April 2017
Vol. 44, No. 3
Formerly Senior Focus
Published by The Daily Herald and Senior Services of Snohomish County
Senior Services to launch new brand Page 2
A house filled with pets — and love Page 7
Tips for boosting your recall ability Page 10
Program stimulates seniors with memory issues
www.homage.org
Page 12
Walker, 90, keeps on truckin’ Page 13
Columns
PUBLISHED BY THE DAILY HERALD AND HOMAGE SENIOR SERVICES
Formerly Senior Services of Snohomish County
Savvy Senior . . . . . . . . . . 3 History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Washington Watch . . . . . 6 Travel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Volunteers . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Tech Talk . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Meals on Wheels volunteer Pam Timm places food (Dan Bates / The Herald) in the refrigerator and freezer
By Caitlin Tompkins
Herald Writer
Pam Timm is standing door with a cart of brown at his front grocery bags. “She’s my favorite lady,” Mike Kerasotes, 67, said. Timm, 66, delivers meals to him each week. She has been a volunteer with Meals on Wheels for six months. During that time, Kerasotes has battled cancer. “When you get $80 in food stamps, it doesn’t go very far. Without you, I wouldn’t have made it through radiation,” he said to Timm. Last year, Meals on Wheels volunteers
and staff served more than ple throughout the county 1,000 peoof 152,000 meals. Senior — a total Snohomish County has Services of managed the local chapter of Meals on 42 years. Each of the meals Wheels for is approved by a nutritionist. Most are and have helped diabeticslow sodium blood sugar under control, keep their said Martha Peppones, director of the nutrition program.
Learn about programs and services available to seniors by visiting www .sssc .org .
Just who is responsible for the debts a parent leaves behind?
“That’s 60 too many,” Peppones said. “Those are people who still need The program may be facing meals.” tial financial cuts if PresidentsubstanDonald Trump’s proposed budget approved. Nearly half of for 2018 is the program’s funding comes from the ernment through the Olderfederal govAmericans Act and Community Development Block Grants. The grants are removed under the budget slated to be plan. That would affect 150 meal recipients in Snohomish County, Peppones said. “Fortunately, it’s only a proposal,” she
Giving the gift of companionship Music wellness facilitator Noah Plotkin leads a drumming and singing session with Michael Folio as Cheryl Levin-Folio looks on.
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(Mark Ukena, Chicago Tribune)
The Focus is a publication of SENIOR SERVICES OF SNOHOMISH COUNTY 11627 Airport Rd ., Suite B Everett, WA 98204-8714
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Broadway Plaza.
| VOL. 44, NO. 4 | MAY 2017 Since the program started, been a growing demand. there has Staff were able to bring the waiting list about 300 to 60 people last down from year.
Adaptation helps couple battle
Commentary: Revisions to health-care law will hurt older Americans.
for Lorna Jenkinson at
Meals on Wheels’ future uncertain under president’s propos ed budget
CONTINUED ON PAGE 15
early-onset Alzheimer’s
By Karen Berkowitz
Chicago Tribune
HIGHLAND PARK, Illinois Levin-Folio can’t anticipate — Cheryl milestone of memory loss every new as she and her husband, Michael Folio, navigate his Alzheimer’s disease. Sometimes quick thinking comes in handy, as it did when Michael forgot one day to take off his clothes before stepping into the shower. Rather than correct her husband, Cheryl joined him in the shower with her clothes on
for a laugh. “I think the next time we our clothes off,” she gently should take told him. “I made light of it,” she said. “I never correct him. That’s not fair to In the five years since Michael.” Michael Folio was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s at age 56, the Park couple has adapted Highland routine many times over. their daily They’d been together for years, but married less than four months, when CONTINUED ON PAGE 16
Music therapy enables stro to regain some languag ke patients e through song
By Rashod Ollison years, who sits within arm’s The Virginian-Pilot reach of him, nodding. They’re all in a small NORFOLK, Virginia — When the Johnny Cash room inside Fort Norfolk melody frustrates James Medical Center — RodriRodriguez, he chuckles, guez in his wheelchair and shakes his head and says, Bowdish on a low stool sandwiched between “I don’t know.” an imposing keyboard and a Tracy Bowdish gently pushes him, taking computer desk. Bowdish is his hand into hers as she a music therapist with Sentara’s Music and Medicine leans closer and sings in bell-clear perfect pitch lyr- Center. In a promotional clip for the program, ics from “I Walk the Line. she ” The goal is to get Rodri- mentions that her blindguez to find the words, still ness helps her to engage patients, to “see who they a difficult task since Music therapist Tracy J. his Bowdish plays the guitar stroke in summer 2011. are beyond the stroke.” As Bowdish holds Rodri- leads James “Jim Bob” Rodriquez in singing songsand But his progress has been during their session “remarkable,” says San- guez’s hand, singing lyrics in Norfolk, Virginia. at Sentara Neurology Specialists Rodriquez suffered a stroke dra, Rodriguez’s wife of 47 CONTINUED ON PAGE 16 2011 and Bowdish is helping him regain some in speech through music. (Bill Tiernan / The Virginian-Pilot)
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Lynnwood monument kept its meaning despite multiple moves. Page 4
What steps should you take to ‘get your affairs in order’? Page 6
Tech Talk: Roku is a streaming device that’s easy to love. Page 7
Troubling questions arise when nursing homes evict residents. Page 8
Before a 1977 wedding, well-meaning mom tried to talk about sex. Page 10
Columns Savvy Senior . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Volunteers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Elder Info . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Tech Talk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Washington Watch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
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Learn about programs and services available to seniors by visiting www.homage.org.
