Quality sleep is known to play an important role in concentration and learning, as well as mood and overall health

Quality sleep is important for many reasons.

by Erin Bryant From NIH Research Matters

Changes in sleep patterns are common in people with Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias. They may wake up often during the night and find it hard to get back to sleep. These sleep problems are thought to result from brain changes caused by the disease that affect the sleep-wake cycle.

Studies have suggested that sleep patterns earlier in life may contribute to later dementia risk. Both insufficient sleep and sleeping longer than average have been linked to a greater likelihood of developing dementia. However, it has been hard to determine whether these sleep changes contribute to the disease or simply reflect early symptoms.

Many of the studies on sleep and dementia risk have followed participants for less than a decade and focused on people over the age of 65. A study led by Dr. Séverine Sabia of Inserm and University College London examined how sleep patterns earlier in life may affect the onset of dementia decades later.

The study was supported in part by NIH’s National Institute on Aging (NIA). Findings appeared in Nature Communications on April 20, 2021.

The researchers examined data from nearly 8,000 people in Britain starting at age 50. Participants were assessed on a wide variety of measures, including being asked on six occasions between 1985 and 2016 how many hours they slept a night. To assess the accuracy of this self-reporting, some of the participants wore accelerometers to objectively measure sleep time. Over the course of the study, 521 participants were diagnosed with dementia, at an average age of 77.

Analysis of the data showed that people in their 50s and 60s getting six hours of sleep or less were at greater risk of developing dementia later. Compared to those getting normal sleep (defined as 7 hours), people getting less rest each night were 30% more likely to be diagnosed with dementia.

The researchers adjusted their model to account for other factors known to influence sleep patterns or dementia risk, including smoking, physical activity, body mass index, and medical conditions like diabetes and heart disease. They also separated out people with mental illnesses like depression, which are strongly linked to sleep disturbances.

The findings suggest that short sleep duration during midlife could increase the risk of developing dementia later in life. More research is needed to confirm this connection and understand the underlying reasons.

“While we cannot confirm that not sleeping enough actually increases the risk of dementia, there are plenty of reasons why a good night’s sleep might be good for brain health,” Sabia says.

This research was supported in part by NIA grants R01AG056477 and RF1AG062553.

Reference: Association of sleep duration in middle and old age with incidence of dementia.

Aera Energy challenge was a huge success

Earlier this year, Aera Energy challenged our community to support health and wellness programs in VUSD schools by matching donations totaling $5,000 to VEP for teacher grants. The challenge was a success and combined with funding from Mountains 2 Beach Marathon, Ventura Education Partnership made grants totaling $21,000 for 7 individual grants and 7 group grants.

“During COVID VEP has offered grants in a streamlined way. Individual teachers were able to apply for $500 for health/wellness projects. Groups of educators working together to impact larger numbers of students were able to apply for $2500,” said Madhu Bajaj, President of Ventura Education Partnership.

Funded projects include culinary explorations to teach good nutrition and healthy eating, mindfulness activities, physical exercise equipment like yoga and pickleball, sensory gardens and much more.
Sierra Meyers, Ventura High Physical Education Teacher applied for and received funding for hoola hoops to social distance, jump ropes, fitness bands, and other fun PE equipment that can be used outdoors. Meyers said, “Receiving the grant means that my physical education students have an opportunity to try equipment & innovative activities outside the normal tradition sports. The grant gives my students a fun, safe, creative & health benefiting workout in a socially distanced environment.”
“As a member of the review team, it was exciting to see the innovative ways VUSD teachers are looking to engage students to improve the health and wellness,” said Michele Newell, Aera public affairs. “During the pandemic Aera has focused greatly on employee mental and physical health. It is part of our exceptional care for people. So, partnering with VEP and local teachers in this effort is not out of the norm for us. These grants provide VUSD students the means to get exactly what they need to be healthier inside and out. That is a wise investment in our future.”

More information on VEP and the complete list of grant recipients can be found at: http://www.venturaeducationpartnership.org/Health-Wellness

The Bookmark About Libraries and Friends

by Jill Forman

Bookstore and Book Sale News!

The Ventura Friends of the Library is very excited to announce that all our venues will be back within a month.

Foster Library

Our Ventura Friends of the Library bookstore will be reopening on July 1st.  The bookstore is moving to the front left corner of the library’s first floor (former magazine area). We will start out with partition walls and eventually have a more permanent structure. This will triple the size of the store so more books will be available for purchase. VFOL office will be moving into the old bookstore room.

A plus to the move is it should be cooler than the former bookstore. There are many details to be planned and put into place before the opening.

