Southeastern Minnesota Area Agency on Aging

SE MN has many communities, organizations and partnerships working on creating or renewing programming that supports individuals with dementia and their caregivers. While the pandemic has slowed some of these efforts they are gaining momentum once again and communities are re-energized and ready to launch many of these great programs. Here are a few highlights and opportunities for this year.

Highlights from SE MN

Resounding Voices Choir — Recruitment has begun for the summer practice sessions. Here’s what choir member Joe Lobl had to say about his experience. “I have enjoyed singing in Resounding Voices as a volunteer for the past three years. It is a joy singing together and getting to know each other better during our social time and weekly sharing. We have also had a lot of fun performing concerts at the end of each session, which always include singalongs with the audience. I am glad to have made new friends and also given back to the community with our concerts by participating in Resounding Voices!” If you’d like to get involved email Karen Rorie to learn more: karen@resoundingvoices.org. Check out their virtual Spring concert.

Mayo Clinic Conference on Brain Health & Dementia – A Brighter Path Forward Formerly called “Meeting of the Minds”, this conference will be held at the Mayo Civic Center on October 29th. Event is free thanks to support from the Alzheimer’s Association and AARP and will be in-person with a live stream option for those unable to attend. Registration link.

The Remember Project Dementia Awareness Tour — hosted in Pine Island by SEMAAA was a great success! Over 320 people joined our local team, or joined a statewide professional development event. Participants viewed at least one of the three theatrical videos via Zoom and provided feedback that they increased their understanding of dementia and joined in conversation about how we can locally help families living with dementia live their best lives. About 100 of the individuals attending an event live in the Pine Island or surrounding area; over 250 people were from the 11 county service are in Southeastern Minnesota served by SEMAAA. We ARE a more dementia-friendly community because of this opportunity.

Watch for more details regarding what we learned from The Remember Project and how you can join your friends and neighbors to support all community care partners in the Pine Island area. A big thank you to Olmsted Medical Center and the Pine Island Fire Department Relief Association as well as the Zone 5 Lions, Rod Steele-Edina Realty, Pat and Jerry Johnson, and several local individuals who financially supported this effort! Also thank you to the MN State Arts Board and Trellis for helping fund this initiative.

Jen Mclaughlin has been a vibrant part of SEMAAA since 2012 with most of that time being with the Return to Community Team. Her laughter, positivity, unique catch phrases and powerful fun-loving spirit have shined and left their mark on our SEMAAA family.

We are so excited that Jen will continue to collaborate with the RTC team and others in her new role of supporting older adults and their families in Fillmore, Mower, Dodge and parts of Olmsted county. Jen will continue to use her exceptional advocacy skills and maintain a strong connection to SEMAAA and the rest of the aging network in our area. We wish you all the best!

Karen Toussel joined the SEMAAA team as our Administrative Assistant in 1997 and almost 24 years later she is ready to retire & travel the world by RV.

We asked Karen what she will miss most about SEMAAA?
Her response: “Definitely the people – all the enjoyable moments with coworkers and the friendships I have developed over the years.”

What are you looking forward to most in retirement?
“Traveling with my husband Michael and my dog Bella.”

Karen will be retiring August 6th and has trips planned to Florida and South Dakota.

SEMAAA board and staff are grateful for your decades of support and dedication to aging services. We will sure miss your great sense of humor, wonderful vacation pictures and all of the fun stories that went with them!

Send Karen a note, give her a call or stop by to wish her well in her retirement. karen@semaaa.org

“A SEMAAA team member had a caregiver (Greg) call about his mother who has cognitive impairment, as he had recently become her emergency guardian. Greg was totally confused as to how her insurance worked, what Medicare covered, what part D was, and what she had for active coverage.

With proof of guardianship, the staff person contacted SHIP to find out the plan details, and they helped educate Greg on the parts of Medicare. They also talked about how the coverage works, his intention of moving her to memory care and they took care of the verification code process. They also helped him search MNHelp.info for potential placement options, and they talked about senior moving assistance programs to help with downsizing. Greg’s mother has a large home with a lot to get rid of and he was totally overwhelmed with how to manage that process.

Greg was so relieved to learn about the Senior LinkAge Line and all the available resources. He was very thankful for the assistance SLL gave him.”

I strongly believe new home construction/rehabilitation projects should have inclusive features built in so individuals have the option to stay in their home as they age. Not many homes are designed with accessible or Universal Design features in mind.

