Senior Living Spring 2023 - Prime Times - Queens Chronicle

SPRING 2023

• VOLUNTEERING: WHERE TO PITCH IN ACROSS QUEENS

• KIDNEY MONTH: DOCTOR’S TIPS KEEP THEM HEALTHY

• REHAB CENTERS: HOW TO PICK ONE AFTER SURGERY

Family Care Connections, LLC

PARTICIPATING ADVERTISERS

AgeWell

Cliffside Nursing Home

Donna Furey, Esq.

Dry Harbor Nursing Home

Elder Care Services

•Nurse Geriatric Care Manager

•Assistance with Aging at Home

•Assisted Living & Nursing Home Placement

•Elder Care Consulting and Counseling

•Medicaid Application & Consulting Services

•Real Estate and Housing Options for Aging Nassau (516) 248-9323 Queens (718)470-6300

Dr. Ann Marie D’AngeIo, DNP, CNS

Dr. Frank G. D’Angelo, JD, PhD 901 Stewart Ave., Ste.230 •Garden City, NY11530 www.FamilyCareConnections.com

CONTENTS

Volunteering: where to pitch in across Queens

Page 4

Excelsior Roofi ng

Family Care Connections

Flushing House

Main Street Radiology

Margaret Tietz Nursing & Rehab

Parker Jewish Institute

Queens LI Renal Institute

Sapphire Center for Rehabilitation

Silvercrest Center

St. Michael’s Cemetery

Super Shine Cleaning NYC

Kidney Month: doctor’s tips keep them healthy

Rehab centers: how to pick one after surgery

Page 6

Page 8

Publisher - Mark Weidler

Section Editor - Peter C. Mastrosimone

Marketing Coordinator - Debrah Gordon

Layout - Gregg Cohen

Where to volunteer in the World’s Borough

by Naeisha Rose Associate Editor

Volunteering is beneficial to any community, but for seniors the act of being of service comes with the added benefits of decreasing dementia risk, improving mental health and increasing longevity because it keeps one physically active and the mind sharp, according to the National Institute of Aging.

Queens has volunteer opportunities at nonprofits, women’s groups, art centers, parks, city agencies, civic groups, museums, hospitals and more.

The Hellenic American Neighborhood Action Committee, an Astoria nonprofit that provides social services throughout the city, is seeking volunteers, according to Enrique Jerves, HANAC’s legal victim assistance program director.

“People who are interested in volunteering can email a resume,” Jerves told the Chronicle. “They just have to answer questions on why they are interested in volunteering at a specific program.”

Jerves said he would need a copy of a photo ID and that people can volunteer at HANAC for one to three days.

“We are open Monday to Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., so we are available on weekends,” Jerves said. “We’ve worked with senior volunteers in the past and they are very good.”

HANAC has coordinated with retired lawyers who provided free services for its clients, said Jerves. It also seeks volunteers to provide friendly visits, clerical, technical and administrative support, arts and crafts, greeting, telephone reassurance, music, dance, exercise, computer instruction, event planning and lunch service, according to the group’s website.

To volunteer at HANAC email Jerves at ejerves@hanac.org or visit hanac.org/about-us/ volunteer/. People can also call (718) 396-5042 for more details. HANAC is located at 27-40 Hoyt Ave. South.

The South Queens Women’s March, a nonprofit group located at 130-01 Liberty Ave. in South Richmond Hill, is definitely looking for volunteers, according to SQWM Founder Aminta Kilawan-Narine.

“I am so proud to underscore that the South Queens Women’s March is as intersectional an

organization as they come,” Kilawan-Narine told the Queens Chronicle. “We have worked hard to cultivate spaces that feel inclusive across all different identities and across different generations too!”

Programming at SQWM spans culturally responsive mutual aid efforts to bridge systemic inequities, pop-up food pantries and distributions for essential items and civic mobilization efforts, which include voter engagement street outreach and community cleanups. In addition, SQWM also conducts art workshops on gender-based violence.

