Ground Level Category Archive: Aging

Central Minnesotans kick the tires of regional plan

Posted at 3:24 PM on May 9, 2012 by Jennifer Vogel (0 Comments)
Filed under: Aging, Brainerd, Community Development, Economic Development, Local government finance, Rural

For more than a year, a group of a couple hundred people--business owners, elected officials, students, retirees and others--from five counties has been meeting to drink coffee and work toward establishing a set of goals for central Minnesota. They've been hashing over transportation, housing, job creation and other topics with the goal of creating a shared idea of what residents and local governments should try to accomplish by the year 2035.

It's an example of how organizers and leaders in Minnesota and elsewhere are looking for new ways to both sample public opinion and engage people in making choices about the future. The belief is that a strong, consensus-driven vision will lead to better policy and economic decisions. Ground Level has been tracking the project and we've even hosted a couple of related online discussions, which you can find here.

Yesterday afternoon, the group gathered at The Lodge in Baxter, where wooden boats and old motors festoon the walls, to review and give feedback on a preliminary set of plan recommendations built around 11 topics. In some cases, participants expressed skepticism at what the group has so far rendered and pushed toward greater specificity.

"We're getting closer to the end," said Dan Frank of the Little-Falls-based Initiative Foundation, which is helping facilitate the sessions. The process is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to the tune of $825,000 and is one of about 45 efforts HUD is underwriting around the country. "This is the input part today," said Frank. "We want to give you the chance while [the plan] is still in draft form to give us input."

Participants, seated at numbered round tables, were asked to select four topics out of the possible 11 to discuss and to move to the appropriate, topic-centric tables. Specifically, they were asked to comment on what works, what doesn't, what's missing and what's next. "Focus on goals, rather than the how-to," advised Frank, adding that the action steps will come later.

At a table focused on "Changing Populations," participants contemplated an outstate population that's both aging and becoming more diverse. One person said immigrants will be crucial when it comes to offsetting the loss in economic contributions from retiring baby boomers. Another suggested including the goal of trying to improve the attitudes of locals when it comes to immigrants. Yet another said she simply didn't think the draft recommendations were attainable.

At another table, where people were talking "Education and Workforce Development," participants pushed to make the recommendations more specific by suggesting a focus on funding for college and apprenticeships. One person suggested that an emphasis on teleworking and online jobs should be included.

The meeting, it seemed, accomplished what leaders hoped it would. The group kicked the tires of a variety of proposals and gave frank, real-world feedback, which will be incorporated into the final plan.

Cheryal Lee Hills, executive director of the Region Five Development Commission, which has spearheaded the two-year project, told the group that central Minnesota is being held up as a model in other parts of the country, due to the high level of participation in the visioning process and the partnerships forged with foundations.

Hills said there are just two meetings left, one in June and another in August. In June, the group will review draft policies and discuss implementation. "On August 14th, we'll celebrate the final plan," she said, adding that she'd invited U.S. Senator Al Franken to be the keynote speaker. "So far, we're on his calendar," she said.

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Outstate Minnesota's great divides

Posted at 1:21 PM on May 4, 2012 by Jennifer Vogel (0 Comments)
Filed under: Aging, Northern Minnesota, Rural

What divides a community? My coworkers at MPR News, Dan Gunderson and Molly Bloom, put that question to members of our Public Insight Network who live outside the metro and drew some interesting responses. People not only described issues but also possible solutions.

They pointed to tussles over mining, "white anglers versus tribal netters," casino politics, capital building projects, the best way to create more jobs and whether it's a good thing to have larger medical systems buy local hospitals.

"Racial divides are prominent within the community," wrote Melissa Bartlett, a charter high school teacher in Bemidji. "At school we work hard to abolish them."

I followed up with Bartlett by phone and she expanded on the role she tries to play when it comes to teaching tolerance in a school that's over half Native American. "We have the luxury of small class sizes," she said. "We don't really give students a choice but to interact with each other." The goal is to prepare students for the "real world," she said. That involves shucking off the prejudices inherited from parents and others. "We call people on it," she said. "We say, 'Think of a better way to express yourself.' We want our kids to succeed and make a difference after they graduate. One way to do that is to cultivate an acceptance of people who are not like us."

Dana Ludwig from Duluth wrote, "I think our community is aging and this creates a divide. There is also, I feel, a resistance to change and grow. Our progressive mayor is trying but I feel sometimes the climate of tolerance and diversity he is trying to create is being fought really hard. It makes me sad."

Irene Hartfield from Babbitt described a conflict over copper mining. "Some residents are all for the jobs these projects will provide at all cost, and some are against the mining because of the possible damage to the environment," she wrote. "People feel strongly on both sides." Yet, she said she's "optimistic" about the future. "More and more 'outside' people are moving into the community and bringing fresh perspectives and energy to different improvement projects. The old way of thinking is diminishing. More people are stepping up to volunteer and serve in city government, to make a difference."

Hartfield said her community has become more outspoken, which she considers a good thing. She also praised an emerging arts culture, something other respondents mentioned too and a topic we've reported on at Ground Level.

Religiosity can be a point of contention, wrote Annette from St. Cloud (she requested that I not use her last name). "I am an atheist, but I see this community as way too religious," she wrote. "It can be difficult because there is not tolerance for non-Christians and it is worse for the atheist or agnostic."

Reached by phone, she said she thinks religious fervor has increased since 9/11. "There has been a critical intolerance since 9/11. People have used that too much to be divisive." Her approach is to try to "get people thinking" on an individual basis. "But I have to get to know them for a while first," she said.

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Volunteer drivers harder to find

Posted at 10:01 AM on April 30, 2012 by Dave Peters (0 Comments)
Filed under: Aging, Transportation

When we started to do some reporting a few weeks ago on how people get around outstate Minnesota, I expected we'd find that tight transit money, higher gas prices, changing demographics and other factors were exerting pressure to come up with some imaginative solutions.

But I also expected that solutions to the state's unmet transit demand would hinge on increasing enthusiasm for the extensive local and county networks of volunteer drivers.

That turns out not to be the case.

Instead, the programs that offer mileage reimbursement for volunteers to haul others to the doctor, to the store, to the bank and elsewhere are having a hard time finding enough drivers.

"The demand is greater," said Verna Toenyan, who has coordinated a driver program in Todd County for years. "And there's a different kind of volunteer now that's coming to the front. They want to have time to take off and go south. They want to spend time with the grandchildren."

Toenyan is clear she's fine with that and wants her volunteers to enjoy the task and not feel pinned down. But she's advertising more, trying to recruit a bigger stable of people she can call on.

Toenyan was echoing what several people in the Public Insight Network told us, and reporter Jennifer Vogel and I have heard the same thing all around the state.

"We are having a harder time finding drivers," said Anna Palo of Rural Rides in Virginia on the Iron Range. "It's because of the price of gas. Some people can't afford to cover things until they get their first reimbursement check."

You might think that as more people reach the age where they need rides, more Baby Boomers would be coming up behind them to provide the rides. Apparently that's not necessarily so.

Keven Anderson, formerly a MnDOT official and now with the Small Urban & Rural Transit Center in Fargo, said the demographic tide is actually working against those trying to solve the problem.

"God love the volunteer drivers and there is a huge need," Anderson said. "But part of the problem is the volunteer drivers are reaching an age where they need the ride. When you start looking at the demographics of the aging population, boomers are hitting retirement age. A lot of them are not the ones most interested in being that volunteer, unlike generations before. It's becoming harder and harder."

More on outstate transit tomorrow in a project we're calling "Getting There." Watch this space.

