By James Appleby

September was national Pain Awareness Month. And one of the major issues policymakers, healthcare providers, and average citizens alike need to focus on is how to improve pain management among older Americans.

Unsurprisingly, this population experiences more pain than younger Americans. Among active seniors, it’s estimated that 25-50 percent experience persistent pain. For these Americans, finding ways to manage pain without reducing quality of life is essential. Among seniors residing in nursing homes or receiving in-home hospice care, as many as 85 percent experience persistent pain.

Plus, older Americans account for an outsized shared of American drug consumption. People 65 years and older make up just 13 percent of the U.S. population, yet they’re responsible for a full third of all pharmaceutical purchases.

And seniors rely heavily on opioid-based treatments, which are extremely powerful but come with elevated risks of addiction and abuse. Since 2007, the number of opioid prescriptions for patients aged 60 years or older has jumped by nearly a third. That’s double the rate of growth for middle-aged patients during that same period.

Of course, responsible prescription drug use – opioid-based based or otherwise – can be transformative for patients, alleviating chronic pain, speeding up post-operative recovery, boosting emotional well-being, and enhancing cognition.

However, opioid drugs can also cause huge, potentially fatal, problems for seniors. Elderly patients tend to be taking other drugs that can interact with opioids and cause adverse side effects. Their physical frailty exacerbates these problems. And opioid overuse can slow post-surgery recovery and speed up cognitive function decline. Due to the growing interest and research surrounding cannabis and cannabis-based products such as CBD, many seniors are looking towards CBD and medical cannabis products as an alternative choice when it comes to pain management. Particularly those who are interested in home remedies and want to explore self-medicating. Luckily, there are many doctors who are open to discussing the idea with their patients, and there are also CBD and medical cannabis establishments, such as Nature and Beyond that can share information with those who want to explore that option.

Abuse also puts senior patients at much higher risk of falls, which can cause serious bone fractures and shorten life. In fact, a 2010 paper in the Archives of Internal Medicine found that Medicare patients using opioids were four times more likely to suffer a fracture than enrollees using non-opioid treatments.

These risks are a big reason that the Joint Commission, a national non-profit that certifies healthcare organizations, specifically warns that opioids may not be appropriate for all patients. This is why alternative medicines have come about more nowadays because of the rising problems with current prescription meds, websites such as stateside wellness provide medical marijuana to patients who have a card to purchase this medicine, it may be a good idea for seniors to have access to this type of medicine to alleviate their reoccurring pains, and to lessen the number of opioids used by them. For those aren’t interested in smoking medical marijuana, CBD Oil could be a useful alternative to ingest the chemicals that work to alleviating their reoccurring pains.

The Interagency Pain Research Coordinating Committee, which is run by the federal Department of Health and Human Services, recently published a comprehensive strategy for improving pain management that includes specific steps for helping seniors. Policymakers should heed its recommendations.

Avoiding addiction and overdose requires careful care management and regular dialogue between doctors and their senior patients.

Caregivers need to adopt treatment protocols that can help prevent addiction, such as using drugs with the fewest adverse effects first. Providing non-opioid pain medication before and after surgery can also help, such as with some states beginning to embrace cannabinoid based solutions such as https://mykush.ca/product/ghost-bubba/ and other more medicinal forms of the drug. This is due to the CBD chemical that alleviates pain.

Likewise, caregivers should embrace proven non-opioid pain management alternatives, such as intravenous acetaminophen and over-the-counter painkillers like ibuprofen. These medications can be just as effective at reducing patient suffering without running the high risks of addiction. And even non-pharmaceutical pain management techniques such as yoga, stretching, massage, or acupuncture can help relive senior suffering.

All courses of treatment should begin with an honest and open conversation between patients and their caregivers about how pain affects them, how they are prepared to deal with pain, and how their ideas can be woven into treatment.

James Appleby is the executive director and CEO of the Gerontological Society of America. This piece originally appeared in The Tampa Tribune.

Hans is a perfect fit for his job
Photo by Daniel Ingram

By Es Cole

Some people in our amazing Ventura are outstanding at what they do.  I have been fortunate to meet a few.

Recently I met Hans Hormann, Director and Coordinator for Ventura Avenue Adult Center(VAAC). Hans is a perfect fit for his job; he spent 13 years attending six universities until he found a specialty that suited him — recreation. He spent another five years seeking a job that would/could challenge his abilities and use his ideas. He traveled to Europe and other foreign places to broaden his experiences of exotic cultures and ethnicities.

Eighteen months ago, the City of Ventura grabbed that gold ring, Hans, and made him Director of VAAC.

