All Posts in "Month: September 2019"

Reasons to celebrate Medicare’s birthday

Medicare marked its 54th birthday on July 31. Here are some reasons why to wish it belated best wishes:

  • Medicare guarantees access to healthcare for older adults and people with disabilities. 59 million Americans rely on it for health insurance coverage.

• More than 95 percent of Americans consider Medicare an important program. Nearly 90 percent want federal Medicare spending to stay the same or increase.

• Before Medicare’s enactment in 1965, about 50 percent of adults over age 65 lacked coverage for hospital or surgical care. By 1968, only 5 percent were uninsured.

• Half of all Medicare beneficiaries have annual incomes below $26,200, and one quarter have incomes below $15,250. People of color live on even less. The median income for black beneficiaries is $17,350 per year, and it’s $13,650 for Hispanic beneficiaries.

• Most people with Medicare have little to no savings. In 2016, 50 percent of all people with Medicare had $74,450 or less in savings, 25 percent had less than $14,550, and 8 percent had no savings or were living with debt.

• Baby Boomers need Medicare to retire. In 2035, one-quarter of people with Medicare are expected to have annual incomes of $17,300 or less and less than $27,300 in savings.

srmedia by — September 19, 2019 in Health & Fitness
Adventure photographer is still answering nature’s call

Dan Clements couldn’t believe what he was seeing. For the past week, he and five others had been trekking through British Columbia’s Great Bear Rainforest, returning to a sailboat anchored off the coast of Gribbell Island to sleep before resuming their search for one of the world’s most elusive species. It was September 2017. The mud was thick and the wind unrelenting. And now the spirit bear—a unique species of black bear that, due to a genetic mutation, has white fur—was standing in a stream just feet from Dan.

It was a spectacular moment in a place where “myth and reality merge,” says Dan, a photographer and University of Puget Sound alum who’s visited some of the world’s most remote and breathtaking locations. He’s photographed tigers in India and had close encounters with polar bears in the Arctic. This summer, he will be photographing jaguars in Brazil. But the spirit bear sighting was particularly special to Dan. It validated his decision to make adventure photography a career relatively late in life.

Eleven years ago, Dan was a public sector financial director entering his third decade in finance. He and his wife, Karen Amundson Clements, had raised two sons and lived in Everett. At 59, Dan began to feel restless. His own father had been a prominent ornithologist who had given him an extremely adventurous childhood. He visited Central American jungles, completed first ascents of multiple peaks, summited Mount Rainier at 10, and scuba-dived with his father off the California coast. But after he graduated from Puget Sound with a bachelor’s degree in English, his outdoor explorations were tamed. “Life centered around raising my sons,” he says.

Dan had been an amateur photographer for many years, and he decided that it wasn’t too late to make his passion his career. So he retired and set off around the world. To finance the adventures, he dusted off his scuba gear, renewed his certification, and began taking underwater photographers on dive trips around the world. He self-published a book of photos he had taken off the coast of Edmonds on intermittent dives on evenings and weekends, and worked with the Pacific Northwest Underwater Photographic Society to create a magazine, which helped to open doors within the local diving community. “It has been a lot of fun, and I have met some outstanding photographers and environmentalists from many different countries,” he says.

But about 10 years in, a diving experience in California made him re-evaluate life again.

“When I started putting dive trips together, in the back of my head I knew that if I got to the point where I couldn’t rescue-swim somebody back to a boat or land I would quit putting the trips together,” he says. “I had to rescue somebody in Point Lobos. He ran out of air, and he kind of panicked. I did it fine, but I realized I’m not 20 any more, so I started phasing out the trips.”

Dan took what he knew about organizing domestic and international photography trips and shifted from water to land. He started organizing adventure photography trips to document wildlife and landscapes from Montana to the Arctic and everywhere in between. Now 70, he shows no signs of stopping. “Who says you have to do just one thing in your life?” he says. “I’ve had the good fortune to see things that most people will never see.”