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Getting to the concert in Pipestone and other unmet needs

Posted at 1:37 PM on April 25, 2012 by Dave Peters (2 Comments)
Filed under: Aging, Transportation

Photo/Pipestone Performing Arts Center

When the Performing Arts Center in Pipestone in southwestern Minnesota hosts an evening performance by the Opland Singers, the Calumet Players or musicians from the Twin Cities, Patricia Beyers picks up as many friends as she can to drive them downtown.

"But I am not the bus service," the 78-year-old resident said, "and I only make one trip." The dial-a-ride bus service that serves the town of 4,000 quits at 5 p.m. So the 115-year-old Sioux quartzite building that can hold 290 people often contains far fewer. Some of those who might attend won't or can't go out in the evenings, Beyers said.

And if you want to go 45 miles to Sioux Falls to the doctor or shopping and you don't drive, "you better have a friend," said Beyers, a former community economic development director in both Iowa and Minnesota.

That's one small snapshot of how some Minnesota residents can't or don't get where they want to go. The Minnesota Department of Transportation has a set of formulas to measure that unserved demand and it says that by providing more than 11 million rides, the state's outstate transit agencies met only 61 percent of demand in 2010.

To get a feel for what the unmet needs actually are in real terms, we turned to our Public Insight Network and asked some of its members. The responses we received from Beyers and others were illuminating.

Alexandria retiree Andy Lopez also mentioned cultural events that people who no longer drive can't get to. "A lot of those people are very frustrated and they stay in nursing homes and they just don't go many places. It diminishes their quality of life."

Lopez raised another point that quite a few PIN members brought up: intercity buses. He takes the Jefferson Lines bus from Alexandria to the Twin Cities if he has to fly somewhere and doesn't want to park a car at the airport. But he notes that the state-subsidized run doesn't have enough stops.

"If you live in Sauk Centre, you have to drive 30 miles to take the bus."

One way to get where you want to go is to rely on the kindness of others, either strangers or friends. But several respondents to our PIN questions noted a decline in the availability of volunteer driver programs.

Joel Young, the city clerk in Chatfield near Rochester, was one. He thinks one factor is the disappearance in some places of organizations like Jaycees or Rotary that ran volunteer driver programs.

"Twenty years ago there was a pretty active group of volunteer drivers," Young said. "My sense is there's still some of that but not a formal program."

On the plus side, Young noted, more people are willing to give public transit a try. The first time gas hit $4 a gallon, more people jumped on the daily buses the Mayo Clinic runs to and from Chatfield for both employees and other riders. There used to be one bus morning and night and now there are three.

"One of my desires is to get people talking and thinking about this. It's being used by people who are creative and don't mind public transit."

For Clark Johnson, an educator in North Mankato, the dream is specific:

"I dream of a day when the metro area has excellent mass transit and it is fed by frequent trains from Mankato, Rochester, Eau Claire, Duluth and St. Cloud (if not, Fargo) making it very possible for rural Minnesotans to travel to and in the Twin Cities without driving a car."

The Legislature has set a target of meeting 80 percent of the demand for outstate Minnesota service in 2015. That would involve 15 million transit trips, compared to 11 million in 2010. It would also involve spending more than $100 million in operating money. That's almost twice what federal, state and local governments spend now.

Do you have thoughts about outstate Minnesota's unmet transit needs? Help us tell the story by clicking here to answer a few questions.

Check back next week for more reporting on this topic in a special Ground Level report we're calling Getting There.

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Making Ardelle Neufeld smile

Posted at 2:25 PM on April 6, 2012 by Dave Peters (1 Comments)
Filed under: Aging, Community Development, Rural

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I went looking for my grandparents in the newly released 1940 Census forms but found my real reward when the face of Ardelle Neufeld, an 80-year-old woman I'd never met, lit up at BB's Diner in Mountain Lake on Wednesday.

As half the world knows, the federal government on Monday made public the actual forms census takers filled out 72 years ago this month. (That's the half that clogged the National Archives' servers for at least a couple days trying to do what I was trying to do.)

I immediately went searching online for the farm in Cottonwood County, in southwestern Minnesota, where my grandparents raised my father and eight other sons and daughters. I knew the farmstead was long gone, its buildings razed, its trees cut, its identity erased to become a ghost on the corn-and-soybeans fields of Carson Township.

But it had been there in 1940, so, when the Internet let me, I started scouring through the hundreds of names in Carson Township, looking for clues to a life I was connected to but had no memory of.

Bob Peters and Gladys Harder try to pinpoint a location of where their grandparents farmed near Mountain Lake, Minn. The recently released 1940 Census data gave Bob and his brother Dave a lot of insight into their relatives past. Photo by Jackson Forderer for MPR

Nothing. I looked in nearby townships. Same result.

Did the census taker skip them? Did they refuse to answer? I resigned myself to waiting months for an index of names to become available. Instead, I switched grandparents and decided to hunt down my maternal grandmother in the nearby town of Mt. Lake.

Online paydirt this time. I found records of the home I had visited as a child, a solid square brick house my mother grew up in. In the 1940 record, there was my widowed grandmother, Mary Kintzi, and her oldest daughter, still at home at 36 and listed as assistant housekeeper. There were two other daughters, one a doctor's receptionist who had earned $504 the year before, the other still in high school. My great uncle, wounded in World War I and on disability, was living there as well. The home was listed as worth $4,000, on the high end for those times; my grandmother called herself a housekeeper, 55.

I knew that a fire broke out in the house last year, and it was torn down. But, just to see what I could see, I enlisted MPR News reporter Dan Olson and my brother, Bob Peters, to drive three hours to Mt. Lake on Wednesday and maybe find someone in the town of 2,100 who could reveal more than five lines of a census form.

We found what was now a school parking lot, in 1940 the home of five people. Pines still stood, but the mulberry tree I remembered was gone. The ice cream store down the block was empty. It wasn't a particularly revealing moment, I have to acknowledge.

Wilma Lindstrom looks out her window as she reminisces about life in the 1940s in Mountain Lake, Minn. Lindstrom said she did a lot of rollerskating in her youth, and thinks that kids today play too many video games. Photo by Jackson Forderer for MPR

But we wandered across what had been the garden and back yard and chatted up Wilma Lindstrom, 89. She's lived in the neighborhood more than 50 years and remembered my grandmother and especially my Aunt Rachel. She was happy to reminisce about high school days and how what once was a town dominated by Russian Mennonites has in recent years begun to reflect a much larger world, changes brought by an influx of Laotians and others.

"They've really helped our school, I guess," Lindstrom said. "They are learners. They're really intent about getting an education."

Mt. Lake firefighters try in January 2011 to control a fire in the home that belonged to Mary Kintzi when the 1940 census was taken. The home was later torn down. Photo: Mountain Lake Observer/Advocate

By now it was lunch time, and that brings me back to Ardelle Neufeld.

She's the mother of Kris Langland, the editor of the Mountain Lake Observer/Advocate, who had graciously agreed to meet us and invite a few old timers along, including Ardelle. As it happened, my cousin Gladys Harder showed up, too.

Bob and I explained how we'd found the home of our Grandmother Kintzi but scratched our heads at the mystery of our missing paternal grandparents' farm.

Wait a minute, Ardelle said. She had grown up near my grandparents. They didn't live in Carson Township. Phone calls were made, maps were consulted. It was Midway Township.

Thank goodness the Internet gods at the National Archives had calmed down. (And thanks to my Verizon wireless card.) I opened my computer on the diner's table and pulled up the census site. I found Enumeration District 17-13 and started paging through.