“Volunteers fuel our movement,” KilawanNarine said. “Without them, we could never accomplish as much as we do ... Age is not a barrier when it comes to volunteering with the South Queens Women’s March. When volunteers register for any volunteer opportunity we have, we always ask what roles they may be comfortable with to also account for any physical limitations.

“Different generations stand to benefit so much from dialogue with one another and I personally see that play out whenever we are together in community volunteering. Seniors and the knowledge they bring to the table are invaluable assets.”

To learn more about the SQWM call (929) 367-0010.

The Jamaica Center for Arts and Learning, a multidisciplinary arts center located at 161-04 Jamaica Ave., does not have an official volunteer program, according to Tyrel Hunt, JCAL’s spokesman. However, JCAL is in the process of building one and is accepting inquiries. People who are interested can email Patrick Scorese at pscorese@jcal.org.

Throughout the years, JCAL has worked to inspire youths’ interest in the arts, showcased emerging artists and performers and has delivered multicultural programs.

To learn more, visit JCAL.org.

The Parks Department has a year-round NYC Parks Stewardship program that anyone who may be willing to get his or her hands dirty can join sending an email to stewardship@parks.nyc.gov or calling (718) 392-5232.

Visit nycgovparks.org/reg/stewardship to

register to help with forest and wetland restoration, planting and pruning street trees, harvesting and propagating native seeds and monitoring wildlife in the borough, by going to the Upcoming Stewardship Projects section of the webpage and clicking Queens.

Saturday, there is a Kissena Park forest restoration initiative from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. at the intersection of Fresh Meadow Lane and Kissena Boulevard near Booth Memorial Avenue. On March 24, people who are interested may provide tree care at Newton Road and 41st Street in Astoria from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.

There are also volunteer opportunities at the city Civic Engagement Commission for anyone 18 and up.

The commission is seeking participatory budget outreach and language assistance program outreach volunteers, along with CEC volunteer leaders.

A participatory budget volunteer will participate in community need assessments via canvassing, phone-banking and digital outreach, which will form the basis of project proposals that New Yorkers will vote on.

For three hours a week, language assistance volunteers will phone bank, create digital flyers and support CEC text-info lines to bring awareness to language assistance services.

CEC leaders will train for eight hours a week on how to be an ambassador for the organization, train and coordinate other volunteers and convene meetings.

To learn more visit nyc.gov/site/civic engagement/get-involved/volunteeropportunities.page.

The Museum of the Moving Image has volunteer opportunities for film lovers of any age, according to Hayley Brinkman, a spokeswoman for the Astoria institution.

“We’ve recently restarted our volunteer program after Covid-19 and look forward to welcoming many new volunteers, including a few who are senior citizens, to help us with our annual First Look festival this week,” she said.

There are volunteer roles for hospitality and theater operations, and the festival runs until March 19. MoMI also lists a six-month volunteer program with various duties.

The hospitality role includes greeting and directing guests and filmmakers, providing

information about the festival, assisting at the filmmakers’ lounge and other duties as assigned.

The theater operations role entails managing lines, ticket and passes, ushering audiences and also providing information about the festival (this role will require volunteers to be on their feet for a significant period of time).

If interested go to movingimage.us/join-andsupport/volunteering/.

Seniors can also give back at the Department for the Aging.

“The volunteer opportunities at the Department for the Aging give New Yorkers, no matter their age, an opportunity to give back to their communities, while staying socially active and engaged,” said DFTA spokesman Greg Rose. “There are many activities NYC Aging volunteers can do, including packing food for home delivered meals, helping older adults care for their pets, or sign up for the right health coverage.” Rose said some of volunteers have been of service for decades and continue to give invaluable support to residents in every borough.

People can sign up at agingvolunteers.cityof newyork.us.

NewYork-Presbyterian Queens is just one hospital in need of volunteers for its programs, according to its spokeswoman Rachel Friedman Packer.

“We work closely with AmeriCorp RSVP (Retired Seniors Volunteer Program) that not only helps connect senior volunteers with NewYork-Presbyterian Queens, it also educates, provides help and assistance to these volunteers,” Friedman said via email.

