SilverSneakers Fitness Program Improves Older Adult's Physical and Mental Health
(NewsUSA) - Joanne C. was 74 when she had a stroke two years ago that left her paralyzed on the entire right side of her body. She refused to
accept that she'd end up in a wheelchair and began rehabilitation, determined to get her life and
body back to where it was before her stroke.
Joanne's hard work paid off. She has regained much of her strength and movement and
can walk again. In large part, she credits her SilverSneakers exercise classes - offered through
her HumanaChoice® PPO, a Medicare Advantage preferred provider organization (PPO) health plan - as key to her successful recovery.
Being a SilverSneakers member helped keep Joanne in good physical condition before
her stroke. "SilverSneakers helped me be familiar with many of the exercises they had me do in
physical therapy and gave me the confidence and strength to persevere through a difficult rehab
process," Joanne says.
Numerous studies, including Tivity Health's SilverSneakers Annual Member Survey of 2016,
confirm that exercising, especially with others, improves older adults' physical and mental
health.1,2, 3
However, there are challenges that prevent many Medicare beneficiaries from joining gyms and
fitness classes.
By offering SilverSneakers through its Medicare Advantage (MA) plans, Humana is
working to overcome those barriers so more people with Medicare can benefit from
exercising.
For those on a fixed income, joining a gym can be expensive. SilverSneakers
provides gym access at no additional cost to many of Humana's MA members across the country,
including those in Florida and Texas. SilverSneakers has partnered with almost 14,000 fitness and
wellness centers around the U.S. and, with national reciprocity, SilverSneakers members can go to
any one of those facilities.
The program is designed with the Medicare population in mind and taught by
certified instructors who offer classes and modifications for all fitness levels. These instructors
are specifically trained to help members avoid stress-related injuries to muscles and
joints.
There's also a wide variety of classes offered, including circuit training, yoga,
Latin dance and even an outdoor boot camp. SilverSneakers members also have access to all of a
facility's amenities, which can include a range of exercise equipment, weight rooms and swimming
pools.
"According to Tivity Health's annual survey, SilverSneakers has made a significant
difference in the lives of many of our Medicare Advantage members, not only in their physical
health, but also in their social life," says Lauri Kalanges, M.D., Humana's Medical Director
of Medicare Products for the Mid-Atlantic Region.
Tivity Health's Annual Member Survey of 2016 found that 91 percent of SilverSneakers
participants reported an improved quality of life. SilverSneakers has had a substantial impact on
the health of its participants, reducing hospitalizations and the risk of depression.3
For more information about SilverSneakers, go to www.silversneakers.com.
Humana is a Medicare
Advantage HMO, PPO and PFFS organization with a Medicare Contract. Enrollment in any Humana plan
depends on contract renewal. This information is not a complete description of benefits. Contact
the plan for more information. Limitations, copayments and restrictions may apply. Benefits may
change each year. SilverSneakers is not offered on all Humana MA plans in all areas.
Controlling the Chaos When Disaster Strikes
Verizon's Emergency Response Center Has Connectivity Covered
SACRAMENTO REGION, CA (MPG) - Likely, as you watched recent television or streaming images of emergency rescue operations following the devastating fires and subsequent mudslides in Southern California, for example, you gave little thought to how first-responders on the ground, in the air and elsewhere were keeping the lines of communication flowing as they scrambled into gear to save lives and prepare for recovery operations.
Behind the scenes, mobile carriers such as Verizon Wireless were doing some of the most critical work necessary in these types of situations: addressing cellular network failures, which are common in natural disasters. Depending on the situation, this can include anything from establishing mobile satellite systems to sending drones into those places humans can’t go, including collapsed buildings, tunnels and unstable structures.
Recently, officials overseeing Verizon’s Rocklin-based emergency services switch facility held a “Public Safety Day” event, offering some of its clients a tour of their Rocklin switch facility, once of several nationwide keeping an eye on their perspective, regional networking systems, as well as TV news coverage of any and all disasters or emergencies where first-responders are unable to get on the network.
Built in 2003, the facility’s sister location is based in Sunnyvale. Roughly 30 people work at the Rocklin facility; however, there are more than 100 others centers set up across the country employing more than 46 teams comprised of roughly 160,000 people.
