Health & Wellbeing

By Laura Tillman

Earlier this month, the Alzheimer’s Association and AARP announced they are joining forces to extend the reach of the Community Resource Finder, an online database connecting families with local resources to help address concerns and navigate the challenges of Alzheimer’s, dementia and aging.

Often overlooked when considering the long-term health of older adults, social isolation deserves to be addressed. Today, AARP estimates that 17% of adults age 50 and older suffer from isolation. Isolation is not always talked about but it is an important public health issue that affects millions of Americans.

By Thomas Korosec

June is National Great Outdoors Month, a time for observing nature and enjoying our surrounding environments. Beginning as a week-long celebration of nature, we now nationally recognize the beautiful countryside, forests and parks of the United States for the entire month of June. This recognition promotes the splendor of our great outdoors and highlights the labors of those who work to preserve nature in our modern world. It raises the awareness of national policies on nature conservation by highlighting the beauty and health benefits of the natural environment.

Austin-area residents can learn how to decide, discuss and document their end-of-life wishes at two events this month.

Since April, new Medicare cards have been hitting mailboxes to combat fraud. The new cards replace the Social Security numbers with a Medicare number unique to each member. Though removing Social Security numbers is a step in the right direction to fight identity theft, con artists have been using this change as an opportunity to take advantage of unsuspecting Medicare members.

65,000 Americans will experience a stroke this month, but fewer than 1 in 5 can correctly identify the signs. Why are strokes a leading cause of adult long-term disability, and who is at risk? We asked survivors, the CEO of the American Stroke Association and several medically licensed stroke support group leaders to find out.

May is ALS Awareness Month, a time where we focus our attention on a disease that affects more than 20,000 Americans at any given time. It is also a time to honor those the disease is affecting, and those we have lost.

May is Mental Health Month and AARP Texas is focusing on people’s mental health as they age. We asked Dr. Jason Schillerstrom, an associate professor at UT Health San Antonio, about what people should know about mental health and the aging process.