To sign up go to nyp.org/queens/volunteer.

The Queens Interagency Council on Aging, which operates out of Borough Hall at 120-55 in Kew Gardens, provides food for those in need, and will restart those operations after late May since losing people to retirement or death due to the pandemic, according to QICA Executive Director Bruce Cunningham. QICA is in need of dependable people with past volunteer experience, one as a bookkeeper and others as food servers, as it feeds up to 150 people.

City Hall also has a volunteer calendar of events across the Big Apple at nycservice.org/ calendar. Q

Joyce Matheson, a NewYork-Presbyterian Queens volunteer, creates care and welcome packages to end of life patients and to parents of newborns.

PHOTO COURTESY NY-PRESBYTERIAN QUEENS

Via its NYC Stewardship program, the Parks Department has volunteer opportunities plantings and pruning.

PHOTO COURTESY NYC PARKS

Good health habits are healthy kidney habits

by Michael Gannon Senior News Editor

Kidney disease can strike people young or old, and can do so without warning. But with March being National Kidney Month, Dr. Michael Goldman, a nephrologist with Jamaica Hospital Medical Center, said routine checkups and common-sense care can avoid problems, or at least catch them early enough to make an important difference.

“The job of a kidney is to filter blood,” Goldman said. “They’re vital organs. Most filtration and other things happen in the liver. But what the kidneys do is generally unique to the kidney, so you can’t live without them.

“There happen to be other functions. For example, they’re involved in the signaling for making blood, so ... when people get a kidney problem they can get anemic. They also have to do with the bones in terms of hormonal signaling.

“When things go wrong, there’s a little bit of a problem.”

And the elderly, Goldman said, are more prone to kidney disease.

“The elderly are more prone to everything,” he noted.

Goldman said hypertension, or high blood pressure, is well-known as “the silent killer.” But it is not the only condition that can be insidious. Hypertension and diabetes, he said, are major causes of kidney disease.

“When somebody has appendicitis, they know,” Goldman said. “Their belly hurts and it’s off to the hospital. With the kidneys, you don’t know.

“Most of the time, when people get chronic kidney disease or kidney problems, it’s asymptomatic, meaning they don’t feel it.”

Sometimes there are no symptoms at all.

“So when it happens they can go on not knowing about it,” Goldman said “Which is why it is so vitally important to go on getting regular checkups and, as determined by their doctor, when people need lab work. A lot of time, we find kidney problems and can do something about it; meaning before it’s become problematic. We find it in blood work. People don’t have symptoms.”

While blood can be visible in urine, trace amounts or excessive protein in the urine can be detected only through testing.

Goldman used the example of live kidney donors to show how a loss of function caused by illness can go unnoticed for some time. He said when the donor gives up one kidney, they in effect lose half their kidney function and can still not only survive but be healthy and well.

An asymptomatic kidney condition likewise in some cases can reduce a patient’s kidney function considerably before a problem manifests itself.

‘The person could lose half the function in their kidneys and we wouldn’t pick it up on a blood test,” Goldman said. “The difficulty is by the time we pick up something there’s a lot of damage.”

“That person can have plenty of kidney in reserve if we

can catch it early,” Goldman said. “But we have to slow down the process of what is bothering their kidneys. So it’s important for people — young and old — to get checked out.”

Along with regular checkups, Goldman said, healthy lifestyle habits are healthy kidney habits.

“In terms of diet and lifestyle, what you have to remember is that the kidneys have one million to two million filters,” he said. “Those filters are basically tiny blood vessels. The things I tell people to do or to avoid are because they’re heart-healthy. They’re going to be healthy for the kidneys.

continued on page 10

THE TRUTH ABOUT MEDICAID

Community Medicaid eligibility is changing!

In October 2020 a new look-back period was passed forcing applicants to surrender two and one-half (2.5) years of financial statements. However, due to the pandemic Medicaid was unable to enforce this new regulation and kept extending the starting date.