“We like to think of ourselves as ‘pre-responders,’” said Paul Lynch, who manages Verizon’s two Northern California facilities. “We monitor situations going on all over the country and we have crews on the ground from the get-go to provide onsite support for first responders to make sure they are connected and talking to one another.”
The invite-only tours are offered monthly as a way to show emergency response teams from Cal Fire, police and sheriff’s departments, the Department of Fish Wildlife and others exactly how well-prepared and equipped the company is at providing them with on-demand connectivity during a natural or man-made disaster.
The team will mobilize portable networking call centers, mobile satellite stations and deployment of any one of the company’s veritable barnyard of “cool tools,” such as cells on wheels (COWs), cells on light trucks (COLTS), HVACs on roadside equipment (HORSEs), and generators on a trailer (GOATs).
The Rocklin switch facility tour included a walk through the engineer’s command center or NOC (Network Operations Center), where 24-hour “surveillance” of its networking operations run across wall-to-wall monitors, scrutinized around the clock by a team of six engineers, three on the day shift, three on at night.
“We don’t highlight any of this,” said Lynch. “We don’t grandstand what’s behind our network. But it is important for our customers working in the emergency fields to have confidence in who they partner with and to see up close exactly what we can do and how quickly we can do it.”
Verizon’s Crisis Response Teams, in Rocklin and nationwide, conduct regularly scheduled drills and emergency tests to ensure that they are ready to roll when they are needed, including shutting down the battery rooms and switching over to generators.
“We don’t want to be the last to know that we’ve got failure,” said Lynch.
Tim Kuka, who oversees the Rocklin facility’s Network Equipment Center (NET) located right next door to the switch facility, gave a tour of the state of the art building. The tour offered visitors a sneak-peak at Verizon’s local 4-G networking nerve center, a mind-blowingly pristine space known as the Data Hall or “cloud room.” The building was constructed in 2014 and contains an impressively intricate layout of data backup units and an equally mind-numbing amount of cable.
“If you would take all the conduit in this building alone and stretch it out, it would go all the way to San Francisco,” said Kuka.
First-responders to man-made emergencies also often require backup power and or connectivity support. Case in point: Verizon’s switch teams worked closely with FBI officials during the mass shootings that occurred at a San Bernardino-based regional center in December of 2015, quickly mobilizing command centers, establishing private networking and satellite communications lines and serving to provide backup power and other services to all agencies aiding victims and overseeing the recovery efforts.
The switch facility and NEC tours culminated with a close-up demonstration of some of those cool tools, including Rocklin’s own RAD (Robotic Assistance Device), a four-wheel robot that looks like a scooter with a camera tower perched on its front end.
“She can go into dull, dark, dirty and dangerous places,” said Jim Larson a vendor with Robotic Assistance Devices, which partners with Verizon to provide the RAD. “She can be manually operated or put on automatic to handle perimeter security during a disaster or emergency, taking pictures the whole time while emergency personnel are doing their jobs.”
Verizon’s 46 emergency networking teams across the country also are prepared and ready to help set up networking stations with water, food and other supplies, as well as connectivity support relief efforts, specifically by the Red Cross. Its response teams also will provide first responders and others with handsets, dedicated mobile hotspot devices and private networks.
“Everything we provide is free, except in cases where we have to set up satellites,” said Lynch.
Local Ken Cooley Small Business Resource Workshop Provides Answers
SACRAMENTO REGION, CA (MPG) - Community leaders, business owners and entrepreneurs gathered at the Carmichael Park on Friday morning, February 9th for Assemblyman Ken Cooley’s Small Business Resource Workshop.
The workshop, dedicated to reaching out to and assisting small business owners and entrepreneurs from around the community, is a free annual seminar and networking event aimed at boosting local business and the local economy. It was a good turnout from the community, as many people came not only prepared to listen and learn, but with plenty of questions as well – getting the answers and direction they need to be successful.
“It’s good to see people active in the community and able to get the help they need,” said Tiffany Detinne, owner of Detinne CPA. “In my business I see a lot of businesses fail because they don’t get help. It made me aware that there are a lot of services and places out there to go and get that help.”