Myrtle Imus, center, is a senior companion to Lois Larson and Nadine Dobbins, residents at Meadows II in Everett. (Andy Bronson / The Herald)
Volunteer enjoys making friends while helping others By Megan Brown Special to The Herald A good friend is hard to find. And unlike a fine wine, that search doesn’t get better with age. Myrtle Imus, 72, was lonely when she moved by herself from Kent to Everett in 2016. She became a volunteer with the Homage Senior Companion Program to build friendships. The companion program helps create bonds between senior citizens who may otherwise feel isolated from society and have a hard time putting themselves out there. Imus became aware of the Homage service after seeing an advertisement for the program. “I saw this picture of this lady standing by a senior, and I thought, ‘Wow, she really looks like me!,’ ” Imus said.
Imus contacted Homage, and was connected with four other women in the area. “I call them my little angels,” she said. Imus visits her companions in their homes or they go out to lunch together. Sometimes they plan visits to museums or local attractions. They help each other with errands or chores around the house. Homage made the enrollment process easy and uncomplicated. “They’d call me and say, ‘I have a companion,’ and ask if I’d like to meet them,” Imus said. Those companions range in age from a few years her senior to 15 years younger than Imus. One of her senior companions rarely left her house because of a physical disability. Imus made it her mission to change that. “I now have her going to church and out to dinner once a week. I
take her with me when I go some places, just to get her out. It’s just been a real good time for us. I know she’s happy. And I am.” Helping others is a familiar pastime for Imus, who retired in 2013 from a 50-year career as a licensed nurse practitioner. The Homage Senior Companion Program provided an opportunity for her to continue helping others while making friends. The benefits of social interaction and companionship have been studied extensively in children and young adults, but only recently have its effects on seniors shifted into focus. Researchers are finding a strong correlation between friendships later in life and good health. A 2012 study from the University of California San Francisco concluded that CONTINUED ON PAGE 9
Homage program connects seniors with seniors
Homage is a publication of HOMAGE SENIOR SERVICES 11627 Airport Rd., Suite B Everett, WA 98204-8714
By Kate Gauigan Homage Senior Services “I don’t like seeing people suffering and I like being able to do something for them” said Mary Oyoo, a Senior Companion volunteer with Homage’s Senior Companion Program. Mary says it seemed like a natural fit to join the Senior Companion Program, a program that matches older adult volunteers (ages 55 and older) with homebound or disabled seniors (ages 60 and older) with the volunteers providing companionship and other assistance with daily tasks. While living in Kenya, Mary worked as a nurse coordinating
Mary Oyoo, who was a nurse when she lived in Kenya, is a Senior Companion Volunteer. (Homage photo) some programs through USAID, with the help of The John Hopkins Hospital, focusing on infection prevention and family planning. She
was drawn to working with older adults after her own personal experience caring for her mom. “My own mother was sick, and I brought her into my home and took care of her and she got better. When I came to the United States, I remembered how much I liked my nursing work and working with older people and that was why I wanted to help in the Senior Companion program.” After her mom’s death, Mary immigrated to the United States in 2012 and settled in Alabama. Upon hearing about the Northwest, she made her way to Everett, which she enjoys a great deal. Mary works as a caregiver, which provides herself with an CONTINUED ON PAGE 9