Having a strong sense of balance is crucial in preventing falls in older adults and their caregivers. The SCAN Health & Wellness Center is offering a free educational workshop: Stop Falling! Home Safety and Preventing Falls and Injuries on Thursday, January 21 from 10 – 11:30 a.m. Join workshop leader Steve Lehman, MPH, MBA, USC certified in fall prevention as he discusses the three keys to preventing falls. The SCAN Health & Wellness Center is at 6633 Telephone Road, Suite 100. For more information or to make an appointment, call 658-0365.

“What is Palliative and Hospice Care”
By Connie De La Rosa

A Palliative care program provides patients the benefits of both  home health and hospice programs.  “It is for patients who are still pursuing aggressive treatment for their illness to promote quality of life not end of life” states Teri Helton Program Manager for Livingston Memorial Visiting Nurse Association. Through palliative care, a treatment team addresses the whole family’s emotional, spiritual, and social needs in addition to the patient’s medical treatment along  with providing the necessary resources. If a patient improves, they are then able to transition to home health and recovery. “When the patient is no longer seeking a curable treatment, the team is already in place to transition into hospice care” states Teri Helton.   It is important to keep in mind that a patient may improve their condition so they no longer need Hospice Care.

Livingston Memorial Visiting Nurse Association, has been an advocate of a more holistic patient-centered approach when coordinating medical care. Their main concern has always been for their patient’s wellbeing such as meeting their spiritual and emotional needs along with their medical treatment as well as support to their loved ones and caregivers.

How does Hospice work? Typically, a family member serves as the primary caregiver and, when appropriate, helps make decisions for the terminally ill individual. Members of the hospice staff make regular visits to assess the patient and provide additional care or other services. Hospice staff is on-call 24 hours a day, seven days a week  which offers, Skilled Nursing Care, Medication for pain and symptom control, Medical Social Worker, Chaplain Services, Registered Dietitian,  Physical, Occupational, Speech Therapist and Bereavement Care.

Who Pays? Medicare, Medi-Cal and other insurance cover hospice care. Livingston Hospice is a non-profit organization and actively fundraises in order to subsidize the cost of hospice care for patients with inadequate financial resources in order to serve all qualified patients of Ventura County  regardless of inability to pay.

For more information on Palliative and Hospice care you can call 642-1608 or visit their website www.lmvna.org

AARP Tax-Aide, in conjunction with the IRS, will provide free income tax preparation assistance and e-filing for seniors and low-to-moderate income adults of any age from February 1 through April 15. AARP membership is not required.

Ventura will have three locations and appointments are not required: Area Agency on Aging, 646 County Square Drive (off Victoria and Thille), Mondays and Wednesdays, 1-4 p.m. Ventura Avenue Adult Center, 550 N. Ventura Ave, Tuesdays and Thursdays, 1-4 p.m. Ventura Boys & Girls Club, 1929 Johnson Drive, Fridays 8:30-11:30 a.m.

There will be two sites in Oxnard, and appointments are not required: Wilson Senior Center, 350 North C Street, Wednesdays 9 a.m.-noon. Oxnard Library, 251 South A Street, Thursdays, 1-7 p.m.

The Ojai site is by appointment only, at the Little House of Ojai, 111 West Santa Ana St, Thursdays noon-3:15 p.m. Please call 646-5122.

Taxpayers must bring the following documents for their tax return preparation: Social Security cards for themselves, spouses and any dependents, picture ID, copy of 2014 tax return, and all 2015 documents showing income from all sources, including wages, Social Security, interest, dividends, investments, self-employment, and pensions. If you itemize deductions, please provide total figures for each category of deduction, including medical, charitable contributions, property tax, mortgage interest, etc. If you received a health insurance statement (Form 1095-A, 1095-B or 1095-C), bring that as well.

Please note that Tax-Aide volunteers are not able to prepare returns for married taxpayers who file separate returns, taxpayers with rental property income, or out-of-state tax returns.

The Ventura Council for Seniors (VCS) will host the first educational forum of the year focusing on Emergency Preparedness for Adults and Seniors on Friday, January 29. at the Ventura Adult and Continuing Education (VACE) Center, 5200 Valentine Rd. The forum will take place from 10:30 am to noon. A catered barbeque lunch will be served from noon to 1 pm, compliments of the Downtown Rotary, for those who RSVP by Monday, January 25. Please call 648-3035 to make reservations.

How prepared are you for the next earthquake, power outage or flood? Has the recent storm system got you on high alert? Most importantly, have you packed your Go Bag? This educational forum will help you prepare yourself in the event of an unexpected disaster. The featured presentation will be made by Mr. Darryl Smith, Emergency Manager with the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office of Emergency Services. Mr. Smith will provide important information that all citizens should be aware of in case of an emergency.

