AARP Oregon

By Mac McLean

In five years as an Oregon Long Term Care Ombudsman volunteer, I’ve seen a lot, sometimes inspiring, occasionally appalling. We are free, confidential advocates for the rights, dignity, and quality of life of adults in licensed nursing, residential care, assisted living, and adult foster care homes, where we visit, get to know residents, investigate complaints, watch and listen for problems and, with the resident’s approval, work to resolve them.

In our culture, the ALF – and the other acronymed places for the elderly, fragile, and disabled – constitutes both the family, those at-hand, and village, out-there in the social order. The caregiver is the person at-hand in assisted living. For me, she – and it’s almost always she - cleans my glasses, opens my mail, dresses and undresses me, showers me, puts me on and takes me off the toilet, wipes me. What kind of person does it take to do all that – with heartfelt feeling?

Sometimes when we’re in the community, we’ll hear from someone who says, “I’ve never met a real person from AARP!” Yes, there is an AARP Oregon State Office with a staff of 7 plus a great team of volunteer partners. We’re active on issues that matter to you and your family. In this season of gratitude and reflection, we want to share with you some of the highlights from our work this year.

A group of women friends, from generations ahead of me, all nodded in agreement when one said, “In high school I didn’t want to learn to type.” It took me a moment to understand the implication of the comment and how learning to type often meant being channeled into secretarial work, which they didn’t want to do. By the time I was in high school, typing class was an introductory course to computer science, and the book and movie “Free to Be You and Me” had ushered many of my generation through childhood to believe we had more career choices. In a similar way, I am now grateful to see new perspectives on aging catching on. It makes me hopeful more doors will open to opportunities as I grow older, including in the workplace.

AARP Oregon salutes Oregon's nearly 470,000 family caregivers during November's National Family Caregiver Month. We also recognize it's a tough job. A bit of rest now and then, or "respite care," helps prevent significant stress and burnout that can lead to worse health for the caregiver, and diminish the caregiver's ability to provide good care to their loved one. Caregivers need short breaks!

By Dick Weinman, AARP Volunteer and Assisted Living Guru

Bobby Heagerty has education in her blood. Born into a family of educators, teaching became her professional path as well. But a fascination with the brain led her out of the K-12 classroom environment and toward Oregon Health and Sciences University where her innovative adult education and outreach programs eventually resulted in her receiving the neuroscience educator of the year in 2013 from the Society of Neuroscience, the first non-neuroscientist to receive it.

Veterans Day is a good time to remind our friends and family who served their country in the military that veterans are a special target for some kinds of frauds and cons warns AARP Oregon.

AARP Oregon is sponsoring three Vital Aging conferences across the state for AARP members and their family members and friends. The events are free, educational and fun. Speakers will explain how to parlay age and experience into new possibilities and how to foster an attitude that the best is yet to come.