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Serving Pasco since 1981/Serving Lutz since 1964

Health

Health News 05/15/2019

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Shirley Stibal

Hospital recognizes 30 years of service
Regional Medical Center Bayonet Point recently honored Shirley Stibal for her 30 years of volunteer service, recognizing her at the hospital’s annual volunteer award banquet. ‘For 30 years Shirley Stibal has served Regional Medical Center Bayonet Point as a courier. In addition to her friendly and polite manner to patients, family, staff and other volunteers, she is always reliably on time and present for her scheduled shift,’ said Donna Owen, director of Volunteer & Pastoral Care, in a release. Her hard work and dedication over the years typifies the character and devotion to serving and exemplifies our mission statement, Owen added.

 

 

Pinwheel garden planted
The GFWC Lutz-Land O’ Lakes Woman’s Club works to bring awareness to and prevention of domestic violence and child abuse through its support and many projects. 

Members recently planted signage and a “garden” of blue pinwheels at Land O’ Lakes Heritage Park to direct attention to the prevention of child abuse and in support of happy healthy childhoods for all our children.

For information on this community service organization, visit GFWCLutzLandOLakesWomansClub.org.

Charity of the month
The charitable organization for the month of May for Pasco County Tax Collector Mike Fasano’s offices is  CARES (Community Aging & Retirement Services).

The promotion shines a spotlight on three of the top programs offered by CARES, specifically those that ensure area seniors have food to eat, access to health care and support for their caregivers.

Donations will be used to help continue these programs, and can be made at any of the five tax collector locations in Pasco County.

For information about CARES, call Jemith Rosa at (727) 863-6868, or visit CARESFL.org.

Apple A Day receives $42,000
Tampa Bay Moe’s Southwest Grill locations announced that the Apple A Day Foundation has received a $42,000 donation, resulting from a fundraising effort that took place throughout the month of April.

Every Wednesday, from April 3 to April 24, the Tampa Bay franchise cooperative, which includes 24 locations of the fast-casual southwestern restaurant, donated 25 percent of net in-store sales to the Apple A Day foundation.

The gift is the largest amount that Apple A Day’s Tampa chapter has received from a single donor since opening its doors in 2010.

A locally founded nonprofit organization, Apple A Day provides devices, such as tablets and smartphones, to children undergoing cancer treatment, at no cost to them or their families.

Since its inception, Apple A Day has presented more than 500 iPads/devices to children fighting cancer.

The $42,000 donation will help facilitate a new initiative being launched in partnership with other pediatric cancer organizations by providing 105 local children with a new iPad.

For more information, visit AppleADay.org.

Alzheimer’s fundraiser
The Alzheimer’s Association hosted “An Evening in White,” a white-attire themed charity benefit at The Vault in Tampa. Guests were able to network and enjoy cocktails and food, and the sounds of jazz trio La Lucha.

The white party theme was inspired by a quote from Stephen King that reads, “Black is the absence of light, but white is the absence of memory, the color of can’t remember.”

Chaired by Ashley Barnett and emceed by former NBC news anchor Gayle Sierens, the event featured a research update by Dr. Susan Steen of Tampa Neurology Associates and the presentation of the Alzheimer’s Association International Research Grant award to Dr. Feng Cheng of the University of South Florida.

The first-time gala raised $170,000 for the Alzheimer’s Association, funds that are critical to advancing research, and providing support and education to families living with Alzheimer’s.

More than 5.8 million Americans are living with Alzheimer’s disease. Florida has the second highest incidence of Alzheimer’s in America with an estimated 560,000 Floridians living with the disease.

Nursing excellence
Oak Hill Hospital recently recognized two nurses for excellence in nursing, during the hospital’s Awards of Distinction celebration.

The awards were established by its parent company, HCA, to honor outstanding nurses who demonstrate excellence in professional mentoring and in compassionate care. The awards honor exceptional individuals whose work and lives reflect the patient-centered and humanitarian values upon which HCA is founded.

The nominees for the award included:

  • Giovanna Cavalucci, Intensive Care Unit
  • Cindy Hall, Progressive Care Unit
  • Ray Millap, Surgical Services
  • Lauren Pardue, Labor and Delivery
  • Amber Register, Progressive Care Unit
  • Julie Schneider, Surgical Services
  • Jessica Smith, Cardiac Observations
    The Excellence in Nursing Award for Compassionate Carewas presented to Amber Register, RN.
    And, Julie Schneider, RN, received the Excellence in Nursing Professional Mentor Award.