Representatives from the State, County and local non-profits were on hand, answering questions and providing a variety of resources: The County of Sacramento discussed how small businesses can apply for procurement contracts with the County. The Small Business Development Center provided tips and resources on how small businesses can create an effective strategy, discover ways to generate revenue and grow their bottom line. California Capital Financial Corporation spoke about their services and on how to generate more business, find and identify business opportunities, reach more customers and build customer relationships, and business financing.
SACRAMENTO COUNTY, CA (MPG) - On Tuesday, Jan. 23, the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors approved the first-year funding for the 2018-20 Cultural Arts Awards Program (CAA) in the amount $336,000. These funds will be distributed to the 59 local nonprofit arts and cultural organizations that were selected as recipients of the CAA Program by the Sacramento Metropolitan Arts Commission.
Funded by Sacramento County and the City of Sacramento since 1991, the Sacramento Metropolitan Arts Commission is a public agency devoted to supporting, promoting and advancing the arts in the region that also makes funding available to arts and nonprofit organizations with arts programming through the CAA Program that is offered every three years.
The CAA Program grants assist with general operating expenses or project support to nonprofit arts and cultural organizations, government arts agencies, arts service organizations and community organizations with arts programming. These grants are funded annually from County Transient Occupancy Tax to support and enhance the quality of life in Sacramento through the support of public performances, exhibitions, festivals and major outreach programs for youths and disadvantaged populations.
Each of the 2018-20 CAA Program grantees conduct outreach programs targeting schools, senior citizens, and/or neighborhoods with limited cultural activities. For this cycle, the grantees include: theater, music, visual arts, dance, arts service, folk of traditional arts, media, literary, film, multi-disciplinary and community-based organizations; and multicultural and culturally specific groups such as Asian, Latino/ Hispanic, African-American and groups that serve disabled and economically disadvantaged communities.
The application process for the 2018-20 CAA grant cycle began in April 2017 during which the Arts Commission received a total of 66 applications and after a comprehensive review process, recipients were scored and selected. Funding for the second and third year of the cycle is contingent on several factors including the submittal of a Mid-Cycle report that the Sacramento Metropolitan Arts Commission staff will use to determine additional funding.
For more information about the CAA Program contact the Sacramento Metropolitan Arts Commission.
The Lion in Winter
SACRAMENTO REGION, CA (MPG) - American River Nature watchers recently beheld hungry sea lions swimming through Arcade, Carmichael and Fair Oaks. Winter visits by the species are not uncommon but the recent sightings were considered rare for the distances the mammals had traveled inland.
In the space of two weeks, there were two separate sightings - thought to be the same individual - at Nimbus Dam. The 90ft high concrete wall stopped his migration and hours of happy hunting followed. “You could hear him before you saw him,” said a transfixed angler. “He was roaring like an elephant. I saw him surface with a fish trashing in his mouth. He swallowed it whole - head-first.”
Battling against the dam’s white-water outflow, the muscular visitor gorged. When exhaustion took over, he slipped briefly back toward the Nimbus Fish Hatchery, only to return to the floodgate again and again. After a day, he vanished downstream but likely spread the word among fellows nearer Sacramento. Last Friday, not one but three of his species were seen laboring upstream near Watt Avenue. The trailblazer alone returned to feast at Nimbus. Here, angler Jason Nicholas put down his rod to watch a large steelhead being devoured. “In 30 years that I’ve fished here,” he observed, “I’ve never seen anything like this.”
Around 6ft long (weighing perhaps 400 pounds) this adult had journeyed more than 130 river miles from the Pacific Ocean. Though quite a feat, his trek is not a record. Another sea lion reached the Woodbridge Dam near Lodi in 1997. “They’re salt-water animals but they follow the fish,” explained California Department of Fish and Wildlife spokesman Andrew Hughan. “They come inland from the (San Francisco) Bay for late salmon and steelhead. They like the fish that are rich in meat and fat.”
The mammals frustrate anglers and have occasionally provoked violence from some who regard them as poachers. “They’re the dogs of the ocean,” says Hughan. “They’re curious and friendly; they’ll steal fish, but they won’t hurt anyone.
“We don’t monitor sea lions or do anything about them unless they’re distressed. A marine mammal inland is a naturally-occurring phenomenon. If you see one, don’t feed it. They need to be left alone to catch fish. It’s a cool sight. People should just stand back and enjoy the moment.”
Footnote: sea lions are Federally protected. Anyone seeing harassment or injury toward the species should call the police or a park ranger.