From left, Gladys Harder, Ardelle Neufeld and Bob Peters look at a map of Minnesota in BB's cafe in Mountain Lake, Minn. to try to find where a relative of Peters farm property might be. Bob and his brother Dave traveled to Mountain Lake to revisit their past by looking at the 1940 Census data that was recently made public. Photo by Jackson Forderer for MPR

Bingo. There, on a laptop screen in the middle of a table full of hot beef commercial and BLT sandwiches, were my missing grandparents. I was surprised to find my father (29 years old, a bachelor teacher making $1,275 a year but still living at home, something I didn't know), and there were six younger siblings. The kids spoke German as their first language, all living on a small, diversified farm that today is but a corner in a large field.

I scrolled down the page, following the path of the census taker 72 years ago, and there she was in his scrawled penmanship. Neighbor, Ardelle Loof, 8, daughter of Joe and Gertrude Loof, farmers who had come from Iowa. The woman across the table from me beamed, mouth open, tickled to see how this record from days gone by has resurfaced and to find it on a computer screen. It was as if a light went on.

And with that, she, Gladys and another long-time resident, Don Ross, were off to the races, recalling times past, recreating a community and a time they loved.

The census form noted that Ardelle's 8-year-old self in 1940 had already completed two years of school. "There was only one boy in first grade and they didn't want him to be the only student, so they said, 'start her, she's ready.'

Ardelle Neufeld, whose maiden name is Loof, looks at the record of herself and her family from the 1940 Census in BB's Diner in Moutain Lake, Minn. Photo by Jackson Forderer for MPR

Ardelle had eventually married a Neufeld and moved to town (as did my grandparents and most other farmers. The rural population of Cottonwood County is a third what it was in 1940.)

There was the 1939 high school basketball team to recall, the invention of a new clothespin by a local man during World War 2, people to conjure up from the census list of names.

Ross graduated from high school (with my aunt) and went to war. His brothers landed in Normandy on D-Day. He came home and went into his father's dry cleaning business. He should have gone to college, he thinks now, but it's been a good life.

After the war, he said, "The whole world was different, not only Mountain Lake."

Brothers Dave and Bob Peters pose in front of a mural in the business district of Mountain Lake, Minn. Dave, director of MPR News' Ground Level project, and his brother took a personal journey into their past by looking at the recently released 1940 Census data and traveling to Mountain Lake, Minn. Photo by Jackson Forderer for MPR News

So in the end, it wasn't really the record of my grandparents that made the day. It was meeting a few folks who liked how their lives turned out, were proud of their community and who could happily open a window to the past and paint a little picture for some strangers.

In not too many years, that window will close, of course. I can only hope that when the 1960 census is made public in 20 years, someone will look me up and bring a smile to my face as rewarding as Ardelle's.

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Social Security's role underappreciated in rural economies

Posted at 8:41 AM on October 31, 2011 by Dave Peters (0 Comments)
Filed under: Aging, Economic Development

Aitkin County lost 26 jobs in the past year, according to state employment data. On the other hand, Social Security recipients across the nation got the news this month that they'll get a 3.6 percent cost-of-living increase in their checks in January.

Which of those developments is more important if you live in the north central Minnesota county of 16,000?

Here's one way to think about it:

If each of those lost jobs paid, say, $30,000 a year, then there's $780,000 a year less washing around the central Minnesota county, money not getting spent at the Ford dealership or the Holiday station or the new grocery store in Aitkin.

But that cost-of-living increase for the 4,400 Social Security recipients in Aitkin County could add up to about $2 million in 2012, a lot of which will get spent on groceries, gas and even cars.

Obviously jobs matter, and there's a lot more to a local economy than this simple comparison, but it does point out that the value of Social Security payments can be huge and sometimes underappreciated, especially in rural areas.

That's why the Daily Yonder, an online publication covering rural America, has pulled together an analysis of the impact of Social Security payments for retirees, survivors and disabled people for the nation. Rural areas tend to rely more on Social Security payments to shore up local economies than urban and suburban areas.

The Daily Yonder compiled figures for every county in the nation and agreed to share the data ahead of time with Minnesota Public Radio News' Ground Level project.

It turns out that in Minnesota, Aitkin County leads the way -- 11.9 percent of all personal income arrives in residents' hands in the form of Social Security payments. Most of those recipients are retirees. The county is part of a corridor of retirement extending north to the Canadian border. There are six Minnesota counties, all in that region, in which 10 percent or more of personal income comes from Social Security.

By contrast, Carver County in the Twin Cities metro area gets only 2.9 percent of its income from Social Security.

For the state as a whole, the number is 5.1 percent, slightly less than the national average.

So what?

To Ben Winchester, a rural sociologist from Hancock who does research for the University of Minnesota Extension Center for Community Vitality and who studies rural demographics intensely, there's a lesson for economic development.

Enticing new jobs and helping employers grow is important, but so is understanding that Social Security and other non-wage payments like private pensions and income from rents or investments are important, too.

"Don't silo economic development apart from retirement issues," Winchester said.

Maybe that means developing ways to keep or entice senior citizens; maybe it means realizing there's a buffer in the local economy against tough times. "Think about condos as economic development," Winchester said, for example.

You can see from the map where the reliance on Social Security is greatest -- the north central retirement corridor. It's interesting to note other parts of the country that fit the pattern -- the Ozarks, northern Idaho, parts of Florida -- retirement meccas that don't necessarily have high-income economies otherwise.

It all makes sense to David Hasskamp, who runs the Aitkin County Growth non-profit to foster development. One of the big job engines in Aitkin County lately has been the hospital in the city of Aitkin. "The health care system has grown to take care of these folks. It's not like having Ford Motor Co. come in but these are good jobs."

Mark Partridge, a rural economist at Ohio State University, told the Daily Yonder, "The seniors who get these payments are primarily going to spend their money locally. And they are a key reason why some communities are still viable. If this money dried up, there wouldn't be a lot of these small towns."

You can see all the county-by-county numbers here. (Note that OASDI stands for Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance, known to most of us as Social Security.) The Daily Yonder's full coverage is here.

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Jobs are coming, but there is bad news

Posted at 2:28 PM on March 22, 2011 by Jennifer Vogel (1 Comments)
Filed under: Aging, Health care, Local government finance, Young people

"We have entered the age of entitlements in Minnesota and the United States and in some respects the entire world," said state demographer Tom Gillaspy during a lunch talk on Tuesday at Minnesota Public Radio. "It's an unprecedented time."

Gillaspy was referring to an ominous trend reflected in the latest census data: The state is experiencing a dramatic increase in the number of people who are over 65 and drawing Social Security and other benefits and a decrease in the number of young people entering the workforce to pay for those benefits.

"By the end of the decade, for the first time, we'll have more people over 65 than in K-12 education," Gillaspy said.

The implications are far-reaching. The age imbalance will make it harder to rectify the state budget in the future.

"This decade, it's not going to be nursing homes that are driving the whole thing," Gillaspy said. "That's a couple of decades out. This decade the big issue will be the labor force. It's an odd thing to talk about when unemployment is high."

He predicted, quite ominously, that, "things are about to start popping" as more older people retire and fewer younger people are available to take their jobs.

"By the end of the decade, workforce growth will be essentially nil," said Gillaspy, who noted that the change won't be gradual. "We'll see a big jump in retirement next year and strong increases for a decade after that."

He said that although employment forecasts talk in terms of job growth, for the foreseeable future, employment will center on filling vacancies not creating new jobs.

"That forecast isn't that great," Gillaspy said. "People look at that and say 'There aren't many opportunities.' But when the flood of people retires, we're going to have lots of replacement openings, across every occupation. As far as I know, those will, for the first time ever, exceed the number of new job openings."

That may sound like hopeful news to those who are out of work. But without huge, coinciding increases in productivity from automation and other innovations -- which is possible -- the state and the nation will continually be handed social services bills it can't afford to pay, he said.