Pasco Sheriff’s Office hone crisis intervention skills

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Pasco County Sheriff’s Office deputies recently spent a week learning how to use the power of words to de-escalate situations that have the potential to turn dangerous.

In one role-play scenario, Pasco Sheriff’s Office deputies Breanna Chandler and Lindsay Steward intermediated between a mother and her teenage daughter with oppositional defiant disorder.

In another scene, deputies Ricardo Ortiz and Jose Vazquez-Trujillo sought to calm a schizophrenic man who had paranoia and homicidal ideations about a next-door neighbor.

In one mock scenario, Pasco Sheriff’s Office deputies Ricardo Ortiz, left, and Jose Vazquez-Trujillo are tasked with calming a schizophrenic man who had paranoia and homicidal ideations about a next-door neighbor. The practice exercise was part of the agency’s crisis intervention training to better equip law enforcement officers with verbal de-escalation techniques in dealing with citizens in various mental states. Crisis intervention instructor Tom Kelley plays the role of the man with schizophrenia disorder. (Kevin Weiss)

Other mock scenarios had deputies and corrections officers encounter inmates or juveniles with suicidal thoughts, or, deal with someone with severe substance abuse. There was even a situation that exposed deputies to someone with low-functioning autism.

There weren’t any takedowns, hands-on combat nor use of nonlethal force.

Rather, this type of police training simply required conversations to resolve problems.

For each participating law enforcement officer, the objective was to have a better understanding of mental health in crisis and to learn how to better respond to de-escalate a situation during a call for service.

It was all part of the agency’s recent Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) training program at Pasco Safety Town in Shady Hills.

The weeklong, 40-hour CIT program is a collaborative effort between the sheriff’s office and many local behavioral and mental health community partners. It is held four times per year within the agency.

Throughout the week, deputies received instruction on various subjects, such as signs and symptoms of mental illness, co-occurring disorders, addiction, dementia, trauma informed care, and juvenile and veteran response.

De-escalation techniques centered on maintaining positive body language and tone of voice, along with active listening skills to appropriately reflect upon a subject’s feelings.

Deputies then put those techniques to the test with role-play scenes, which were written out by a licensed mental health counselor in collaboration with a law enforcement officer. Volunteer actors played the various roles of persons in crisis.

The mock exercises required deputies to determine whether or not to detain a subject for an involuntary mental health evaluation, otherwise known as the Baker Act; provide a referral to various behavioral health services and resources; or, simply offer someone a shoulder to lean on and to listen to a subject’s personal problems.

One of the instructors and role play actors was Tom Kelley, a former law enforcement and military officer, who operates a consulting firm specializing in crisis intervention and crime prevention.

In traditional law enforcement academies, trainees are taught to enter situations with authority in voice and action.

In the crisis intervention program, however, Kelley instructed deputies to find a softer, more inviting tone when dealing with people undergoing a mental crisis.

Kelley put it this way to a classroom full of deputies: “Let them know that you’re there and you care. At that moment, they need to feel like you’re the most caring person in the world, because they are at their worst.”

In this role-play exercise, Pasco Sheriff’s Office deputies Breanna Chandler, left, and Lindsay Steward try to calm a with teenage daughter with oppositional defiant disorder. It was part of the law enforcement agency’s recent weeklong Crisis Intervention Team training program. Volunteer Brittany Graniero, a licensed mental health counselor, plays the role of the defiant teen.

Pasco Sheriff’s Lt. Toni Roach has been the agency’s CIT coordinator since 2016.

She said the objective of crisis intervention is twofold.

First, it’s to reduce potential injury to citizens and responding deputies.

Second, it’s utilized to help divert people with “potentially criminal behavior or disruptive behavior” away from the jail system and into a mental health system where they can get proper diagnosis and treatment.

Roach explained: “The idea is to use your words and de-escalate rather than quickly resorting to force when the people you’re interacting with become nervous or scared, and are apprehensive to do what the deputy asks them to do.”

The training is vital for law enforcement personnel, the lieutenant said.

Roach put it this way: “We want to make sure that we can serve our public and provide them with good resources, and then hopefully we interact with them in a positive manner, so that, especially people with mental illness who have a fear of law enforcement, we can reduce that level of fear and have a good relationship with our community.”