The American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) conducted a Home and Community Preferences survey in 2018 and discovered that 3 out of 4 people ages 50 and older nationwide hope to remain in their current home as they grow older, but only 46 % believe they will be able to do so.

It is critical a portion of new senior housing initiatives incorporate eligibility considerations for lower income older adults. This would include individuals who are served through Minnesota Medicaid’s Elderly Waiver (EW) program to ensure housing options are accessible and inclusive of them.

The Rochester Area Foundation is committed to affordable housing efforts and has created a Coalition for Rochester Area Housing. The Coalition is working on a co-design process around senior housing – partnering with Destination Medical Center and University of Minnesota School of Design. A part of this work will be to identify 7-10 participants to help with this project. I applaud their efforts to ensure that people with physical limitations, homeowners who want to stay in their current living situation, care staff, individuals moving to senior housing, those interested in multigenerational housing, and others have a voice at the table.

AARP has also embraced age-friendly housing initiatives as one part of their Livable Communities framework. The goal is to help communities become better places to age well in. The Livable Communities initiative is focused around eight domains of livability centered around aspects of daily and community life. The domains are inter-woven and have an impact on each other: Transportation, Housing, Social participation, Respect and social inclusion, Civic participation and employment, Communication/information, Community support/health services, and Outdoor spaces/buildings.

The Age-Friendly Olmsted County (AFOC) Community Assessment Committee is led by community partners which include County Government, In the City for Good and key community organizations. Housing initiatives are just one of the areas that this cross-sector group is dedicated to working on to ensure that Olmsted County residents have what they need to age well in the community of their choice. A part of this work will be to develop a five-year process that includes an Age-friendly Community Assessment Report and 3-year action plan.

My husband and I built our accessible home using universal design features in the early 1990’s. One of the best features is the main floor laundry among others!

Finding Ways to Engage at Every Age,
Laurie
Executive Director

Lori Paulson and Marite’ Olmstead are senior advocates who provide information, referral and assistance to seniors in Winona County. They can be reached at the Winona Friendship Center located at 251 Main Street in Winona, MN. Their mission is to help older citizens remain independent in their homes. Lori and Marite’ can help individuals with Medicare health insurance counseling, assistance completing applications, connection to home services in the area and navigation of systems for long term care services and supports.

Lori has an undergraduate degree in Nutrition Science and a master’s degree in Food Science and Nutrition from the University of Wisconsin-Stout. She started her professional career in the food industry but, after several years, felt called to do more service-related work. Lori worked as a MediAppS Caseworker, helping to find available solutions for expensive medication costs, prior to joining the Winona Friendship Center as a Senior Advocate in 2017. Lori’s thoughts on her favorite moments: “I enjoy working with older adults. I especially enjoy learning about my clients’ families and their stories. For instance, one client shared with me what it was like to live and work in communist East Germany prior to her arrival in the United States in her twenties. It is always a wonderful moment when a client enrolls in a program, such as a Medicare Savings Program or Extra Help with Medicare Part D, and the relief that I can see when a financial burden has been relieved. I truly believe that releasing a financial burden can add years of life to a person’s life, primarily due to the reduction in stress and worry that was created by that financial burden.”

Marite’ attended Winona State University and double majored in psychology and sociology with a minor in gerontology and graduated in 2017. She has worked as a senior advocate for another agency/service area before joining the City of Winona as a senior advocate in 2019. Marite’ credits growing up in a three-generation household for impacting her choice to work with older adults professionally as her career. When asked about favorite moments and challenges Marite’ reports: “Many of my favorite moments have been during Medicare Open Enrollment season. It is very satisfying to assist others with an overwhelming task and break it down to the point where they feel confident in making their own decisions. I have also made a lot of new friendships with my clients that I appreciate and value. Right now, with the pandemic, I see social isolation as a huge challenge for older adults. Thankfully, the Winona Friendship Center has been working on implementing a variety of virtual programs and getting more technology out into the community, but I know there are still many people out there without these capabilities. Human connection is so vitally important to stay engaged and age successfully.”

If you are interested in exploring how a senior advocate can help you or a loved one in Winona county find and understand services and supports available, Lori and Marite’ can be contacted by calling: 507-454-7369.

