serving the baltimore metropolitan area • fall 2010
The Secret to Reinventing Yourself page 6
How To: Lower Your Prescription-drug Costs page 26
Wolfgang Puck’s Kitchen: Secrets of Great Chicken Salad page 22
Small Films That Pack A Big Punch page 4
Retire from work, but not from learning page 2
Great Ways 7 to Surprise Your Grandkids
page 20
Fall 2010 • mdseniorsguide.com
Letter from the Publisher
Dear reader, Thank you for picking up the fall issue of Maryland Senior Living. I hope this issue finds you in great health and happiness. My job as the publisher is to create a magazine that is both informative and entertaining to you our reader. We are excited to have found a niche in the Maryland Senior community and proud to say that readership is now over 30,000 strong. Over the next couple of months we will be conducting a survey to get to know you, our reader better. We will be giving away a new Amazon Kindle just for letting us know a little about who you are and how we can make our magazine better. To participate, simply visit our website at www.mdseniorliving.com and click on the contest logo. In addition feel free to mail us with anything that you would like to contribute to the senior community. I want to hear from all of you. Tell us what you are interests are. Do you have an interesting story you would like to share. What features or topics would you like us to cover. Most importantly, tell us how we can create the best magazine for living the senior lifestyle. Sincerely, Gabe Silverberg publisher@mdseniorliving.com P.S. When you call our advertisers, please be sure to tell them you saw them in Maryland Senior Living
Maryland Senior Living • 1498 Reisterstown Rd. #197 • Pikesville, MD 21208 • office 410.878.2212 • fax 410.864.8908 • mdseniorliving.com
maryl and senior living •Fall 2010
Contents food 22
Finance 26
Wolfgang Puck’s Kitchen: Secrets of Great Chicken Salad
How to: Lower Your Prescription-Drug Costs
Chef Wolfgang Puck’s TV series, “Wolfgang Puck’s Cooking Class,” airs Sundays on the Food Network. Also, his latest cookbook, “Wolfgang Puck Makes It Easy,” is now available in bookstores.
Lifestyle 2
finance 8
Retire from work,
Ignore The Fear-Mongering On Social Security
but not from learning
Millions of Americans are reinventing retirement, and Mark Miller is helping write the playbook for new career and personal pursuits of a generation. publisher Gabe Silverberg sales coordinator Devora Hawkins creative director Austin Hamby
a ls o
Family
entertainment 4
Small Films that Pack a Big Punch
creative consultants Neil Cotterill Emily Hauver contact 1498 Reisterstown Rd. #197 Pikesville, MD 21208-3842 info@mdseniorliving.com www.mdseniorliving.com phone 410.878.2212 fax 410.864.8908
When A Loved One Needs In-Home Help: 5 Questions To Ask Before Deciding On Home Care 18 7 Great Ways To Surprise Your Grandkids 20 finance
Retirement Income, Reverse Mortgages and Social Security 12 Health
The Secret to Reinventing Yourself 6 You can take charge of your cholesterol 14 Eating Over 50 16 Home Safety 24
Copyright 2010 by Maryland Senior Living LLC. All rights reserved. Maryland Senior Living is published 4 times a year. Ad rates are available by request. The publisher cannot guarantee the accuracy of information in this publication. π All real estate advertising herein is subject to the Federal Fair Housing Act which makes it illegal to advertise any preference, limitation, or discrimination based on race,
color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status, or national origin, or intention to make any such preferences, limitation, or discrimination. We will not knowingly accept any advertising for real estate that is in violation of the law. All persons are hereby informed that all dwellings advertised are available on an equal opportunity basis.
Lifestyle 2
Retire from work,
but not from learning
by amanda lilly, McClatchy-Tribune
I
t is a recurrent theme these days that the “baby boomer” generation is beginning to reach the age of retirement. This bulging population has been called a vital cohort for consumer spending and has been designated as a critical target-group for politicians trying to garner the most votes. But the boomers as a future student population? Now, that is something new. It has been coined the “learning in retirement movement,” where the process of growing older and retiring from the workplace does not necessarily have to mean retiring from personal progression. There are many opportunities for boomers to stay mentally active and get involved with local education institutions. One of the first options is to audit a course at a nearby university. This allows you to attend lectures and interact with other students, but since it is not for credit, you are not required to take tests or write papers. Many states have laws that require higher education institutions to allow seniors to audit a class on a space-basis. For example, in South Carolina, if you are a tax-paying resident 60 years or older, you can attend university classes on a space basis for $125 per course. Some institutions allow you to do this for free, or will offer some form of financial assistance. Similar to this option is actually attending a community college, where courses are commonly offered specifically for students age 50 and older. Although not usually free, community college courses are generally more affordable. “Community colleges are everywhere,” said Mary Sue Vickers, director of the Plus 50 initiative for the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC). “There
are over 1,200 across the country and 90 percent of the population is within driving distance to at least one of them.”
A pilot program launched in 2008 to coincide with when the boomers were beginning to retire, the AACC Plus 50 Initiative is currently working with 20 community colleges to create or expand campus programs to engage the older population. The initiative has three main focus areas: personal enrichment, workforce training and community volunteering. Vickers considers one of the program’s greatest achievement thus far to be its “rapid and effective response to the economic downturn.” “We offered job fairs and counseling,” said Vickers. “We even had resume classes for all of those who had not had to revise their resumes in many years.” Another advantage to community colleges is that you are interspersed with students of all ages, which Vickers explained is “more reflective of the workforce.” These local higher-education institutions also are often more community-focused, allowing you to become more involved with the people who live near you and have similar interests. Furthering this chance to connect with your community while continuing your education are Lifelong Learning Institutes (LLIs) and other similar programs. These organizations basically act as schools without grades or tests. A host college must sponsor the program, however they are typically self-governed, with a committee of volunteers designing the curriculum. to advertise call 410.878.2212
“
...retiring from the workplace does not necessarily have to mean retiring from personal progression.”
“We like to say we’re under the ‘auspices’ of the college,” explained Claire Robinson, director of the Center for Creative Retirement (CCR) at the College of Charleston in South Carolina. “The main contact we have with the actual college is that many of its professors guest-lecture at our classes.” The CCR offers lectures once a week during the average school year, from September to May. Its lecturers mostly include community leaders and professors at the university. A few examples of this year’s courses include a discussion about Charleston’s future with the town mayor, a speech about India-Pakistan relations with a former diplomat to India, and a debate about this year’s main election issues. “It really is a personal benefit,” said Robinson. “You can take away from it what you want.” LLIs are also a great way to meet people, as Kali Lightfoot, executive director at the National Resource Center for the Osher Lifelong Learning Institutes, points out.
