| Greetings,
It's quite clear that fall is here when the trees start bursting with colors of warmth. Those bright reds, oranges, and yellows really make for a beautiful site in New England. We hope you enjoy the colors of the season and this colorful issue of The Beacon!
| Behind The Scenes With Ellen Holmes, Project SAFE Coordinator |
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 MVES Project SAFE outreach workers have hit the streets again, this time in Melrose, and Project SAFE Coordinator Ellen Holmes is behind the wheel. Ellen is responsible for managing Project SAFE, an outreach program designed to provide elders 80 years old and older with valuable information and resources that can help them stay safe and independent in their own homes. We talked to Ellen to find out more about this initiative-where it is now, and where it's headed!
Editor: What is Project SAFE?
E. Holmes: Project SAFE is a door-to-door outreach project run by MVES. Outreach workers visit the homes of residents who are 80 years old or older and who are living independently. We want to make sure they're safe in their homes and give them information about vital community resources with which they might not already be familiar. Our goal is to ensure that they're aware of resources and services available to help them stay independent. We focus on one community at a time.
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| Lower Your Prescription Drug Costs |
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 Are you spending too much for your prescription drugs? Prescription Advantage, the state's pharmacy assistance program, is holding open enrollment from September 15 to November 15, 2006. Prescription Advantage, a secondary payer to Medicare Part D, can help reduce your out-of-pocket costs. It can provide benefits during coverage gaps such as deductibles or the "donut hole," can lower your co-payment amounts, and can provide you with an annual out-of-pocket spending limit. There is no monthly premium for Prescription Advantage.
Massachusetts residents who are over 65 and disabled individuals under 65 qualify for Prescription Advantage. If you already have a Medicare Part D plan, or intend on joining one this fall, Prescription Advantage can limit the amount of money you will pay for prescriptions. Even if you don't have a Part D plan, but have prescription drug coverage through an employer or union, Prescription Advantage can provide secondary benefits.
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| Caring For Caregivers |
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 People caring for a sick child, spouse or parent can find the emotional, physical and financial strains overwhelming. Other people thrive in the role of caregiver and feel a sense of well-being and greater meaning in life. Every situation is different, but research can help us better understand the causes of stress for caregivers and how best to help caregivers as they care for others.
The ranks of caregivers in our country are swelling. Americans are living longer, and the population is getting older as the baby boomer generation ages. Medical breakthroughs have also turned once fatal diseases into chronic illnesses that require a great deal of care. More than 50 million people-over 16 percent of the population-provide care for a chronically ill, disabled or aged family member or friend, according to the National Family Caregivers Association. Many of them have full-time jobs and other responsibilities on top of their caretaking duties.
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| Tips For Taking That Trip |
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 Question: My siblings and I, along with our spouses and children, have been talking about taking a vacation with our elderly parents this fall. My parents are still fairly functional but both have serious health problems and may not have this opportunity if we wait much longer. We haven't made definite plans. Could you give us some hints about what to consider when traveling with older adults?
Answer: There are numerous aspects of this excursion to consider before making final plans. Are you thinking about a jaunt in the car? Are you envisioning a vacation that would require traveling by plane? Maybe you have your mind set on a cruise or even a journey by train? Each of these options has advantages and disadvantages.
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| A Whole New Meal |
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| I pride myself on being an enthusiastic individual whose enthusiasm is tempered with a pragmatic outlook. I always appreciate the energy behind an effort, but usually I can also see whether that effort is meeting with success, failure, or something in between.
With over thirty years in the elder care industry, I have always been impressed with the concept behind home- delivered meals, widely recognized as Meals on Wheels. The idea of delivering meals to isolated elders who cannot shop or cook for themselves and who aren't well enough to go to a senior dining site is a great one. Has there been a need? Certainly. Have organizations always met this need in the best possible way? Frankly, no.
My practical side must admit that the home-delivered meals of the mid-1980s didn't taste like the homemade meals I enjoy frequently. Sure, these meals, delivered by dedicated employees and volunteers, met the basic Recommended Daily Allowances (RDA) as set by the federal government, but that was where the accolades began and ended. The meals of that era just didn't taste good. To add to the problem, the packaging of the meal was hard to open and couldn't be placed in a microwave. Good effort, mediocre result.
If we flash forward 20 years to the current day, my enthusiasm and pragmatism are equally represented when I say that today's home-delivered meals get an A for effort and an A for taste. In 2006, we're delivering meals that meet the RDA guidelines and taste good. I've always felt that if the meals aren't good, people won't eat them. No matter how nutritious the meal may be, that nutritional value goes for naught if the home-delivered meal ends up uneaten. Because we learned from the past and invested in our nutrition program, today's meals may not be considered homemade quality, but they're pretty close.
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