Posts Tagged ‘Activities’

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Apps for Aging: iPad Apps & Assistive Technology

Thursday, April 25th, 2013

Are you looking for apps for aging? Do you use iPads in your therapy classes, or wish that you could use simple assistive technology to help a loved one?

The iPad is having a profound impact on the lives of older adults, family members, and care providers. Thousands of apps for aging have been developed to promote, health, safety, independence, and emotional well-being. In addition, there are hundreds of iPad accessories and adaptations to accommodate for challenges associated with hearing, vision, memory, arthritis, or high blood pressure.

Apps for aging are everywhere!

Assistive Technology in New Hampshire is sponsoring an Apps for Aging Webinar May 16 that will introduce you to a wide variety of apps for aging. This webinar will discuss an assortment of iPad apps and accessories which can benefit older adults, including apps for:

• low vision

• easier reading and writing

• hearing impairments

• remembering important events, people, and activitiesapps for aging is a specilaty of Therese Willkomm

• locating people, cars, misplaced items, and bathrooms

• speaking difficulties

• reducing anxiety and depression

• controlling appliances in the home

• recording heart rate, blood pressure, food intact, exercise and sleep patterns

• real time video chats with loved ones and service providers

Participants will also learn ways that the iPad can be quickly adapted to accommodate for a variety of vision, communication, or physical impairments.

Apps for Aging Presenter

Therese Willkomm, Ph.D., ATP, directs the NH Statewide Assistive Technology (AT) Program with the Institute on Disability, is a clinical assistant professor in the University of New Hampshire Department of Occupational Therapy, and coordinates the graduate certificate in AT and the disability studies minor. Known internationally as “The MacGyver of Assistive Technology” and more recently as an expert in iPad modifications and apps for individuals with disabilities, Dr. Willkomm has provided AT services for over 28 years and authored 22 publications.

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10 travel tips: Comfortable senior travel

Monday, April 15th, 2013

These 10 travel tips will help you stay comfortable on your next trip. My dad always said, “lessons are presented until they are learned”…..and I learned some good lessons on my recent travel to Los Angeles. Now I present 10 travel tips to you, so you don’t have to learn them yourselves! Actually, you’ll find boomer travel tips 6-10 on the next Maine Senior Guide blog, but here are the first five:

Travel has changed a lot in the last few years.

1. Airports are huge. Make sure you know what gate you’re going to, and if it seems far away, check for a shuttle. I walked around two concourses in Newark Airport last week before I discovered a shuttle that runs between the terminals at the gate entrances.

travel tips make exploring more comfortable2. Wear slip-on shoes. Travelers are required to remove their shoes during the security check. I was amazed at how many people traveled in lace-up shoes that required a bench and a rest-stop to redress. This is one of the most frequently overlooked travel tips! Do pack some comfortable walking shoes, however, which will make exploring places like Huntington Gardens in Pasadena easier. (Orchids from the Garden conservatory.)

3. Remember the 3-1-1 rule. No more than 3 oz. containers of liquid, in a one quart zip-lock bag, one to a person. Baby formula and some medications can be exempted, but check with your airline BEFORE you show up. (This is for items in your carry-on. Checked bags can have full-size liquid containers.)

Travel Tips Include Pack Some Food

4. Pack some food. I didn’t get so much as a package of nuts on my trip. (When I made the same trip out west nine months ago, at least I got pretzels.) This was one of the travel tips I learned the hard way! You can buy various food items (credit cards only) and non-alcoholic drinks are free, but the lady next to me had a sandwhich and a salad from home. If you have the room and the time, you can bring non-liquid food, have something good to eat, and save a bundle.

5. Think twice about your carry on. Since they started charging for luggage, everyone on every flight has a gigantic carry-on plus a huge handbag. If you’re one of the last groups into the plane, it’s possible the overhead bins will be full, and you’ll be hefting your carry-on overhead several times, trying to find a place where it will fit in. You might consider the $25 bag check fee money well spent. And secondarily, make sure your luggage, carry-on or otherwise, has wheels. Borrow a wheeled bag if you don’t travel often. Believe me, the airports have gotten larger, gates are further apart, and flights are closer together. When you’re rushing from point to point, you simply must have wheels. You can’t count on getting a luggage cart. I have the last carry-on bag in America without wheels, and it’s being retired because of my experiences on this trip.

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Egg Carton Greenhouse: here comes spring!

Monday, February 25th, 2013

This egg carton greenhouse project is the perfect way to welcome spring. Karen Vachon of Insphere Insurance Solutions has put together a little egg carton greenhouse video to show people how it’s done. Now’s the time to gather some seeds, a little potting soil, and a plastic egg carton so you can make your own egg carton greenhosue and get seedlings ready to go into bigger pots before they’re transplanted outside.