Additional speakers will include Dr. Thomas Duncan, Head of Trauma from the Ventura County Medical Center, Commander Tom Higgins from the Ventura Police Department, Assistant Chief Matthew Brock from the Ventura Fire Department, Teri Helton from Livingston Memorial Visiting Nurse Association and John Davis from the American Red Cross.

The Ventura Council for Seniors is an advisory body that meets monthly to discuss issues important to seniors, caregivers and older adults. The meetings are held on the 3rd Wednesdays of the month at the Ventura Avenue Adult Center (VAAC, 550 N. Ventura Ave.) and at the Silvercrest Senior Residence (750 S. Petit Ave.) in Ventura. Meetings alternate each month between the west and eastside locations. For more information about this organization please go to www.cityofventura.net/adult or call 648-3035.

How to help your elderly loved ones set goals for 2016
By Connie De La Rosa

People set goals all the time. Sometimes they succeed in achieving those goals, sometimes they don’t. Regardless of what your elderly loved ones  goals are, they have to be realistic about them. It is therefore important to ensure the goals your elderly loved one sets are achievable. Here is how to set achievable goals:

Set every goal positively
Plan out every detail
Decide on your priorities
Keep an eye on your goals
Divide large goals into smaller pieces
Set reasonable goals
Be realistic about your goals

Helping Seniors Achieve Their Goals: Ask and discuss. “What was in  your elderly parent(s) goals that  lacked the ability to reach  a previous goal? How is my parent going to pursue this goal with the difficulty  they may have had previously? If my parent(s) achieved the previous goals easily, discover together what made it easier than the other goals and can we focus on the strengths from the achieved goals  to help my parent(s) achieve their next goals?

How to Achieve and Expand on Goals: If there is more than one goal or there are side goals, a elderly person should never lose sight of their priorities. Keep an eye on your elderly persons goals so you know what needs  doing and when it needs to be done. People who never lose sight of their goals have a greater likelihood of achieving them. If goals seems too big to achieve, consider dividing them in smaller pieces.  Make a to do list so you know when each smaller goal is completed and gradually help them make their way towards the ultimate goal. This is a great way for your elderly loved one to have a fulfilling life and continue to live happily.

On Wednesday December 9, 2015, Cypress Place Senior Living in Ventura held their third annual Candlelight Memorial Service.    The touching event was in loving memory of those who are no longer with us but are forever present in our hearts.

The candlelight service was led by Pastor Leonard DeWitt, Pastor to Senior Adults at Ventura Baptist Church.  “The goal is not to get over our grief, rather the goal is to reconcile with it, and move forward in life without the physical presence of the person who has died,” said Pastor DeWitt.   Tears are not a sign of weakness, rather they release internal tension in the body and help us feel better, he explained.

During the memorial service attendees were able to come forward and light a candle in honor of their loved one.  Many broke down in tears.

“It was incredibly emotional,” said Mike Macke, one of the marketing directors at Cypress Place.  I lit a candle in honor of my father who passed away a number of years ago.  It was hard not to get choked up,” Macke said.

The free memorial service was open to the public.   Vocalist April Davis led the gathering in “Oh Holy Night” to close the service.   Light refreshments were served afterwards.

“We wanted people to be able to share their grief and at the same time be comforted,” said Yvonne Knepper, one of the marketing directors at Cypress Place.  “Luckily we had a lot of tissues on hand.”

Cypress Place Senior Living is a premiere senior community in Ventura County.   The beautiful senior living campus features an Active Senior Living community and adjacent Assisted Living and Alzheimer’s/Dementia Care community connected by a lushly landscaped courtyard.

To learn more about Cypress Place Senior Living of Ventura, please call 650-8000, or www.cypressplaceseniorliving.com.

Join Livingston Memorial Visiting Nurse Association’s remarkable core of volunteers; community heroes that give special gifts of time and compassion to patients and their families at the end of life.  We will provide you with training that gives you the confidence to enter the homes and lives of others to support them as a part of the Livingston Hospice Team.  What you receive back is as priceless as what you give.  For more information contact Maddy Hazard at  642-0239 x775 or [email protected].

For the fourth year of Lawyers at the Library, the first presentation will be with attorney Michael Williams of Grey Law, discussing Advanced Healthcare Directives and other End of Life Plans. Join him on  January 13, from 5:30pm to 6:30pm, for this informative subject.

The Ventura County Law Library is located in the Ventura County Government Center, 800 S. Victoria. Further information at  vencolawlib.org or 642-8982.