“Many people lose their network when they retire,” Lightfoot said. “This is one way to keep that going because you’re signing up for a class with people who are interested in the same thing.” Osher Lifelong Learning Institutes are specifically liberal artsbased and often also offer special events, trips, speakers and other social activities for its members. They encourage older adults to stay engaged intellectually and socially, while experiencing something “novel and complex.” π There are LLIs in all 50 states, with 118 Osher Lifelong Learning Institutes and over 300 institutes that belong to the Elderhostel Institute Network (EIN), a voluntary association of LLIs that is funded by Elderhostel Inc. To find an LLI nearest you, visit http://www.roadscholar.org/ein/map_usca.asp.
where The besT years begin Join a unique learning adventure. the renaissance institute, housed in College of notre dame’s Fourier Hall, is a diverse community of lifelong learners aged 50 and older. a broad variety of academic and social opportunities are available year-round to members of this dynamic learning cooporative. Contact the renaissance institute for more information. 410-532-5351
mdseniorsguide.com
4701 n. Charles St. | Baltimore, Md 21210
ndm.edu/renaissance
3
entertainment 4
by bill newcott, Entertainment Editor, AARP The Magazine
City Island Aug. 24 One of the year’s hidden gems, this delightful comedy has at its center Andy Garcia as Vince Rizzo, a New York City prison guard whose secret yearning is to be an actor. He’s loath to tell his family for fear they won’t understand—but in fact every character in City Island is harboring secrets of his or her own, some dark, some trivial. Garcia, as the lovable lug, skillfully walks a line between tough and transcendent, playing Vince as a guy whose realization of his artistic aspirations is both liberating and downright embarrassing. He and Julianna Margulies, as his long-suffering but exasperated wife, paint a touching portrait of the redeeming drudgery of midlife love. Through it all the Rizzo family, under the guidance of writer/director Raymond De Felitta, remains quirkily appealing in its clumsy struggles to keep up appearances.
T
he trouble with “small” films is that they too often get correspondingly small theatrical releases. The true blessing of home video is not that it provides a second chance for us to revel in those tightly focused, thoughtful films–in most cases, it’s our one and only chance. The next four weeks are an excellent example as four extraordinary performances finally find the audiences they deserve in a quartet of DVD releases. The City of Your Final Destination Aug. 17 Two of the screen’s most gratifying actors, Anthony Hopkins and Laura Linney, breathe life into the latest movie from the painterly filmmakers at Merchant Ivory Productions. Hopkins is the brother of a deceased, obscure novelist; Linney is the writer’s emotionally brittle wife. When an American academic (Omar Metwally) turns up at their remote Uruguayan estate to write the dead writer’s biography, he pries open a familial can of worms: The brother hopes a bio will spark sales of the writer’s books, replenishing the estate’s dwindling coffers; the wife fears the book will reveal the fact that she lived with the knowledge that hubby was having an affair with a much-younger woman (Charlotte Gainsbourg). The youngsters are pretty to look at, but it’s Hopkins and Linney who carry the dramatic weight with subtle, deeply realized performances. Linney, in particular, is heartbreaking as a woman who fears she has everything to lose when in fact she had nothing to start with.
Solitary Man Sept. 7 “Don’t call me Dad,” Michael Douglas, as a former highpowered car dealer with aging issues, chides his grown daughter. “What should I call you?” asks his grandson. “You can call me Dad.” Douglas replies. His timing is perfect, his cockiness at once appalling and appealing. Here’s Douglas’ best movie role since “Wonder Boys,” 10 years ago. His character Ben Kalmen barely escaped jail time for a business deal gone bust, but alas, he’s not one to learn from his mistakes. Now Ben’s indiscretions are on a romantic level: Thanks to his overactive libido he’s lost a wonderful wife (Susan Sarandon) and is well on the way to losing his young girlfriend (Mary Louise Parker). The story’s resolution isn’t as satisfying as it might have been, but Douglas’ assured performance is a winner from start to finish.
to advertise call 410.878.2212
That Evening Sun Sept. 7 What a late-life career Hal Holbrook is having. He was nominated for an Oscar three years ago for his touching performance as a big-hearted mentor in “Into the Wild”—and now he turns in one of the towering works of his long tenure as one of our most reliably inventive actors. He plays Abner Meecham, an old codger who abandons his life in a nursing home to return to the farm where he used to live—only to find that his lawyer son has rented the place to a local family. So Abner sets himself up in the farm’s old sharecropper’s cabin and sits there—just sits there—watching the goings on in his old house through squinting, angry eyes. Of course, the story doesn’t stop there, and as time goes on Holbrook unveils one nuance of Abner’s character after another. Anyone who claims older actors somehow lose the edge of their craft, or run out of new ways to astonish an audience, need look no farther than Holbrook’s exquisitely crafted performance.
also new on dvd The Last Song Aug.17 This vehicle for pop songstress Miley Cyrus is of course aimed at the tweens in our midst, but as her character’s father, Greg Kinnear gives an almost subversively clever performance. Three Silent Classics by Josef Von Sternberg Aug. 24 Every once in awhile, true film lovers ought to remind themselves that the great silent movies weren’t missing sound— they were simply purely visual works of art. Von Sternberg went on to direct sound classics like “Shanghai Express” and “Blonde Venus,” but it was in the silent era that he proved himself to be a visionary. This meticulously restored collection includes “Underworld” (1927), “The Last Command” (1928) and “The Docks of New York” (1928)—the last being the best, with a gritty, authentic atmosphere of love amidst squalor.
Thriller: The Complete Series Aug. 31 While Rod Serling was probing the edges of the human psyche on “The Twilight Zone,” the series “Thriller” was looking for something somewhat more visceral.
mdseniorsguide.com
Indeed, during its early 1960s run “Thriller” became the latter-day incarnation of the old Saturday afternoon programmer, a source of cheap thrills and mindless chills. Best of all were the on-screen introductions by Boris Karloff, who each week attacked the hokey scripts as if he were reciting newly unearthed Shakespeare: “For these were no ordinary pigeons,” he intones before one episode. “They were pigeons...from Hell!”
The 4 Complete Ed Sullivan Shows Starring The Beatles Sept. 7 Commercials and all, these four shows from 1964-65 evoke, more than any documentary ever could, the astonishing impact The Beatles had on American culture. The first appearance on Feb. 9, 1964—barely three months after the JFK assassination—seems to explode with energy. The Lads, the audience, even the show’s other performers (including impressionist Frank Gorshin and, in a scene from the Broadway musical “Oliver,” future Monkee Davey Jones) bring breathless enthusiasm to the proceedings. Even The Old Stone Face himself seems surprisingly loose-limbed, as if summoning America to awake from an awful dream.
5
Health 6
the secret to
Reinventing Yourself by amy sherman, www.basilandspice.com
D
o you dream of greater freedom and more opportunities for pleasure and fulfillment? But are you feeling drained, unmotivated, anxious and fatigued or feeling empty inside? Could it be that your life is so overwhelming that it’s hard to get unstuck and think about yourself?
“
you are limited only by your imagination and to make a real difference, you must take purposeful action.”
Some people see “50 as the new 40,” but if you’re having trouble accepting that, it may be time to reinvent who you are and how your life is going. So how do you change your life? Thinking about changing and wanting to make changes, is very different from doing something about it. It’s like leaving a motivational seminar all psyched and excited, but with no intention of following through with anything discussed. Remember you are limited only by your imagination and to make a real difference, you must take purposeful action. The first step, therefore, is to be open and receptive to alternative ways of thinking. Don’t discount somebody’s opinion because it doesn’t coincide with your personal taste. When you step out of your comfort zone, you can explore more challenging, out-of-the-box strategies that may actually move you to a higher level.
to advertise call 410.878.2212
Your journey toward change always begins with a single step. You can’t wait for something to push you along, because the drive and intention must come from you. Here are some suggestions that might help you begin your transformation:
1
Write down five things you would like to happen in your life, in the next week, month and even year.
2
Ask yourself the right questions like, “What do I need to do to get me closer to this goal? What one thing can I do immediately? What must I do consistently?
