Baltimore County, MD Time of Your LIfe, 24 Jun 2019

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From YouTube: No Senior Eats Alone Day - September 12, 2019

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Dayna Brown, Deputy Director, Baltimore County Department of Aging.

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Welcome back to the time of your life., I'm your host, ethel rasmussen.

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social isolation is a growing concern for older adults., learn about bcda's new program to support living connected with dayna brown, deputy director at the baltimore county department of aging. dayna,. Welcome to the show.. Thank you for having me.

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bcda targets, ways to promote living connected as part of the agency's social isolation, initiative.

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Can you share information about social isolation, and why it's a growing, concern?, certainly.

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Well,, first of all,, what we know is that we're all social, creatures, and in, when we, as we get older,.

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Our social circles tend to diminish..

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So when we're younger, we have a number of social circles.

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Including work, family,.

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Fun (laughs), school.

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But as we get older a lot of those things, diminish.

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Because of retirement, because of loss of family, because of loss of spouse, just because of loss of functioning and the ability to get out and about..

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So one of the things that we also know is that probably about a third of all older americans across the country live alone..

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Now that doesn't necessarily mean they're socially isolated,, but the likelihood that that is a possibility does exist.

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and those who are socially isolated are much more prone to a lot of health and mental health. Issues.

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Hypertension, even cognitive decline and alzheimer's disease.

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depression,, you name it., so the ability to be able to connect with people.

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Is really important, and what helps people.

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To thrive and survive, and have a much better quality of life as they get older. and what we've done at bcda over the past year,.

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And what we've done for the past 40 years, is help people stay living connected in their communities. and the focus this year in terms of.

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The social isolation initiative is to really focus.

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Even further on that.

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So sharing a meal is a social experience,.

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And bcda's new program, kind of bridges, the gap between eating and fellowship..

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Let's talk about the department of aging's no senior eats alone, day.

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Absolutely, so on september 12th, this year,.

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We are promoting a no senior eats alone, day.

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And that's not just for lunch, but breakfast, lunch, dinner,. Maybe all three.

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What we are really looking at is people in the community,, whether it's family, members,, friends,, neighbors,, businesses,,.

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To find a senior in your neighborhood,.

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Next door, in your family,, who you think might be socially isolated,, who you think might not be connected to friends and neighbors, and have a meal with them.

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Sometimes the best way to get someone.

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Back to being connected is to just break bread., so we're really promoting this, and there are a number of ways that people can do. This.

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So if baltimore communities would like to participate and support seniors on this day,, how can they get involved?.

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Oh, there are,, like I said,, there are a number of ways.. We have 20 senior centers across the county.

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Pick up a neighbor, pick up a friend, take 'em to the senior center and we're gonna be offering a special meal that day..

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If you call ahead and make a reservation at our eating together, program.

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Restaurants can sponsor discounts.

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For people who bring in a senior.

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we,, you know, have your, if your church or synagogue, or whatever your faith, is, host a luncheon or a cookout for the older adults in your congregation.

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All your neighbors get together and throw a block party, and find the neighbors that you don't necessarily see coming out of the house on a regular basis. senior housing buildings,.

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If there are businesses that want to allow their employees to take some time, off,.

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Take a senior out to lunch during work, time.

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Anything is possible.

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[Ethel] sounds like there's lots of options to get involved. on your screen,. You can see how you can host an event and become a partner.

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so for partner information,. You would call 410-887-3052.

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Dayna, for those that would like to sign up to participate in no senior eats alone day,, how can they do that?.

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Well, they can do that either by calling our map office,, which is maryland access point., and I think that number is gonna be on your screen as well..

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You could also go to the senior center,, like I said,, and register for the eating together program for that day as well.

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and the number that you had also just previously announced.

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people can call that number to look for opportunities as well.

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And you can also go onto the baltimore county department of aging website, and there'll, be links there for all of our partners.

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absolutely.. So let's get involved.

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All right, yes, yes.

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[Ethel], thank you for being with, on the show today.

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No, and thank you for having me. we're gonna take a short break,.

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And when we get back we'll be speaking with debbie orlove, community business liaison at the department of aging, about what's happening at your local senior center.

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(soft, instrumental music).