Aging In The Willamette Valley

As the owner and administrator of Visiting Angels of Willamette Valley, Mark Wang is in a position to share a lot of information about home health care. For example, what does home care mean? And what, exactly, does an in-home care agency do? How does home care work – and importantly, what is not included? How much does it cost, and who pays? In this episode, Mark helps educate us, and there are a few laughs along the way. It’s an informative episode you don’t want to miss!

Dr. Vicki Schmall is the Executive Director of Aging Concerns and an authority on the effects of isolation and loneliness among older adults. She joins us to discuss the challenges of feeling cut off from others. For instance, did you know that being disconnected from others can have the same negative impact on your health as smoking 15 cigarettes a day? Fortunately, Dr. Schmall has some tips for dealing with these issues and covers several ways isolated individuals can stay connected to reduce their sense of loneliness. She also shares some resources available to ensure that you, or your loved one, can get help before a crisis occurs. Don’t miss this helpful show! #Salem

Our guest is Baron Robison, Executive Director of Kickin' Cancer. Baron joins us to share what it takes to outsmart cancer. His organization, Kickin’ Cancer, offers education and support for living an anti-cancer lifestyle. This is achieved through five core values: good social support, reduced stress, plenty of rest, understanding food and nutrition, and getting your body moving. In July, the organization is hosting a festival of fundraising events! If you’re interested in a cancer-free life, don’t miss this show!

Samantha Demchak and Sue Miller of Meadow Creek Village Assisted Living in Salem join us to explain how an assisted living facility can be a home-like setting. In the right assisted living facility, residents are treated like family, and the staff provides a personal and caring touch. There are also many choices for food and activities. Also, smaller communities can offer a lot of charm and personality because they can create a setting that feels more like home. Learn more by listening to this great episode!

Our guest, Baron Robison, is the Executive Director of Kickin’ Cancer. He joins us to share what it takes to outsmart cancer.Baron’s organization, Kickin’ Cancer, offers education and support for living an anti-cancer lifestyle. This can be achieved through five core values that benefit everyone: good social support, reduced stress, plenty of rest, understand food and nutrition, and getting your body moving. If you’re interested in a cancer-free life, don’t miss this show!

Benjamin Surmi, Social Gerontologist from Koelsch Communities, joins us to explain Humanitude, a practical method that helps caregivers improve their skills. As the Director of Training and Culture for Koelsch Communities, Benjamin is always looking for ways to improve care. Humanitude is a training system that helps caregivers learn to provide person-centered care, and it has yielded amazing results in Europe and Japan, where it has been used for years. Be the first to learn about it as it is being pilot tested in the US. Don’t miss this show!

Benjamin Surmi, Social Gerontologist from Koelsch Communities, joins us to explain Humanitude, a practical method that helps caregivers improve their skills. As the Director of Training and Culture for Koelsch Communities, Benjamin is always looking for ways to improve care. Humanitude is a training system that helps caregivers learn to provide person-centered care, and it has yielded amazing results in Europe and Japan, where it has been used for years. Be the first to learn about it as it is being pilot tested in the US. Don’t miss this show!

Our guest, Dr. Doug Eliason, is the Vice President of Clinical Affairs at P3 Health Partners, which is a healthy population management group founded and led by physicians. The group wants to shift the medical industry’s focus from managing illness to promoting wellness through value-based care. By taking this approach, the P3 team unburdens primary care providers and empowers patients to get the care they deserve. Don’t miss this show!

This week we spoke with Tifani Hodges, Account Executive from Traditions Hospice. She shared with us the basics of hospice care, dispelled some common myths, and talked about hospice services with which you may not be familiar. Few of us are emotionally prepared to face a life-limiting illness, and the hospice agency can help make that tough time easier on families in a way that provides warmth, kindness, and pain-free care. Hospice offers many choices, and it offers families grief services after your loved one passes. Don’t miss this show!

Kristine Grow, the spokesperson from the Coalition for Medicare Choices, explains why Medicare Advantage plans are growing in popularity. Medicare Advantage is a public-private partnership where health insurance providers deliver comprehensive medical coverage to Americans over 65 and to individuals with disabilities. Medicare Advantage covers everything traditional Medicare does and more. These plans are growing in popularity, and they can provide seniors with better services, better access to care, and better value. Don’t miss this show!

This week Andy Droney, Senior Director ADT Health & Innovation Programs, joins us to talk about Personal Emergency Response Systems (PERS). It is an electronic device designed to let you summon help in an emergency. When emergency help is needed, the PERS user presses the help button. It automatically dials an emergency response center where the caller is identified. The center will try to determine the nature of the emergency. If the center cannot contact you, it will alert emergency service providers to go to your home. Don’t miss this amazing show!