What seeds work best in an egg carton greenhouse? I’d go for the ones that need warmth to start but can be out in the garden in May. Many flower seedlings are perfect for starting in an egg carton greenhouse (or transplanting into intermediary pots before they go in the ground.) Sunflowers, pansies and violas, sweet william and other carnations, asters and other annuals work well. I’d avoid long tap-rootedplants like lupines and poppies. They don’t transplate very well. Peppers and tomatos would be good choices for vegetables, as well as squash, pumpkins and cucumbers if you’re willing to do some intermediate pots.

Good luck with your egg carton greenhouse. If you’re using leftover dirt from another project, spread it on a baking sheet and bake it in the oven for 20 minutes at 300 degrees to kill off any spores. Go to the local recycling center to see if you can snag the clear plastic egg cartons Karen uses in her video. Otherwise, you should put the word out among your friends and start eating eggs from the 18 egg size cartons.

When the time comes to put your seedlings into intermediary pots, or out into the garden, very tenderly use a plastic spoon or a popsicle stick to wiggle them out of the carton. You’ll see the tiny rootlets throught the plastic of your egg carton greenhouse; you don’t want to damage the roots.

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Ricky Nelson Remembered: music at the Merrill Auditorium

Thursday, February 21st, 2013

I was pretty excited the other day when the promoter of Ricky Nelson Remembered asked me to tell area seniors about the show at the Merrill Auditorium April 5. Ricky Nelson Remembered is a music/video/multi-media extravaganza starring Gunnar and Matthew Nelson, Ricky Nelson’s twin sons. They are 46 now, no longer rocking long blond hair, but they sound great.

Ricky Nelson RememberedThe promotor has given Maine Senior Guide readers a code for $5 off Ricky Nelson Remembered tickets. You can use the code word GARDEN to receive the $5 off discount on tickets purchased online, via phone, or in person. Port Tix is the box office for Merrill Auditorium, and the Ricky Nelson Remembered tickets are $40-$55. Don’t be fooled by ticket offerings on other websites that charge hundreds of dollars per ticket. That’s crazy talk!

We have orchestra seats for the Ricky Nelson Remembered concert that we’re giving away as part of the Spring Senior Expo March 20, 2013, at St. Max Hall, Black Point Road in Scarborough. If you loved Ricky Nelson, come on out to the Expo. We have two tickets in the grand door prize basket, and two tickets as booth give-aways at the Maine Senior Guide booth.

I loved Ricky Nelson, even though I was pretty young when the show went off the air, in the mid-60s. As he became a bigger recording star, he was allowed to add more music to his family’s Tv show, so every second or third show would have Ricky Nelson showing off a somewhat innocent rock ‘n roll song.

The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet was just one of a long list of family-based sitcoms, but this family was real. Ozzie Nelson had been a big band leader in the 40′s, while Harriet was a singer. They started out as radio performers with the Ozzie and Harriet Show, and eventually segued into television when Rocky was 12 in 1952. The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet went on to become one of the longest running sitcoms on TV.

The show at the Merrill Auditorium Friday, April 5, Ricky Nelson Remembered, is by his sons, who were 18 when Ricky was killed in a plane crash on New Year’s Eve in 1985 , at the age of 45. Gunnar and Matthew Nelson are older now than their dad was when he died, but proof that rock lives on.

Ricky Nelson Remembered

Gunnar and Matthew Nelson on stage with                            Ricky Nelson Remembered

 

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Maine honey bees: State Apiarist Jadczak Speaks at Food For Thought

Tuesday, February 5th, 2013

Maine State Apiarist Anthony Jadczak is Lewiston-Auburn Senior College’s FebruaryFood For Thought luncheon speaker. He will present at the 11:30 luncheon on Friday, February 8. His topic is “The Value of Honeybees to U.S. and Maine Agriculture.”

Honey bees and bee keepers have been the focus of research scientists in recent years as commercial migratory bee keepers along the East Coast have reported unusual hive mortality. Populous honey bee colonies suddenly dwindled to a “handful” of honey bees or had completely vacated their hives. The syndrome was named “colony collapse disorder” or CCD.

honey bees are vital to the Maine economyJadczak will present an overview of honey bee biology, the importance of honey bees to agricultural production and the challenges confronting honey bees and beekeepers. Managed honey bees serve a vital role in the production of approximately 90 agricultural crops that include high-value fruits, vegetables, tree nuts and certain field and forage crops.

The economic value of pollination services provided by managed bees to US crops is estimated to be $14.6 billion annually. Crops such as almonds, blueberries and cranberries are almost totally dependent upon insect pollinators for successful production and literally require millions of hives to produce a crop.

Jadczak has been keeping bees for 40 years and works with beekeepers, growers, and the general public concerning honey bee management, crop pollination and nuisance situations with respect to bees and other stinging insects. His responsibilities are both regulatory (licensing and certification) and extension (education.)

honey beesHe is a graduate of Rutgers University and majored in entomology. Following graduation he worked at Rutgers as a research technician managing the university apiaries located at various fruit and vegetable research farms around the state. He assisted in blueberry and cranberry pollination research.