The last extension was from October 1, 2022 to January 1, 2023; however, the earliest date that the state will seek implementation is March 31, 2024.

What does it mean to new applicants once the new regulation goes into effect? If there were

“Protect

any transfers during the two and one-half (2.5) years prior to fi lling, applicants will be disqualified for a period of time depending on the amount transferred. Disqualifi cations cannot be more than two and one-half years.

Presently, applicants can transfer any amount of money one month and become fi nancially eligible for Community Medicaid the following month. This window of opportunity is slowly closing in. Potential applicants should keep in mind that the only way to avoid this issue is to apply before the rule is enforced.

Dr. Michael Goldman, left, of Jamaica Hospital Medical Center, says regular checkups and routine tests can detect and arrest kidney problems before symptoms show up. COURTESY PHOTO, LEFT

Rehab not one-size-fits-all, say experts

by Deirdre Bardolf Editor

Having a loved one go to the hospital for surgery, or having to go yourself, can be a stressful time, especially as the patient gets older. Caregivers have an increased responsibility, as do care providers and the needs evolve with age. And what comes next, the transition of care postsurgery, is almost as important as the actual procedure itself.

Discharge planning is key and ensures that patient recovery continues and that they get the care needed to return to health. The transition of care can include going back to the home, where there is a myriad of ways to be nursed back to health, or being admitted to a residential nursing facility or an alternative: a short-term rehabilitation center, many of which are in Queens.

Hospitals in New York are actually legally obligated to give patients the opportunity to name a caregiver who is willing to be a part of planning for the time following discharge. In 2015, the New York State CARE Act, short for Caregiver Advise, Record, and Enable, was signed into law and requires hospitals to give patients the opportunity to name a family caregiver willing to be part of planning for discharge and providing care at home, according to the United Hospital Fund. New York joined over 30 other states that adoped similar legislation.

“That helps ensure good follow-up, adherence to the plan of care and help, and then we also help with figuring out what is the best place for the patient to go, either home or to a rehab facility,” said Dr. Isabella Park, associate medical director and direct of geriatrics and palliative care at Long Island Jewish Forest Hills. “And when we’re giving options for rehab, then giving choices about which rehab facility they would prefer,” she said.

There are several questions to consider when choosing

between home or a rehab center, she said: “What is home like? What are your needs? What is already in place?”

Older patients often do best at home, in familiar surroundings, she said, but that might not always be an option.

Home physical therapy can be useful if patients have trouble getting to a facility, said Dr. Emily Fatakhov, a doctor of rehabilitation and physical medicine and sports medicine at Mt. Sinai Queens, but it can limit treatment options. “Home care, while convenient, is definitely more limiting in terms of the modalities they can use. They don’t have any equipment. It’s a lot of whatever they can do in the confines of their own home,” she said. “So, it’s good on one level and not great, long-term, on another level.”

Understanding Medicaid: Frequently Asked Questions

What is Medicaid medical assistance?

Medicaid is a joint federal and state funded program, run by the state and local counties, providing medical insurance, home-care services (assisting with all activities of daily living) and nursing home medical assistance to the poor, elderly or disabled.

However, individuals requiring home-care services or nursing home medical assistance, in addition to fi nancial requirements, also will need to have a medical need for these services.

Who can apply for Medicaid?

Medicaid is for anyone who meets the income and resources restrictions.

What services does Medicaid provide?

• Doctors • Hospitals • Prescriptions • Nursing Homes (room & board)

• Home-care Services, such as home attendants, home health aides and nurses

What is an MLTC?

MLTC stands for Managed Long-Term Care. One example: When an applicant has been approved for Medicaid home-care services, the applicant has to choose one MLTC from several approved Medicaid plans. Upon joining an MLTC a coordinator will be assigned and this coordinator will be the point person between the applicant/recipient and the MLTC.

Changes with Community Medicaid eligibility!

Due to Covid-19 once again the new rule regarding transfer of assets for Community Medicaid has been extended from October 1, 2022 to January 1, 2023; however, the earliest date that the state will seek implementation is March 31, 2024.

