Age Spots by Ruth Dockins

How to Help a Veteran

The following information is provided by: Leanna Duncan, Medical Foster Home Coordinator for veterans.

 

The John J. Pershing VA Medical Center is looking for experienced caregivers to establish their Medical Foster Home (MFH) Program. Although the Medical Foster Home program is new to our area, it has been around since a pilot project at the Little Rock VA was started in 2000. Currently there are 121 sites in 45 states and territories that have started the program.

By definition, VA’s MFH is a unique partnership of an adult foster home and a VA interdisciplinary home care team such as Home Based Primary Care. The home provides long-term care in a personal home as an alternative to nursing home care. The program targets Veterans who meet all of the following five criteria:

1.    Meet nursing home level of care and prefer a non-institutional setting

2.    Are unable to safely live independently because of physical, cognitive or emotional limitations

3.    Have inadequate support by family and friends

4.    Have sufficient income to pay for MFH

5.    Meet criteria for and are admitted for care by VA’s Home Based Primary Care (HBPC) program

A Medical Foster Home is a home that is owned or rented by the caregiver in which the caregiver lives and provides personal care and supervision to Veterans. The program allows for three or fewer residents (Veterans and non-Veterans) to live in each home while receiving health care from the HBPC team. This team includes a Nurse Practitioner, Registered Nurse, Dietician, Social Worker and other disciplines as needed.  These team members work closely together with the caregivers and Veterans to develop a plan of care to help Veterans maintain their quality of life in the community.

VA's role in the Medical Foster Home program is to recruit, screen, and oversee potential caregivers and their home.  The homes undergo a thorough initial and then annual inspection by an interdisciplinary team.  The application process for the caregiver includes, but is not limited to, reference checks, financial screening, and medical screening to provide care to Veterans. The partnership of community adult foster care providers and VA interdisciplinary home care teams assures that healthcare and psychosocial care needs are met and that continual oversight is provided.  Caregivers in the MFH program are required to attend bi-annual trainings to remain current on skills and information pertinent to providing Veteran care in the home. 

 

The Medical Foster Home program strives to maintain a long term commitment between the caregivers and the Veterans.  The caregiver and the Veteran enter an informal agreement that serves as a guideline to their residence in the home and expectation of care.  The Veteran and or his or her family are responsible to pay the caregiver $1500 to $3000 per month depending upon the care needs and situation.  This monthly payment includes room and board, 24-hour a day supervision, and personal care and assistance when needed.  The MFH Coordinator serves to facilitate the agreement between the caregiver and the Veteran and provide on-going oversight of this partnership between the caregiver, Veteran, and home care team.

For further information and inquiry, please contact Leanne Duncan, Medical Foster Home Coordinator at (573) 686-9789.

 

Age Spots by Ruth Dockins

Let’s talk about the weather. 

We are getting into the really hot months of the year, as you may have noticed.  It’s a good idea to take it easier in the hot summer time and drink lots of water.  If you are on a fluid restricted diet or diuretics ask your doctor how much you should drink.  But generally speaking you should drink more liquids than your thirst indicates, especially if you are 65 or older.  Additionally, alcoholic beverages will actually cause you to lose more fluid. 

Choose lightweight, light-colored, loose-fitting clothing.  A wide-brimmed hat will provide shade and help keep the head cool.  We all know about avoiding sun-burn, to check which sunscreen product gives the best protection check the sun protection factor (SPF) number on the label of the sunscreen container.  Select SPF 15 or higher to protect yourself adequately.

If you are unaccustomed to working or exercising in a hot environment, start slowly.  If exertion in the heat makes your heart pound and leaves you gasping for breath, STOP all activity, get into a cool area, or at least the shade, and rest, especially if you become lightheaded, confused, weak, or faint.

Watch for these warning signs of:

HEAT STROKE

·      Extremely high body temperature (above 103 degrees)

·      Red, hot, and dry skin (no sweating)

·      Rapid, strong pulse and/or a throbbing headache

·      Dizziness and/or nausea

·      Confusion

·      Unconsciousness

What to do;  If you see any of these signs you should have someone call for IMMEDIATE medical assistance while you begin cooling the victim.  Cool the victim rapidly, immerse in a tub of cool water, spray water from a garden hose, sponge with cool water.  Do not give the victim alcohol to drink.

HEAT EXHAUSTION

·      Heavy sweating, paleness

·      Muscle cramps

·      Tiredness, dizziness, headache

·      Nausea or vomiting

·      Fast, weak pulse, fast and shallow breathing

What to do:  Help the person cool off by drinking cool non-alcoholic beverages, cool shower and get them to an air-conditioned environment.  Those most prone to heat exhaustion are elderly people, people with high blood pressure and people working or exercising in a hot environment.

The best way to beat the heat is to stay in an air-conditioned area.  If you don’t have an air-conditioner, electric fans are useful to draw cool air into your home at night. If you are using an electric fan to cool off during the day letting it blow over cool water helps it cool the air much better.  Just put a pan of water in front of the fan, it really makes a difference.

