A draft of the Ventura County Master Plan for Aging is now available for the public to review and the Ventura County Area Agency on Aging (VCAAA) is seeking feedback from the community. The draft of the Plan can be found at www.vcaaa.org.

Older adults now make up more than 23 percent of Ventura County’s population, with the number projected to increase to 30 percent over the next decade. In 2019, Governor Newsom issued an Executive Order (N-14-19) calling for the creation of a Master Plan for Aging, which is a blueprint for state government, local government, the private sector, and philanthropy to prepare the State for the coming demographic changes.

The County of Ventura convened a panel of stakeholders in October 2019 to start the process of talking about the reality and the challenges of growing older in Ventura County and what is needed to make the county more livable. The State issued their Master Plan for Aging in January 2021, and the County of Ventura has drafted a more localized Plan.

“The County of Ventura is committed to evolving to navigate the unique needs of older adults and people with disabilities in our community,” the Plan states. “While the focus is on aging, there is an equal focus on optimally aging across the lifespan because a Master Plan for Aging is for everyone in the community. Moreover, we also know that older adults and people with disabilities have common issues, though other challenges are unique.”

The Plan continues, “As the Master Plan for Aging was developed, there was also special focus on areas of import to Ventura County. Those focus areas are diversity, equity, and inclusion. The County has always been cognizant of the diversity in our County, racially, ethnically, culturally, and linguistically and has made continual refinements in how we provide services and connections to resources to ensure we operate through a lens of diversity, equity and inclusion.”

In doing so, the VCAAA is seeking feedback from the community and welcomes comments, feedback, and corrections during the month of October 2021.

“Responses from the community are critical to developing a successful Master Plan for Aging,” said Victoria Jump, Director of the VCAAA. “We want to hear directly from our County’s older adults, people living with disabilities, caregivers, and all those navigating services to optimize aging for themselves and for loved ones. We want this Plan to be reflective of the real-life experiences of those we are serving, and we want the community to have an active role in the final product.”

All public comments may be sent to [email protected]. For additional information please visit www.vcaaa.org.

The Ventura County Area Agency on Aging, an agency of the County of Ventura, is the principal agency in Ventura County charged with the responsibility to promote the development and implementation of a comprehensive coordinated system of care that enables older individuals, caregivers, and individuals with disabilities to live in a community-based setting and to advocate for the needs of those 60 years of age and older in the county, providing leadership and promoting citizen involvement in the planning process as well as in the delivery of services.

by National Institute on Aging

Alzheimer’s disease is a brain disorder that slowly destroys memory and thinking skills, and, eventually, the ability to carry out the simplest tasks. In most people with Alzheimer’s, symptoms first appear later in life. Estimates vary, but experts suggest that more than 6 million Americans, most of them age 65 or older, may have dementia caused by Alzheimer’s.

Alzheimer’s disease is currently ranked as the sixth leading cause of death in the United States, but recent estimates indicate the disorder may rank third, just behind heart disease and cancer, as a cause of death for older people.

Alzheimer’s is the most common cause of dementia among older adults. Dementia is the loss of cognitive functioning — thinking, remembering, and reasoning — and behavioral abilities to such an extent that it interferes with a person’s daily life and activities. Dementia ranges in severity from the mildest stage, when it is just beginning to affect a person’s functioning, to the most severe stage, when the person must depend completely on others for help with basic activities of daily living.

The causes of dementia can vary, depending on the types of brain changes that may be taking place. Other dementias include Lewy body dementia, frontotemporal disorders, and vascular dementia. It is common for people to have mixed dementia — a combination of two or more types of dementia. For example, some people have both Alzheimer’s disease and vascular dementia.

Alzheimer’s disease is named after Dr. Alois Alzheimer. In 1906, Dr. Alzheimer noticed changes in the brain tissue of a woman who had died of an unusual mental illness. Her symptoms included memory loss, language problems, and unpredictable behavior. After she died, he examined her brain and found many abnormal clumps (now called amyloid plaques) and tangled bundles of fibers (now called neurofibrillary, or tau, tangles).

