Kentucky seniors have highest rate of food insecurity | Owensboro Times
Kentucky has the nation’s highest rate of food insecurity for adults who are in their 50s. In the Green River area there more than 340 seniors on a waiting list for a daily hot meal. Food insecurity is a household’s inability to provide enough food for every person to live an active, healthy life. A report from Feeding America shows hunger among adults ages 50 – 59 is highest in Kentucky. The Commonwealth’s rate of food insecurity is at 19 percent, compared to the national rate of 11 percent. Another report from the State of Senior Hunger in America in 2017, focusing on Americans 60 and older, showed Kentucky has a food insecurity rate of about eight percent, slightly above the national average.
Running and aging usually don’t mix. But at 62, quitting isn’t an option for me. | The Washington Post
Patrick McCarthy retired last year after a decade touching the lives of at-risk youth as president and chief executive of the Annie E. Casey Foundation in Baltimore. In December, Patrick’s co-workers threw a farewell party for their boss at the downtown headquarters. Colleagues offered testimonials. The mayor spoke. Among the guests were a dozen of Patrick’s “running” pals from the Baltimore Pacemakers — a ragtag group of semi-athletes who regularly pound out the miles on Baltimore’s city streets. Most seemed only vaguely aware that the gathering marked an end to something. To our group, it felt like a beginning.
The Anti-Abortion Bill You Aren’t Hearing About | Rewire
As the country has anxiously watched extreme and dangerous anti-abortion bills pop up in Alabama, Georgia, and Ohio, another threat has received far less attention. Earlier this month, the Texas Senate passed SB 1033, which would remove the exemption allowing abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy when there is “severe fetal abnormality.” And it prohibits what the anti-choice lawmakers call “discriminatory abortion”: That means when a person receives information that the fetus they are carrying has a genetic condition—such as Down syndrome, cystic fibrosis, dwarfism, or other mutations—they could not seek an abortion on the grounds of that diagnosis. While being framed as “saving those poor defenseless disabled babies,” the reality is that this is just one more assault on people’s bodies.
‘We’re just like everybody else’: New play tackles misconceptions about disabilities, love and sex | CBC
Talking sex and romance can be cringe-worthy for parents and their adult children — the stuff of many an awkward romantic comedy. Now imagine you have a physical disability, can’t get in or out of your wheelchair by yourself, and need a caregiver to help you talk with others. You like a boy, but how do you date? What does consent look like in that scenario?
Many older Americans worry about dementia, but few talk with their doctors about evidence-based preventive strategies | MinnPost
Many older Americans are worried about developing memory loss and dementia, especially if they have relatives with those conditions, according to a new National Poll on Healthy Aging from the University of Michigan. Yet very few of them have talked with their doctor about evidence-based strategies for preventing cognitive decline, the poll found. Instead, a large majority of the adults who were polled said they take supplements or solve puzzles to keep their brains healthy — two strategies that have not been shown to be effective at enhancing memory or warding off dementia.
Lawsuit: Planet Fitness denied woman’s membership because her disability was a ‘liability’ | Daily News Journal
When a woman with a foot disability applied for membership at a Murfreesboro Planet Fitness, her application was denied by a manager to avoid allowing other people with disabilities join.
That’s according to a federal lawsuit filed Tuesday, which says that when Deanna Neal applied to join the Planet Fitness on South Church Street in December, a manager told her she couldn’t join due to being a “liability.” Neal has reflexive sympathetic dystrophy, also known as complex regional pain syndrome, which makes it impossible to wear a closed-toe shoe on her right foot.
How to make Pride truly accessible | CNN
Held every June to honor the legacy of the LGBTQ movement and the event that started it all, the 1969 Stonewall riots, Pride is a season to celebrate resilience, resistance and the vast spectrum of sexual and gender diversity. However, Pride events, which often consist of parties at gay bars and a big parade, remain incredibly inaccessible to disabled, deaf or hard-of-hearing, blind, neurodiverse (neurologically atypical, including those on the autism spectrum) and people with intellectual or developmental disabilities, and little has been done to make them more inclusive.
It’s time to end the callous policy of inmate Medicaid exclusion | The Washington Post
OBAMACARE GAVE most low-income people Medicaid coverage, extending the health-care plan to the poor and near-poor. But when they are jailed or imprisoned, an old federal law means their Medicaid coverage disappears. This callous policy must change.
Disability rights groups reach settlement with DC over emergency preparedness | the Jurist
After negotiations following a years-long lawsuit against the District of Columbia (DC), several disability advocacy groups and the district announced a settlement Tuesday, with the district agreeing to a number of significant improvements for thousands of residents and visitors with disabilities. United Spinal Association, DC Center for Independent Living, and two District residents with disabilities sued in 2014 alleging that DC’s emergency preparedness failed to meet the standards of Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Rehabilitation Act, and the District of Columbia Human Rights Act.
Older Americans are relying too much on Social Security as a main source of income |USA Today
Many older Americans view Social Security as a financial workhorse for their golden years.
Yet the program provides far less income than they think, partly because they tap the entitlement before reaching retirement age, a new survey shows. Forty-four percent of older Americans who are retired or plan to retire within 10 years see Social Security as their main source of retirement income, according to the February survey of 1,315 adults age 50 or older by the Nationwide Retirement Institute, a unit of Nationwide Financial. And 26% believe they can live comfortably on Social Security alone.
Celebrating Older Americans Month: How Baby Boomers Are Redefining What It Means To Grow Older In A Modern World | PR Newswire
Each May, the contributions of older Americans take center stage as communities celebrate Older Americans Month. The theme this year is Connect, Create, and Contribute, encouraging older adults and their communities to connect with friends and family, create activities that promote learning, health, and personal enrichment, and contribute time, talent and life experience to benefit others.
Opinion: As Boomers Age, Congress Must Re-Authorize Older Americans Act | Sand Diego Times
The U.S. senior population continues to grow as Baby Boomers, the largest generation behind Millennials, reach older age. There are 40 million Americans over the age of 65, and according to a 2017 U.S. Census Bureau report, it’s estimated that by 2035 there will be 78 million people aged 65 and older.
Disabled & Sexy: My Life Of Raunchy Selfies & A Prosthetic Leg | Refinery 29
Women with disabilities complain time and again of being made to feel invisible by the media. Progress is happening in some fields – such as acting, comedy and journalism – but at a glacial pace. “Even campaigns or content that are purposely striving to include marginalised women routinely miss out those with disabilities,” wrote the Guardian’s Frances Ryan last year, flagging the glaring lack of disability representation in fashion and beauty campaigns. “When this exclusion happens often, it eventually finds a place inside of you: a shameful message that you’re not quite like other women.”
Tennessee will test CMS’ willingness to block-grant Medicaid | Modern Healthcare
Tennessee Republicans will test the Trump administration’s willingness to radically restructure Medicaid by turning it into a block grant program. The GOP-led Legislature passed a bill last week ordering the governor to submit a Section 1115 waiver request within six months. The waiver would seek federal approval to transform TennCare, the $12 billion Medicaid program covering 1.3 million Tennesseans, from an open-ended entitlement program to one where the federal government makes fixed payments. Tennessee Republican Gov. Bill Lee indicated he will sign the bill.
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