Welcome to the December 2010 Seniors Digest!

Timmie Faghin, Advisory Council Chair

Congratulations to the Washington State TCARE project, recipient of the prestigious Rosalyn Carter Leadership in Caregiving Award. TCARE, which stands for Tailored Caregiver Assessment and Referral, is a new evidence-based caregiver assessment tool developed by Dr. Rhonda Montgomery of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Washington is the first state to develop a computerized version of the TCARE protocol, and it is now in use throughout the state.

Former First Lady Rosalyn Carter once famously said, "There are only four kinds of people in the world: those who have been caregivers, those who are currently caregivers, those who will be caregivers, and those who will need caregivers." At an October ceremony held at Georgia Southwestern State University in Americus, Georgia, Mrs. Carter presented an award to Roy Walker, Executive Director of the Olympic Area Agency on Aging and Chair of the Washington Association of Area Agencies on Aging (W4A). At center is Dr. Rhonda Montgomery, who developed the TCARE assessment tool.

Also in Seniors Digest this month, we focus on a topic that may well have already come to mind for many readers: emergency preparation. How did you do in the recent snowstorm? Did you lose power? If you had Thanksgiving visitors from out of town, we hope you were able to make it to the grocery store to pick up that turkey! Read on for some thoughts from Dick Sugiyama of ADS, who recently participated in an emergency preparedness drill that got him thinking about his own level of readiness.

And in the event of an earthquake, power outage or other emergency, how would you get in touch with family and loved ones? Pick up the phone, right? But do you have the right phone? Debbie Goetz from the Seattle Office of Emergency Management offers an overview of the performance expectations of different phone technologies, as well as suggestions for planning ahead.

Also in this issue:

• The University of Washington Department of Rehabilitation Medicine is seeking research volunteers for a study of the impact of the built environment on the physical activity level of seniors who use a mobility device, such as cane, walker or wheelchair.
  
  
• Helen Sikov, administrator of Washington Care Center and member of the Mayor's Council of African American Elders, shares an inspiring account of two recent senior-focused arts events.
  
  
• Here's a great volunteer opportunity! Your local AARP Tax-Aide program is seeking tax counselors to help qualifying low and middle income taxpayers figure out and file their tax return.
  
  
• Try your hand at this month's "Holiday Stress-Busting" wordfind.  

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