How to Protect Yourself and Others

COVID-19 vaccines are effective at protecting you from getting sick. Based on what we know about COVID-19 vaccines, people who have been fully vaccinated can start to do some things that they had stopped doing because of the pandemic.
We’re still learning how vaccines will affect the spread of COVID-19. After you’ve been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, it’s important to keep taking precautions—like wearing a mask, staying 6 feet apart from others, and avoiding crowds and poorly ventilated spaces—in public places until we know more.

These recommendations can help you make decisions about daily activities after you are fully vaccinated. They are not intended for healthcare settings.

Are you fully vaccinated?
People are considered fully vaccinated:

• 2 weeks after their second dose in a 2-dose series, such as the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines, or
• 2 weeks after a single-dose vaccine, such as Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine
  If you don’t meet these requirements, you are NOT fully vaccinated. Keep taking all precautions until you are fully vaccinated.

If You’ve Been Fully Vaccinated You Can:

• Visit inside a home or private setting without a mask with other fully vaccinated people of any age.
• Visit inside a home or private setting without a mask with one household of unvaccinated people who are not at risk for severe illness.
• Travel domestically without a pre- or post-travel test.
• Travel domestically without quarantining after travel.
• Travel internationally without a pre-travel test depending on destination.

 Travel internationally without quarantining after travel.

To learn more: visit www.cdc.gov

American Rescue plan was signed into law by the Biden administration on March 11th to provide relief and support to all Americans who continue to deal with the pandemic and its after effects. Through the advocacy efforts of partnering organizations like the National Council on Aging, the National Association of Area Agencies on Aging, Representatives and many others, this bill has carved out substantial funding for older Americans and the programs that support them. Here is a quick overview of how this bill will support Older Americans in the coming months.

Older American Act Funding
Currently over 11 million older adults rely on Older American Act funding to remain independent. This bill earmarks an additional $1.43 billion dollars into OAA supports such as nutrition programs, transportation, caregiver supports, elder abuse protections and healthy aging programs.

Medicaid Home Care Services
States will receive a 10% boost in federal contributions to support Medicaid and Home Care Services through March 31st 2022. That’s $12.7 billion dollars invested in low-income older adults and individuals with disabilities so they can receive care at home with a loved one rather than in a nursing home.

COVID Related
$20 billion has been set aside to improve vaccine administration and distribution as well as $50 billion for testing, contract tracing and manufacturing of personal protective equipment. Along with this is an additional $500 million for nursing home strike teams to help manage COVID outbreaks and $200 million to further support infection control in nursing homes.

Elder Justice
This law includes $276 million per year for the next 2 years to support programs that combat elder abuse, support elder justice research and innovation, enhance adult protection services and provide additional protections for residents of long-term care facilities.

Infrastructure and Transportation
$20 billion is earmarked for states, tribes and territories to help cover some of the unforeseen costs of the pandemic-one of which is broadband expansion, as well as improving subways and bus systems, which many older adults rely on.

These are just some of the highlights of the American Rescue Plan. To learn more about this bill go to NCOA’s article. The Biden Administration also released the American Jobs Plan proposal on March 31st. This is still taking shape but includes funding for HCBS organizations, wage increases for home care workers, workforce support and equity investments like broadband, affordable housing, transportation and more.

Finding Balance for Working Caregivers and Aging Adults

• 1 in 5 people are caring for a loved one providing 24 hours of care per week, on average.
• 60% of caregivers were employed in 2020 while also providing care.
• 50% of working caregivers are reluctant to tell their supervisor about their caregiving responsibilities.

Being a working caregiver is a situation that will affect almost everyone at some point in life and employers are in a position to offer more meaningful supports and resources to help employees successfully navigate this time. Investing in the well-being of your staff is simply good for business and results in many positive returns for you as well. If you are interested in learning more about the challenges working caregivers face and want to understand how to support them better as an employer, contact Chersten Keillor with the SE MN Area Agency on Aging to learn more and schedule a presentation.

Older adults have built resilience and strength over their lives through successes, failures, joys, and difficulties. Their stories and contributions help to support and inspire others.
In May, The Administration for Community Living (ACL) will celebrate the strength of older adults and the Aging Network, with special emphasis on the power of connection and engagement in building strong communities.

There are many things we all can do to nurture ourselves, reinforce our strength, and continue to thrive. Connecting with others is one of the most important—it plays a vital role in our health and well-being, and in that of our communities. Visit OAM 2021