3
Visualize yourself already there. Create the picture, feel it and hold it intently in your mind.
4
Trust that the energy you are putting out in your thoughts and in your behaviors will magnificently create exactly what you want. Therefore, keep your thoughts steadfast on your goals and not on any obstacles you may face.
It is important to stay motivated, but even more important to have the actions you take be transformational. With that in mind, don’t waste time doing things that get you nowhere. In fact, every step you take should increase, not decrease the extent of your possibilities. The secret to reinventing yourself is understanding that all your experiences are a reflection of what you tell yourself. Therefore, every thought has the power to shatter your dreams or transform your life and the greatest gift you have is to choose a positive mind-set that is filled with possibility. A famous Chinese proverb states, “The person who moves a mountain begins by carrying away small stones.” This means that each small action you take brings you closer to your dream. If you don’t do something to control your life now, someone or something surely will. The greatest tragedy of life is not that it’s too short, but that you wait too long to begin it. π
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7
Finance 8
Ignore the fear-mongering on Social Security by peter dreier and donald cohen, Los Angeles Times
A
lf Landon, the Kansas governor running as the Republican Party’s 1936 presidential candidate, called it a “fraud on the working man.” Silas Strawn, a former president of both the American Bar Association and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, said it was part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s attempt to “Sovietize the country.” The American Medical Association denounced it as a “compulsory socialistic tax.” What was this threat to American prosperity, freedom and democracy they were all decrying? It was Social Security, which Roosevelt signed into law on Aug. 14, 1935—75 years ago Saturday. The opponents of Social Security were not right-wing extremists (the counterparts of today’s “tea party”) but the business establishment and the Republican Party mainstream. In the early Depression years, more than half of America’s elderly lived in poverty. But most business leaders and conservatives considered the very idea that government had a moral responsibility to help senior citizens retire with dignity to be outrageously radical, a dangerous trampling of individual liberty. They predicted that the Social Security tax would bankrupt the country.
As New York’s former governor, Roosevelt knew that business groups had opposed the most important pieces of social legislation on that state’s books, including the factory inspection law (passed as a result of the 1911 Triangle Shirt Waist factory fire that killed 146 women), the law limiting women’s workweek to 54 hours, unemployment insurance, pensions for the elderly and public works projects to put people back to work. Once elected president, FDR viewed Social Security as part of his broader New Deal effort to humanize capitalism. Born to privilege, he understood that many wealthy people considered him a traitor to his class. They were, he thought, greedy, unenlightened and on the wrong side of history. FDR outmaneuvered Social Security’s opponents, using his bully pulpit to explain why they were misguided.
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finance 10
“
Social Security will remain vital and solvent for this and future generations.” “A few timid people, who fear progress, will try to give you new and strange names for what we are doing,” he said in a June 1934 “fireside chat” on the radio. “Sometimes they will call it fascism, sometimes communism, sometimes regimentation, sometimes socialism. But in so doing, they are trying to make very complex and theoretical something that is really very simple and very practical...I believe that what we are doing today is a necessary fulfillment of what Americans have always been doing–a fulfillment of old and tested American ideals.” Most Americans agreed. Running for re-election the next year, FDR beat Landon in a 60.8 percent to 36.6 percent landslide. Today, Social Security insures families against the loss of income caused by retirement, disability or death. It provides more than $600 billion in benefits to 51 million people. It lifts more than 35 million older Americans out of poverty. One-third of Social Security’s beneficiaries collect survivors or disability insurance, keeping millions of families with a disabled or deceased breadwinner from destitution. Americans view Social Security as a central component of the nation’s social contract. It is probably the most popular federal government program. Not surprisingly, when President George W. Bush tried to privatize Social Security _ essentially asking Americans to put the security of their future in the stock market _ the people considered it a preposterous idea, especially after they had watched thousands of Enron investors lose their savings and saw the stock market lose 38 percent of its value between January 2000 and October 2002. Today, 77 percent of Americans–even 68 percent of Republicans–believe that policymakers in Washington should “leave Social Security alone” and find other ways to reduce the deficit, according to a national poll in June by the University of New Hampshire. In fact, 75 percent of tea party supporters favor Social Security and Medicare, a New York Times/CBS News poll found in April. There are still a handful of Americans who bash Social Security. They dress up their arguments in different clothing,
but their views haven’t changed much from those of their counterparts 75 years ago. We can’t afford Social Security, they say. It’s going bankrupt. It will destroy our economy and our society.
America, one of the world’s wealthiest nations, can afford to provide an economic cushion for the elderly and the disabled. By making some minor adjustments, Social Security will remain vital and solvent for this and future generations. Economists say that raising the income ceiling on the payroll tax, applying the Social Security tax to nonwage income or adding a modest increase to the payroll tax could add decades to the health of the Social Security trust fund. In retrospect, it is obvious that Social Security’s Depressionera opponents engaged in fear-mongering, not economic reality. Their opposition was based on a free-market fundamentalist ideology that abhorred any attempt to use government to improve Americans’ living conditions. Just as the early battle over Social Security wasn’t really about old-age insurance, current fights over public policy are really placeholders for broader concerns. They are about what kind of country we want to be and what values we consider most important. Today, business groups and right-wing
zealots oppose healthcare reform, tougher financial regulations, stronger workplace safety laws, policies to limit climate change, higher taxes on the rich and extension of unemployment insurance to the long-term jobless. The issues vary, but the mantra is the same: This policy will kill jobs, undermine the entrepreneurial spirit and destroy freedom. The White House and progressive activists should aggressively challenge assertions about the disasters that will befall us if government protects consumers, workers, seniors, children, the disabled and the environment. Throughout our history, progress has been made when activists and politicians proposed bold ideas and then won a series of steppingstone reforms that redefined the social contract. π
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finance 12
Retirement Income, Reverse Mortgages and Social Security by mark miller, Tribune Media Services
Q: I was downsized in September, 2009 and decided to retire, since I’ll turn 68 this year. In a recent column, you made mention of the old rule—that people need to have 80 percent of their pre-retirement income to make ends meet in retirement. I used 70 percent of net income; I felt this was a better method, taken into account a change in lifestyle. After reviewing our changes in lifestyle, our monthly income will just meet our monthly needs. But in order for us to stay in our home—near family—we’ll have to use a reverse mortgage. This will be used to pay off the 10 years left on a 4 percent mortgage of $112,000 ($1,100 monthly), allowing us to have approximately $80,000 to $100,000 in cash. Add this to savings of $70,000 for approximately $170,000 to $180,000 in cash for us to invest in a safe product returning 3 to 5 percent. By doing this transaction, we’ll be able to live comfortably. Your thoughts? –C.F., via the Internet A: Reverse mortgages are not my favorite solution for meeting retirement needs. They’re expensive products, with big upfront premiums and origination fees. But if you’re house-rich and cash poor, it’s not an unreasonable path to pursue. Federal law requires that you get a counseling session from a housing advisor approved by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Beyond that, I’m curious to know where you will find a “safe product” returning 5 percent. With interest rates on 12-month CDs hovering just over 1 percent, it sounds like you’re talking about the stock market--and that’s no place to have all you money stashed at age 68.
