate Older Adults Month would be to invite an older adult to give a presentation for your organization in their field of expertise.

The Seniors Vs. Crime Project is on Your Side!

The Seniors Vs. Crime Project is a non-profit organization that was started in 1989.  This organization works with the Florida Attorney General's Office to educate Seniors about crime prevention and to investigate complaints about companies and individuals who have defrauded the elderly. Volunteers called "Senior Sleuths" help with investigations and by reporting suspicious activity. You can learn more about volunteering here. This organization has two outreach programs: the Florida Seniors Against Investment Fraud (FSAIF) and the Senior Medicare & Medicaid Patrol (SMMP). There is also a link to scam alerts here. 

One of their most important activities is helping consumers to get money back from companies which have defrauded them. The Seniors Vs. Crime Project reports that they return approximately $1,000,000 per year to Seniors who have been cheated. If you would like to file a consumer complaint, you can request help online.  You can learn more about the Seniors Vs. Crime Project here.