Paying It Forward
Express Employment Hiring Drive Generates Funding for Sacramento’s Women’s Empowerment
SACRAMENTO REGION, CA (MPG) - Express Employment Professionals (EMP) NE Sacramento has again put women in need at the top of their philanthropic agenda, which means more homeless women across the Sacramento region will have an opportunity to create a pathway to change this year.
Since 2015, EMP has donated $10 to a nonprofit of its choosing for every first-time job placement booked through its agency during Annual Pay It Forward Holiday Hiring Drive, which runs from November to December. EMP has more than 750 franchised locations across the country and each conduct their own individual philanthropic programs.
In 2015, Express Employment staff voted to support Women’s Empowerment of Sacramento (WEP) through as part of its giving back campaign. The 2016 drive, the sixth annual campaign, generated 62 first-time job placements, culminating in a total of $620.00 for WEP. On January 29, the agency’s General Manager, Kristen Garl, and Kathryn Ontiveros, EMP accounting specialist, presented WEP with their donation before a backdrop of photo stories of hundreds of just some of the women who have been helped via the programs offered at WEP since its inception in 2001.
“We are very proud to support Women’s Empowerment Sacramento,” said Garl. “We have worked with a handful of nonprofit organizations over the last six years and they are all wonderful organizations. But three years ago, as reviewed our goals for the campaign, our staff voted and WEP was selected hands-down by the majority of our team.”
The money will go to support WEP programs, which include a comprehensive, nine-week job-readiness education and emotional empowerment workshop for area homeless women. That includes, resume preparation classes, mock interviewing, Internet job search training, budgeting, access to the agency’s dress for success clothing closet, transportation and even free, onsite childcare.
In addition, women enrolled in WEP programs are paired with an employment specialist, social worker and a volunteer career mentor to help them identify their skills and interests and realize their career goals. Getting off the street and into a job, experts agree, is the sure-fire way for homeless individuals to create a pathway to a new life and end the cycle of poverty.
To date EMP has donated a total of $1,640 to WEP via its Pay It Forward campaign.
“We have an amazing relationship with Express Employment,” said WEP’s Development Manager, Holly Byrom.
“The support we receive each year is significant, and their mission is very closely aligned with our goal to help women get out of poverty and into a job, a home and a new life.”
More than 1,500 women with a combined total of some 3,500 children have benefited from the classes and services offered through WEP, 521 in 2017 alone. Roughly 80 percent of those served, including the 157 in 2017, have successfully secured a job or enrolled in school or vocational training upon completion of their WEP program.
WEP was named Nonprofit of the Year by the Nonprofit Resource Center in 2009, one of the most prestigious honors a nonprofit can receive in the Sacramento region. And, in 2014, WEP was chosen as the Organization of the Year at the inaugural Women’s Appreciation Awards by Congresswoman Doris Matsui, then Senate President pro Tem Darrell Steinberg and Assemblyman, Roger Dickinson.
WEP is a private organization and does not receive any federal funding. Its social enterprise program generates roughly $54,000 in income annually. Grants and family foundations account for roughly $400,000 toward its annual $1.1 million budget. Remaining funds are generated through a combination of individual gifts, the United Way and Special Events.
“We know the pathway to breaking the cycle of homelessness is through employment,” said WEP Executive Director Lisa Culp, formerly on staff at Sacramento’s Loaves and Fishes. “Our participants are 100 percent homeless women. So we promise them that if they come in and complete our program, we will help them find a job, a home and a new life.”
It takes money to offer all of the services made available to local homeless women in need. Programming costs for WEP account for $723,000 alone. As such Garl said her agency’s support for WEP is ongoing. As her team connects with existing and potential employers, schools and other entities, it networks for homeless women and WEP, encouraging employers to believe in second chances and supporting WEP’s social enterprise, the Get a Job Kit.
The kit, which sells for $15.99, is a colorfully printed “tool box” for job seekers, which includes a comprehensive packet of job readiness guide sheets and resources. It was created for WEP clients initially, but it is adding value to the community at large, especially wherever there are students or other job seekers trying to secure long-term employment.
“We are always pushing for support for Women’s Empowerment everywhere we can,” said Garl. “We could not be more thrilled to be connected with WEP and its mission, and intend to keep supporting them for as long as we can, in as many ways possible.”
