Senior Beat Podcast

Mental health issues and suicide are difficult but important issues to talk about. Join us on this month's Senior Beat to learn about local resources for suicide prevention and mental health services.

Protect your heart and your Medicare information! In our first segment, we speak with Meghan St Clair, Structural Heart Coordinator at Unity Point Health Heart & Vascular Institute, about warning signs for heart attack and stroke, and what you can do to improve your heart health. In our second segment we speak with Ingrid A. Kundinger, Senior Medicare Patrol Project Manager, about Medicare fraud. Did you know that annually $60 billion dollars are lost from the Medicare program due to fraud and error? Do your part to prevent fraud and improve Medicare.

Make sure you are counted in the 2020 census! The US census is a big part of what the federal government uses to allocate resources around the country. Don't let Madison miss out on vital federal funding, and get yourself counted. Benjamin Zellers with the City of Madison Planning Division tells us how to participate in the 2020 census in our first segment. Stick around for our second segment with Darrin Wasniewski, Associate State Director for AARP, and learn all about AARP's Livable Communities initiative.

There's a new Executive Director, new programs, and new collaborations at NewBridge. Find out all about them on this month's episode.

In this month's first segment of Senior Beat, we speak to Tiffany Tobias and Ronald Woodard about the Badger Honor Flight. The Badger Honor Flight flies veterans to Washington DC to view war memorials at the Nation's Capitol. Ronald Woodard, a Vietnam veteran, attended the trip in October. In our second segment, we speak to Brian Miller about Independent Living, Inc, and their services for seniors, such as Meals on Wheels, in-home care giving, and many others.

In this episode of Senior Beat, we talk about people with dementia and those who care for them. We are joined by Joy Schmidt, Dementia Care Specialist at the ADRC, and Paul Braun, a caregiver to his wife, Karen.

In this episode, we focus on the State Capitol, and how laws made on the State level affect residents here in the City of Madison. We are joined by Jim Schmidlkofer, who is retired from the State of Wisconsin Board on Aging and Long Term Care where he was the Supervisor of Older Americans Act Services, and Janet Zander, Advocacy & Public Policy Coordinator at Greater Wisconsin Agency on Aging Resources, Inc.

This episode of Senior Beat is all about mobility. In our first segment, Monica Kamal Spaeni speaks to us about Access Ability Wisconsin (AAW). AAW provides off-road wheel chair use free of charge to people who struggle with mobility, so they can enjoy the benefits of exploring nature. In our second segment, Patrice Blanchard tells us all about AARP's safe driving programs for aging adults.

City of Madison District 4 Alder, Mike Verveer, joins us for this month's Senior Beat. Alder Verveer represents Madison's downtown, which includes the Senior Center, and he serves on the Committee on Aging, among many others.

Do you need a ride somewhere? Do you want to take the bus but don't know how? RSVP of Dane County is here to help with volunteer drivers, the Bus Buddy program, Vets Helping Vets program, and other services provided by RSVP volunteers. If you are in need of a service, or would like to volunteer, visit RSVPdane.org