Online learning and connecting | several articles for digital users of all levels
The Internet and meeting platforms as Zoom have provided exceptional ways for people to stay connected over the past year. Perhaps going forward, digital conferencing computer applications and programs will be the connection of choice for so many reasons.
On March 6, the Berks-Lancaster-Lebanon Link partners’ network will be offering this free Webinar that’s geared for persons who may need a little boost and confidence building in getting started on digital highway.
March 06 – A webinar especially for seniors and others who may be a little skeptical about digital devices and the Internet: “BABY STEPS #1: Let’s Get Tech Savvvy!
Here are a few articles that may be of interest for you:
- Stanford study into “Zoom Fatigue” explains why video chats are so tiring
- One Lesson, Three Lives – A story about how “newwbies” find a whole new world by opening up to learning how to use digital devices. “With newbies, I start with the basics – things like what an app or a link is, how to open them – all the beginning things.”
- Meet and Make Friends Online – An article about finding and connecting with friends of all kinds online.
“Fall Prevention: Balance and Strength Exercises for Older Adults” – Johns Hopkins Medicine
reviewed by Lora Stutzman
“Falls can have very serious consequences as we age. Each year, more than 25 percent of adults 65 or older have a fall, and 3 million are treated in emergency departments for fall injuries, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“The risk of falling in older adults is usually related to combination of factors, including:
- Balance and/or walking problems. Balance can be affected by vision changes, vestibular problems and altered sensation in the feet.
- The use of multiple medications. Studies indicate that when individuals take five or more medicines, the risk of falls increases.
- Home hazards (including dim lighting and trip hazards)
- Positional low blood pressure (such as orthostatic hypotension, when blood pressure drops upon standing.
- Feet and footwear issues
“Falls often occur in the bathroom when … Continue reading this article at this Johns Hopkins Medicine Website.
“9 Ways to Extend the Time You Spend Living Independently” – next avenue
“Take these steps to stay in your home or community as long as possible.”
Credit: Getty
by Brett Sember
“One of the biggest decisions as you age is where you will age. Three-quarters of adults in a 2018 AARP survey said they wanted to remain in their homes, but only 59% thought they would be able to do so. If remaining at home is your preference, here are nine steps you can take:
To see the nine steps and read more, click here to read the next avenue article in its entirety.
Ruth & Erica: “A free YouTube TV series is a realistic story about the struggles, fears, and sacrifices that family caregivers often face”
Ruth and Erica is an interesting and captivating online mini-series in abbreviated less than 10 minute episodes. The comments above are from several of the episodes.
Somehow in the middle of an internet search vortex, we came across the first episode of this captivating mini-series. It is so captivating and well acted that we wound up binge watching the entire series. Know what? We don’t feel at all guilty. The characters are brilliantly cast in a riveting slice of real life for many.
What are the dynamics of aging parents with career focused children? What about the onset of the afflictions of aging? What about the senses of loss and frustration.
Here are a few articles about the YouTube FREE mini-series:
TV show about caring for aging parents: Ruth and Erica
Ruth & Erica – An Interesting Online Series for Caregivers
Lois Smith in The Americans and in Ruth & Erica
Here are links to the episodes in the entire mini-series. We hope you find the mni-series interesting and thought-inspiring.
- Episode 2
- Episode 3
- Episode 4
- Episode 5
- Episode 6
- Episode 7
- Episode 8
- Episode 9
- Episode 10
- Episode 11
- Episode 12
- Episode 13
“State Department of Aging offers older Pennsylvanians new resources to arrange COVID-19 vaccinations” – WITF
“We need to foster these community-based solutions.”
SOURCE: WITF article
by Kiley Koscinski/WESA
“(Pittsburgh) – After weeks of criticism from older Pennsylvanians struggling to get COVID-19 vaccine appointments, Gov. Tom Wolf announced Thursday two state agencies are stepping up to help people over the age of 65 book COVID-19 vaccine appointments over the phone.
“The state’s Programs of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly, or PACE, is a low-cost prescription program for older adults; it has launched a dedicated unit at its Harrisburg-based call center to help its 275,000 cardholders arrange vaccination appointments. Operators will also be working with cardholders to arrange for transportation to vaccination sites; they’re also working with PACE’s pharmacy network members to vaccinate at a cardholder’s residence, if necessary. Enrollees can call 1-800-225-7223.
“For other older adults, PA Link is now taking calls from people who don’t have access to a computer. Operators will assess the caller’s situation, offer guidance and transfer to a scheduling team. For callers with transportation needs, PA Link will also be able to contact partners with their local Area Agency on Aging to assist with coordinating rides.”
Continue reading this article at WITF, click here.
“As scams against senior citizens increase in Pennsylvania, state forms task force to help” – Reading Eagle
by Mike Urban
“Brian Long is 77 and knows his age makes him a target for the increasing number of scammers who try to steal from senior citizens.
“They see the elderly as easy prey, he said, and are ruthless enough to come after them.
“Long has learned enough about financial abuse of the elderly that he not only recognizes emails, phone calls and text messages from people attempting to rip him off, but also leads seminars about these crimes on behalf of Berks-Lancaster-Lebanon LINK, an agency that helps the aging and disabled.
“Despite his attempts to help people avoid being victimized, Long has repeatedly heard from seniors who still fell prey to financial schemes, evidence of how devious those scammers can be, he said.
“Long and others who work with the elderly in Berks hope a new state task force can help protect seniors, improve reporting mechanisms and cut down on those crimes by coordinating efforts between agencies.”