Twenty-nine sheriff’s office personnel graduated from the recent spring class.

Upon graduation, each deputy received a pin for their uniform indicating they’ve had advanced training in crisis intervention.

Roach said about 50 percent of patrol deputies are CIT certified, also noting the public is able to request a CIT trained officer in a call for service. The agency is striving to have all of its deputies CIT certified in the future, she said.

In addition to the sheriff’s office, organizations that assisted in facilitating the CIT program were the National Alliance on Mental Illness, HCA Florida Hospitals, Rogers Behavioral Health, North Tampa Behavioral Health, BayCare Health System, Gulf Coast Jewish Family and Community Services, and Veteran’s Affairs clinics.

Published May 08, 2019

Local YMCA hosts Healthy Kids Day

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Justin Draft, of Dade City, guides his 19-month old son, Bennett, down the slide at the Y’s playground. The youngster was there with his dad and his mom, Lindsey. (Christine Holtzman)

There were loads of activities offered at the East Pasco Family YMCA Healthy Kids Day on April 27.

The YMCA facility, at 37301 Chapel Hill Loop in Zephyrhills, was among YMCAs across the country participating in the national initiative.

The event focused on improving the health and well-being of kids and their families.

Activities geared toward keeping young minds and bodies active included poolside fun, summer camp games, live music, basketball games, and demonstrations from the Zephyrhills Police Department and the Zephyrhills Fire Department.

There was a booth, too, where the Y staff registered anyone who was interested in their summer camp programs or swim lessons.

Published May 08, 2019

During free play in the YMCA gymnasium, 13-year-old Jordan Vallee, of Wesley Chapel, shows off his basketball spinning skills.
Six-year-old Valentina Vallee, of Wesley Chapel, winds up to toss her bean bag while competing in a game of ‘corn hole’ against her 8-year-old cousin, Lucas Smith. Her teammate, Zephyrhills Fire Department Cpt. Ed Alfonso, left, awaits his turn.

Physician of the Quarter

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(Courtesy of Tiffany Scalone)

Nephrologist Dr. George Muthalakuzhy was named Physician of the Quarter at St. Joseph’s Hospital-North, in Lutz. The award recognizes exceptional doctors for clinical leadership and quality care for patients, based on nominations from hospital staff. According to his colleagues, Dr. Muthalakuzhy is ‘extremely passionate, thoughtful and diligent when working with patients. He is all around a pleasure to work with, and is so nice and accommodating to team members and patients.’

Youth vaping a growing concern in Pasco

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Health officials in Pasco County are concerned about rising numbers of local teens who are using electronic cigarettes, or vaping.

Last year, about 25 percent of Florida high school students reported current use of electronic vaping, according to the Florida Department of Health. That marked a staggering 58 percent increase compared to 2017.

Representatives from the Florida Department of Health of Pasco County discussed youth e-cigarette use at a recent community meeting hosted by the Pasco Alliance for Substance Abuse Prevention (ASAP). (Kevin Weiss)

The figures might be even higher in Pasco County, according to Jenae Haddocks, a health educator with the Florida Department of Health in Pasco County.

“What we’re seeing is Pasco is above average as far as youth initiation in e-cigs and vape use, and above state average for that, so that’s not good,” Haddocks said at a recent community meeting hosted by the Pasco Alliance for Substance Abuse Prevention (ASAP) at Land O’ Lakes Heritage Park.

“We’re having a hard time trying to address it,” she added.

Exacerbating the vaping issue, Haddocks said, is a lack of oversight by e-cigarette retailers, along with a lack of regulation on e-cig products and flavors by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Haddocks pointed out e-cigs and related products can be purchased online with minimal or no type of age verification. “Kids can go online and purchase these products. It’s kind of surprising,” she said.

E-cigarette devices heat a liquid that produces an aerosol, or vapor. That liquid usually contains nicotine, flavorings and other chemicals.

Long-term health effects of vaping remain unknown.

However, some of the ingredients in e-cigarette aerosol could be harmful to the lungs in the long-term, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Moreover, the Florida Department of Health reports that the CDC has stated that that a single e-cig liquid pod of the popular e-cigarette brand JUUL contains as much nicotine as a pack of 20 regular cigarettes.

Haddocks suggested e-cigarettes makers are marketing to youth and teenagers with pods that have “candylike or sweet flavoring” – flavors like bubblegum, fruit punch, candy cane, and crème brulee, to name a few.