That could affect the retirement age, pensions, and whether retirees receive health care benefits.

"Chronic government deficits aren't going to end anytime soon," Gillaspy said. "Unless we can deal with the underlying cause, we'll be back two years later with another $5 billion deficit. And two years later, until there is virtually nothing left except things like medical assistance. We have to see some changes. This is a non-sustainable situation."

On a hopeful note, Gillaspy said that with public investment in education, infrastructure and research, we may be able to invent our way out of the problem.

"These are exciting times," he said. "This will be a more exciting decade I think than any in history. This is a time for heroes. This is a time for leaders and exceptional things. It's not a time for business as usual."

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A year in the life of rural Todd County

Posted at 9:00 AM on January 3, 2011 by Nancy Leasman (0 Comments)
Filed under: Aging, Todd County

Nearly a year ago, Minnesota Public Radio News took its first serious look at Todd County. Joining with the Initiative Foundation's Healthy Community Partnership, MPR News' Ground Level project has reported on the effort to bring people together to talk about the future of Todd County while marshaling resources and building on existing strengths.

In the early part of the year, Nikki Tundel, Curtis Gilbert, Jennifer Vogel and Dave Peters talked to people of all ages and occupations and reported on what they found. A well attended public forum presented in Long Prairie back in May held a mirror up for residents to see themselves as others see them.

Two issues came to the forefront during that time: the high proportion of people in Todd County over the age of 65 and the need for jobs. The Healthy Community Partnership group tackled those issues and established focus groups to address them. If you have a little time, read back through the Ground Level blog to get the panoramic view. Here are a few of the highlights, successes and challenges of 2010.
• A new economic developer was hired for the county
• Voters and the county board decided it was time to renovate the historic courthouse
• Long Prairie's mayor Don Rasmussen sold his bowling alley to new enthusiastic owners
• National Joint Powers Association broke ground for a new complex in Staples
• A new Mexican grocery store opened in Long Prairie
• A new Mennonite grocery store opened in Browerville
• A new Amish Country Co-op opened in Bertha
• A new medical clinic opened in Browerville
• A new potato farm warehouse was constructed
• Many of the county's cities got new streets and infrastructure.
• One repairable auto sales business closed and another opened
• Harm's Manufacturing in Bertha was taken over by the next generation
• Verna Toenyan and Rep. Mary Ellen Otremba encouraged the state Legislature to make senior bundled meals a statewide program
• Senior citizens will have the opportunity to take classes to become proficient users of computers
• Community gardens sprouted all over the county
• Community storefronts look pretty much the same as a year ago
• Long Prairie's incubator building is still waiting for its first tenant
• A few young people moved back home; more departed
• People have died and babies have been born
• Part of a neighboring community blew away in a tornado making us thankful to have what we have

This is by no means an all inclusive list. Please feel free to comment and add to it.

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Another voice calls for keeping seniors in their homes

Posted at 4:30 PM on December 21, 2010 by Nancy Leasman (0 Comments)
Filed under: Aging, Todd County

The National Advisory Committee on Rural Health and Human Services is a citizens' panel of nationally recognized rural health and human services experts. Each year, the committee highlights key health and human services issues affecting rural communities.

This year's report examines three key topics in health and human services and their effects in rural areas: home- and community-based care for rural seniors, rural primary care workforce, and rural health care provider integration.

All are topics of particular interest in Todd County, where this month's census data release confirmed the flat population and the fact that one out of six residents is over 65.

Taking a look at home and community based care for rural seniors, it's important to understand some basic facts: the elderly population in rural areas is growing rapidly, it's estimated that there will be an increased need for long-term care and while seniors are happier staying in their own homes, aging in place is difficult because, traditionally, resources have been concentrated on supporting nursing home care.

The National Advisory Committee believes that options for home-based care need to be expanded. The committee recommends "evaluating current laws prohibiting payment to family members for care and coordinating with the Secretary of Transportation to ensure seniors are able to access care."

Another concern is that there are fewer physicians serving the populations of rural areas.

While much of what the report contains is not news to those of us who live in rural areas, the fact that this has now been recognized by a committee charged with making recommendations may bring about change.

Find out more about the national committee and its recommendations here.

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Todd County pushes computer proficiency for seniors

Posted at 4:57 PM on December 17, 2010 by Nancy Leasman (0 Comments)
Filed under: Aging, Todd County

One of the projects of the Todd County Healthy Community Partnership is to assist senior citizens become proficient in using computers. Verna Toenyan, who has been actively involved in the project, says that given the trend for people to continue to work beyond normal retirement age, seniors will need to stay current with changes in computer use. Those who have never used computers will need to learn.

The county's computer committee opted to use county computers and install them, along with high-speed Internet access, in the Eagle Bend Senior Center. The county computers operate with Windows 2003 and will need to be updated to Windows 2007 to be compatible with the computer education program to be used. Once installed and updated, the computers will be accessible for anyone to use. Mid-February is the target for starting the classes to be taught by Charlie Crews.

After the classes are complete, three of the computers will be moved to another senior center within the county. One will stay in the Eagle Bend center. "We're going to teach one community at a time," says Verna. She also hopes a computer club will start in each senior center to allow for peer support.

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The courthouse renovation is a go

Posted at 7:30 AM on December 8, 2010 by Nancy Leasman (4 Comments)
Filed under: Aging, Todd County

It appears that the Preservation Alliance of Minnesota doesn't take the time to celebrate what could be perceived as a victory. After naming the Todd County Courthouse to its endangered list for 2010, it moved on to accept nominations for the 2011 list. But Todd County voters followed the impetus created by the Alliance and the Todd County Historical Society and voted to support renovation of the courthouse.

At last week's County Commissioners meeting, the board voted to bond for $525,000, which means the renovation is officially underway.

County Administrator Nate Burkett says he can recommend further financing options after getting a more detailed estimate of the project's cost. That means that the drawing board will be a busy place for a while and Todd County residents can expect periodic updates on renovation developments. The Preservation Alliance should be celebrating.

On another update note: the Initiative Foundation's Healthy Community Partnership's partnership with Todd County seniors is moving into the project stage, too. Verna Toenyan says that classes are being set up for seniors who want to learn more about computers. Dates and times will be posted when they've been set. With 10 inches of snow on the ground and new layers being added almost daily, the winter of 2010-2011 may not be amenable to seniors getting out and about. But one thing seniors know: it'll be spring before we know it and computers will still be there.

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Good news on heart health

Posted at 8:30 AM on November 25, 2010 by Nancy Leasman (0 Comments)
Filed under: Aging, Todd County

Last week, MPR's Lorna Benson reported that the incidence of Minnesotans suffering heart attacks is down. "The good news on heart attack treatment in Minnesota is that the state experienced a remarkable drop in hospital admissions for heart attacks since 2007. Last year, fewer than 78,000 people were treated for a heart attack, down 15 percent from three years ago, when there were 91,000 admissions.

"Dr. Kevin Graham, President of the Minneapolis Heart Institute, believes the trend is due in part to public smoking bans and to the widespread adoption of some basic drug therapies."

Tom Hock, a physician's assistant who serves patients in Todd County emergency rooms agrees. "I think several things contribute. First I think that people are more conscious of their life style choices. For years we have tried to educate people on the choices they make and I think some of that is finally sinking in.

"Secondly medication has improved and using those medications when they are needed helps to reduce cardiac risk for people. A good example is a baby aspirin every day. This alone can reduce risk of heart attack or stroke by 25 percent for most individuals."

As to the smoking ban, Hock believes it's made a difference. "Smoking is indeed a huge risk factor so any changes there have to be beneficial."

