Protecting Against Telemarketing Schemes and Other Fraud
Senior citizens are commonly targeted by con artists and other fraud schemers. To help combat this problem, the FBI offers many tips for seniors to protect against telemarketing fraud, Medicare scams and other common schemes. Below is FBI material on senior fraud—to find out more, visit www.fbi.gov/scams-safety/fraud/seniors. Read more
Senior Resource Fair
State Senator Liz Krueger is hosting the Fifth Annual Senior Resource Fair this Thursday, November 3, from 1:30 – 4:30 p.m. at Temple Emanu-El, One East 65th Street (at Fifth Avenue). The free event will feature over 50 exhibitors providing information for older adults, as well as refreshments and free resources guides. The event is designed to help make seniors aware of all the local resources available to them, from city programs to free and reduced price cultural offerings to the best ways to stay healthy. The location is fully wheelchair accessible. For more information, contact alicefisher.nyc@gmail.com, or call (212) 490-9535.
Hearts Aflutter
By Fred Cicetti
Q. Whenever I drink a little too much wine, I find that I wake up at night and my heart seems to race for a while. Can wine do that?
A. The short answer is yes. But first, it sounds as if you haven’t told a doctor about this. You should—immediately. What you’re describing could be atrial fibrillation. The risk of atrial fibrillation increases with age, particularly after 60.
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A Senior Safety Hazard
To the Editor:
79th Street and York Avenue is a very busy, hazardous four-way intersection. It’s confusing in that the signals don’t correspond in the traditional pattern that all pedestrians recognize and expect. Instead, when the traffic signal is red on the north side of York to stop southbound traffic, at the same time the signal is green on the south side of the avenue, allowing northbound traffic to continuing driving! Confusing and irrational? You bet! Pedestrians start crossing only to become startled by whizzing cars, trucks and buses coming at them from the opposite side. Fragile and disabled seniors afraid to cross here must walk one block farther for normal, safer crossing. Complaints to the DOT have resulted in signage warnings of little help to the vision impaired that are no substitute for safer signal lights.
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Medicare and Social Security Aren’t Bargaining Chips
To the Editor:
As members of Congress and President Obama seek a resolution to the nation’s fiscal woes, seniors in New York and around the country must not be sacrificed for the sake of a stronger balance sheet.
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Where to Beat the Heat
Places to cool off when the temperature rises
New York City in the summer can actually be a wonderful place to be. People head out of town on vacation, the lines are shorter, the days are longer—the frantic pace seems to slow down a notch. There are outdoor programs, activities and spaces to enjoy. But with the season comes, at times, unforgiving heat that can be dangerous to the health of senior citizens.
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Help Even if You Haven’t ‘Fallen & Can’t Get Up’
New monitors offer medication reminders and help seniors monitor diseases
By Alan Krawitz
For Manhattan resident Tammy Lawrence, her health monitor is much more than a good idea; it provides her genuine peace of mind.
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Don’t Be Silent About Elder Abuse
Fight back against mistreatment of seniors
By Bette Dewing
So worth the saving, sharing and acting upon is the “Elder Abuse Is All-Too-Common Crime” op-ed piece from last week by Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance and Council Member Jessica Lappin, who also heads the council’s Committee on Aging (the article can also be found at ourtownny.com).
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The Proof is in the DNA
By Judy Gruen
Evidence that staying connected and active slows the aging process
Roger Landry wishes that senior citizens would stop acting their age. Landry, M.D., M.P.H., and president of Masterpiece Living, LLC, a consulting firm for senior communities that emphasize healthy aging, observed, “Nothing in our DNA dictates that we can’t stay vital into old age. We need to adopt a ‘use it or lose it’ approach to our minds, bodies and spirit.”
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Senior Citizens 2.0: Learning Computer Skills
At the age of 74, Dell Shorter has learned how to turn on a computer, navigate with a mouse and check his email. Shorter attends weekly computer tutoring sessions at the Carter Burden Senior Center, where a volunteer tutor familiarizes him with some basic computer skills that many of us may take for granted.
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