The speaker noted the labeling of some of these pods even resemble that of candy products such as Sour Patch Kids or Bubblicious Original Bubble Gum. Such labeling makes e-cigs seem less harmful and more appealing for teens to try, Haddocks said.

The Florida Department of Health has seen a staggering increase in the number of teenagers vaping or using electronic cigarettes. (Courtesy of Florida Department of Health)

Currently, the JUUL brand and related sweet vapor flavorings, Haddock noted, “are really, really popular among youth right now.”

She put it like this: “Of course, adults do like those flavorings, but who’s more likely to buy bubble gum or Bubblicious at a gas station — a 12-year-old or a 35-year-old?”

Aside from nicotine and other unknown chemicals, the speaker went on to explain that e-cigarettes and vape products can be manipulated with illicit substances.

Haddocks said some Pasco County teens have been caught with e-cig pods that test positive for alcohol, THC, cannabis and other substances.

Said Haddocks: “They’re smoking things laced with who knows what and they don’t know half the time, so that’s kind of turning into an even bigger issue that we’re seeing.”

She added: “It’s kind of a growth issue that we have right now in Pasco.”

Meanwhile, Haddocks said general tobacco use among children under 18 years old remains “a big issue” in the county.

She pointed out the younger that someone is when first trying tobacco, the more likely that person is to become a lifelong tobacco user, or to abuse tobacco for years to come.

“Ninety percent of adult smokers begin at or before the age of 18. It’s a huge concern,” she said.

To better combat such youth initiation, Haddocks advised the community to educate youth on the dangers of tobacco products and other drugs.

Published May 01, 2019

Upgrades on tap for AdventHealth Dade City hospital

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With construction ramping up at AdventHealth Dade City, patients and staffers will soon have access to some of the new amenities and upgrades as part of $22 million in capital improvements headed to the health care facility.

An update on the various upgrades was shared in a presentation by Dr. Rodrigo Torres, chief medical officer for AdventHealth Dade City, at The Greater Dade City Chamber of Commerce April breakfast meeting.

AdventHealth Dade City is getting a $22 million makeover in the way of new care units, technology and services. (Courtesy of AdventHealth Dade City)

The latest addition to the health care facility is a 45-bed transitional care unit, which launches on May 1.

It’s one of the many enhanced facilities the hospital will see throughout 2019.

Torres described the unit as “a rehab center, but with higher capability.”

Patients discharged from in-patient stay will be able to be at the rehab center, but still have access to hospital services, surgeons, orthopedics and other medical staff. They’ll go to the rehab center because of medical necessity, to finish medications, to work on strength and balancing, and so on.

The unit projects to have a patient volume of 300 this year, and a patient volume of 1,000 in subsequent years.

“This is going to be something great that we look forward to,” Torres said.

Across from the transitional care unit is another wing that will house post-operative patients along with patients requiring a higher level of care, Torres said.

The interior of the wing is currently being retrofitted with a fresh paint job, new flooring, new bathrooms and more.

“Everything is brand new, literally from the floor all the way up,” Torres said. “The bathrooms look better than the ones at my house.”

Other aesthetic upgrades throughout the 100,000-square-foot facility include a new lobby and overhauled cafeteria, and even a chapel.

It’s all about providing patients at the 120-bed facility the best care possible, Torres said.

“We are tearing down the walls,” Torres said, “to make sure this facility can be the best that it can be.”

Several medical equipment upgrades also are on tap at the hospital, at 13100 Fort King Road in Dade City.

That includes an outpatient X-ray machine and an on-site MRI machine that Torres called “the latest and the greatest.”

AdventHealth Dade City’s Chief Medical Officer Dr. Rodrigo Torres was the featured speaker The Greater Dade City Chamber of Commerce April breakfast meeting. Torres discussed many of the new upgrades coming to the 120-bed, 100,000-square-foot health care facility. (Kevin Weiss)

Additionally, the hospital has since implemented a robotic surgery program with the da Vinci Si Surgical System.

Torres explained the robotic system — controlled by a surgeon from a console — is used by general surgeons, urologists and gynecologists for complex minimally invasive procedures, including hernia repairs and gall bladder removals.

He noted the da Vinci machine becomes useful for surgeries that may take several hours, where physician fatigue can sometimes come into play.

Other new features have come to the health care facility of late, too.

That includes an electronic medical records system, Cerner, which has eliminated the need for paper charts.