What does the new regulation mean to the applicant?

Once the new regulation is in place, applicants wishing to apply for community Medicaid and receive homecare services paid for by Medicaid will need to submit two and one-half years of bank statements. If there were any transfers during that period, other than spouse to spouse, the applicant will be disqualified for a period of time. Presently, applicants can transfer any amount of money one month and become financially eligible for Community Medicaid the following month. This window of opportunity is closing in fast. There is no time to procrastinate. The only way to avoid this issue is to apply before the new rule is enforced.

Elder Care Services, Inc., offers Free consultations.

Elder Care Services, Inc.

97-37 63rd Road, Suite 9H, Rego Park, NY 11374

For more information please contact Jack Lippmann at 718-575-5700

www.eldercareservicesny.com

As for rehab facilities, Park recommends reading the reviews online and contacting the centers for a tour.

A private geriatric care manager, who are typically paid by the hour, can also be used to help research and recommend facilities based on the patient’s specific needs, according to the Family Caregiver Alliance. A social worker can also give advice and support.

Every rehab center is different and caters to different needs, beyond just physical therapy. They can be specialized for a patient with complicated wounds, someone with a lung disease on a BiPap machine, or who needs dialysis.

“If they have any kind of skilled needs, meaning requiring nursing care like wound care, antibiotics, drainage care — after surgery sometimes they have drains put in by the surgical team that need to be monitored so they could heal appropriately — they may not need to be in a hospital anymore, like an acute care facility, but maybe a subacute facility,” said Park.

A subacute facility offers a short-term program of care, which can include one to three hours of rehabilitation per day, at least five days per week, depending on the condition, according to Columbis University.

So rehab facilities no longer just do physical rehab, said Park. “They do complex skilled nursing care ... now insurances are paying for this type of care in the rehab facility.”

That is especially the case as hospital systems have increasingly tigeth requirements to stay in the hospital, she added.

Insurance is a key consideration, then, too.

“What can Medicare provide? What can the managed Medicare provide? Because there are restrictions with managed Medicare. And if they’re eligible for Medicaid too, Medicaid

continued on page 10

SECURE ACT OF 2022

By Donna Furey, Esq.

On December 29, 2022, President Biden signed a law which makes major changes to IRAs, 401(a), 401(K), 403(b) and 457(b) retirement plans (hereinafter “retirement plans”) with the passage of the SECURE 2.0 ACT OF 2022 (“Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement 2.0”). Some changes are discussed below.

The age at which a person must take Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs) from their retirement plan has increased from age 72 to 73 in 2023 and increases to 75 in 2033. This allows the retirement plan to grow tax-deferred before a person is required to take RMDs.

SECURE 2.0 reduces the penalty for failure to take RMDs from 50 to 25 percent. Furthermore, if the failure is corrected in a timely manner, as defi ned under the Act, the failure is further reduced to 10 percent beginning in 2022. However, it exempts the 10 percent penalty on the distribution of up to $2,500.00 per year

for the payment of premiums for certain specifi ed long-term care insurance contracts effective 2025.

Unfortunately, the provisions in the SECURE ACT of 2019 eliminated “Stretch IRAs.” Previously, the owner of an IRA or similar retirement plan could leave their retirement plan assets to benefi ciaries and the benefi ciaries would not have to take RMDs until they reached 70½. Under the 2019 law, the beneficiaries must begin to take RMDs immediately and withdraw the entire IRA within 10 years of the owner’s death and pay the required income taxes on withdrawals. This change does not apply to benefi ciaries who are surviving spouses, minor children, chronically ill, disabled, or no more than 10 years younger than the deceased IRA owner.

In light of these new laws, you may want to review your estate plan with your attorney and financial advisor.

Rehab options for seniors after a hospital stay can cater to patients’ specific needs, like at Forest View Center in Forest Hills, above.

PHOTO COURTESY MONICA WIEDEMAN

Good health is kidney health

continued from page 6

“A good diet and exercise, and specific to diet, a low-sodium diet. The kidney doesn’t like sodium. Smoking in the long term is not healthy for the kidneys. It can cause progressive damage. Exercise — there’s not a direct link between kidney health and exercise, but it’s part of a group of things that is heathy for all the blood vessels.”