Anneli Fogt wrote this article for The Hatchet, a weekly e-newsletter from the University of Puget Sound about its students and alumni.

srmedia by — September 19, 2019 in Lifestyles
Musical get-togethers put rhythm in the lives of memory-loss patients

Every Tuesday afternoon from 3 to 4:30, Mountain View Community Center in Edgewood throws open its doors and welcomes folks and their care partners struggling with Alzheimer’s, dementia, Parkinson’s, traumatic brain injuries, strokes and PTSD.

At a recent session, mothers and daughters, husbands and wives, and friends streamed through the door two by two, ready to gather and sing, play an instrument or just listen and take an hour and a half away from their daily lives dealing with the effects of memory loss.

The non-profit program they participate in, Music Mends Minds, Restoring the Rhythm of Life, is a social group in partnership with the Puyallup Rotary Club, which helps fund the program.

Musical director Jeff Brahe leads the local group. Deb Dennison, Lutheran Community Services’ Senior Friends and Social Engagement program manager, and Randy Schneider, who started the group, greet everyone.

Schneider, a Puyallup Rotarian, cared for his wife who suffered from Alzheimer’s until she died. When he brought the idea of Music Mends Minds to Dennison, she was all in.

“Randy is an excellent partner,” said Dennison.  “He brought the model to us and he comes every week and helps set up equipment and makes sure the participants are having a good time.”

Schneider wrote a grant application to Puyallup Rotary to acquire equipment, and the group held its first practice session in October 2018.

Dennison knows firsthand how music can help folks who are dealing with significant loss. When her 29-year-old son was dying and in hospice, harp music helped him pass peacefully.

Dennison and Schneider are true believers that music can comfort and calm patients and their care partners.

“When I see people singing and having a good time and their care partners smiling and laughing, I know that we are positively affecting life in a really kind and quieter way, and when people leave, they often write and tell me that their folks with cognitive loss were happy and enjoyed the activity,” said Dennison.

Michelle Sticka cares for her husband, Don, a retired former assistant principal at Spanaway Lake High School. Don was diagnosed two years ago with Lewy body dementia, the second most common type of progressive dementia.

“For us to have a place to go and be with folks who are experiencing the same thing is important,” said Michelle.

The group meets for 10 weeks and then has two weeks off. “Those two are a long two weeks,” said Michelle.

As soon as Brahe led off with the song “Just the Two of Us” at a recent session, participants began to tap their feet, sing or play an instrument, or just sway back and forth. Everyone participated on some level.

JoAnn Miller brings her husband, Paul, an Alzheimer’s patient, every week. She said the group has changed their lives. 

Wendy Vizzini brings her husband, Chris, who used to play the guitar.

“This group saves me,” said Vizzini. “To hear the music and have conversations makes Chris happy for hours and hours.”

When Charlee Allen arrived with her 84-year-old mother, Ruby Ratterree, after the music had started, Dennison sprung from her chair, greeted them and got them settled.

Allen cares for her mother, who has dementia. “I’m learning how to speak to her differently, and the programs help educate us. It was a treasure to have discovered this program,” Allen said.

More information about Music Mends Minds is available from Dennison at ddennison@lcsnw.org. 

Joan Cronk, who wrote this story, is a freelance writer from Puyallup.

srmedia by — September 18, 2019 in Spotlight
Cheat occasionally but eat ‘clean’ rest of the time

An overall healthy diet allows for the occasional indulgence. It not only promotes a healthier relationship with food, but studies have found that people who let themselves cheat on their overall healthy diet once in a while are more likely to achieve their weight-loss goals.

So have the cookie for Sunday dessert, or enjoy every bite of cake at your grandson’s wedding. As long as you eat clean the majority of the time, you can still maintain a healthy weight or even lose extra pounds.

The tricky part: Eating clean isn’t as simple as avoiding cookies, cakes, and other obvious junk. Some so-called health foods that you might be filling up on between occasional treats are really no better for you—and may even have more sugar and calories.