Hans is a civil servant, employed by Ventura, and very civil he is. He directs and coordinates VAAC. He seeks out new programs and boldly goes where others were too timid to venture.  He contracts with professionals to teach classes in their specialties. He not only feeds the curious minds of the Centers’ active adults, but he also arranges to feed their bodies at the daily lunch that is offered.

I don’t know how Hans does all the things he does. I do know he is well-organized, physically fit, and nice to old people. I am an old people, and he was very nice to me.

Hans’ most recent professional teacher is Carin Wofford, co-founder of The Time Binders, and  another of those outstanding people who are expert at what they do. Carin has 20 years’ experience writing personal histories. Starting this Fall, she will conduct  family history writing classes, documentation techniques, and ancestry research at the Ventura Avenue Adult Center.

Other auxiliary classes like hand bookbinding and graphic arts are also in the works. Imagine: you can write the stories of your personal history, design and hand construct your own book to personalize your stories, and you can learn to illustrate the stories you record.

We are so lucky to have Hans Hormann who has the energy, the imagination, and the contacts to put all these elements together in one convenient location. Please call VAAC for up-to-date schedules at 653-5592.

Hans says he loves his job. You can bet that all the adults and seniors at VAAC love him back.

The Ventura Avenue Adult Center is located at 550 N. Ventura Ave.

Mayor Heitmann was at the opening of the new Saticoy Library with grandson 4-year old Gavin.

You are invited to “Coffee with the Mayor” at the Ventura Townehouse who will be hosting Ventura’s Mayor Cheryl Heitmann on Thursday, October 22nd starting at 10am. It will be held in the Dining Room Lounge at the Ventura Townehouse, 4900 Telegraph Road.

The hour-long event does not require an RSVP but seating might be limited. “Coffee with the Mayor” is an informal gathering for residents to express their concerns, ask questions of the Mayor and provide ideas. The Mayor will also speak about the plans for the City of Ventura’s 150th Anniversary Celebration.

Cheryl Heitmann was first elected to the Ventura City Council in November 2011. She was appointed to the role of Mayor by her colleagues in December 2013, and served as Deputy Mayor for the first two years of her four-year term. Among her many accomplishments Cheryl Heitmann served as the Executive Director of the Ventura Music Festival from 2006-2012. She is a licensed clinical social worker and had a private practice for 18 years.

Adrienne Stephens brings a strong background in fundraising, marketing and public relations to the job.

The Ventura Hillsides Conservancy (VHC) recently added two new employees to its staff.  They will assist the membership-based nonprofit with its work of permanently preserving and providing access to the open space resources in the Ventura region.

Adrienne Stephens joined the VHC in August as their development coordinator. Adrienne, a UCSB graduate and 25-year Ventura resident, oversees member and business relations, fundraising activities, special event planning and community, press and social media outreach.

Flemming Bertelsen joined VHC as their new preserve manager in September. Flemming, who recently returned to the area from Southern Utah, has extensive experience in land management, conservation, wildland fire management, and law enforcement. He graduated from Humboldt State University with a B.A. in Recreation Management, and has worked protecting and restoring public lands in many locations.

“We are very pleased to have Adrienne and Flemming join the VHC team,” said David Comden, president of the VHC Board of Trustees.

The Ventura Hillsides Conservancy has a full agenda moving into 2016 including Ventura hillside land negotiations, tree planting initiatives along the Ventura River Parkway and its popular annual Wild and Scenic Film Festival. For more information about VHC, visit www.venturahillsides.org.

Mom’s Reflections
By Jan

My beauty days have dwindled fast
While Nature will outshine, outlast
Since furtive glances at age 18
Unearned attention was routine

I peer ahead with vague visions
Pondering possible health decisions
My gait now stable but next a hobble
Robust touch a clumsy wobble

Must I embrace a decline so slow
I’ve watched two generations do so
All didn’t have our Grandmother’s patience
Some did find her same “compensations

Maybe that “good night” is a bounty
After dwindling verve and beauty
A predicted path I now face
Ancestors, see my effort with grace

On Thursday, October 8 the next Senior Network meeting will be held at the VCAAA office, 646 County Square Drive in Ventura.  Networking will begin at 9:15am. The meeting will begin at 10am, and usually goes to 11:30am.  Networking may continue after the meeting until 12:30pm.

The VCAAA Senior Network is an informal group of local community-based organizations (non-profit, for-profit, faith-based and government agencies) who serve older adults and persons with disabilities in Ventura County and/or their caregivers. The purpose of the network is to provide a friendly environment for networking and creating collaborations, a forum for shared problem solving, an opportunity for sharing information and best practices, and information on current issues that may impact their organization and/or their clients.