Staying hydrated, Goldman said, also is good advice for anyone.

“I don’t recommend that people drink a certain amount, but they should stay hydrated,” he said. “The young, age 20 or 30 years old, they know ‘I’m thirsty, but I’m busy at work so I’m not going to get a drink.’ Your body has a very sensitive signal for that, which is what thirst is ... the elderly can lose sensitivity to that. Sometimes the elderly don’t drink enough because they don’t get the same signals from their body. Nothing works quite the same way.”

While Goldman does not subscribe to the strict “eight cups a day” regimen, he said the elderly or caretakers should make a conscious effort to get enough water.

Research, Goldman said, indicates that African-American and Hispanic-American patients are more predisposed to kidney disease.

Many men, starting at about 50, can begin experiencing prostate disorders, he

noted, which can have the effect of blocking or backing up urine, thus damaging the kidneys. And, he said, many prostate treatments are noninvasive.

“Those with family members with a history of kidney disease or dialysis are at greater risk,” he continued. “They should be aware of that and need to be extra careful. They need to make sure they go to their doctor.”

The elderly also suffer more from arthritis, adding a wrinkle depending on the kind of pain relievers the patient uses, including Motrin, ibuprofen, Aleve, Advil and naproxen, so-called nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs that can damage the kidneys, though not commonly.

“Even patients with kidney problems can take those two or three times a week,” Goldman said. He still is not a big fan, based on those he treats when they do have reactions.

“To be fair, from my lens — to a man with a hammer, every problem looks like a nail — I’m seeing the ones with problems.” He said balancing medication use is where listening to their regular doctors is vital.

Goldman also reiterated that along with regular medical checkups, early detection and generally healthy habits, there is a new generation of medications available for kidney patients, and another one showing promise that soon could be on the way. Q

Considerations post-surgery

continued from page 8

provides a lot of services, especially for long-term services,” said Park. “So it’s important for for us as well as the patients to work together to really know the ins and outs of what their insurance can provide.”

The CFW Group in Queens operates three specialized nursing facilities in Queens. The short-term rehabilitation and subacute care units are located at Cliffside and Woodcrest, both in Flushing, and Forest View in Forest Hills.

Monica Wiedeman is the regional director of marketing and business development for the centers. She detailed the different focuses of the three centers.

Forest View has short-term capabilities that specialize in physical rehab, following a fall, for example. Cliffside offers rehab for people who need dialysis as well as pulmonary rehab or ventilator services. Woodcrest focuses on bariatric care, for patients weighing between 300 and 500 pounds.

The ultimate goal, Wiedeman said, is for patients to get strong enough to go home. Each facility has different capabilities and in order to achieve the best results, patients should go to the one that is a good so they do not have to return to the hospital.

“We recently had a patient that came here and she was on a ventilator and we weaned her off and within three months or so, she was able to go home,” Wiedeman said. “And she said that she was given a second chance

at life.”

Those are the moments that staff are there for, she said.

There are other considerations following the surgery to consider, too.

Studies have found that improvements in hospital discharge planning can dramatically improve the outcome for patients as they move to the next level of care, according to the Family Caregiver Alliance, a nonprofit based out of California.

Although patients, family caregivers and healthcare providers all are involved in maintaining a patient’s health after discharge, there is a lack of consistency in the quality and process of planning across the health care system, the nonprofit states.

Park says the effort to close that gap is a priority in her departments, as is keeping caregivers engaged in the process.

Patients and caregivers should get a copy of their discharge paperwork to bring to their physician.

“When patients are admitted to the hospital, oftentimes it’s now the trend that their community docs don’t come to the hospital so they’re being taken care of by a different medical team that they have never seen before ... So it’s up to us to reach out to the community doctors to inform them and update them,” she added.

Having hospital staff connect with the patient’s community doctor ensures a smoother handoff, Park said. Q