These plaques and tangles in the brain are still considered some of the main features of Alzheimer’s disease. Another feature is the loss of connections between neurons in the brain. Neurons transmit messages between different parts of the brain, and from the brain to muscles and organs in the body.

How is Alzheimer’s disease diagnosed? Doctors use several methods and tools to help determine whether a person who is having memory problems has Alzheimer’s disease.

To diagnose Alzheimer’s, doctors may:

Ask the person and a family member or friend questions about overall health, use of prescription and over-the-counter medicines, diet, past medical problems, ability to carry out daily activities, and changes in behavior and personality.

Conduct tests of memory, problem solving, attention, counting, and language.

Carry out standard medical tests, such as blood and urine tests, to identify other possible causes of the problem.

Perform brain scans, such as computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), or positron emission tomography (PET), to support an Alzheimer’s diagnosis or to rule out other possible causes for symptoms.

These tests may be repeated to give doctors information about how the person’s memory and other cognitive functions are changing over time.

by National Institute on Aging

As you get older, your doctor may recommend more vaccinations, also known as shots or immunizations, to help prevent certain illnesses.

Talk with your doctor about which of the following vaccines you need. Make sure to protect yourself as much as possible by keeping your vaccinations up to date.

Coronavirus (COVID-19) is a respiratory disease that causes symptoms such as fever, cough, and shortness of breath. It can lead to serious illness and death. Studies show that COVID-19 vaccines are effective at keeping people from getting COVID-19. Getting a COVID-19 vaccine will also help keep you from getting seriously ill even if you do get COVID-19.

Flu, short for influenza, is a virus that can cause fever, chills, sore throat, stuffy nose, headache, and muscle aches. Flu is very serious when it gets in your lungs. Older adults are at a higher risk for developing serious complications from the flu, such as pneumonia.

The flu is easy to pass from person to person. The virus also changes over time, which means you can get it again. To ensure flu vaccines remain effective, the vaccine is updated every year.

Everyone age 6 months and older should get an annual flu vaccine, but the protection from a flu vaccine can lessen with time, especially in older adults. Still, you are less likely to become seriously ill or hospitalized because of the flu if you get the vaccine. A flu vaccine is especially important if you have a chronic health condition such as heart disease or diabetes.

There are flu vaccines designed specifically for people age 65 and older. Medicare will pay for the vaccine, and so will private health insurance plans. You can get a flu vaccine at your doctor’s office or local health department, as well as at some grocery and drug stores. The vaccine ingredients are the same wherever you receive it.

Pneumococcal disease is a serious infection that spreads from person to person by air. It often causes pneumonia in the lungs and it can affect other parts of the body.

Shingles vaccine for older adults. Shingles is caused by the same virus as chickenpox. If you had chickenpox, the virus is still in your body. The virus could become active again and cause shingles.

Shingles affects the nerves. Common symptoms include burning, shooting pain, tingling, and/or itching, as well as a rash with fluid-filled blisters. Even when the rash disappears, the pain can remain. This is called post-herpetic neuralgia, or PHN.

The shingles vaccine is safe and it may keep you from getting shingles and PHN. Healthy adults age 50 and older should get vaccinated with the shingles vaccine, which is given in two doses. (Zostavax, an earlier shingles vaccine, is no longer available in the United States.)

You can get the shingles vaccine at your doctor’s office and at some pharmacies. Medicare Part D and private health insurance plans may cover some or all of the cost. Check with Medicare or your health plan to find out if it is covered.

What are some side effects of getting a vaccine? Common side effects for all these vaccines are mild and may include pain, swelling, or redness where the vaccine was given. Before getting any vaccine, talk with your doctor about your health history, including past illnesses and treatments, as well as any allergies.

It’s a good idea to keep your own vaccination record, listing the types and dates of your shots, along with any side effects or problems.