Researchers in Colorado made the same conclusions: Data suggests "...that community adoption of a smoke-free environment has the potential to rapidly improve the cardiovascular health status of its citizens. Smoking is the most potent modifiable coronary heart disease risk factor."

Findings also indicate a reduction in the incidence of myocardial infarction in people who get an annual flu shot. Researchers in England found a 19 percent reduction due to influenza inoculations. The jury is still out on why one is connected to the other but they offer the following statement: "We do not know whether the recently reported benefit of influenza vaccination as regards to reducing the incidence of heart attack, is an indirect benefit (reduces flu thus reduces complications from flu) or a direct effect on inflammatory processes that go on in the heart."

The Mayo clinic reports that reducing trans fats in the diet results in lower cholesterol levels, triglycerides, lipoprotein and inflammation -- all good news for our hearts. Research hasn't yet revealed whether banning trans fats has made a difference in the incidence of heart attacks.

Making hearts healthier in only a few short years as a result of relatively simple changes is a rather amazing development. Now, if only the same could be done for cancer.

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Some simple Internet advice for seniors (and others)

Posted at 4:05 PM on November 12, 2010 by Nancy Leasman (0 Comments)
Filed under: Aging, Todd County

Todd County's senior citizens have decided it's important for them to learn to use computers, so as part of the process, here's a suggestion for avoiding a pitfall.

Using computers can seem daunting enough without warnings about viruses, predators and scams that can arrive uninvited via the World Wide Web. One way to avoid headache and heartache and unwittingly turning others into victims:

When a forwarded message warns about dangerous scenarios and suggests dialing a strange number on your cell phone to summon the police, offers gift certificates at a chain restaurant, suggests that you'll explode if you slide across your car seat while gassing up your car, or promises great fortune if you assist the sender in managing their newly found wealth, remember one thing: Go to www.snopes.com to check out the truth in the story.

Snopes considers itself "the definitive Internet reference source for urban legends, folklore, myths, rumors, and misinformation." You can use a search box to find items of interest or browse by category. Simply type in a few words from the suspicious message. Snopes will take it from there and tell you if the original message is true, false or a mixed bag of tricks. It will also give the history of the promulgated tale.

Recently, Verna Toenyan, who is leading in the effort to improve senior services in Todd County, passed this message on. I don't think she'll mind that I'm using this as an example. She's all for enlightening senior citizens. Here's the email she received:

Hope you enjoy your lunch on Applebee's!

My name is Bill Palmer, founder of Applebee's. In an attempt to get our
name out to more people in the rural communities where we are not
currently located, we are offering a! $50 gift certificate to anyone who
forwards this email to 9 of their friends. Just send this email to them
and you will receive an email back with a confirmation number to claim
your gift certificate.
! !
Sincerely
Bill Palmer
Founder of Applebee's Visit us at: www.applebees.com

Hey guys,

It really works, I tried it and got my Gift certificate confirmation
number in 3 minutes."

Check Snopes before you forward any messages or respond in any way yourself. Snopes will save you from passing on false information in the guise of being helpful.

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Trying to live longer in Morrison County: Residents think Blue Zones

Posted at 7:30 AM on November 8, 2010 by Nancy Leasman (0 Comments)
Filed under: Aging, Local Food, Todd County

Blue Zones were identified by a team led by Dan Buettner as pockets around the world where people are living significantly longer than most areas of the world. "We found people who reach age 100 at 10 times greater than in the United States, where people suffer a fraction of the rate of heart disease and cancer than we do and where people are getting the extra 10 years that we're missing," said Buettner.

Buettner has identified nine behaviors common to people in all of the Blue Zones. The Vitality Project, an outreach program developed from research in the Blue Zones and sponsored by AARP and the United Health Foundation, is taking this information to interested communities.

Bob Graham, who has been involved in that effort in Albert Lea, came to Pierz and Little Falls recently, and as a result, 20 Morrison County residents are considering how they can get involved. Since a few folks from Todd County also attended Graham's presentation in Little Falls, there may be developments here, too.

The nine Blue Zones behaviors include: move, know your purpose in life, down shift, the 80 percent rule (stop eating when you're 80 percent full), plant power (eat more vegetables), red wine, belong to a healthy social network, beliefs, your tribe (make family a priority).

Albert Lea was chosen in 2008 as the first pilot city in the world to collectively try to live longer and better by applying the nine behaviors. According to The Vitality Project 2009 , restaurants in Albert Lea changed their menus to offer more healthy choices. Schools implemented seven wellness policy changes to reduce snack foods and increase activity. Businesses changed their environment and policies to encourage healthier behaviors. Volunteers planted 70 community garden plots. Biking and hiking paths were connected throughout the community to encourage more walking social groups called Walking Moais. Kids also walked more with a project called a Walking School Bus in which the kids walked the last mile to school every day under the supervision of parent and senior volunteers.

Graham, Albert Lea's community development director, offered additional tips at the Pierz and Little Falls gatherings: make good foods visible in the refrigerator, don't eat family style which encourages over-eating (dish up a plate in the kitchen and dine in the dining room), change social networks to associate with other like-minded health enthusiasts, make your community convenient for walking.

Participants in Albert Lea lost an average of three pounds each, employers reported a 21 percent drop in absenteeism, and city employees experienced a 49 percent decrease in health care costs.

While folks in the Blue Zones naturally live a healthy lifestyle that results in long lives, the Vitality Project believes that anyone can make the necessary changes to lead a Blue Zone life.

The Morrison County residents have formed a task force that is considering whether to bring the Blue Zones challenge to their community.

Here's a message from the Blue Zone team. If you're interested in what's happening in the Blue Zones, those long-lived pockets around the world, check out Buettner's excellent talk about the Blue Zone lifestyle. You can sign up for updates, too.

"Dan Buettner was invited to participate in the prestigious TED speaker series this past year. CNN found his presentation so valuable, they've showcased it on their web site, along with an essay by Dan.

"You can view the presentation at this link.

"If you are interested in booking Dan for your next professional event, please contact Amy Tomczyk at amy@bluezones.com."

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Long Prairie Packing donates to senior center

Posted at 11:34 AM on November 1, 2010 by Nancy Leasman (0 Comments)
Filed under: Aging, Todd County

Long Prairie Senior Center member Hollis Bishop reported to the center recently that Long Prairie Packing company's golf outing fundraiser resulted in a welcome donation to the center. The $5,500 gift allowed the purchase of a big screen TV and a Wii, the home video console that allows users to engage with virtual games on the screen.

"We'd like to start a Wii bowling league, if other centers have Wiis, too," he told the group. "We hope it will appeal to younger seniors," he added.

Bishop makes a good point. Most of the seniors attending functions at the county's senior centers are in their late 70s, 80s and even into their 90s. Younger seniors need to get involved with senior concerns if the senior centers are to continue serving the needs of older citizens. Wii activities may attract younger old folks. Now, if they can just find a volunteer who knows how to hook it up.

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Todd group pushes computer skills for seniors, jobs for youth

Posted at 12:00 PM on October 25, 2010 by Nancy Leasman (0 Comments)
Filed under: Aging, Broadband, Todd County

Todd County's Healthy Community Partnership Group met again last week. They sat down at the Senior Center in Eagle Bend to define projects for the upcoming months.

Still looking at senior and youth retention issues, they decided to help senior citizens in the area acquire or polish up their computer skills and look at the problem of lack of jobs for young people in the Bertha area.

The group was established earlier this year in conjunction with the Initiative Foundation and has been a focal point for MPR News' Ground Level.

Charlie Crews, an octogenarian who taught computer classes to senior citizens in the Staples area, offered the use of his curriculum.