Use your stove and oven less to maintain a cooler temperature in your home.  (I used to tell my husband that we should eat out to save money on utilities at home.  He never seemed to believe me)

Age Spots by Ruth Dockins

On June 3rd, Southeast Missouri Silver Haired Legislature (SHL) delegates met and elected officers: Connie Larrew of Poplar Bluff - Chair,  Ray Freeman of Doniphan - Vice Chair, and Doug Austin of Cape Girardeau - Recording Secretary.  This organizational meeting was attended by the following members representing 18 counties in Region 2; Martha Peters - Bollinger, Connie Larrew - Butler, Doug Austin, Glenda Hoffmeister, Loretta Schneider - Cape, Barbara Rogers - Carter, Janie Lamar - Dunklin, Rebecca Inman and Mary Sue Wooten - Iron, John Kelly - Reynolds, Ray Freeman - Ripley, Susan Pobst – Scott and Minnie May - Wayne.

Missouri’s Silver Haired Legislature was founded in 1973, the first such organization in the nation.  SHL is composed of fifteen volunteers from each of the ten statewide Area Agencies on Aging.  These 150 senior advocates, elected by their peers, identify and advocate for issues critical to older Missourians. 

SHL member Doug Austin of Cape Girardeau says "The age of our senior citizens does not automatically eliminate our ability to remain an active contributing member of society. We may drive a little slower but we get where we're going, and in the Great State of Missouri, we go to the polls by the hundreds of thousands!  77% of our Senior Citizens vote!”

Anyone interested in learning further details about the priorities of the Silver Haired Legislature, or serving as a SHL delegate, is encouraged to contact Doug Austin@ ldaustin1@charter.net

 

A year ago at this time Dillon Akin was a new Marine recruit at MCRD (Marine Corps Recruit Depot) San Diego, CA.  Far from Dexter, MO, he was homesick, lonely, and wondering if he was going to make it. Today he is self-confident, happy, and anxiously looking forward to beginning his military career.

Dillon recently completed Osprey school in Jacksonville, NC, and is now on a 30-day leave before heading back to California where he will be stationed at MCAS (Marine Corps Air Station) Miramar.

He is an air-framer and will work on the Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey. An air-framer services the aircraft’s frame, outer skin, and hydraulics. Dillon says that he is excited to get to his new post and finally begin to do what he has been training for the past nine months. He expects to be stationed at Miramar at least three years.

When asked about his decision to enter the military a week and a half after high school graduation, Dillon said that he knew from a young age that the military would be a part of his life.

“My grandfather Akin was an ambulance driver in Korea, and I admired him very much. When he passed away shortly before my ninth birthday, I decided then that I would honor him by serving my country.”

Dillon explains that as a youngster, he didn’t really understand the various branches of service, but that as he grew older, he began to study about them.

“Everything I read said that the Marines were tough--the best of the best. I had to give it a try.”



“It hasn’t been easy. I can’t say that it has. Basic training especially, was difficult. The Marines take the person you are, and transform you completely. You become a Marine.” He says, however, that after three months of separation from family and friends, the happiest day of his life was family day, which preceded graduation from boot camp.

“We were in formation on one side, and there were our families on the other side. We had to maintain composure and complete our drill, but when we were given the OK, I couldn’t get across that field fast enough!”

After a year, Dillon is not sure whether the Marines will be his life-time career. He signed-on for five years, so that decision is still a way off. He admits that at some point in his life he would like to pursue an education degree and teach English/Literature, and serving in the Marine Corps will make that dream a possibility due to the education benefit of military service.

Asked what advice he would give to those who are considering the military, he quickly said that they should prepare themselves and know what they are getting into. “My recruiter was a big help in getting me prepared, but during my senior year in high school I had to write a research paper. I chose Marine Corps boot camp, so I had a pretty good idea of what I was in for. Of course, the experience, the feelings have to be lived to fully understand, but at least I was not in shock, like some. Anyone who is thinking about the military--research and stay close to your family. Spend time with them before you go because those three months of separation and isolation will seem like an eternity.”

To you Lance Corporal. E-3 Dillon Joseph James Akin, Godspeed and good luck.

Do you like classic TV?   If so, please engage!

Citing a desire to see more classic television programming options on local airwaves, a Facebook page has been launched to encourage Poplar Bluff station KPOB -- and its parent station, WSIL, located in southern Illinois -- to add the recently-launched Decades network as a subchannel.

The page is titled "Bring Decades to WSIL and KPOB" and can be found online at facebook.com/wewantdecades

"We would like to see WSIL and KPOB add the recently-launched Decades TV Network on a subchannel in addition to the ABC programming on their main channel," Butler County resident Mike Buhler said. "Having Decades on WSIL and KPOB would add to both stations and give local viewers more quality television options."

Decades, which officially debuted on Memorial Day, offers a mix of classic TV shows, movies and historic documentaries on weekdays and airs classic TV marathons in the weekends. The network aired a Mary Tyler Moore Show marathon last weekend and plans to air a Beverly Hillbillies marathon this weekend. 

Bring Decades to WSIL and KPOB on Facebook: Just click facebook.com/wewantdecades

Decades network website: www.decades.com