Q: I’m a 74-year-old senior who retired at the end of 2008. The Social Security Administration says I have to pay $287.30 a month for Medicare even though my 2009 and 2010 earnings are below $170,000. My earnings for 2008 were above $320,000. Can this be appealed? –H.J., via the Internet A: Medicare Part B premiums are set on a sliding scale according to income. And yes, you have the right to request an appeal. You’ll need to complete a Request for Reconsideration form (SSA-561-U2), which you can find at http://tinyurl.com/yzan9j8 or by calling 1-800-7721213. However, if your income has fallen due to certain specific circumstances or you’ve filed an amended tax return, you can ask for a new decision without filing an appeal. See Publication No. 05-10161, which can be found at http:// tinyurl.com/326ynk. Q: I am 63, and elected to start taking Social Security last year. I’m taking a temporary job with the Census Bureau, and expect my earned income this year will exceed (the limit on earned income) of $14,160 by about $2,000. This would ordinarily reduce my Social Security benefit by approximately $1,120. Can I avoid this reduction by making a contribution to my IRA of the amount over the limit? –L.S., via the Internet A: Unfortunately, no. When you elect to take Social Security benefits before your full retirement age, some of your benefits will be withheld if your earnings exceed the lim-
to advertise call 410.878.2212
its set by Social Security law; $1 is deducted from your benefit payments for every $2 you earn above the annual limit (currently, $14,160). If it’s any consolation, your lifetime benefits are not reduced, because the withheld benefits are added to your benefits after you reach full retirement age.
benefits he and your family could receive based on those earnings,” says Gada. “Take a look at the most recent one; especially the page entitled ‘Your Estimated Benefits’ and the section ‘Survivors.’ Please note that your total family benefits are capped per month as indicated on the statement. If you work while receiving survivor benefits as a spouse and you are under full retirement age, your benefits may be reduced if your earnings exceed certain limits.” π
Q: I recently lost my husband at the age of 37. We have three children. My husband was very successful and I’m just wondering what is the maximum Social Security amount a family can receive? They took my husband’s lowest salary from 1999 to calculate our benefits and I’m wondering if I should appeal or if we’re already getting the maximum. I would appreciate any guidance.
More information on survivor benefits can be found in Social Security Administration publication No. 05-10084 (http:// tinyurl.com/294dtjk) For information on the appeals process, take a look at SSA Publication No. 05-10075 (http://tinyurl. com/2cg5f95).
–K.C., via the Internet A: I’m very sorry for your loss. The amount that your family can get from Social Security depends on your husband’s average lifetime earnings. “Assuming he paid into the Social Security system, the higher his earnings were over his lifetime, the higher your family’s benefits will tend to be,” according to Paul Gada, personal financial planning director for the Allsup Disability Life Planning Center.
Millions of Americans are reinventing retirement, and Mark Miller is helping write the playbook for new career and personal pursuits of a generation. Mark blogs at www.retirementrevised. com; contact him with questions and comments at mark@ retirementrevised.com
“Each year, your husband should have received annual Social Security Statements showing his earnings history and an estimate of the retirement, disability and survivors
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13
health 14
You can take charge of your cholesterol
by amanda lilly, McClatchy-Tribune
I
t seems there is always at least one seasonal celebration with foods that threaten our healthy hearts and trim tummies. But with barbeques, cocktail parties, birthday parties and more on our weekly calendars, it can be extra tough for some of us to watch our cholesterol and stick to a hearthealthy diets. Although cholesterol typically has a bad reputation for clogging arteries, it also performs important bodily functions like building cell membranes and contributing to the formation of certain hormones, vitamin D and bile acids. In other words, too much cholesterol increases the risk for heart disease, while too little can actually do the same. “Cholesterol won’t just dissolve in the blood,” explains Mateo Dayo, a cardiothoracic surgeon at the Venice-Ocala Heart Institute in Florida. That is why it is important to maintain a balance between the two types of cholesterol: HDL (the ‘good’) and LDL (the ‘bad’). LDL, a low-density lipoprotein, gives cholesterol its poor name because it accumulates on the walls of blood vessels when there is too much of it circulating in the bloodstream. HDL, on the other hand, helps prevent this by acting as a high-density lipoprotein that transports cholesterol throughout the body, thus counteracting a build-up.
With animal-products posing as the main culprits for contributing to “bad” cholesterol, that is why it is so important to be aware of how much meat, butter and cheese you eat this fall. These foods are high in saturated fat, which increase levels of LDL. Here are some tips on how you can still enjoy a barbeque without giving up the foods that give it its name:
• Reduce the amount of meat you consume per meal • Opt for seafood at least twice a week • Cook fresh vegetables, but avoid the butter and the salt • Eat only egg whites, instead of the entire egg • Increase the amount of whole grains and fiber in your diet, as these foods help reduce cholesterol levels Although healthy cholesterol can sometimes be affected by age, family history, and gender, a few simple lifestyle changes can also help lower your bad cholesterol: • Don’t smoke • Exercise regularly • Eat healthy by limiting your daily intake of fast to less than 30 percent each of your total calories each day • Have your cholesterol tested regularly so that you can find the right treatment plan for you π
to advertise call 410.878.2212
Assisted Living
Quest Management Group presents
BALTIMORE CITY
BALTIMORE CITY
London House Apartments
Where life is good! LONDON HOUSE
Located at 6101 Park Heights Ave., London House Apartments I need copy for this area.while not exclusively for seniors offers many Senior Friendly features such as: • Elevator • New Washers and Dryers on each floor $200 OFF FIRST MONTH'S RENT! • Huge Balconies for your relaxation FEATURES FLOORPLANS Activities • Upper• ParkCommunity Heights area One and two bedroom apartments • Wall-to-wall carpeting • Starting at just $775 per month • Individually controlled heat and A/C Also featuring: • Free water • Parking available • Beautiful Lobby • Resident controlled entrance • Convenient to I-695 and I-83Controlled • Resident
• • • • • •
LONDON HOUSE
Entrance Extremely Spacious Floor Plans DIRECTIONS: From I-695 west, take Plush Wall to Wall Carpeting exit 21 (Park Heights Ave. south). Leasing office is on the corner of Free off streetLabyrinth parking and Park Heights Ave. OFFICE HOURS:rates Mon-Fri 9-5; Sat Very affordable rental closed; Sun by appointment only Absolutely huge closets Polite & caring staff
6101 Park Heights Avenue Baltimore, MD 21215
Living ! FAX (410) 764-8636 For All Ages
Great (410) 764-8626
Enter the property name at ApartmentGuide.com for photos, floorplans and Text to Lease • © Consumer Source Inc
For more information on making London House your new home call:
410-764-8626 mdseniorsguide.com
Visit us at the Green Acres Leasing Office 3607 Labyrinth Road, Suite 1F DIRECTIONS: From I-695 west, take exit 21 (Park Heights Ave. south). Make right onto Labyrinth Road.
OFFICE HOURS: Mon-Fri 9-5; Sat closed; Sun by appointment only
15
Health 16
Eating over 50
by wina sturgeon, Adventure Sports Weekly
W
e only notice the obvious changes as we get older. The wrinkles, the love handles, the graying hair—though we can’t notice those things as well as we did when younger, because our eyes also get dim.