As always, the store will be staffed by volunteers. Some of our folks have left for other activities. If you would like to help out, contact Sandy at [email protected].

Online Bookstore

Our online website store will continue but the curbside pickup will be changing as of July 1. Tuesday’s online orders will be picked up at the Foster Library VFOL bookstore. Saturday’s orders pickup we would like to continue at Hill Road Library but inside where our book Nook is.

We am looking for a volunteer who would like to be at Hill Road on Saturdays from 10-12pm with the paid purchases. Contact Sandy at email in previous paragraph.

Hill Road Library Used Book Shelves

We will have access to the “Nook” area in mid-June. It will take us a while to stock and organize the area but will definitely be back in business by July 1. These will be gently-used books in many categories with many children’s and young adult titles, priced from 50 cents up to about $2-$3. They will be paid for by the honor system.

Save the Date(s) for Open-Air Book Sale

July 31and August 1, there will be a book sale at the Dudley House (on the corner of Loma Vista and Ashwood.) It will be a “Category Sale” with all genres organized by type. We are happy to co-ordinate this sale with the Dudley House’s monthly plant sale on Saturday and their house tours on Sunday. A lovely setting, plants and books and one of Ventura’s historical treasures. What a treat!

Warehouse and Donations

Many of our bookstore volunteers have been helping out at the warehouse, keeping it at four volunteers per day per pandemic protocol. As a result, the warehouse has been up and working five days a week. With those folks returning to the store, and the COVID restrictions easing, we will be changing the warehouse day to Fridays only.

Donations can be brought to the warehouse Friday 9 a.m. – 11 am. The donation boxes will be back at the libraries but please limit those to small donations. If you need to make special arrangements, you can email us at [email protected].

 

 

Ventura County Civil Grand Jury announces release of report on school bus safety for special education students

Most local special education school bus drivers are performing their duties alone, while also attending to student behavior issues occurring on the bus. Given that school bus drivers have, by law, sole responsibility for rider safety and discipline on the bus, the 2020-2021 Ventura County Grand Jury (Grand Jury) examined the challenges that can emerge when transporting special education students.

The Grand Jury found that a special education school bus driver is required to do an extraordinarily demanding set of tasks. They must drive a bus through city streets and traffic, obeying all laws, while simultaneously monitoring the behavior of every student on board. This creates the potential for distracted driving and for unchecked student behavior that could jeopardize the welfare of other students and the driver. The Grand Jury commends school bus drivers in Ventura County (County) for accomplishing a demanding set of tasks: simultaneously driving a bus and responding to behavioral issues during the bus ride.

The Grand Jury investigation focused on a particularly vulnerable population of special education students who have an increased need for supervision on a school bus: students with diagnoses of autism, emotional or behavioral issues, combined loss of hearing and vision, medically fragile and non-verbal or those who are otherwise unable to speak out or defend themselves.

The Grand Jury examined policies and practices at the Ventura County Office of Education (VCOE) because of its broad scope of experience, support for all school districts in the County and its operation of several schools for populations in need of specialized education. VCOE also provides daily busing for more than 900 special education students in the County. The Grand Jury commends VCOE for its proactive, ongoing, and pertinent training for bus drivers.

Ventura County Special Education Local Plan Areas (SELPA) develops and administers programs and workshops for teachers and parents of special education students, including guidance on development of Individual Education Plans (IEP).

The Grand Jury commends SELPA for providing information and support to families of children with special needs.

After analyzing VCOE transportation policy, the Grand Jury recommends that VCOE:

  • Include transportation personnel in scheduled student IEP meetings under specific conditions when the student needs adaptive or assistive equipment, when school bus equipment is required to be modified, or a when a behavior intervention plan is to be implemented for pupils exhibiting severe behavioral difficulties.
    • Adopt a standardized, predictive approach of analyzing data from Bus Conduct Report Forms to identify trends in behaviors that lead to unsafe situations, with the goal of developing specific strategies to minimize those risks.
  • Adopt a procedure by which a VCOE administrator can evaluate the need for, and request, a bus attendant.
    • Adopt a procedure that relates to strategies for assuring increased supervision and a safe environment on a school bus. Strategies could include assigning bus attendants to buses carrying students of higher risk, for example, autistic, emotionally disturbed, or deaf/blind students. Another strategy could be installing internal cameras or other innovative systems on special education school buses.

Marginalized groups share histories of systemic oppression

An opinion by Mary Haffner HAFFNER LAW GROUP Ventura

The Civil Rights Movement was led by advocates courageously confronting the erroneous belief that some of us are more valuable and important than others.  They marched in protest to challenge the racial segregation that had been eloquently defended by politicians and enforced by police. The neglect and criminalization of people with mental illness is the civil rights and social justice issue of our time. People with mental illnesses continue to face stark inequities borne from stigmatizing beliefs about their worth. You won’t see them marching in protest.

