Journey Ahead Volume One

Guest Joe Kalscheur discusses how planning for emergencies might look different for individuals with disabilities or people 50 and older. A disaster or emergency impacting your daily life can happen at anytime, sometimes without warning. Freezing temperatures, tornadoes, floods, fires, and other emergencies mean that everyone should have a plan in place. But if you’re 50 or older or have a disability, there are extra things you need to pay attention to. Thankfully, there are ways you can be prepared to respond safely and recover swiftly. Here to discuss how to plan is Joe Kalscheur, a public health specialist from the Eau Claire City-County Health Department.

As we brave the more serious sides of aging, it is important to incorporate ways to experience life’s lighter side to keep us balanced and be able to cope. In fact, laughter and a healthy dose of humor have been shown in studies to improve our physical, psychological, and social well-being. Tom Kidd of Balanced Wellness Services, a former health educator with approximately 30 years of teaching experience, sits down with Lisa Wells to discuss the benefits of finding humor and laughter later on in life.

Someone in the U.S. is diagnosed with some form of dementia every 65 seconds, and that number continues to grow as the population ages. Susan McFadden, co-founder of the Fox Valley Memory Project, sits down Lisa Wells to discuss how people with dementia and their loved ones can still experience joy with creativity and a shift in mindset.
It’s not often we hear the words “joy” and “dementia” in the same sentence. Dementia is hard and affects not only the person but their care partner and families – making it easy to find the gloom and doom. In order to find the light, it takes a bit of creativity and a shift in thinking as it pertains to dementia care. Susan McFadden, co-founder of the Fox Valley Memory Project and professor emerita of psychology at UW-Oshkosh, sits down with Lisa Wells to discuss different approaches to dealing with dementia that can make the journey a little less despondent and a bit brighter – starting with something as simple as re-defining the dementia “patient.”

Guests Geri and Tamara discuss how having and maintaining strong friendships as we age, not only impact the quality of life, but enhances it.
As we age, it can become more difficult to find friends and develop meaningful relationships due to moving away, widowhood, the death of a friend, caregiving, or finding time to sustain relationships. But as research suggests, having these meaningful relationships can help promote health.
According to Mayo Clinic, adults with strong social connections have a reduced risk of many significant health problems, including depression, high blood pressure and cognitive decline. In fact, studies have shown that older adults who have meaningful relationships and social support are likely to live longer than their peers with fewer connections. However, one in three adults say they lack regular companions, while one in four say they feel isolated from other people at least part of the time. In this episode, friends Geri Krause and Tamara Fanjoy sit down with Lisa to discuss benefits of maintaining strong friendships and offers advice on how to go about it.

According to the AARP, nearly 90% of adults age 50 and older – across all health status categories, incomes, and races – want to age in place and remain at home. In order to do so, some may consider using assistive technology (A.T.) to help facilitate independence at home.
In this episode, Laura Plummer, the assistive technology program coordinator for the Wisconsin Department of Health Services, sits down with host Lisa Wells to discuss assistive technology. From low-tech/no-tech devices like reachers and remote controls to high tech systems like smart home devices, Plummer offers a host of information and advice on how to maintain your independence during the later stages of life.

Marilyn Skirvseth, a retired physical and mental health professional with over 50 years of experience, discusses Active Aging with host Lisa Wells of the Aging & Disability Resource Center of Eau Claire County.