Resources for seniors
If you’re a victim, call your local police department or your bank if you notice something wrong with your accounts.
Those with general questions about crimes against seniors can call the Berks County Area Office on Aging at 610-478-6500 or the Pennsylvania Link to Aging and Disability Resources at 800-753-8827.
Pennsylvania also has a statewide Elder Abuse Hotline at 800-490-8505.
About community living.
“All people, regardless of age or disability, should be able to live independently and participate fully in their communities. Every person should have the right to make choices and to control the decisions in and about their lives. This right to self-determination includes decisions about their homes and work, as well as all the other daily choices most adults make without a second thought.
Why Community Living?
“In survey after survey, when older adults and people with disabilities are asked where they would prefer to live, they say they want to live in their communities, not in institutions. People also are happier and healthier when they live in community settings.
“Inclusion of older adults and people with disabilities also offers many benefits to communities themselves. Communities miss out on valuable voices and perspectives when people with disabilities and older adults are left out. They are deprived of co-workers, volunteers, mentors, and friends who offer new ways of thinking about, and navigating, the world. When older adults are excluded, communities lose wisdom collected over many decades, and their connection to history.
“Community living also happens to be less expensive than other options for most people. Skilled nursing facilities can cost an average of $75,000 a year and public residential facilities for people with disabilities average $225,000 a year. In most cases, these costs are not covered by Medicare or private health insurance.
“Finally, a series of laws, court decisions, and administrative rules have established community living as a legal right. Most notably, in 1999, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Olmstead v. L.C. that people with disabilities must receive services in the most integrated settings possible. This landmark decision has been a critical tool in protecting the rights of people with disabilities and older adults alike.”
There’s more here at the Administration for Community Living Website: https://acl.gov/about-community-living
The Pennsylvania Link to Aging and Disability Resources is an initiative of the Administration for Community Living.
“Aging In Place: A Great Way To Extort Payback From Your Adult Children” – Forbes
by Sara Zeff Geber
“If you have bought into the idea that aging in place in the home you’ve maintained for 30+ years is the best answer to the question of where to live as you age, I can only conclude that you have decided it’s payback time for your children. Did your own parents live into their late 80s and 90s? Did they age in place? If so, how did that work out for you? Maybe you were one of the lucky ones whose parents lived happily on their own into their old age and then just died in their sleep one night, and now you are absolutely sure that is exactly what will happen to you. But what if it doesn’t?
“Moira knows first-hand what it’s like to have a parent who refuses to move out of their home of 50 years. Her mother, Pat, has a home is debt-free and there is enough money coming in from social security and a small pension to meet expenses every month. In addition to that, Moira’s parents saved a substantial amount of money over the course of their lives and were planning to leave Moira and her brother, Will, a nice inheritance. However, both Moira and Will are in good shape financially and would rather their mother used the money to ensure herself a comfortable and safe life as she gets older. They have toured several assisted living communities and eventually even persuaded Pat to come along on one of their visits. But it didn’t change her mind.
“No matter what Moira or Will said to Pat, she clung to the idea of aging in her two-story home. She claimed the stairs were good exercise and refused to even relocate her bedroom to the lower level.” Continue reading this article at Forbes, click here.
“Amid isolation and loneliness, elderly face crumbling safety net” – WITF
“Meals on Wheels delivery driver Pasquale Fabbricatore, 66, delivers meals to homebound senior Louise Delija, 93, during the coronavirus pandemic, in the Brooklyn borough of New York on Thursday, May 7, 2020.” (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey)
By Sally Herships/NPR
“Growing up in the 1930s in a small, marshy town in the Calabrian region of Italy, Rose Frusciante was constantly bombarded by mosquitoes. But one bite in particular proved dangerous.
“Frusciante, who is now 85, still remembers the sweating, fever and chills that followed as well as being heaped under blankets and all the clothing she had as her mother desperately tried to keep her warm. The tiny bite had given her malaria, which also claimed the lives of three of her siblings.
Still, Frusciante, who now lives in Mount Vernon, N.Y., says there is no comparison between the insect-born disease and the invisible threat that is the coronavirus.
“’I’m afraid to go out,’ she says. ‘Because if you walk outside, somebody may have it and they don’t even know.’
“According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, eight out of ten deaths during the pandemic have been among seniors like Frusciante. And while seniors are among the first in line for the vaccine, other safety nets in place to catch the elderly are unraveling quickly.
“Frusciante’s husband died last year and she lives alone in an apartment. She uses a walker to get around. She needs help, but can’t afford it on $2,000 a month.”
Keep reading this article at WITF; click here.
“Welcome to the AARP Network of Age-Friendly States and Communities” – AARP
- The population of the United States is rapidly aging.
- By 2030, one of every five people in the U.S. will be 65 or older.
- By 2035, the number of adults older than 65 will be greater than the number of children under 18.
That’s why AARP staff and volunteers are working throughout the nation to engage and mobilize communities, share expertise, and deliver technical assistance to the towns, cities, counties and states in the AARP Network of Age-Friendly States and Communities
The work that happens within the network — which is a program within the larger AARP Livable Communities initiative — is hands-on and locally determined and directed.
The common thread among the enrolled communities and states is the belief that the places where we live are more livable, and better able to support people of all ages, when local leaders commit to improving the quality of life for the very young, the very old, and everyone in between.
AARP engages with elected officials, partner organizations and local leaders to guide communities through the age-friendly network’s assessment, planning, implementation and evaluation processes.
Read more; click here.