Getting Students Work Ready
Foster Youth Job Shadow Day Prepares Students for the Real Thing
SACRAMENTO REGION, CA (MPG) - For a foster youth in high school, nothing can create a clearer pathway to success as they exit school and the foster care system than having some form of preparation for life on their own.
At the top of the list of areas that could arguably be deemed the most important is work-readiness, including some form of direct, hands-on exposure to various potential career opportunities.
To that end, the San Juan Unified School District’s Foster Youth Services program will be holding is annual Foster Youth Job Shadow Day Friday, February 9th. This year, 16 participating employers across the Sacramento region, including CBS Radio, SMUD, Nissan of Sacramento and Carmichael-based Mateo’s Pizza & Bistro, will host 56 youth for a day of job-readiness education, up close and personal.
“This is a great way for students who are in foster care to obtain knowledge and information about various possible careers as they prepare for their final days in school and, ultimately, exiting out of the foster care system,” said Kamika Hebbert, SJUSD’s Foster Youth Services Youth Employment and Independent Living Coordinator.
SJUSD Foster Youth Services in Carmichael is one of the four original “Core District Foster Youth Programs” in California. It works in collaboration with Twin Rivers USD, Sac City USD, Elk Grove USD and the Sacramento County Independent Living Program (ILP), a federally funded entity, which assists current and former foster youth between the ages of 16 and 21 with their goals to achieve self-sufficiency prior to and after exiting the foster care system.
This is the fifth year SJUSD Foster Youth Services has offered foster youth students across the district the opportunity to shadow working professionals in a range of careers from tech to back-of-house culinary operations.
The Foster Youth Program, explains Hebbert, was launched in 1973. In addition to the Job Shadow Day and work-readiness programs, the Foster Youth Services of SJUSD also provides foster youth with support through advocacy, academic counseling, tutoring, educational assessment, mentoring and links to community services, as well as crisis counseling.
Youth in foster care homes between 16 and 18 are eligible for the SJUSD programs and services and programs during the time they are in foster care placement and after emancipation from the system.
Most participants in the Job Shadow Day program and others are referred by social workers, probation officers, foster parents, other county ILP coordinators or by self-referral. A social worker is assigned to each participant in ILP for case management and works with youth to craft and develop a Transitional Independent Living Skill plan.
Services available to help foster youth prepare for adulthood include independent life skill classes, education resources, assistance with applications for student financial aid, housing resources, training on money management, decision making, building self-esteem and advocacy.
The vocational training piece offered through the Job Shadow Day, and other programs at SJUSD, serves to support the goal of ensuring the district’s foster youth is provided with the skills needed to become an independent, productive member of their community.
Whether a student has a goal to pursue a career in public policy or policing, baking or banking, the best way for them to get a sense of whether a career is something they’d enjoy is to watch or, in this case, shadow someone who is already doing the job.
“The programs we provide through the San Juan Unified Foster Youth Services are multi-focused, but they all serve to help foster youth prepare themselves living independently and finding success in their career and educational goals,” said Hebbert.
Matteo’s Pizza and Bistro has been participating in the Job Shadow Day since 2014, that’s four years running now that the Carmichael eatery has been supporting foster youth in preparation for their future. This year will be Tytnisha M.’s second year participating in the job shadow day event and her second time at Matteo’s, where she is getting hands-on exposure to back-of-house operations in a real restaurant.
“It’s the amazing businesses like Matteo’s who are helping students like Tytnisha, who has designs on pursuing the culinary field, find a way to break in and plan ahead for their futures,” said Hebbert.
On Feb. 9, all 56 students enrolled in the Job Shadow day will begin the adventure by convening for a kick-off breakfast where they will be given the details of their work site responsibilities. Then, they will each spend roughly three hours of onsite job shadowing time at various employers’ locations. After “work,” there’s a lunch and then the day will culminate in a slide show and group reflection on the day and future goals.
For participants like Tytnisha, having the experience of learning the ins and outs of a particular business operation before she starts actually heading in that career direction ensures an optimal chance of success.
“The purpose of the shadowing is to give them first-hand experience to see may or may not be a good fit,” Hebbert said. “In Tytnisha’s case, it’s already pretty clear she’s in her element at Matteo’s.”