Coming of Age: Kansas City wants to hear the many stories about inspiring accomplishments. We are looking for the TOP 10 stories from Metro Kansas City of a fulfilling encore career, a spectacular volunteer achievement, or an entrepreneurial adventure!

Whether it is about your neighbor, brother, sister, spouse, friend, OR yourself, we want to know. It can be a passion for volunteering, a great adventure, or encore career since turning 50+. These stories can inspire others when we share WHAT was achieved, HOW it was done and WHAT was learned along the way.

We also know that your story could make all the difference to someone who is looking for WHAT'S NEXT and wondering how to move forward.

Please send your inspiring story to Stacy Woodward, Marketing/Development Assistant at Stacy@sccentral.org along with your name, email address, and phone number so we may contact you. We'd like to have everything submitted by May 15th. YOU or someone you know could be in the TOP 10 and featured on the Coming of Age: Kansas City website and Inspiring Opportunities, the Coming of Age: Kansas City e-newsletter.

Thank you for sharing!

50 WAYS TO BOOST YOUR NOODLE: Want to keep your brain in shape? Work it!

By: Heather Boerner | Source: AARP.org 

One of the best ways to stay sharp is to exercise that muscle between your ears, research indicates. And discussions with some of the top scientists studying the brain reveal that you can work your noggin in many different ways, every day.

Here are 50 of them:

1. Snack on almonds and blueberries instead of a candy bar. As they lower blood sugar, healthy snacks can improve cognition. In this case, the omega-3s in the almonds and the antioxidants in the blueberries can keep your brain functioning correctly.

2. Ballroom dance like the stars. Dancing is a brain-power activity. How so? Learning new moves activates brain motor centers that form new neural connections. Dancing also calms the brain's stress response.

3. Love the crunch of croutons on your salad? Try walnuts instead. Omega-3s in walnuts have been found to improve mood and calm inflammation that may lead to brain-cell death. They also replace lost melatonin, which is necessary for healthy brain functioning.
 
4. Take your dog—or yourself—for a walk. Walking for just 20 minutes a day can lower blood sugar. That helps stoke blood flow to the brain, so you think more clearly.

5. Add Chinese club moss to your daily vitamin regimen. Taking less than 100 micrograms of the herb daily may protect your brain's neurotransmitters and keep synapses firing correctly, tests suggest. But this herb is powerful, so check with your doctor for drug interactions. Click Continue Reading to view the full article.

JUGGLING AND COPING SKILLS FOR "SANDWICH GENERATION" CAREGIVERS

By Janet Taylor, M.D., MPH

Today the sandwich generation, people most often between the ages of 35 and 55, may find themselves providing care for aging parents and their children under age 21. This group of people is often called the “sandwich generation” because they are wedged between dual caregiving responsibilities.

The sandwich generation keeps getting bigger as a result of women bearing children later in life, more women working, and parents living longer due to improved healthcare technology. A national study conducted for AARP shows many older Baby Boomers are confidently assuming these dual caregiving responsibilities because they are well-educated, work full-time with above average incomes, and are married. In fact, more than 70 percent are providing care simultaneously for their parents and children, and believe they’re managing quite well and surprisingly with very little stress.* These Boomers may also have fewer children under the age of 21, and may have other children over the age of 21 who can help with some of their caregiving duties. But, these Boomers may also be caring for children, parents, and their own grandchildren. Click Continue Reading to view the full article.

National Healthcare Decisions Day 2010: Have You Had the Talk?

April 16, 2010

The third annual National Healthcare Decisions Day is set for April 16, 2010 in Kansas City and all over the country.

The day is designed to help individuals and families make practical preparations for end-of-life decisions, including the designation of someone to speak for you when you can no longer speak for yourself.

“April 16 is intended to be a social prompt,” says Myra Christopher, president and CEO of the Center for Practical Bioethics, “to give people a reason to have conversations that are too often delayed or postponed.”

Friday, April 16, McCormick & Fracassa, elder law and special needs attorneys, and Kansas City Hospice & Palliative Care will sponsor two National Healthcare Decisions Day Events.

The purpose of these events is to encourage families and patients to express their wishes regarding healthcare through conversations and the completion of advance directives.

An advance directive is a legal document that tells healthcare providers who it is that you wish to make medical decisions for you and what treatments you would want or not want, if you are ever unable to tell care providers what you would want in a medical emergency or life-limiting illness.    

Between 11:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. on Friday, April 16 at Blue Ridge Bank & Trust at 1812 NW Chipman Rd in Lee’s Summit and the Shepherd Center of the Northland at 4805 NE Antioch Rd, Suite 9 in Kansas City, MO, elder law attorneys from McCormick & Fracassa and Community Liaisons from Kansas City Hospice & Palliative Care will provide informational discussions at 11:00 a.m., 12:00 p.m., 1:00 p.m. and 2:00 p.m. on the process of executing a Health Care Power of Attorney and Health Care Advance Directives (living wills). 

These are informational only and participants can decide if they would like to execute these documents during the events or at a later time.

For more information, click here.

Links:

• NEW Caring Conversations
• Order form for Participating Organizations
• Podcast: National Healthcare Decisions Day: Have You Had the Talk?, The Bioethics Channel, 11 minutes 31 seconds

Source: http://www.practicalbioethics.org/

Coming of Age: Kansas City, Lead Volunteer

Are you looking for an exciting opportunity as a leader in a new, innovative initiative? This may be just the position for you---

Does this describe you?

• Great organizational skills
• Love meeting new people
• Enjoy being part of a dynamic team
• Self starter - see the task and take care of it

Time Commitment:

• This position is part-time with flexible hours and you would have a role in determining the schedule.
• You would work directly with the Director of Coming of Age: Kansas City as this initiative offers several programs across the metro area.

Benefits: 

• As the lead volunteer you would be a key member of the Coming of Age: Kansas City team and would work with partners throughout the community.

Click Continue Reading for more information.

Continue Reading

Actions Helpful to Senior Citizens in Health Care Bill Promoted by Senate Aging Chairman

Provisions are from bills championed by Sen. Herb Kohl to provide better health care to seniors

March 23, 2010 – Several provisions of the Health Care Reform Bill that was signed into law this morning by President Obama were long-championed by the Chairman of the Senate Special Committee on Aging, Sen. Herb Kohl (D-WI). All were supported by Kohl as being helpful to senior citizens.

The provisions pushed by Kohl that are now law include the following.

• The Physician Payments Sunshine Act (S. 301), a bipartisan policy that requires disclosure of gifts and payments given to doctors from the pharmaceutical, biologic, and medical device industries. 

For over two years, Kohl has been investigating the nature of financial relationships between doctors and industry.  This provision will work to expose conflicts of interest that arise when physicians receive financial benefits from drug and device makers. Click Continue Reading to view the full article.