"They need a very basic class," said Verna Toenyan, who has helped facilitate the Healthy Communities Partnership program. "We'll set up a bank of computers and work in teams. People who complete the class will earn a certificate."

With so much information available online, and with information distribution commonly made via computers, it's essential that senior citizens acquire the technical skills to keep up.

On the youth retention front, the group looked at the county's small towns and lack of jobs for high-school-age young people. On-the-job training and work skills are nearly impossible to acquire when there are few places of employment in a community: no fast food restaurants, no grocery stores, no theatres, bowling alleys or other places where teenagers can normally make a few dollars on evenings and weekends while learning the responsibilities of being employees.

Bob Larson of Marlowson Event Center and the Amish Country Co-op is willing to work with the Bertha school's business management classes and look into the potential for getting grant assistance to plan a program. With the hope of attracting tour buses to the co-op, Larson is looking at the possibility of hiring area youth to assist with the added traffic to the business while learning what running a business entails.

Both projects are steps in the right direction. Each small step can ultimately make a difference.

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Medicine Cabinet Clean-out

Posted at 5:04 PM on October 15, 2010 by Nancy Leasman (0 Comments)
Filed under: Aging, Todd County

Todd County Citizens Against Drugs and the CentraCare Health System in Long Prairie sponsored the first Medicine Cabinet Clean-out Event in the region Thursday, prompting residents to haul in unneeded drugs by the bag full for destruction.

Getting unused or outdated medications out of medicine cabinets reduces the opportunity for abuse and also reduces the chance of taking the wrong medication.

"They were glad to have the chance to get rid of them," said Katherine Mackedanz, Todd County's Public Health Educator. "Some had family members who had passed away and brought their leftover meds. Others asked that we do this again and in other communities close by."

Sheriff Pete Mikkelson, CentraCare Hospital Pharmacist Chris Hagen and Clinic Administrator Toni Tebben were also on hand for the event, which collected a large tote of uncontrolled medicines and a smaller amount of controlled substances.

"It's good that we're getting rid of this stuff; getting it out of medicine cabinets," said Mikkelson, noting that the controlled substances are too easily accessible to those who might abuse their use.

"Seventy percent of teens who abuse drugs get them from family," said Mackedanz. "Or from Grandma or Grandpa," added Tebben.

The controlled substances will be taken to the nearest licensed incinerator in St. Louis. The non-controlled substances will be boxed and taken to the transfer station.

"People can dispose of unused regular medications by sealing them and disposing in the trash. We want to get away from flushing them," said Mackedanz.

Though another Medicine Cabinet Clean-out isn't scheduled the response to the first one indicates a need for more. The group is considering holding the next one in Staples.

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Medication management- another problem of aging

Posted at 7:30 AM on October 13, 2010 by Nancy Leasman (0 Comments)
Filed under: Aging, Todd County

Problems related to adverse medication reactions among the elderly have continued to escalate over the last 20 years, an informal review of available literature indicates.

A report in 1987 said an estimated 200,000 older Americans were hospitalized due to adverse drug reactions or experienced such reactions while hospitalized.

A 1990 report by the Office of the Inspector General, Department of Human Services, indicated that 55 percent of the elderly were non-compliant with their prescription medication orders.

In 2001, Drugs and the Elderly reported that 15 percent of hospitalizations among the elderly were due to adverse drug reactions.

In 2009, a recent British study published in the Oxford Journal states, "the average rate of Adverse Drug Reaction (ADR) related hospital admissions is 16.6 percent in the elderly compared to 4.1 percent in younger patients, with 88 percent being preventable.'"

And finally, this: "...Between 1983 and 1993 the number of medication-error related deaths more than doubled. Based on Food and Drug Administration data, medication related death, disabilities, and serious injuries almost tripled between 1998 and 2005. The majority of these medication errors affected the elderly population-those over 65."

While the term "adverse medication reaction" can refer to an individual reaction to a particular prescription medication, it can also be caused by a "medication error" or "non-compliance with medication orders." From loss of dexterity to cognitive impairment, the elderly are more prone to the effects of mismanagement of medication. And the situation isn't getting any better.

Here's one way to help senior citizens, and everyone, keep medications in order.

Todd County Citizens Against Drugs is sponsoring a Medicine Cabinet Clean-out Day as a method of helping folks dispose of expired or unwanted medications. It's one day only: Thursday, Oct. 14, from 2 to 6 p.m. at the CentraCare Health System clinic parking lot in Long Prairie. Bring medications in their original bottles for safe, proper disposal. Pouring them down the drain contaminates the water supply so here's a chance to take care of them properly.

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Planning to build your retirement home? Part III on universal design

Posted at 11:44 AM on October 4, 2010 by Nancy Leasman (0 Comments)
Filed under: Aging, Todd County

One of the issues getting increasing attention in aging communities is home design and how it can help keep people in their homes longer.

As I suggested in two earlier posts (first and second), Richard Hardine of Infinity Development in Alexandria understands the accessibility issues involved. His own home is a marvel of modified living solutions. He knows that building such features into a new home is much simpler than adapting existing housing.

Richard made a list of special features which can be built into new homes, especially homes suited to accessibility issues related to aging: installation of oxygen outlets in walls to omit snaking oxygen hoses, deeper and wider bathtubs, higher toilets, pull-down shelves, battery charging cubbies for electric carts, ventilation systems, positioning rooms for the best use of natural light, sound deadening sheetrock for light sleepers, tightly woven carpets with thin pads for easier ambulation or wheelchair access, thermostatic heat adjustments on water faucets, outdoor raised beds for gardening, piping gas to grills to negate the need for hauling gas tanks and the list goes on.

"We look for a better way with the same function," Richard says of the challenges of keeping costs in check.

As baby boomers plan retirement homes, they would be wise to consider what their needs will be as they age. Building for long term accessibility makes perfect sense.

For more information, contact: Richard Hardine
Ringdahl Architects Custom Homes
320-766-1797
rhardine@gctel.com

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The Hardine's universal design home, part II

Posted at 8:44 AM on October 1, 2010 by Nancy Leasman (0 Comments)
Filed under: Aging, Todd County

The Hardine home is a perfect example of building for long term accessibility. From the garage door inward, all facets of this one story English country cottage-style home have been carefully considered.

Richard, who uses a wheelchair because of progressive muscular weakness as a result of polio, gave me a tour of the home he shares with his wife Karen. He rolled to the walk-in garage door, opened it and the resident black Labrador retriever, Sam, galloped out and across the yard. Richard pointed out the absence of a raised threshold. "All five doors are at grade," he said, which means that a wheelchair rolls easily into the garage or in and out of the other doors that are all connected with a level brick walkway. Properly engineered slopes and 18 inches of flashing prevent water problems. Levered handles instead of knobs on the doors make for easy opening. It also means that Sam has mastered door opening and can let himself in and out.

A carpeted path extends from the entry door of the garage to the inner door. This carpet absorbs water and prevents slipping. It eases the transfer from wheelchair to vehicle and vehicle to wheelchair. One end of the garage accommodates Richard's workshop which has a lowered work bench and scaled down tools for easier handling. The home's central vacuum system's canister, as well as the water conditioner, are also in the garage allowing Richard access to them. The washer and dryer are just inside the door as well as a fold-down ironing board, "should Karen ever allow me to iron," laughed Richard.

A roll-in pantry, just off the kitchen, stores staples on open shelves with those Richard is more inclined to use on the lower ones. Both Richard and Karen love to cook. He appreciates the lower part of the dual height counter top and the small prep sink of the room's island when he's slicing and dicing vegetables for Asian dishes the couple enjoy. The buff colored family cat, one of three resident felines, also likes the small sink and positions itself in the cozy basin as the sun tracks across the kitchen. An indented space under the main sink allows Richard to roll up close. A toaster on a pull out shelf and a bread drawer make for quick breakfasts.