Jadczak is past president of the Eastern Apicultural Society of North America and served on the association’s board for many years. He is a member of the EPA’s Workgroup on Pollinator Protection.

Lewiston-Auburn Senior College, now in its 14th year, presents the monthly 11:30 luncheon program in the Function Room 170 at USM LAC. The cost, which includes lunch, is $7 with advance reservation or $8 at the door. Reservations must be made by noon on February 7 by calling 753-6510. Any late callers will be considered “at the door.”

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Older Voters in Maine: older voters worry about the economy

Tuesday, October 30th, 2012

Elections are approaching. What do non-retired Baby Boomers worry about most? According to AARP’s recent voter poll, older voters 50+ want both candidates to spell out their plans for Social Security and Medicare in detail, and respond to other issues with candor.

Besides a failing Social Security or Medicare program, what else do older voters fear? The AARP Anxiety Index indicates that our worry about prices rising faster than incomes, health expenses, financial security in retirement, and taxes tops the list, but there’s a lot more on it.

“We know the issue of jobs is very important to older voters age 50-plus, but any meaningful discussion of the economy and this year’s election has to include the future of Social Security and Medicare,” said Nancy LeaMond, AARP Executive Vice President. “For these voters, ‘retirement security’ and ‘economic security’ are largely the same thing.”

According to the poll, 34% of older voters also worry about caring for elderly parents or loved ones, while 41% worry about not being able to afford retirement when they want. You can quickly read throolder voters worry about critical financial issuesugh the entire survey  What-the-Economy-Means-to-Voters-50+, which lays the groundwork for the concerns of older voters.

AARP Maine has published a series of papers on where the candidates stand on certain issues most important to older voters in Maine and America.

Older voters, read these position papers

As the grayest state in the nation, Mainers have a leadership role in bringing these issues to the forefront. Older voters should research the candidates carefully and discover where they stand on issues older voters think are most important. Find out more in these papers:

Where Chellie Pingree and Jonathan Courtney stand in the Maine House District 1 race

Where Mike Michaud and Kevin Raye stand in the Maine House District 2 race.

Where Cynthia Dill, Angus King and Charlie Summers stand in the Maine Senate race.

Where Barack Obama and Mitt Romney stand in the US Presidential race.

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Walk to End Alzheimer’s Fundraising Event at Huntington Common!

Tuesday, August 14th, 2012

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Alzheimer’s Association Walk to End Alzheimer’s Maine Dates

Thursday, August 9th, 2012

Here are the Alzheimer’s Association Walk to End Alzheimer’s Maine Dates – they are listed here!

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Thornton Oaks Summer Art Show: fiber art and glassblowing in Brunswick

Saturday, July 28th, 2012

Thornton Oaks in Brunswick has a reputation for staging impressive community art shows. This summer’s show features a glass blower and a paper fiber artist in a display of beautiful color and form. Thornton Oaks will host an artists discussion with fiber artist Melissa mattes and glassblower Caleb Nichols on Thursday, August 2, at 4 p.m., with the opening reception beginning at 4:30.

Thornton Oaks summer art show

 

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Senior Volunteer Services: Encore Leadership Program

Friday, July 13th, 2012

Looking for a way to leverage your senior volunteer services? Consider joining the Encore Leadership Corps. ENcorps recently hosted eight national community foundations in Portland in June, showing representatives how ENcorps is tapping the power of older adults to benefit the state of Maine.

Encore Leadership Corps is a free leadership program for volunteers over 50 years old working in the areas of healthy living, healthy environments, and healthy economy. ENCorps is a program of the University of Maine Center on Aging in partnership with the Maine Community Foundation. Senior volunteer services are a critical component of ENcorps ability to help communities.

Volunteers work in their communities and keep track of their hours for ENcorps. ENcorps provides training seminars, newsletters on volunteerism, recognition and sharing of successful volunteer programs and opportunities, and an annual gathering for teaching and connection. ENcorps is a program of the University of Maine Center on Aging, with a mission to capitalize on the abilities and availability of seniors to activly recognize and affect issues in their communities.

senior volunteer services include staffing phone hotlinesMaine is the oldest state in the nation. While baby boomers represent 28 percent of the U.S. population, they represent 32 percent of Maine’rs. By 2025,over 21% of Mainers will be over the age of 65, compared to 14% today. In a few short years, one out of every five Mainers will be a senior citizen. Maine also has a higher percentage of volunteers; – more than 34 percent of Mainers volunteer, compared to 29.3 percent nationally. Many older Mainers donate their senior volunteer services to area churchs, schools, parks and mentorship programs.

Look here for more information on senior volunteers services and  ENcorps,  or contact Carol Hammond, Marketing Coordinator; 207-838-8672; carol@encoreleaders.org

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