Here are four seemingly smart food swaps you might be making that can come back to bite you—and what to eat instead.

Granola instead of sugary cereal.

Tasty, crunchy granola may be a staple in the health food aisle at any grocery store, but it’s way too easy to overeat, says Tracy Lockwood Beckerman, owner of Tracy Lockwood Beckerman Nutrition. Most people gobble up much more than the recommended serving size of a quarter to a half cup. That makes it easy to pile on more than 300 calories just by having an extra couple handfuls.

Beyond calories, you could easily down more than twice as much sugar as you’d get from a pastry. A regular Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut has 10 grams of sugar. One cup of Nature Valley Oats ’n Honey protein granola has 24 grams of sugar. And the same amount of Nature Valley Peanut Butter ’n Dark Chocolate protein granola has 30 grams of sugar.

Eat this: You don’t have to avoid granola entirely, but choose smartly and control your portions. “Check the label to make sure the sugar content is reasonable—less than 10 grams per serving ideally,” Lockwood Beckerman suggests.

One solid option: Bear Naked V’nilla Almond Fit Granola, which clocks in at 110 calories and just three grams of sugar per quarter-cup serving, or 210 calories and seven grams of sugar per half-cup serving. Just be sure to grab that measuring cup so you’re pouring out a single serving.

Veggie chips instead of potato chips.

Pretty bags and labels like “all natural” and “made with real vegetables” are designed to catch your eye, but many veggie chips have no nutritional value. “They might be manufactured to have the same color as real vegetables, but most contain only a trace of real veggies and usually have just as much sodium and fat as a traditional chip,” says Lauren Manaker, founder of Nutrition Now.

Eat this: If you absolutely love veggie chips, go with kale, which are usually made by baking instead of frying the leaves. Kale chips are a great choice on a road trip, for example, because they’re low in calories and loaded with fiber.

An even better option? Reach for bean-based or quinoa-based chips, says Manaker, because they contain loads of fiber, protein, vitamins, and minerals.

Reduced-fat peanut butter instead of full-fat peanut butter.

Reduced fat often means increased sugar. And labels like “all natural” and “healthy” don’t necessarily mean a nut butter is an exception to this rule.

“Although peanut butter is high in fat, the fat it contains is heart-healthy monounsaturated fat,” Lockwood Beckerman explains. When companies process peanut butter into the low-fat version, they end up increasing the sugar content, so even though it’s lower in fat, it likely contains more sugar, she says.

Eat this: Look for an all-natural peanut butter with peanuts and maybe salt as the only ingredients listed on the nutrition label, Lockwood Beckerman says.

A smoothie instead of a meal

They’re easy to sip on the go and seem like the perfect way to refuel after a workout, but juice bars and smoothie shops sneak in a lot of sugar, Lockwood Beckerman says. Yes, the sugar is natural and from the fruit itself, but you’re probably getting more than you need.

Some smoothie bars use six servings of fruit to make a single 12-ounce smoothie. This can send our blood glucose levels skyrocketing and negatively impact our blood vessels in the long run, Lockwood Beckerman says.

What’s more, the most convenient options—pre-packaged smoothies—may be the worst offenders. For example, one Naked Juice Blue Machine Smoothie packs a whopping 55 grams of sugar. That’s a huge hit of sweetness. Would you ever eat more than three medium apples in one sitting? Probably not, but that’s what you’ll slurp down in this bottle.

Drink this: You can make more well-rounded smoothies at home, Lockwood Beckerman says. Her winning formula: Start with 1 and a half to 2 cups of fresh or frozen vegetables, such as kale, spinach, carrots, or beets. Add a natural protein source, such as 2 tablespoons of nuts, seeds, nut butter, or flaxseed. Next, mix in 1 cup of fresh or frozen fruit, like mixed berries or peaches. Blend with water or unsweetened almond milk.

Source: SilverSneakers.

srmedia by — September 10, 2019 in Food, People