Richard preferred an oven with a door on the side rather than the front. Karen insisted on a conventional oven door, all but impossible for Richard to negotiate from his wheelchair. He consoles himself with the fact that he never he has to take a turn at oven-cleaning. The black counter tops and knobs on white cabinets are key components in a universally designed home. The color contrast allows for greater visibility.

Lower light switches and higher electric outlets throughout the house make for easier use as do three-foot wide doors, four-foot hallways and additional space to maneuver. Roll out shelves make storage a breeze from kitchen to office.

"The Brazilian cherry floors with a baked on aluminum oxide finish are 2 ½ times harder than maple," Richard says. The invisible finish makes them resistant to dog paws as well as wheelchairs.

The selection of durable materials is only one consideration of a well thought out design. "All universal design features develop with each client as we establish the needs," says Paul Ringdahl. An Alexandria architect with decades of experience, Paul collaborated with Richard on the design of the Hardine's home. Paul's association with Richard, as well as an upsurge in aging baby boomers building homes they can live in the rest of their lives, inspired both to follow seven principles of universal design. These include

Equitable use

Flexibility

Simple and intuitive

Minimizes hazards

Requires low physical effort

Wheelchair-sized and spaced

"Each design for each person needs to be customized for their strengths and weakness," says Richard.

While offering the utmost in accessibility, the Hardine home hasn't given up character or style in exchange for usability. Nor was it a costly alternative to a conventional home. Richard says a new custom home is more economical than remodeling and adding adaptive features to an existing home. Paul agrees.

There really is no net add to the cost, just a difference in design. It's much harder to fix later rather than building for accessibility in the first place. You can't make hallways wider. You have to take space from one area to adapt another.

Next time: a few things to consider when building your retirement home.

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The beauty of universal design for aging in place

Posted at 9:34 AM on September 27, 2010 by Nancy Leasman (1 Comments)
Filed under: Aging, Todd County

"Ronald" commented on my Sept. 8 post about aging in place. He mentioned homes incorporating universal design, barrier free plans, aging in place home plans and other similar concepts. I talked with Richard Hardine of Infinity Development in Alexandria, Minnesota, about universal design.

Richard's mobility was affected by bulbar polio the year after he was born in 1950, so he understands accessibility issues. With residual effects of progressive muscular weakness, Richard recently found that using a wheelchair works better than struggling with canes or other ambulatory supports. The knowledge gained in building two previous homes adapted for accessibility as well as his association with architect Paul Ringdahl of Ringdahl Architects in Alexandria, has created a thoroughly thought out floor plan for his own home and a wealth of information to share with other future home owners who require similar considerations because of their own physical limitations. Richard, who has master's degree in marketing and management, acts as a construction manager in his own firm and works in association with Ringdahl Architects.

At the onset, it's important to understand terms associated with accessibility.

• Accessible design conforms to mandatory requirements which vary widely but generally result in fixed features which are permanent and noticeable. These include: wide doors, lower countertops, bathroom adaptations, altered switch and control locations, absence of steps and stairs and wider pathways.

• Adaptable design allows for the omission or concealment of some features of accessibility until needed. Wide doors, no steps, knee spaces, switch and control locations and other features are built in but other adaptations can be added as necessary. These dwellings can look the same as others and be matched to individual needs when occupied.

• Universal design creates dwellings that have been carefully thought out and are totally accessible throughout the range of human abilities across a lifetime.

The principles of universal design produce homes that are beautiful and functional allowing access by anyone, regardless of physical capability.

Next time: more about the Hardine home and how it models accessibility.

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Octogenarian Charlie Crews knows computers

Posted at 8:57 AM on September 20, 2010 by Nancy Leasman (0 Comments)
Filed under: Aging, Todd County

Charlie Crews, a member of the Todd County Healthy Community Partnership, will be 80 years-old on September 27. He volunteered to serve on all of the task forces by doing online research on youth retention, senior services and economic development task forces. Unlike many people half his age, Charlie has no fear of computers. In fact, Charlie has worked with computers since President Eisenhower's first term.

"I was in the Navy in 1955," says Charlie. "I worked in aviation supply and we used an automated record system. The computer was a UNIVAC and had vacuum tubes. It filled one room. We had to have an air conditioner to cool it." He developed programs for maintaining aviation supplies- instant information on tracking and shipment of parts- to keep the time that planes were out of action to a minimum.

UNIVAC is an acronym for Universal Automatic Computer and was the first commercial computer produced in the United States. It used 5,200 vacuum tubes and weighed 29,000 pounds. In contrast to that first computer, Charlie tells of recent gifts for family members. "We bought all of our grandkids and great-grandkids 9-inch mini-computers," he says. The interesting thing is that Charlie knows what made that 15 ton computer work and he knows what makes the baby laptops work, too. He's the one who keeps all of the family's computers working.

Charlie is definitely in a minority group. Many people much younger than Charlie are reluctant to learn to use computers. According to the Pew Research Center, "As of December 2009, 38% of U.S. adults age 65 and older go online, a significantly lower rate of internet adoption than the general population (74%) and even the next-oldest group (70% of adults age 50-64 years old go online). In addition, just 26% of U.S. adults age 65 and older have home broadband access, compared with 56% of adults age 50-64 years old (and 60% of all adults)."

Charlie thinks it's kind of sad when people don't use computers. "You can search the Library of Congress or find out how to fix a sewing machine," he says of the varied capabilities of online searching. He kept up with advances in computer technology during his 22 years in the Navy followed by a second career working for 3M as a microfilm equipment specialist and then as the national director of the sales division.

After retiring in 1986, Charlie and his wife moved from the Twin Cities to Todd County's Sylvan Shores and now lives in Staples. He started computer classes for senior citizens in 1994 and slowly led about 150 people into the computer age during the five years he taught the classes. He helped them select computers and serviced them for free.

Charlie no longer subscribes to the trade magazines nor attends consumer electronics shows, both of which kept him up on all the latest developments. He still stays current on the pricing and how to fix problems, admitting that viruses and worms have gotten him three times.

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Dorothy Klick, aging in place

Posted at 9:36 AM on September 8, 2010 by Nancy Leasman (1 Comments)
Filed under: Aging, Todd County

At 95, Dorothy Klick is a prime example of aging in place with grace and wisdom. Having spent more years in Long Prairie, Minn., than anywhere else, she's still active and involved. She participated in the visioning session at the start of Todd County's Healthy Community Partnership, giving her perspective on what aging in Todd County can be.

Since selling her house several years ago, she lives alone in a spacious ground-level apartment close to her church and community activities. Though macular degeneration is robbing her eyesight, she's been proactive even regarding that, taking classes for the blind. Family and friends are close by if she needs assistance.

Born in Minneapolis in 1915, Dorothy was one of four sisters who all became nurses. In the 1930s, at the height of the great depression, it's a wonder that all four were able to seek higher education. While Dorothy's sister, Rose, headed into the skies as a stewardess with Northwest Airlines, Dorothy kicked her adventurous heels and joined the army. "We had no brothers and my mother, being foreign born, felt as though our family, too, should be represented," she says of her own army enlistment.

Dorothy's family moved to Long Prairie, where she graduated from high school. She earned her nursing degree from St. Joseph's Hospital in St. Paul, which had the distinction of being the first hospital in the state. Graduating in 1938, Dorothy benefited from the school's nursing residence, which had been built in 1926 and housed the 200-plus nursing students. Documents show that in 1935, 6,000 patients were treated in the hospital while more than 24,000 lab tests and 2,000 X-rays were performed. From these rich clinical experiences and well equipped hospital settings, Dorothy went on to work as a surgical nurse for four years and then spent one year in industrial nursing.

