Sally Erickson

Rotary Club of Traverse City BULLETIN

OCTOBER 11, 2011

The Newsletter of the Traverse City Rotary Club • District 6290

TIE ME UP, TIE ME DOWN

President Lee introduced the program and guests for the day. Keeping with the theme for this month, Sally Erickson and Connie Hintsala spoke to us about some of the difficulties of aging and home life. Ms. Erickson is a long time Aging in Place advocate whose work as a developer lends itself to her work as an Aging in Place specialist. Ms. Hintsala is also a long time senior housing advocate as owner of the Alliance for Senior Housing.

Erickson started by talking about a few things that could be done to be safer in our homes as we age. Staying in our homes statistically leads to greater longevity. She focused on the five senses and how they are effected by the aging process and how this diminishes the safety of our homes as we age in place. Added to the five senses is mobility and stability, which markedly diminish over time.

She acknowledged that we tend to want to overlook, even ignore, these changes until something like a blown- out knee, an injured back or a disease occurs. Erickson’s goal is to make sure your home environment changes with your own charging needs. As hearing issues occur or increase. Using lights, vibration devices or other hearing aids may be necessary; as she noted the first hurdle is getting out of the way of ego.

If taste goes, your normal responses to bad foods and drinks work less effectively and can result in disease. Dating foods greatly helps. Though other things can affect taste, one of the biggest contributors to loss of taste is the loss of smell. Another result of loss of smell is missed odors. Opening windows regularly and using ventilation tools and fans will help greatly in freshening air, avoiding molds and mildews that can cause air quality issues. Keeping smoke and carbon monoxide detectors up to date also help.

Touch issues can be physically debilitating and many things in the home can be dangerous, from edges that are sharp to scalding from unrecognized heated items and liquids. Objects that get stepped on are always a danger to diabetics who have lost feeling in their feet. Sight also diminishes in many over time. Keeping walking areas clear and using night-lights can help. Making your house a workable environment as mobility and stability declines; grab bars and handrails go far in assisting with the movement issues.

Many solutions are simple. They only require acceptance and implementation. For more help in these areas you can turn to the Bay Area Senior Advocates, or to the Alliance for Senior Housing and Connie Hintsala.

Connie began her part of the program by calling up a number of ‘volunteers’ who she then tied up in various ways to show the difficulties and impediments that many are faced with as they age. She showed effectively why people find their ways into alternate housing.

The housing options she defined for this area are low-income apartments where you have a great deal of freedom. Cost is 30% of monthly income. Retirement centers also offer a great deal of freedom, however, many amenities are available right on campus. These tend to run from $1,000-3,000/month. Assisted living is another alternative that has Medicaid support and can run from $1,000-5000/month. The cost is dependent on the level of assisted care required. Last of all are nursing homes.

Hintsala’s show and tell aspect showed myriad reasons why individuals require assisted living options. She ran the gamut from the problems of stroke and Parkinson’s to immobility and loneliness. Her real world instances were highly impacting, and a great conclusion to the program.

www.TraverseCityRotary.org

October 11, 2011