Attendees get groovy at the Cypress Place Senior Living 70’s Party & Classic Car Show on September 16.  The event kicked off “Suitcases For Kids”.  New or used suitcases may be dropped off to Cypress Place until October 16.
Photos by Michael Gordon

In collaboration with New Hope Senior Services, please join Cypress Place Senior Living for an Alzheimer’s & Dementia Caregivers Support Group.  Facilitator for the support group will be Norma Featherston, R.N., M.S., Gerontology.  Featherston is a geriatric care consultant with New Hope Senior Services.

Join them for these informative meetings and gain support from others in a caring and understanding environment.  Ask questions and get straight answers from people who have been there.  Learn creative and caring problem solving techniques and caregiving ideas, and discover that you are not all alone in the way you feel.

Respite care is available for your loved one while attending the support group meetings.  This is a complimentary service, but an RSVP one week in advance is required to participate in respite care.

Support group meetings will be held from 9:30a.m. to 11a.m. the first and third Wednesday of every month, beginning in October.  The support group is free and open to the public.

Cypress Place Senior Living is located at 1200 Cypress Point Lane in Ventura.  Seating is limited so please call to reserve a seat.  For more information or to RSVP, please call 650-8000.

To learn more about Cypress Place Senior Living of Ventura, visit their web site at www.cypressplaceseniorliving.com.

If  you are looking to downsize  this type of living may be for you.

“Living in a mobile home community”
By Connie De La Rosa

There are many reasons for choosing to live in a mobile home community. “ If  you are looking to downsize,  continue being active,  or just want to lay back  and relax,  this type of living may be for you”  states  Barbara  Bier retired  registered nurse.   Mrs. Bier has lived at the Ventura Marina Mobile Home Community for the past 15 years and enjoys every minute of it.  Mobile home park living gives her the feeling of community and has made many friends through her involvement with planning events and staying active. “I would not trade my mobile home way of living for any other way” states Barbara.

The first annual   Health Information Fair is set for   Oct. 10^TH from 10 a.m. to noon.   This will be  an exciting event  to bring first hand information from the many vendors  to the mobile home community  and public  such as Home Health Agencies, Insurance Companies,  Assisted  Living  Companies , Skin  Care, Exercise, Hand/Arm massaging and more  to the residents  who can meet the faces behind the many brochures  which are left at the mobile home  community for advertisement. The public is more than welcome to attend this wonderful free event!

“There is something for everyone at a mobile home community whether you are retired or like some  of our neighbors, still working ” states  Barbara  Bier.

Ventura Marina Mobile Home Community is located at 1215 Anchors Way.

On Sept. 24 Aegis Living presented a Fire & Emergency Safety Presentation to its residents. Ventura firefighters  Captain Jason Kay, Paramedic Jarret LaShure  and  Engineer Mark Nelson explained fire safety to about twenty Aegis residents and answered their questions. Aegis is located at 4964 Telegraph, 290-1953.

Photo by Bernie Goldstein

​Did you know that Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is the third leading cause of death in the nation?  COPD is an umbrella term that includes chronic lung diseases such as emphysema, chronic bronchitis and, in some cases, asthma.  In Ventura County, there are 28,000 people that suffer from COPDbut the number may actually be higher since 50% of people with compromised lung function are not even aware of it.  Identifying and treating COPD in its early stages can drastically change/slow the progression of the disease.  A simple test called a Pulmonary Function Test (PFT) can be performed to determine if someone has COPD.

The COPD Access to Community Health (CATCH) Program is funded by a Health Care Innovations Award (HCIA) grant from the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services (CMS).  Ventura County is honored to be one of 39 HCIA grant recipients nationwide.  With the HCIA grant funding, the Ventura County Health Care Agency (HCA) is implementing new treatment guidelines for preventing, diagnosing and treating COPD throughout our health care system.  To date, CATCH has purchased spirometers for our Ambulatory Care Medical Offices and the Respiratory Department at Ventura County Medical Center (VCMC).  Additionally, providers have been trained to diagnose and stage patients using the Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) guidelines in order to improve patient care.

CATCH grant staff will be working with Ambulatory Care Medical Offices, VCMC and Santa Paula hospitals to develop a new approach to managing COPD in Ventura County.

The CATCH team can travel county-wide and includes a Project Director, two Registered Nurses, two Respiratory Therapists, a two Community Health Workers, a Medical Office Assistant and contracts with numerous specialists throughout the community.  CATCH can be reached at  677-5162 or [email protected].