But many other things change as the years go by, and some important ones go unnoticed. For example, few boomers are aware of changes in the way they eat. Or the amount they eat as compared to the amount of food they need. Diet changes go in spurts common to specific ages. Heading into boomer-dom in the late 40s, metabolism is still pretty fast. The body is accustomed to burning calories. But all things slow down in our 50s. Most of us become less active, and our metabolisms adjust by slowing down. But often, we don’t adjust our diet to match our lower activity. The belly bulge and love handles start showing up in this decade. As most of us know, losing the belly is doable, but love handles are forever. As we get even older, appetite normally decreases. Starting in the 60s, most people start eating less without realizing it. The slowed-down metabolism burns calories at a still-efficient rate, so we don’t get skinny. In fact, this is the time of life when many of us put on a thick cushion of fat that makes us rounder than we ever thought we would be—and it’s fat that seems extremely hard to drop. As we hit our 70s, there is even less of a desire for food, and in the late 70s, many boomers lose more muscle and even fat, and begin getting thin. But it’s not a desirable thinness. It’s actually an unhealthy thinness; this loss of weight can cause many of the worst symptoms and illnesses of aging.
But the roots of the whole situation began back when we were still in our 40s.
Here’s the problem: when you first hit boomer age, your body is still good at absorbing the nutrients in your food. But with every year, nutrient absorption becomes less and less efficient. Even taking supplements doesn’t always help; some types of nutrients are made so poorly that they pass out of the body as waste, without being absorbed at all. Meanwhile, food becomes more a matter of convenience rather than nutrition. As you hit the 50s, you’re less likely to make a complicated dinner. Why roast a chicken when you can purchase one already roasted? Why make pasta, when you can heat up a frozen portion in the microwave? The diet of fresh cooked and homemade food gets to be too much trouble in the 50s and 60s. Yet this is a time of life when good nutrition is essential because of the slowdown in nutrient absorption. So the crux of the problem is the clash of convenience over nutritional needs. When you make food at home, you know whether the ingredients are fresh, whether the cooking and storing has been done in a way that minimizes any chance of bacterial contamination or putrefaction. When you buy a burger from a fast food place, you don’t know if the meat and bread have been sitting in a freezer long enough to lose all nutrition; you don’t know how long it’s been sitting around before you make a meal of it. With fried foods, you have no way of knowing if the fry oil has been overheated and thus contains carcinogens, or if the oil isn’t fresh and has turned rancid—which will destroy many of your body’s stored nutrients, such as vitamin E.
“
So the crux of the problem is the clash of convenience over nutritional needs.”
When you hit your 50s, start the habit of preparing your own meals from fresh ingredients. Don’t ignore your diet at this important time of life. The quality of the food you eat in your 50s and onward will do more than help you live longer—a nutritious diet will keep you healthy and youthful for the rest of your life. π Wina Sturgeon is a nationally recognized expert in helping boomers stay younger. She’s also an athletic boomer who ski races, ice skates and races BMX. to advertise call 410.878.2212
P R
I C K E R S G I L L
E T I R E M E N T
C
O M M U N I T Y
Value. Independence. Security. Common threads in the fabric of retirement freedom For more than two centuries, Pickersgill Retirement Community has had one vision—providing value, independence and security for seniors. Our desirable West Towson location, 16-acre setting and small, intimate size promote a peaceful campus atmosphere with personalized attention, yet quick and easy access to a host of opportunities and services in the region. We are the area’s only rental, continuing care community,with no entrance fee or turnover of assets, and a not-for-profit mission that allows us to deliver extraordinary value. Access to onsite rehab and two levels of assistance promotes ongoing independence, with a strong sense of security coming from the knowledge that higher levels of care are available right here on campus.
Value. Independence. Security.
Call us at 866-694-9332 to arrange a personal tour. 615 C HESTNUT AVENUE , TOWSON , MD 21204 • mdseniorsguide.com
WWW.P ICKERSGILL R ETIREMENT. ORG •
MDSG10
866.694.9332 17
Family 18
When a loved one needs in-home help: 5 questions to ask before deciding on home care by kristen gerencher, MarketWatch
T
he signs can hit you quickly or sneak up on you gradually. But what do you do if Mom or Dad isn’t safe living alone anymore? “The worst thing you can do is ignore it,” said Bob Mecca, principal of Robert A. Mecca & Associates, an independent, fee-only financial planning firm in Hoffman Estates, Ill. If an elderly relative starts to need help to get through the day, families who want to avoid institutions often face two choices: hire a home-care aide or become one yourself. Both these options allow the older person to remain at home where he or she may be most comfortable, experts say, but each has its own pitfalls.
1
What kind of care do you need and can you afford?
If you don’t know what kind of care is needed, a speciallytrained geriatric care manager can help you assess the situation by doing a site visit. Assessments cost $500 to $800 depending where you live, said Stan Samples, communications director for the National Association of Professional Geriatric Care Managers. Its website, Caremanager.org, can match you with local geriatric care managers. The Alzheimer’s Association offers an always-open phone line at 1-800-272-3900 and an online CareFinder tool at www.Alz.org/carefinder. And Medicare’s website has a Home Health Compare tool at www.Medicare.gov/HHCompare.
Families who choose outside help must decide what level of care their loved one requires and whether they want to go through an agency or hire a caregiver privately. And people who join the ranks of the 65 million unpaid family caregivers in the U.S. can face health-draining burnout if they don’t budget for respite care for themselves.
Before looking for a home-care worker, families need to make sure they can afford to hire one, Mecca said.
There are two main kinds of in-home care. Personal or home-care aides provide companionship and support a person’s activities of daily living such as dressing, bathing, preparing meals and doing laundry. Home health aides may do all those things plus tasks such as administering medication or recording changes in a client’s condition. They also may work under a nurse’s supervision.
Agencies’ hourly rates often are towards the top of the scale while caregivers who work independently are typically less expensive.
Here are five questions to consider when thinking of hiring or becoming a caregiver.
Families typically pay for these services out of their pockets unless the older person meets Medicare’s coverage conditions or has a private long-term care insurance policy that covers such needs.
Rates vary widely but are often $14 to $22 an hour for nonmedical in-home care, said Jim McCabe, president of Eldercare Resources, a geriatric care-management company in Scottsdale, Ariz. Still, home care is often less pricey than assisted-living facilities, which can run $2,800 to $4,400 a month, he said.
to advertise call 410.878.2212
2
Should you hire an independent worker directly or go an agency?
The advantage of using a home-care agency is it takes responsibility for screening and supplying aides and paying their wages, taxes and insurance in the event they get hurt on the job, said Ethan Kassel, a geriatric care manager and co-owner of Garden State Eldercare, a home-health agency in South Orange, N.J. Agencies also run criminal background and driving-record checks, and they provide back-up aides should your main caregiver get sick or go on vacation. Families who decide to hire someone on their own should make sure they follow all state and federal employment laws, including any provisions for overtime pay, Kassel said. “The last thing you want is somebody going after your estate or the family member’s estate because something wasn’t handled correctly,” he said.
Siblings who can’t get along may require arbitration sessions so they can get past the conflict to organize care for their parent, said McCabe, who calls family arbitration a fast-growing part of his business. One ground rule he establishes: “If they want to weigh in on what the solution should be, they have to participate in the process that leads up to that.”
4
How do you find the right home-care aide for your needs?
