May 25, 2020 MO Life Publications

Page 1

For Advertising information call or text Joe at 973-809-4784 or email joe@mylifepiblications.com

Serving...BUDD LAKE, BROOKSIDE, CHESTER, FLANDERS, DENVILLE, HACKETTSTOWN,

HOPATCONG, IRONIA, KENVIL, LANDING, LEDGEWOOD, LONG VALLEY, MENDHAM, MINEHILL, MORRISTOWN, MT. ARLINGTON, NETCONG, RANDOLPH, SUCCASUNNA

5.25.2020 • www.mypaperonline.com • Follow Us on www.Facebook.com/mypaperonline

A

Helping Veterans and Active Duty Military Cope with Social Isolation

s a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, millions of veterans and active duty military personnel are on lockdown, many suffering from traumatic brain injuries (TBIs), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or substance abuse. With the additional challenge of social isolation, finding ways to combat depression, anxiety and loneliness is critical. That is why Help Heal Veterans (Heal Vets), a nonprofit founded during the Vietnam War, has gone into overdrive, shipping more than 90,000 free craft kits since the beginning of the pandemic and creating a newly designed kit to help veterans make the masks they need to stay healthy and safe. Operating on the principle that not all medicine comes in a bottle, Heal Vets distributes kits in craft categories like masks, leatherwork, models, woodwork, jewelry, paint-by-numbers, needlecrafts, poster art, scrapbooks and more. Crafting can provide therapeutic and rehabilitative benefits, including improving fine motor skills, cognitive functioning, memory and dexterity, and can help alleviate feelings of anger and the severity of negative behaviors triggered by PTSD and TBIs. With demands flooding in due to the COVID-19 pandemic, kits have been distributed to more than 90 Veterans Affairs (VA)

A

medical centers around the country and a large number of military bases, state veteran homes and other locations where the need is great. “The coronavirus is overwhelming, but being alone in a pandemic crisis can be terrifying and deeply debilitating,” says Joe McClain, retired Navy captain and Help Heal Veterans CEO. “Our goal is to give our veterans what they need to heal during this time of enforced isolation.” In a recent survey of vets, 94 percent of those polled who use Heal Vets craft kits said the kits helped them have a more positive outlook on life, and 98 percent said the kits took their mind off problems. With many of the nation’s veterans labeled high-risk now in lockdown with little contact from others, (no visitors, no family allowed, no volunteers and limited staff interaction), it is particularly important to address suicide prevention, according to McClain. “We’re working closely with the VA Suicide Program to start including VA-produced suicide prevention awareness and education material with our kits,” he says. “Our concern is that during this time of increased stress from isolation and financial uncertainty, some veterans may be at higher risk of taking their own life. We are hoping to raise awareness and improve access

Craft care specialist, Kathy Vanasse, prepares craft kits for veterans Courtesy of Help Heal Veterans.

to craft therapy kits to help mitigate that risk.” To learn more about Heal Vets and the organization’s COVID-19 efforts, as well as find out how you can help, visit HealVets. org.

Anxiety, depression and other mental health challenges can be exacerbated during this quarantine period. Luckily, there are tangible ways to support isolated and sick veterans in their most significant time of need. (StatePoint)

Three Ways to Stay Connected to Your Senior Loved Ones While Social Distancing

fter more than 45 days in lockdown, it’s no surprise that many people are going a tad stir-crazy. But it’s far worse for seniors: Not only have visits from their kids and grandkids been suspended, but there’s the extra stress that comes with the nagging suspicion that they’ll be advised to remain on lockdown long after younger people begin trickling back to work

and the world starts opening up again. In fact, the AARP Foundation has even come up with this dire comparison: Prolonged social isolation, for those aged 50 and older, “is the health equivalent of smoking 15 cigarettes a day.” Fortuitously, some of the niftiest technology offers solutions both to keep us connected and protect against some of the miscreants taking

advantage of the situation. • Health Checks. If you are worried that all of the anxiety is harming your loved ones’ overall well-being, the machine-learning algorithms that analyze activity data as part of Alarm.com’s Wellness solution can provide you with the very details you’ve suddenly found yourself obsessing about. Did they open their medicine cabinet

when they should, to take their prescription? Have their sleeping, eating, and (yes) bathroom patterns changed? Are they up and about during the day? All that and more is done by connecting their home to yours via smart-home technology, with real-time smartphone alerts to let you know if something’s amiss. continued on page 2


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.