Torres noted the paperless technology offers “clarity and transparency when providing medical care.”

“It’s a better way of keeping medical records, especially in the age of identity theft,” he said.

The hospital also has installed an around-the-clock, telemonitoring system to its intensive care unit.

The system, Advanced ICU Care, allows patients and nurses to communicate virtually with on-call physicians in cases where an intensivist is not immediately available in person at the hospital.

Torres said the technology was originally brought to AdventHealth Zephyrhills about a year ago “with great results.”

Another new service to the hospital is online scheduling capabilities for emergency room visits — allowing patients to reserve a treatment time and avoid long waits in the waiting room.

The service, accessed through GetInQuicker.com, is recommended for patients with non-life or limb-threatening emergencies.

Since its launch in February, Torres said the check-in program “is one of the best things that has happened” to the health care facility.

“We have 100 percent recommendation rate for all the patients that have used this service,” he said.

Aside from facility and technological upgrades, the hospital has added five new physicians to its staff: Dr. Olga Villa (obstetrician-gynecologist), Dr. Jennifer Roller (gynecologist), Dr. Forrest Rubenstein (thoracic vascular surgeon), Dr. Armen Duekmedjian (neurosurgeon) and Dr. Amir Ahmadian (neurosurgeon).

Torres said doctors Ahmadian and Duekmedjian will be operating out of AdventHealth Zephyrhills, but will provide consultations and services to patients at AdventHealth Dade City, as well.

With the addition of gynecological physicians and services, Torres noted the hospital may consider adding labor and birth delivery services at some point: “In the near future, that’s one of the avenues that we’re looking at.”

Torres also mentioned that AdventHealth Dade City recently received its accredited recertification from the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery, designating the hospital “a center of excellence for bariatric surgery.”

Published May 01, 2019

Health News 05/1/2019

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(Courtesy of Pasco County Tax Collector’s Office)

Supporting a need to protect children
Pasco County Sheriff Chris Nocco’s Stop the Bleed-Life Station Campaign was a featured charity through the Pasco County Tax Collector’s Office, in an effort to raise funds to install Life Stations in Pasco schools. The stations/kits provide needed lifesaving materials in the event school-related violence occurs. Sheriff Nocco (second from right) accepts a check in the amount of $5,682.18 from Pasco Tax Collector Mike Fasano (green shirt) for the Stop the Bleed program. For information, visit PascoSheriffCharities.org, or call Chris Lofgren, senior training analyst, at (813) 235-6181.

Access Health gets Telly Award
Access Health Care Physicians LLC was honored as a Telly Award winner for its commercial spot entitled, “Jenny’s Mom.”

The Telly Award is regarded as the premier award honoring the finest film and video productions, groundbreaking web commercials, and outstanding local, regional and cable TV commercials from around the world.

The Access Health Care commercial spot was recognized as the winner for local TV category in General-Fitness, Health and Wellness.

The commercial can be viewed at Vimeo.com/256853651.

Top hospital award
AdventHealth Wesley Chapel has again been named one of the nation’s 100 Top Hospitals by IBM Watson Health, for the second year in a row. This recognition spotlights the top-performing hospitals in the country based on clinical, operational and patient satisfaction metrics and data.

The hospital also was named one of America’s 100 Best Hospitals for Patient Experience, Patient Safety and Obstetrics by the Women’s Choice Award.

And, it has four consecutive “A” grades in safety from the prestigious Leapfrog Group and has earned the recognition of Top General Hospital.

AdventHealth Wesley Chapel continues to grow and expand services.

This year, work will start on a new medical office building to bring more outpatient services and physicians to the community.

The project also will include additional parking space for patients, visitors and staff.

Daily dedication rewarded

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(Courtesy of Oak Hill Hospital)

Oak Hill Hospital announced the winners of its annual Frist Associate, Physician and Volunteer Humanitarian Awards. The awards honor outstanding individuals for their humanitarian and volunteer services. The recipient of the Frist Associate Humanitarian is George Meadows, RRT; the Frist Volunteer Humanitarian Award was given to Lois Hackett; and the Frist Physician Humanitarian recipient is Michael W. Higgins, DO, FAOAO.