Once families hammer out a plan, the next step is choosing the right person for the job, said Mecca, who has worked with professional caregivers for his own family members. He recommends interviewing at least six candidates, comparing their strengths and checking the references of those who interest you. Families should interview applicants in the home so the aides know what kind of environment they would be working in, Kassel said. If the home has a smoker or pets, that could affect the relationship. And don’t forget to include the elder’s input. “All these things are important in making a good fit,” he said. Finally, don’t pinch pennies if someone stands out but is a little more expensive, Mecca said. “If you give a few more bucks to someone you really like, it will be well worth it and pay you back.”
5
Do you have a plan to take care of yourself?
If you’re caring for a loved one yourself, you need to plan time away so you can tend to your own physical, social and emotional needs. McCabe sees what happens when family caregivers put themselves last. “They’re so consumed with making sure Mom’s needs are met that they break down in the process, and with respite care they could have avoided that,” he said.
3
Can you manage the process with other family members?
If an elder’s adult children live close by, they may decide to divide at least some home-care duties among themselves. But tension often develops if one feels he’s contributing more hands-on work or money than the others.
mdseniorsguide.com
Churches, synagogues and volunteer groups may offer short-term relief. Adult day-care centers may be another option. The Alzheimer’s Association and your local Area Agency on Aging also provide respite-care resources. For more frequent and overnight breaks, check with assistedliving facilities, some of which offer furnished rooms, meals and nursing staff on a temporary basis, Kassel said.π Family caregivers can find more resources at www.familycaregiving101.org, a website run by two nonprofit organizations.
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Family 20
7 surprise your grandkids great ways to
by bethany kandel, Grandparents.com
Guess Who! Every child loves a surprise, especially one that’s filled with their grandparents’ love. When they least expect it, make your grandkids’ day with one of these creative ideas. SWEEP THEM OFF THEIR FEET Myron Kandel, of New York, father of this reporter, and grandfather of four, created “Grandpa’s Day” as a special way to bond with his grandkids. He takes each child out, separately, for a full day of fun. The dates are not a surprise, but the itineraries always are; they have included museum visits, lunch in Chinatown, movies, and walks across the Brooklyn Bridge. “It’s a neat experience for both of us,” he says. “I like to surprise them with something new each time so they’ll look forward to the day.”
COME TO THEIR BIRTHDAY PARTY—VIRTUALLY No children expect a grandparent who lives far away to make it to their birthday party. But you can bowl them over by making your presence felt, remotely. Using your computer’s webcam and a Skype account (it’s free), it’s almost like you’re there. You can hang a happy-birthday banner and float balloons behind you, sing along when they cut the cake and watch them open the presents you mailed—all over the Internet. TURN YOUR HOME INTO A RESTAURANT Phyllis Tannenbaum of New York has turned her kitchen into Chez Grandma when her three grandkids visit for a sleepover, without parents. When they arrive, the children discover a huge menu of child-friendly goodies to order. But the best surprise, she says, is that “we let them have ice cream instead of their meal. That got me into real trouble with their parents!” INTRODUCE A NEW HOLIDAY Everyone knows about Mother’s Day, July Fourth, and Thanksgiving. But how many kids get a surprise coupon from their grandparents for special treats during National Ice Cream Month (July) or a magic kit on March 24, Harry Houdini’s birthday? Make every holiday count, even those they never heard of.
to advertise call 410.878.2212
OPEN A MUSEUM Have drawings grandchildren have sent you, or special cards they’ve made, professionally matted and framed. The next time they visit, they’ll be shocked to see their pictures hanging on your wall beside your other fine art.
Accepting patients in Baltimore, Frederick & Carroll Counties
Adding life to their days.
GIVE THEM A PICK-ME-UP Surprise your grandkids by picking them up from school, day care or soccer once in a while. Or show up unexpectedly at their school show or dance recital with a bouquet of flowers.
Carroll Hospice enables patients to live out the remainder of their days in comfort and dignity, surrounded by loved ones.
ROAD TRIP! Scoop up the kids for a highway adventure; just don’t tell them where you’re going. “We don’t tell them until we are in the car and out of the driveway,” says Patty Campeau, of Newport, Mich. “Once we didn’t tell them we were going camping until we pulled into the campsite and they saw the camper all set up and ready to go.” Teresa, 6, and Julius, 3, really look forward to the surprises. “They try to pry the secret out of us,” Campeau says, “but it can’t be done!”
• Services provided in home or inpatient setting • Inpatient facility with private rooms & interfaith chapel • Expert care team & inpatient respite care • Palliative care services, including pediatric palliative care • Social workers • Pastoral & bereavement support for all ages
Grandparents.com is the place for today’s new generation of active, involved grandparents to find everything they need to get more fun, more smiles and more memories out of the time they spend with their grandchildren.
An affiliate of Carroll Hospital Center Member of the National Association of Home Care & Hospice, National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization, and Hospice and Palliative Care Network of Maryland Accredited by Community Health Accreditation Program | Medicare Certified
292 Stoner Avenue • Westminster, Maryland 21157
410-871-8000 • 1-888-224-2580 • www.CarrollHospice.org
Best Active Adult Living in the Center of it All
REINVENT YOURSELF
AT
THE EVERGREENS.
LUXURY RENTAL APARTMENTS AT COLUMBIA TOWN CENTER .
Quit taking care of that big house and enjoy yourself at The Evergreens. This is the finest in active adult living. Located in the heart of Columbia, you have easy access to shopping, restaurants, golf, walking paths, the library, hospital, the movies... you name it. Enjoy spacious apartments, large club room, heated pool and spa, fitness center, and some of the most fun friends you’ll ever find. Availability is limited. Call or stop by.
For 55 and better | w w w .e v e r g r e e n s c o l u m b i a .c o m
| 410-992-5501
10101 GOVERNOR WARFIELD PARKWAY COLUMBIA, MD 21044
directions: Take Route 29 to Route 175 West towards Columbia Town Center. Route 175 West becomes Little Patuxent Pkwy. At the split, bear right onto Governor Warfield Pkwy. Turn left at the first traffic light to community entrance on right. Professionally Managed by Community Realty Company, Inc. We are pledged to the letter and spirit of U.S. policy for the achievement of equal housing throughout the nation. The Evergreens at Columbia Town Center is an active community intended for those 55 and older available to all regardless of race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status or national origin.
mdseniorsguide.com
21
food 22
WOLFGANG PUCK’S KITCHEN:
SECRETS OF GREAT CHICKEN SALAD No cook wants to make the same dish every day all year long. Sometimes, though, you come up with a recipe that’s so good that everyone— whether your family or your customers—keeps asking for it over and over again. That’s what happened to me with chicken salad, a perfect year-round dish. Back in the late 1970s at Ma Maison, where I had my first job as a head chef in Los Angeles, I came up with a chicken salad that was a huge hit with my customers, including such celebrities as Dinah Shore, Sean Connery, Diana Ross, and the Douglases— both Kirk and Michael. It seemed that the salad was all they wanted to order, so I Chef Wolfgang Puck, the host of “Wolfgang Puck’s sometimes tried to give it a Cooking Class.” rest from the menu. But after just one or two days, I’d get so many complaints that I had to offer it again. What was so good about that chicken salad? One of simplest parts of its success was the dressing: a mixture of mayonnaise, whole-grain mustard (sold under the French name of Moutarde de Meaux), lemon juice, and a splash of mustard-flavored vinaigrette. That’s so much more interesting
than the more common chicken salad dressing of plain old mayonnaise with some salt and pepper and maybe lemon juice. Next came the other ingredients: crunchy celery, sweet-tart cubes of apple, and tangy-salty capers (though the film director Henry Jaglom hated capers and always asked me to leave them out). That combination offers what I think is a perfect, interesting balance of tastes and textures to complement the chicken. Most important of all, however, was the fact that I didn’t use leftover chicken. Instead, I boiled a whole chicken fresh for the salad, letting it cool in its cooking liquid before removing the skin and then tearing the meat from the bones in bite-sized shreds. Tossed with the dressing and then served immediately, the chicken is so moist and tender that you won’t believe how good it tastes, and it absorbs the flavors of the dressing more readily. Of course, you can then refrigerate any leftovers so they won’t spoil. Try the recipe yourself the next time you plan a special weekend lunch for friends or family. Serve the salad on a bed of lettuce, surrounded by sliced tomatoes, sliced hard-boiled egg, cooked and, if you like, chilled green beans—or any other garnishes that strike your fancy. Or offer the salad as a filling for good quality toasted bread or crusty bakery rolls. And I bet you’ll find that whichever people are lucky enough to eat it will complain if you don’t serve it to them the next time they come over!