Do you suffer from stress, grief, anger, abuse, or other emotional issues? Lynell Beckstrom, Master Trainer from the Rapid Eye Institute, joins us to discuss how Rapid Eye Technology (RET) can help with many emotional concerns in people's lives. She’ll explain how the emotional stress from any cause can be released, the body retrained, and the mind re-educated to think and react differently through the RET process. RET helps people with everyday anxiety as well as the distress caused by abuse, grief, anger, family dynamics, and other highly charged emotions to find relief. Don’t miss this show!

Allison Harris is the “Walk with Ease” Program Coordinator at OSU’s Extension Service. On our show, she details the importance of physical activity in chronic pain management and aging. The Walk with Ease program, developed by the Arthritis Foundation, can help to decrease pain and stiffness and improve overall health. Walk with Ease can be done individually or as part of a class or group. The program teaches you about walking and pain management, and it includes exercises to do before walking. Don’t miss this show!

Fred Steele, the Director of Oregon’s Office of the Long-Term Care Ombudsman, joins us to explain what the agency and its volunteers do for seniors in care facilities. The mission of the Long-Term Care Ombudsman program is to protect individual rights, enhance the quality of life, improve care, and promote dignity for Oregonians living in licensed long-term care facilities. This includes all nursing facilities, assisted living facilities, residential care facilities, and adult foster care homes. And they are looking for volunteers! Don’t miss this show!

You might be surprised to learn that most older adults don’t know why they have fallen. This week, Stephanie Wierzbicka, Manager of Strategic Health Programs from ComForCare Home Care, talks about why older adults fall and what options are available to manage that risk. She says it’s necessary to be proactive because most seniors do not realize that they are at risk of falling. Tune in to Part 2 of this two-part series to learn about falls, fall prevention, resources you can use for determining and reducing your fall risk, and why caregiving is a team sport. Do not miss this important show!

You might be surprised to know that most older adults don’t know why they have fallen. This week, Stephanie Wierzbicka, Manager of Strategic Health Programs for ComForCare Home Care, talks about why older adults fall and what options are available to manage that risk. She says it’s necessary to be proactive because most seniors do not realize that they are at risk of falling. Tune in to Part I of a two-part series to learn about falls, fall prevention, and why caregiving is a team sport. Don’t miss this show!

In this show, Dr. Kelly Prill from the Elemental Wellness Clinic explains how she combines natural medicine with clinical neuroscience to treat the whole person. She asks, “If you’re not feeling well, what does your web of symptoms look like, and how can we untangle it?” That’s the challenge taken up daily by Dr. Prill, a Naturopathic Physician and Functional Neurologist who specializes in helping people unravel confusing situations to find the root cause of their symptoms. Her method creates personalized plans that address things like headaches, lack of focus or concentration, brain fog, and anxiety. She works to prevent dementia by uncovering the root cause of these symptoms to help people feel whole and connected again. Don’t miss this fascinating show!

In this show, Dr. Kelly Prill from the Elemental Wellness Clinic explains how she combines natural medicine with clinical neuroscience to treat the whole person. She asks, “If you’re not feeling well, what does your web of symptoms look like, and how can we untangle it?” That’s the challenge taken up daily by Dr. Prill, a Naturopathic Physician and Functional Neurologist who specializes in helping people unravel confusing situations to find the root cause of their symptoms. Her method creates personalized plans that address things like headaches, lack of focus or concentration, brain fog, and anxiety. She works to prevent dementia by uncovering the root cause of these symptoms to help people feel whole and connected again. Don’t miss this fascinating show!

Our host, John Hughes, shares his own story with our listeners. You may not know this, but his mother’s long-term care needs motivated him to change careers and make room in his life to help people in our area. And today, he’s the owner and administrator of ComForCare Home Care in Salem. Over time, he has also become a dementia educator, and often provides free dementia training for the community. John serves on the Advisory Board of Center 50+ in northeast Salem and, of course, enjoys hosting his radio show. Maybe John’s story will encourage you to take the next step on your own journey. Don’t miss this show!

This week we’ll have a different type of discussion as you get to learn about John Hughes, the Owner and Administrator of ComForCare Home Care in Salem. John is also a certified dementia educator who likes to give back to the community with free dementia training, this radio show, and by serving on the Advisory Board of Center 50+. John shares his story about dealing with his mother’s long-term care needs and how it motivated him to change careers to help people in our area. Don’t miss this show!