Health & Wellbeing

By Hayley Hervieux, AARP Texas

Local organizations receive 100 percent of donations to "Around the Corner Hunger"

Quality-of-care issues drag Texas' ranking down to No. 28 overall

Statement by Ollie Besteiro, AARP Texas president, on April 3 passage of HB 1 by Texas House of Representatives:

As Black History Month winds down, we at AARP Texas would like to take a moment to reflect on the significant progress that has been made in our country. We salute all the civil rights pioneers of yesteryear -– African-Americans, Hispanics, women and others -- and the people who are still working to make positive progress toward creating a more equal and just society.

This Valentine’s Month do your heart a favor and take steps to protect it. Someone dies every minute from a heart-related event. Heart disease is the number-one killer of both women and men in the United States. Keeping your heart healthy and strong isn’t difficult, but it does take some effort. Following these five tips can help keep your heart healthy longer.

With hard work and determination. Alexandra Rose, 76, an AARP Texas volunteer residing in Midland who is a regular guest columnist for the Midland Reporter-Telegram, will lace up her shoes and compete in the 13.1 mile 3M Half-Marathon in Austin on January 24. She plans to run-walk the event in just a little over three hours. Although she wakes up at 4:30 a.m. daily to walk four miles, marathons and half-marathons are not only a passion for Alex but actually fun. She’s competed in the past in the Boston Marathon, the New York Marathon, the White Rock Marathon (Dallas), the Cowtown Martahon (Fort Worth) and the Duke City Marathon (Albuquerque). She’s done her share of half-marathons and 10 Ks. Her brother, who lives in Boston and has been a Boston Marathon qualifier in the past, will be joining her in Austin for the Jan. 24 event. "You’ve got to keep fit and do whatever it takes to stay healthy," says Alex.

SAN ANTONIO, TX – The City of San Antonio and the Bexar County Commissioners Court – in collaboration with AARP Texas -- have proclaimed the week of September 21 as Fall Prevention Awareness Week.

MARSHALL, TX – The Wiley College debate team, which gained national prominence through the movie “The Great Debaters” in 2007, will argue the pros and cons of the most talked about domestic issue of the day – health care reform – at a free event September 15 in Marshall.

September marks the start of football, more temperate weather and various laws passed by the Texas Legislature that should help seniors.