Marginalized groups share histories of systemic oppression, segregation, and a denial of basic human rights.  But the distinctive feature of mental illness discrimination is that it causes impairment.  Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. stated, “of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health care is the most shocking and inhumane.”

The inhumanity these individuals and their families face goes unquestioned by leaders because this is a voiceless population. When those with the power to do something stand-by, support the status quo, and place arbitrary restrictions on rights and freedoms – when they tolerate this injustice through silent complicity and fail to work toward providing the same quality of healthcare enjoyed by persons with other health conditions – this is evidence of structural stigma.

Structural/institutional stigma embedded in the status quo of local governments has created vast disparities and is the most significant barrier to the wellbeing of people with mental illness. These inequities are evident in their disproportionate overrepresentation in our jails and on our streets and in the failures of decision makers to plan for their care, forcing them to remain untreated or waiting for days in emergency rooms only to receive substandard care.  For any other health condition, these injustices would never be tolerated.

We waste millions on anti-stigma campaigns aimed at changing society’s attitudes, but it is the leaders with the power to do something who must commit to the principles of equity and justice to exercise their moral and ethical responsibility to bring change.

 I spent 6 years on Ventura County’s mental health board witnessing structural stigma. I observed the lack of investment in wellness and recovery; I watched millions of dollars approved by Supervisors for programs focused on people with mild mental health challenges, while the population most in need kept cycling, untreated, through restrictive environments. I watched top leadership display a belief that some people’s basic human rights are open for debate when they stated, “we are doing more than we have to” for this population.  I listened to countless families whose loved ones were passed from law enforcement to hospitals, to out-of-county facilities, to jails, and to homelessness. 

Appropriate levels of care are not available- people who are unstable and acutely ill are placed in the wrong environments – sober living homes or board and cares.  And those who are not acutely ill stay in intensive settings because there is nowhere for them to go.  

Leaders who are responsible for making decisions about mental healthcare should know that their silence and inaction is influenced by structural stigma. They should work toward solutions instead of continuing to endorse an inhumane status quo.   
 

Rebuilding Ventura’s travel and hospitality workforce is the key to regional and statewide recovery 

The coronavirus pandemic has set back (but not defeated) Ventura’s travel and hospitality businesses, but the economic power of the tourism industry is igniting a comeback as California Tourism Month begins.

The California travel industry’s underlying strength and enduring selflessness and resilience aligns with California Tourism Month’s theme, the “Power of Possibility.” This week, California also joins the U.S. Travel Association in honoring the Power of Travel for National Travel and Tourism Week.

“At Visit Ventura we have always spoken the truth,” says Marlyss Auster, Visit Ventura President & CEO. “And here’s the simple truth. There has never been a more important time for the economic driver that is tourism. Tourism will put Ventura — and our surrounding communities — back on their feet. Working together, with ongoing safety in mind, we can not only survive, we can thrive.”

Despite losses due to Covid-19 business closures and community lockdowns, California is well-positioned for recovery.

The long-term outlook for California has brightened considerably. Tourism Economics projects domestic visitor spending in California will reach 76% of 2019 levels this year. In 2022, domestic spending will hit 94% of 2019 levels, and total visitor spending, including resurgent international travel, will hit 87%.

The Golden State remains among the best-performing states in case counts and vaccination rates and has implemented long-term health measures so visitors can feel safe.

The outlook for summer travel in California is very positive, as the state expects to remove most restrictions by June 15 – just before summer officially arrives.

The vast majority of California’s abundance of tourism assets – theme parks, museums, concert halls, restaurants and wineries among them – are moving toward normal operations. Ventura,  graced with the wide open spaces perfect for cautious recovery — from Channel Islands National Park to recently opened Harmon Canyon (a hiking and biking paradise) — has begun welcoming visitors back.

“With all our incredible outdoors and wide open beach spaces, Ventura is perfectly suited for these still socially-distanced times,” says Auster. “We’ve always welcomed visitors warmly. Now we welcome them warmly and safely.”

And as Californians resume traveling, they have the power to jumpstart the state’s economic recovery by choosing to keep their trips within California.

