Area Agency on Aging Survey

 The Area Agency on Aging of Pasco-Pinellas provides many services to older adults. They provide a telephone helpline which connects Seniors with local agencies and non-profits (1-800-963-5337). In addition, they administer the following programs:

• SHINE (volunteers to help you choose a medicare program) 
• SMP Program (Senior Medicare Patrol)     
• Senior Victim Advocate Program    
• The National Family Caregiver Support Program
• Grandparent Caregiver Program     
• Senior Safety Phones Project     
• Food Assistance - SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program)

However, the Area Agency on Aging needs your help! They are preparing their Area Plan for 2013-2015 and they need information from local seniors to provide an accurate reflection of their needs in Pasco and Pinellas counties.  If you are age 60 or older, please  fill out this survey:  https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/SeniorSurveyAAAPP. 
Thank you for your assistance.

Senior Fun Fest

The Senior Connections and Mature Lifestyles magazines will be presenting a Senior Fun Fest on Thursday, June 28th at the Strawberry Festival Expo Hall in Plant City from 9am - 2:00pm. Admission and parking are free. The event will feature:

• Free Health Screenings
• Live Music
• Senior-Friendly Sports Center
• free coffee and goodies

             Strawberry Festival Expo Hall
             2202 W. Reynolds St.
             Plant City, FL
             813-653-1988

World Elder Abuse Awareness Day Flash Mob

A previous post described the World Elder Abuse Awareness Day on June 15, 2012. The purpose of this day is to educate people about elder abuse and how to prevent it from happening. Ethos, a non profit organization in Massachusetts, recently used a whole new way to raise awareness of elder abuse. They organized a flash mob at a Roche Brothers grocery store. A flash mob is is a group of people who assemble suddenly in a public place, perform an unusual act for a short time, then disperse. In this case, it is more like a "smart mob", since this group was organized and planned ahead of time. More than twenty five seniors and staff members from the Ethos Age Well West Roxbury program sang and performed a choreographed dance to the Beatles "When I'm 64" at a grocery store. Here is the video:

   
 You can find out more about elder abuse by clicking here.

World Elder Abuse Awareness Day

Tomorrow, June 15th, is World Elder Abuse Awareness Day. The Administration on Aging states that "Millions of older Americans are abused, neglected, or exploited each year, with an estimated 84% of cases going unreported." You can view a live symposium about elder abuse and financial exploitation today at the White House Live website. In addition, the Ohio Office of the State  will be hosting a Facebook chat about elder abuse tomorrow, June 15th at 9:30am. The guest speaker will be Kathy Greenlee, Administrator of the Administration for Community Living and Assistant Secretary for Aging at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Click here to go to this chat.
     
You can help prevent elder abuse by spotting the warning signs, including:

• Signs of neglect: lack of basic hygiene, medical aids (i.e. glasses, medications), left without care if confined to a bed, or untreated bed sores.
• financial abuse: caregiver has control of the senior's finances and does not use the money to take care of the senior's needs or the older adult is giving large amounts of money or gifts to their caregiver.
• pyschological abuse 
• physical abuse

You can learn more about the signs of abuse here and more on what you can do to prevent elder abuse from this National Center on Elder Abuse factsheet. In addition, the State of Florida Department of Elder Affairs also has a brochure about preventing elder abuse.
If you suspect that an older adult is being abused, you should call the Florida Abuse Hotline at 1-800-962-2873. Another great resource is the Area Agency on Aging of Pasco-Pinellas elder helpline: 1-800-963-5337. If the senior lives at a nursing home or assisted living facility, a volunteer from the Florida Long-Term Care Ombudsman program may be able to help. You can contact them via the elder helpline: 1-800-963-5337.

Florida ID and Drivers License Information

When your current Florida drivers license expires and you have not used the one-time online "convenience" renewal option, you can renew by going online to www.GoRenew.com. It is important to type this address directly into your address bar, because doing a yahoo or google search on "gorenew" will result in a list of scam websites. These websites will charge you money and then redirect you to the real official government website. The Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles does not require a surcharge for purchasing a drivers license online.

If you have already used the one-time convenience renewal, then you will have to go to one of the drivers license offices to renew your license. Since the passing of the Real ID Act of 2005, everyone who renews their driver's license or wants to get a government issued ID card must prove who they are.You will need to bring several documents to prove who you are. To find out what documents you need, Florida residents can go to http://www.gathergoget.com/ .Obtaining the documents can be a very involved procedure- since you may need to get a birth certificate or a marriage certificate from another state. Therefore, it is best to start gathering your documents a few months before your renewal date.

Older adults who are Florida residents will need a valid Florida identification card - even if they do not drive. These identification cards are necessary for air travel, they must be shown at the doctor's office, and may be needed to pick up some prescriptions. Some older adults may have problems obtaining the necessary documents and may need legal help. Ellen Cheek has written a great article about this in the March/April 2012 Elder update (p.6). You can read this article here.

Hurricane Expos

The Pasco County Emergency Management Team will be hosting two hurricane information expos - one on the west side of the county on June 2nd and one on the east side of the county on June 9th. These seminars can help you to prepare your family and your home for hurricane season. Admission and parking are free. Here are the specifics:

West Side Expo

with special guest speaker Steve Jerve - 

the Chief Meteorologist from Channel 8 News

 June 2nd 

10am - 2pm

J. Ben Harrill Recreation Complex 

2830 Gulf Trace Blvd.  

Holiday, FL 34691

East Side Expo

with special guest speaker - Leigh Spann -  

News Channel 8 Meteorologist

 June 9th

10am - 2pm

5827 Dean Dairy Rd 

Zephyrhills, FL 33541 

Hurricane Season is nearly here!

National Hurricane Preparedness week runs from May 27th - June 2nd and hurricane season officially starts on June 1st. It is important to prepare ahead of time - especially if you have special needs or own a pet.  The Florida Department of Elder Affairs has published a "Disaster Preparedness Guide for Elders".  This guide covers many types of disasters including:

• hurricanes
• fires
• floods
• tornadoes

This is an excellent guide with practical advice - such as how to assemble a disaster supplies kit and create a plan for yourself and your pets.  You can read this guide online here or pick up a print copy at your library.  You can find more information, including videos from the National Hurricane Center.   

Here are local Pasco County resources to prepare for hurricane season: 

• Pasco County's Hurricane Guide (English version)
• Pasco County Hurricane Guide (Spanish version)
• 2012 Evacuation  Map (English)
• 2012 Evacuation Map (Spanish)
• If you have special needs - you will need to pre-register for SNAPS services, like transportation and care.  You can learn more about this service and get the application here. 
• If you have a pet and need to have a place for him/her during an evacuation, there is one shelter that accepts pets. This shelter operates on a first-come, first-served basis and proof of vaccinations is required.  In addition, the pet owners must stay with their pet. More information can be found here.

The Tampa Bay Times has also published an online "Hurricane Guide 2012" here.