Health News 04/17/2019

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(Courtesy of AdventHealth West Florida Division)

Partner up for pediatric patients
AdventHealth and the Tampa Bay Lightning teamed up for its third annual Pediatric Health Night. The first 3,000 fans that visited the AdventHealth Quad at Amalie Arena during a recent game received a free, commemorative co-branded AdventHealth/Lightning Buddy Bear. Anyone can purchase a bear at AdventHealthBuddyBear.com, and AdventHealth will give a bear to a pediatric patient with a handwritten note of encouragement from that supporter. All proceeds go to the AdventHealth West Florida Foundation to help purchase lifesaving equipment for its hospitals.

Crisis Center honored
The Crisis Center of Tampa Bay was honored at the 2019 WEDU Be More Awards with the Be More Brilliant Florida Blue Innovation Award for its work with the Florida Veterans Support Line (1-844-MyFLVet).

The Be More Awards recognize the outstanding and often unrecognized efforts of nonprofit organizations and volunteers, and also raise awareness about their mission and service to the community.

The Crisis Center first launched the support line in 2014 as a five-county pilot program.

In late 2017, the support line expanded from the pilot stage to being answered statewide through a network of local agencies who answer calls to 211.

For information about the center, visit CrisisCenter.com.

For more on the Florida Veterans Support Line, visit MyFLVet.com.

Health care company honored
HCA Healthcare, the parent company of Pasco/Hernando County hospitals, the Medical Center of Trinity, Oak Hill Hospital, and Regional Medical Center Bayonet Point, has been recognized as the World’s Most Ethical Company for the 10th consecutive year.

The company was honored by the Ethisphere Institute, a leader in defining and advancing the standards of ethical business practices.

Ethisphere recognizes companies that distinguish themselves through integrity, corporate character and marketplace trust.

HCA Healthcare is one of 29 companies worldwide to be honored 10 times.

Survey aims to gauge unmet needs of seniors, caregivers

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The Pinellas Community Foundation and the Area Agency on Aging of Pasco-Pinellas are working together to assess the unmet needs of seniors and their caregivers.

A survey—the Community Assessment Survey of Older Adults — will be sent to 10,000 randomly selected households across every Pinellas and Pasco zip code in which at least one resident is known to be aged 60 and over.

Anne Marie Winter

The survey will be sent the week of April 8. Residents will receive a postcard in advance, as well as instructions (in both English and Spanish) with the survey.

Data collection will continue through May 21. In addition to the mailed survey, two focus groups will be conducted in Pasco County – one in Dade City and one in New Port Richey.

“We’re really excited to be able to do this because it’s the first time ever that seniors will have a voice across both counties on what their needs are,” said Anne Marie Winter, executive director of Area Agency on Aging of Pasco-Pinellas.

“As far as we know, it’s (the survey) never been done at all in Central West Florida,” she said.

“We want to hear from the seniors. We don’t want to be the ones that decide what seniors need, based on what we think,” she said.

The postcard and letter are being sent to make sure that survey recipients “know that this is official, that it is going to be used for their best interest.

“We’re not going to try and sell them anything. We’re not going to try and use this information in anyway other than to identify what their needs are,” Winter said.

The questions being asked on the survey were selected by a steering committee made up of representatives from the Area Agency on Aging of Pasco-Pinellas; the cities of Clearwater, Dade City, New Port Richey and St. Petersburg; Pasco County Government; Pasco County Health Department; Pinellas Community Foundation; Pinellas County Health Department; and, Pinellas County Human Services.

The survey tool was developed by the National Research Center (NRC) and has been administered in other places around the country. Data returned from the survey of local residents will be benchmarked against other communities nationwide.

The survey covers numerous issues, including questions regarding access to food, transportation and affordable housing.

“Every zip code in both counties is going to be covered,” Winter said.

“We’re seeing changes in the demographic, in the population. What we need to see is ‘Do we need to do things differently?’ Do we need to invest our resources in different areas, based on those needs?

“Caregivers are getting younger and younger,” Winter added. “Our parents are aging, and we’re taking care of them more and more. The spouse used to be, and still is, the primary caregiver for their loved one. But, more and more, seniors are living longer and their children are taking care of them.

“How do we address the needs of those caregivers? Do we need more adult daycare programs, for respite, so you can drop off mom or dad when you go to work and they have a safe place where they will continue to be intellectually stimulated and provided with a good hot meal?” Winter said.

The survey is intended to yield information that will guide future efforts, Winter said.

“We want our future planning to be data driven, and we feel that this survey will be an important component in that,” she said.

Published April 10, 2019