“California’s tourism industry has long provided Californians with a strong civic foundation and generated billions of dollars in state and local tax revenues to help provide services that benefit everyone in the state,” said Caroline Beteta, president and CEO of Visit California. “Now residents can help their fellow Californians by keeping their tourism dollars in California and supporting local businesses as a modern-day act of patriotism. Together we can support our own economic recovery. There is power in California civic pride”

But there is plenty of work to do, particularly to re-build the vibrant travel and hospitality workforce. A month after the mid-March lockdown, more than half of the 1.2 million tourism workers found themselves without jobs.

Even as the economy re-opens and businesses gradually offer more services to more and more consumers, the foundation of the industry – its people – still strive to return to work in a safe and confident manner that makes economic sense for them and their families.

“In the end, it’s not really about economics,” says Auster. “It’s about kindness and caring.”

Supporting Kids & Families Together

Kids & Families Together (K&FT) is a nonprofit that has been serving foster/resource, adoptive, kinship, and birth families throughout Ventura County since 2000. K&FT works with children who have experienced trauma, abuse, neglect, loss, and multiple placements. K&FT also works with caregivers who need specialized education, support, and strategies to help raise safe, healthy, nurtured children that thrive.

Kids & Families Together, along with Heart 2 Heart will be holding our 3rd Bike Event on Saturday, June 19th from 10am – 1pm. The idea for this event was inspired by grandparents who were receiving support in some of our programs. They were a “kinship family”, and had their 7-year- old granddaughter in their care. Their granddaughter really wanted to learn how to ride a bike, but neither of the grandparents felt that they were physically capable of safely helping her. The grandmother reached out to K&FT looking for help. That one phone call, sparked the idea for this event! We knew if this was an issue for one of our families, there were most likely many Foster/Resource, Kinship and Adoptive Families in a similar situation.

So the event was born, and first took place in May of 2019. That day 10 children learned how to ride a bike for the first time! It was amazing to see these kids go from just starting out, to fully riding within a few hours. The smiles on their faces was priceless and they were filled with such pride and excitement! Due to COVID, the 2020 event was strictly held as a bike gift-away event.

But this year, we are able to bring it back as a full Bike Safety and Bike Rodeo event! We are grateful to Crosspointe Church Ventura (5415 Ralston St.) for hosting this year’s event. Their large parking lot will be the perfect setting of our bike course. Our goal for this event is to serve 100 children! Included in this year’s event will be … bike riding instructions, riding skills, a riding course will be set up, bike safety checks will be available for those that bring their own bikes, and drawings to win new bikes. All children attending the event will receive a new bike helmet, some treats and a grab bag.

We are grateful to our Bike Rodeo partners and event sponsors that will be out in force to support our families: Crosspoint Church Ventura, Bike Ventura, The California Highway Patrol (CHP-Ventura), and the Gene Haas Foundation.

Volunteer opportunities are available both prior to the event, to help sort, organize and prepare, along with time slots for the day of the event. To keep staff, families and volunteers safe, we are following current public health and safety regulations. All attendees will be required to wear a mask at all times. Contact: Jeni Futvoye 805-940-6323 [email protected].

The Weed Project: Outlaws of the Super Bloom & Crimes

On June 12, at the Martin V. & Martha K. Smith Pavilion at the Museum of Ventura County the opening reception of The Weed Project: Outlaws of the Super Bloom & Crimes was held. This new exhibit, by the comical and brave Charlene Spiller features thirteen botanical paintings with an ecological message. There were refreshments and a no-host bar. Visitors were also able to explore the new and refreshed Children’s Garden.

Vol. 14, No. 19 – June 16 – June 29, 2021 – A View from House Seats

by Shirley Lorraine
Theaters stay busy with summer youth camps

Are your kids prone to dramatic behavior or break out in song? Several theaters are offering summer camps to enhance theater basics. Check them out right away if your kids are interested.

Unity Theatre Collective is offering Musical Theater Camps. Camps are Monday-Friday, from 9 a.m. to noon at Barranca Vista Park. The first offering is Annie. Camp runs July 12-16. After that, a camp for Shrek, the Musical, Jr. is from July 26-30. For ages 10-15, a camp for the musical Mama Mia is August 2-6.

Instructors Maddie Boyd and Sarah Covault will teach theater. www.unitytheatrecollective.com has all the details and the links to sign up. Openings are limited.

The Rubicon Theatre has already begun its Dare to Dream summer Shakespeare Camp, working on a production of Midsummer Night’s Dream directed by Joseph Fuqua.

Shrek, the Musical, Jr. will be directed and choreographed by George Ratliff and Cheryl Baxter. For ages 8-15, will take place June 21 through July 18.

Finally, for ages 15 and above, a production workshop of Les Misérables on July 19-August 15. Check www.rubicontheatre.org/summer-education-programs for all the particulars. All productions will culminate in a filmed production.