to advertise call 410.878.2212
ma maison chicken salad Serves 4 boiled chicken
chicken salad
presentation and garnishes
1 chicken, about 3 pounds (1.5 kg)
1 medium-sized Golden Delicious apple 1 stalk celery 1 tablespoon capers, drained 2 tablespoons Moutarde de Meaux 1/2 cup (125 ml) good quality mayonnaise Salt Freshly ground black pepper Lemon juice
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar 1 teaspoon sherry or red wine vinegar 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard 4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil Salt Freshly ground white pepper 2 small heads Boston lettuce, leaves separated, rinsed, and patted dry 2 hard-boiled eggs, shelled and sliced 2 ripe Roma tomatoes, cored and sliced
1 stalk celery, cut into 1-inch (2.5-cm) chunks 1 carrot, cut into 1-inch (2.5-cm) chunks 1 yellow onion, quartered 2 bay leaves 1 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon whole black peppercorns
First, boil the chicken. Put the chicken in a soup pot with the celery, carrot, onion, bay leaves, salt and peppercorns. Add enough cold water to cover the chicken completely. Put the pot over medium-high heat and bring almost to a boil, skimming regularly; reduce the heat to maintain a gentle simmer and cook until the chicken is done, about 45 minutes. Remove the pot from the heat, cover, and leave to cool until the chicken is cool enough to handle, about 1 hour. Remove the chicken from the pot. Strain the broth and reserve it in the refrigerator for another use. Pull the skin from the chicken and then, with your fingers, pull the meat from the bones in bite-sized shreds, transferring the meat to a mixing bowl and taking care to leave all the bones behind. Discard the skin and bones. Peel and core the apple and cut it into 1/2-inch (12-mm) cubes, adding them to the chicken. Cut the celery stalk into 1/4-inch (6-mm) cubes, adding them to the chicken. Add the capers and
mdseniorsguide.com
mustard. Toss with enough of the mayonnaise to coat the ingredients lightly. Taste and adjust the seasonings with salt, pepper and lemon juice. To present the salad, put the balsamic and sherry vinegars and the Dijon mustard in a salad bowl and whisk until thoroughly combined. Whisking continuously, slowly drizzle in the olive oil. Season to taste with salt and pepper and toss the lettuce leaves with this dressing. Arrange the lettuce leaves in the center of a serving platter or on individual serving plates. Top with the chicken salad and garnish with the sliced eggs and tomatoes. Serve immediately. Chef Wolfgang Puck’s TV series, “Wolfgang Puck’s Cooking Class,” airs Sundays on the Food Network. Also, his latest cookbook, “Wolfgang Puck Makes It Easy,” is now available in bookstores. Write Wolfgang Puck in care of Tribune Media Services Inc., 2225 Kenmore Ave., Suite 114, Buffalo, N.Y. 14207
23
Health 24
Home Safety O
ne of the major reasons families decide to use in-home non-medical care is to make sure their loved ones are safe and secure in their homes so they can continue to live independently with assistance. At Visiting Angels, one of the nation’s leading home care companies, “we strive to make sure all details are checked and each care recipient is in the safest environment,” according to Dave Pyser, Executive Director of the Pikesville, Maryland Visiting Angels office. To help elders remain safely in their own homes the following items should be addressed:
All Areas of the Home • Place extension, lamp, telephone and other cords out of the flow of traffic. • Replace all frayed or cracked cords. • Do not overload extension cords for fear of fire. Only use an extension cord within the electrical ratings marked on both the cord and the appliance.
• Heaters with 3-prong plugs should be plugged into 3-holed outlets or used with a properly attached adapter. Emergency Exit Plan • Establish an emergency exit plan and an alternative emergency exit plan in case of a fire. • Establish a meeting place outside the home, so you can be sure everyone has escaped.
• Ensure adequate heating or ventilating by installing storm windows and air conditioning.
• Practice your emergency plan.
• Make sure there is a light switch located near the entrance of each room or install a night-light.
Rugs, Runners, Mats and Stairs • Make sure all runners and small rugs are slip-resistant by attaching double-faced adhesive carpet tape or rubber matting on their backs.
Electrical Outlets and Switches • Have an outlet or switch that feels warm or hot to the touch checked by an electrician. • Make sure all outlets and switches have cover plates. Medications • Store all medications in the containers that they came in. • Make sure each medication is clearly marked.
• Replace any worn or loose carpeting, treads or risers on stairs in order to prevent falls. • Paint outside steps with rough textured paint or use abrasive strips. • Make sure that the steps are even and the risers are of the same size and height.
• Flush outdated medication down the toilet. Small children can gain access to medication thrown in a garbage bucket.
• Make sure the steps are well lit and if possible install light switches at the top and the bottom of the stairs.
Light Bulbs • Make sure all light bulbs are the appropriate size and type for the lamp and fixture.
• Install ramps if necessary for easy access in and out of the senior’s home.
Space Heaters • Place all heaters and small stoves where they cannot be knocked over, away from curtains, rugs, furniture or newspapers.
• Install handrails in stairs for support.
Telephone Areas • In large print, list emergency numbers near every phone. • If the senior falls and cannot reach a wall telephone, do they have access to a cell phone?
to advertise call 410.878.2212
Smoke Detectors • Place at least one smoke detector on every floor of the senior’s home.
Passageways • Make sure all hallways between rooms and other heavy traffic areas are well lit.
• Make sure a smoke detector is placed near the bedroom, either on the ceiling or 6-12 inches below the ceiling on the wall.
• Arrange furniture and remove clutter to clear passageways and exits.