After enlisting in 1943, Dorothy was transported to her first assigned station to find fields of mud, half finished buildings, and limited equipment. Her job, as chief surgical nurse, was to not only teach inexperienced young men to act as surgical technicians, but to also oversee the making of all linens and dressings, supervise the cleaning crew, as well as order and maintain $90,000 worth of equipment for the surgical units.

The next year, Dorothy set sail on the six-day trip that took her to England to work in a general hospital. Arriving at Ludgershal, her group was taken to a camp which had been used by British paratroopers. "It was filthy! Without rest, food, or sleep, we scrubbed the walls, floors, beds, etc. using our own soap and towels as rags. We had to procure and cut our own kindling, coal, coke, and carry out ashes," she remembers.

Living with unheated bathrooms, poor sewage disposal, no hospital laundry facilities and lack of water, the nurses worked 14-20 hour days and managed to save lives. In her first month in England, Dorothy's crew handled 600 operations and 126 blood transfusions.
But Dorothy says it wasn't all work. "We had 1½ days off a month." Dorothy and her friends saved bus fare by walking a mile and a half into town and used the money for entertainment instead. She traveled to London, Bath, Oxford and other parts of England and Scotland. She tasted England's famous fish and chips, enjoyed the beautiful countryside, the thatched houses and many chimneys.

She notes that late summer of 1944 was the busiest month in the hospital. "From 10 August to 10 September there were 700 surgery cases." Between August 7 of 1944 and June 8 of 1945, Dorothy documented 7,501 hospital admissions.

Dorothy spent a year in England and then served in Alabama and Iowa. She received the American Campaign Medal, the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal and WWII Victory Medal I Overseas Bar. She was discharged on February 18, 1946.

On returning to civilian life, Dorothy married Florian Klick, a dentist who had also served in the military. They had five sons. She served as the president of the Auxiliary to the Minnesota State Dental Association for eight years, organized the local hospital auxiliary and reorganized the county public health service, working as the director and home health coordinator.

Dorothy has given 83 years of volunteer service to her community and church. Though a recipient of many honors and awards for her varied activities, she still doesn't rest on her laurels, continuing to assist with historical society events and filling needs that arise. The largest nod to her contribution to the war effort is the inclusion of her image on the mural in the Veteran's Memorial Park in Long Prairie. A surprise to her, "I was completely speechless," she says, when the painting was revealed.

A video interview with Dorothy is part of the veteran's oral history project of the Historical Museum of East Ottertail County in Perham.

Photo: As Don Hickman explained the visioning session process, Dorothy Klick and Leo Heinze looked on, at right.

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What's your plan for aging?

Posted at 3:41 PM on August 23, 2010 by Nancy Leasman (0 Comments)
Filed under: Aging

A headline in the August 22, 2010, issue of the Star Tribune asks a profound question, "Who will care for the silver tsunami?"

The article by Warren Wolfe cites the following statistics: "About 680,000 Minnesotans are 65 and older now. That number will soar to 950,000 in a decade, then to 1.3 million by 2030. Compared to people of working age, the proportion of seniors will almost double over the next 20 years- from 21 per 100 to 39."

While some see this as a cloudy forecast since there will be fewer workers to support the aging populace, others may take advantage of the silver lining and move into healthcare and caretaker careers.

Those of us in the group who will be on the receiving end of the care should plan for that future. Where do you plan to spend your declining years? Will you work beyond normal retirement age? Will you reserve a MEDCottage and contract with one of your children to set it up in their back yard? Will you opt for extended care insurance and hope there will be enough room in a nursing home when your time comes? Or, will you eat, drink and be merry and not plan to reach advanced old age? What's your plan?

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Is the MEDCottage right for your grandma? Or you in 2030?

Posted at 4:12 PM on August 16, 2010 by Nancy Leasman (2 Comments)
Filed under: Aging, Todd County

Just as I dug into the newest idea in housing for the elderly, something was amiss with that product's website. Did broken links at MEDCottage.com indicate website malfunction or some unknown online zoning laws unlinking the little elder cottage from caretaker's back yards? Maybe neither, since eventually the site was working again.

Here's the MEDCottage concept by way of a Washington Post article since the MEDCottage website wasn't forthcoming with information: "A 12-by-24-foot prototype filled with biometric technology that would allow a family and health-care providers to monitor the condition of an aging or disabled relative. The cottage contains air-filtration systems, video links, devices that allow the remote monitoring of vital signs and sensors that could detect an occupant's fall."

The rental unit can be moved into the caretaker's back yard and connected with the home's electricity and plumbing for as long as needed. The cost? $2,000 per month. The theory is that elderly family or friends would rather be in a separate unit that monitors their every move than actually live with people or go to an assisted living facility or nursing home.

Zoning laws seem to be the biggest hurdle. What will the neighbors think when another dwelling is moved onto a city lot? How will the unit's plumbing affect sewer function?

I think the bigger question is whether this is really the way grandma or grandpa would want to live. Most opt to stay in their own homes because of emotional attachment and familiarity. Moving into a strange dwelling in an unfamiliar neighborhood, however comfortable it might be, differs little from moving into any other assistance facility; except that they will be alone.

This opinion was expressed in a forum comment. "That's the problem with the whole concept of the Granny Shack; if the condition of your health is such that you need your vital signs monitored 24/7, you do not need to be stuck out in a box in the backyard by yourself. For that matter, if there isn't at least one person in the family home at all times, why would you allow them to go off and leave an elderly or disabled person alone in a glorified garden shed like the family dog?"

"Nursing homes were developed to provide us with the care we need when age and disabilities are too severe for us to care for ourselves," said Lakewood Health System Medical Director Dr. John Halfen in the summer 2010 Lakewood publication Words For the Wise. "They keep us as healthy as possible, providing shelter, food, medical care, nursing care housekeeping, multiple different therapies, recreation and social settings."

Nursing home care comes at a pretty steep cost. If the MEDCottage is billed as a safe and less expensive alternative for our aging population, does that make it the best option?

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Working in retirement?

Posted at 10:05 AM on July 30, 2010 by Nancy Leasman (0 Comments)
Filed under: Aging, Todd County

Retirement isn't quite what it used to be. For many, now, retirement means continuing to work.

I have two older brothers. Both retired in their mid-fifties but continue to work. Mark works full-time for a steel company. Bruce puts in thirty hours per week for his career firm. Do they need to work? Probably not from a financial standpoint but from a need to be busy, involved and productive. Healthy aging could mean having 30-50 years of "retirement."

My husband retired from a career in law enforcement to owning a business. He also has a part-time job. The cost of insurance and the fact that we're still putting kids through school motivates him.

My friend, artist David Rickert, retired from a career in graphic design. He moved to Staples anticipating lower costs of living and real estate. He still actively teaches, sells his art work and works at a liquor store.

My friends Joe and Diane Ayers retired from jobs in the metro area. They bought a farm just outside of Todd County and planted a vineyard. "It was like dropping a five-dollar bill in each hole," said Diane as they invested their retirement income in an endeavor that is a job for them.

When we visited Glacier National Park earlier this summer, I noticed that many of the restaurant servers, gift shop clerks and tour guides were well past retirement age.

Some older folks work from a need to be busy; others out of need. Perhaps some work out of a perceived sense that their retirement plan might not hold in the test of time.

Older folks continuing to work affect the job market for the young. Is that a problem? This is an especially important question in Todd County, where one in six people is over 65 and many residents are examining how the community maintains its quality of life as it gradually gets older.

What is your plan for retirement? Will you continue to work?

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