February 2012
Volume 5 Issue: #2
  
|
|
February 1-29
AMD/Low Vision Awareness Month
February 1-29
Heart Month
February 3
National Wear
Red Day
February 14
National
Donor Day
February 14
Valentine's Day
February 20
President's Day
|
Join Our
Mailing List
Receive our free monthly email newsletter, other pertinent information and announcements.
AWG Care Connection Blog
Are you a caregiver? Join the conversation and connect with others who are facing similar challenges. This popular blog won the 2011 "Top 100 Senior & Boomer Blogs & Websites" award.
AWG Online
Talk Show
Join host Patricia Grace Monday evenings at 6:30 p.m. EST.
National Senior Care Examiner
AWG Founder Patricia Grace writes a column on aging topics. This month's topic:"Finally, a raise in social security."
|
| VA Aid & Attendance Self-Help Guide
The "Cliffs Notes" for the VA Aid & Attendance Benefit Process
Aging in Place Support Systems
Learn about programs to keep your loved one safe at home. Special AWG member pricing.
Medicare Marketplace
Learn about options and next steps for those who are retired or nearing retirement, or whose benefits are changing.
SGIA Retiree Support Center
The Medicare pages on this insurance company website provide a clear summary of Medicare Parts A, B, C and D.
|
| Beyond Driving with Dignity
A workbook by Matt Gurwell for the families of older drivers. Special AWG member pricing.
Dispelling
Hospice Myths
A free video from VITAS Innovative Hospice Care that you can view online.
Thinking Well: Drawing on Thoughts that Change Behaviors
A book by aging and wellness expert Dr. Wayne T. Phillips. You can read a sample and buy it online.
|
|
|
|
Message from Patricia ...
|
 | |
Patricia Grace, Founder
|
If you live in the Mid-Atlantic or Northeast region you are probably asking "where is winter?" However, for our older friends and loved ones this mild winter (so far) is a welcome respite from last year. We will just have to wait and see what prediction the groundhog makes.
The color red has a strong association with the month of February - Valentine's Day and National Wear Red Day to support women's heart health. I'm glad red is my favorite color.
Organ donation is often surrounded by misinformation and fear. I hope you will view the video on Organ Donation After 50 below. I found it to be very informative.
Patricia
|
|
National Wear Red Day
|  Friday, February 3 is National Wear Red DayŽ, and on that day Americans will wear red to show their support for women's heart health. This observance promotes the Red Dress symbol and provides an opportunity for everyone to unite in The Heart Truth's life-saving awareness-to-action movement by putting on a favorite red dress, red shirt, red tie or Red Dress Pin. Together, we will continue to urge women to protect their hearts, as heart disease is the number one killer of women.
|
National Organ Donor Day
| |
Many people ask, "Am I too old to be an organ donor?" There's no defined cutoff age for donating organs. Organs have been successfully transplanted from donors in their 70s and 80s. The decision to use your organs is based on strict medical criteria, not age. Don't disqualify yourself prematurely. Let the doctors decide at your time of death whether your organs and tissues are suitable for transplantation.
Click here for a video about being an organ donor over the age of 50.
|
|
National Heart Month
| |
February is American Heart Month, and unfortunately most of us know someone who has had heart disease or a stroke.
Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in the United States. One in every three deaths is from heart disease and stroke, which accounts for 2,200 deaths per day. These conditions are also leading causes of disability, preventing people from working and enjoying family activities.
Cardiovascular disease is also very expensive - together heart disease and stroke hospitalizations in 2010 cost the nation more than $444 billion in health care expenses and lost productivity. However, we can fight back against heart disease and stroke. The Centers for Disease Control and other parts of the U.S. government have launched Million Hearts™, to prevent the nation's leading killer and empowering everyone to make heart-healthy choices.
|
The History of Valentine's Day
| |
 Valentine's Day started in the time of the Roman Empire. In ancient Rome, February 14 was a holiday to honor Juno the Queen of the Roman Gods and Goddesses. The Romans also knew her as the Goddess of Women and Marriage. The following day, February 15, began the Feast of Lupercalia.
The lives of young boys and girls were strictly separate. However, one of the customs of the young people was name-drawing. On the eve of the festival of Lupercalia the names of Roman girls were written on slips of paper and placed into jars. Each young man would draw a girl's name from the jar and would then be partners for the duration of the festival with the girl whom he chose. Sometimes the pairing of the children lasted an entire year, and often, they would fall in love and would later marry.
Emperor Claudius II (known as Claudius the Cruel), was having a difficult time getting soldiers to join his military. He believed a major reason was that Roman men did not want to leave their loves or families. As a result, Claudius canceled all marriages and engagements in Rome.
The good Saint Valentine was a priest at Rome in the days of Claudius II. He and Saint Marius aided the Christian martyrs and secretly married couples, and for this kind deed Saint Valentine was apprehended and dragged before the Prefect of Rome, who condemned him to be beaten to death with clubs and to have his head cut off. He suffered martyrdom on the 14th day of February, about the year 270.
|
Provider Profile - Right at Home
| |
 Right at Home In-Home Care & Assistance has more than 175 offices that serve thousands of clients across the United States.
Chris and Maria Campbell are the owners of Right at Home in Jenkintown, Pennsylvania, serving the home care and home health care needs of East Montgomery and South Bucks Counties in Pennsylvania.
"My mom's mother was very independent and the matriarch of our family. When she started to show signs of Alzheimer's, her children struggled with her refusing care. When she finally agreed to get care, it was Deborah, a caregiver, that helped me and my brothers understand what was going on and what to expect," says Campbell.
Chris graduated from Rutgers University and received his MBA from Drexel University. Maria Campbell has been RN for 20 years.
|
|
|
|
|
In recognition of President's Day:
Abraham Lincoln, by Doris Kearns Goodwin