• Do not place smoke detectors near air vents. • Test the smoke detector monthly. • Check and replace batteries and bulbs according to the manufacturer’s instructions. • Vacuum the grillwork of the smoke detector. Kitchen Area • Place towels, curtains, and other things that might catch fire away from the range. • Kitchen ventilation systems or range exhausts should be in proper working order and utilized when cooking. • If the elder must use a step stool make sure it has a handrail and is stable and in good repair. • Replace faucets and handles with lever if the senior has difficulty grasping and turning the existing ones.
mdseniorsguide.com
Bathrooms • Equip bathtubs, showers and bathroom floors with non-skid mats or abrasive strips to prevent falls. • Place strong grab bars in the bathtub and showers. • Install stable shower seats or transfer benches. Bedrooms • Arrange furniture close to light switches or move lamps closer to beds so elders can see properly should they get out of bed. • Place a telephone close to the bed. • Do not cover an electric blanket when it is on. Do not tuck in its sides or ends, as this can cause a buildup of heat, which can start a fire. π Dave Pyser, Executive Director, Visiting Angels of Pikesville
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Finance 26
Lower your prescription-drug costs How to:
by kimberly lankford,
Contributing Editor, Kiplinger’s Personal Finance
I
reached the doughnut hole for my Medicare Part D plan, and now I have to pay for all of my drugs myself. How can I lower my costs for my medications? One of the toughest things about Medicare Part D is the doughnut hole, which kicks in when your prescriptiondrug expenses total $2,830 for the year (including both your share and the insurer’s share of the costs). At that point, you generally have to pay all of your drug bills until the total cost of your drugs for the year reaches $6,440, when catastrophic coverage kicks in and the insurer picks up most of the bill. That coverage gap will start to shrink in 2011—when there will be a 50% discount for brand-name drugs in the doughnut hole—and will disappear by 2020. See What Health Care Reform Means to Medicare Drug Coverage for more information. Until then, the government is helping seniors by sending them $250 checks when they reach the doughnut hole in 2010. More than 750,000 Medicare beneficiaries have al-
ready received the one-time rebate checks, which are generally sent within 45 days of reaching the doughnut hole (see FAQs about the Medicare Rebate for details). But that’s just a small piece of your total costs. Here are three ways to save money on prescription drugs. 1. Switch to generic medications. You can save big money if you switch to generic drugs. A Medicare beneficiary who takes Glucophage, Prilosec and Zocor—three drugs that seniors commonly use—can save more than $3,500 per year by switching to generic equivalents Metformin, Omeprazole and Simvastatin, says Ross Blair, president and chief executive of PlanPrescriber.com. Ask your doctor whether there are generic equivalents to the medications you’re taking. You can also use our Doughnut Hole Calculator to find generic or other low-cost alternatives to your medications. Switching to generics can make a huge difference in the doughnut hole, when you’re paying the full cost yourself, and it can lower your costs before you reach that point, too. Our Doughnut Hole Calculator shows the co-payments you’ll be making for those drugs under your specific Part D plan. Most plans have three or four tiers of co-payments—$5 for generics, $20 for preferred brand-name drugs and $30 for nonpreferred brand-name drugs, for example. With a lower retail cost, it will take you a lot longer to reach the doughnut hole and your share of the cost will also be smaller. 2. Ask your doctor about therapeutic alternatives. There are no generic alternatives for some drugs, but there may be another drug that could also treat your condition but cost a
26
to advertise call 410.878.2212
Finance 28
“
Ask your doctor whether there are generic equivalents to the medications you’re taking.”
lot less—or have much better coverage under your Part D plan. For example, Trandolapril, an ACE inhibitor used to lower blood pressure, has a retail price of about $33 for a 30-day supply, but Lisinopril, also an ACE inhibitor, is just $7, says Blair. If your doctor lets you switch to the therapeutic alternative, you could save more than $312 per year. And the cost savings can be particularly large if one drug is covered by your plan and another is not. Our Doughnut Hole Calculator can also let you know whether there is a similar drug that costs less, but always talk with your doctor first about whether the substitution would work in your circumstances.
3. Find a lower-cost pharmacy. Different pharmacies in your area may charge varying rates for the same drugs. At PlanPrescriber’s RxDrugsaver.com, enter your zip code
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to get a list of the retail cost of a 30-day and 90-day supply of your medications at pharmacies in your area. You may also save money by switching to a mail-order pharmacy, depending on your plan. A UnitedHealthcare AARP plan member in Florida who takes Lipitor, for example, could save more than $122 per year by getting 90-day supplies of his drugs from a mail-order pharmacy, says Blair. The Prescription Drug Plan Finder at Medicare.gov shows how much you could save by switching to a mail-order pharmacy after you type in information about your drugs and dosages. These strategies will help you save money in the doughnut hole. And keep them in mind as you shop for your Part D plan for 2011, which will be during open-enrollment season from November 15 to December 31, 2010. The plan that offered you the best deal for preferred drugs, for example, may not be the one that offers the best deal for generics —which could save you even more money next year. π
to advertise call 410.878.2212
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Affordable • Locations • Services
Affordable Living For Those 62 or Better
Anne Arundel County • Park View at Furnace Branch: 410-761-4150 • Park View at Severna Park: 410-544-3411 Baltimore City • Park View at Ashland Terrace: 410-276-6440 • Park View at Coldspring: 410-542-4400 Baltimore County • Park View at Catonsville: 410-719-9464 • Park View at Dundalk: 410-288-5483 • Park View at Fullerton: 410-663-0665 • Park View at Miramar Landing: 410-391-8375 • Park View at Randallstown: 410-655-5673 • Park View at Rosedale: 410-866-1886 • Timothy House (Towson): 410-828-7185 • Park View at Taylor: 410-663-0363 • Park View at Woodlawn: 410-281-1120
Eastern Shore • Park View at Easton: 410-770-3070 Harford County • Park View at Box Hill: 410-515-6115 • Park View at Bel Air: 410-893-0064 Howard County • Park View at Colonial Landing: 410-796-4399 • Park View at Columbia: 410-381-1118 • Park View at Snowden River: 410-290-0384 • Park View at Ellicott City: 410-203-9501 • Park View at Ellicott City II: 410-203-2096 • Park View at Emerson: 301-483-3322 Prince Georges County * Park View at Bladensburg: 301-699-9785 • Park View at Laurel: 301-490-1526 • Park View at Laurel II: 301-490-9730
NOW! *55 or Better
Call 410-246-7499 or Email SeniorLiving@sheltergrp.com to inquire about eligibility requirements and to arrange a private tour. Professionally managed by The Shelter Group. www.thesheltergroup.com The Shelter Group is committed to Equal Housing Opportunities for people of all races, religions, ethnic groups, and disabilities and all other groups protected by federal, state, or local law.
CommuniCare
Making a difference in the lives of others. Skilled Nursing & Rehabilitation Alzheimers & Dementia Care Specialty Care Centers
Eight convenient locations to serve you: Baltimore Fayette Health & Rehabilitation Center 1217 W. Fayette Street Baltimore, MD 21043 410-727-3947 Liberty Heights Health & Rehabilitation Center 4017 Liberty Heights Avenue Baltimore, MD 21207 410-542-5306 Edgewater South River Health & Rehabilitation Center 144 Washington Road Edgewater, MD 21037 410-956-5000 Ellicott City Ellicott City Health & Rehabilitation Center 3000 N. Ridge Road Ellicott City, MD 21043 410-461-7577
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Forestville Forestville Health & Rehabilitation Center 7420 Marlboro Pike Forestville, MD 20747 301-736-0240 Fort Washington Fort Washington Health & Rehabilitation Center 12021 Livingston Road Fort Washington, MD 20744 301-292-0300 Glen Burnie Marley Neck Health & Rehabilitation Center 7575 E. Howard Road Glen Burnie, MD 21060 410-768-8200 Silver Spring Bel Pre Health & Rehabilitation Center 2601 Bel Pre Road Silver Spring, MD 20906 301-598-6000
www.communicarehealth.com
CommuniCare Health Services
to advertise call 410.878.2212