News

Days are longer and milder. Nothing like a good “stretch of the legs” to get your heart pumping, your lungs working, and your brain clear of those winter cobwebs.
Walking is great exercise. Walking in good company is even better.
Let’s get together once a week for a moderate walk and some easy conversation. We’ll begin gently with a ONE-MILE ROUND TRIP from the parking lot at St. Sophias’ Greek Orthodox Church, 440 Whitehall Road to the Sidney Albert Albany Jewish Community Center, 340 Whitehall Road, and back.
Depending on interest, we may finish our walk with a stop at Spinner’s Restaurant in Crestwood Plaza for refreshments.
HERE ARE THE DETAILS
WHAT A one-mile round-trip moderately paced walk along level terrain on Whitehall Road, Albany, New York
WHEN Monday evenings beginning June 3rd, 2013 at 5:30pm (Ongoing through the Fall)
WHY Because it feels good and is good for you too!
WHAT TO BRING/WEAR Water bottle. Comfortable clothing. Supportive, secure footwear. Dress for the weather, however, we will NOT WALK IN HEAVY RAIN.
RSVP We will leave the St. Sophias’ Parking lot promptly at 5:30 p.m. and would like to know if you are joining us. Call Judi England at the NNORC office to let me know if you are coming: 514 -2023.
And remember:…”The best form of exercise is the one that you will do!”
 

What a better way to recap the day than to do it with neighbors and friends over ice cream. That’s what seniors in the NNORC are doing.  Every Tuesday at 6:30 pm, from now until July 23rd, you’ll find our seniors sitting at the cottage-like ice cream parlor, surrounded by a white picket fence, bright lights, colorful walls, candies, chocolates and sprinkles. They’re talking about family, current events and good times gone by.
If you want to take a break and enjoy great company and a sweet bite, join us on Tuesday nights at Emack and Bolio’s.

Jerry_Ilene_Sykes_WebMore than 100 people helped raise more than $30,000 at Jewish Family Services’ Annual Celebration held on June 6, 2013 at Shabbos House, reported event chair Karen Setzen.
At the event Jerry and Ilene Sykes received the Anschel Weiss Community Builders Award, which bestows the agency’s highest honor for outstanding leadership and a commitment to improving the lives of adults, children and families in our community. See electronic photo album below.
Longtime friend Dick Kotlow gave remarks about the Sykes saying, “Their commitment to the community encompasses both the Jewish Community and many other organizations of the Greater Capital District.”
In accepting their award, Jerry Sykes said that he and Ilene learned generosity from their parents: “Ilene and I both grew up with parents who gave time, energy and money to support their synagogues as well as many other charitable causes in their communities and they always encouraged us to follow their lead.”
Ilene and Jerry owned and operated The Party Warehouse since 1989. During those 24 years, both through their business and personally, they enthusiastically supported many not for profit organizations throughout the Capital District.
In addition Ilene and Jerry served on numerous Boards of Directors. Ilene is Past President of the Sidney Albert Albany Jewish Community Center, Congregation Beth Emeth, and Jewish Federation of Northeastern New York. She is currently President of Hillel at the University of Albany and sits on several other boards. Jerry is Past President of the New York State Museum Institute and past Board member of Capital Repertory Theatre and Saint Anne’s Institute. He currently is on the Endowment Board of Governors of Jewish Federation of Northeastern New York and is a board member of the Daughters of Sarah Foundation and Shabbos House.
About Jewish Family Services
JFS provides compassionate, healing services that enrich the community and improve people’s lives. JFS services are infused with Jewish values and help strengthen individuals, families and our community.
Our highly skilled staff provides individualized care for children, teens, adults, older adults and families. We are a non-profit agency that provides services which help nearly 3,000 people each year, through counseling, court evaluations, anger management groups, supervised visitation and parenting services—plus a range of supportive and wellness services for seniors and their families. For more information on Jewish Family Services, please call 518-482-8856 or visit www.jfsneny.org.
Photo Credit: Brianna Melanson

 

There were audible gasps from the audience as Dr. Mark Pettus painted a picture of a country whose health and well-being was in poor shape, and getting worse.
On Monday, May 20th dozens of community members took part in an evening program that was both informative and engaging, as we explored how we are anything but “prisoners” of our DNA.  The lecture was part of the JFS Miriam Adler Family Life Education series, and took place at Congregation Beth Emeth.
By taking charge of our “environmental inputs” Dr. Pettus stressed that we can play an active role in determining whether helpful genes are “turned on”, or non-helpful ones are “turned off”.  Some of these environmental inputs include:

  • The foods you eat
  • The amount of movement you engage in
  • How you interpret and respond to stress in your life
  • Quality of sleep
  • Environmental toxin exposure
  • Love and social connection
  • Meaning in one’s love, work, and play
  • Medications

Dr. Pettus argues that understanding how our “Book of Life”—the genetic information we receive from our parents—interacts with our lifestyle we can make choices that greatly improve our chances for a healthier future. These choices matter, whether we are 6 or 60!
A lively period of questions and answer followed the presentation, indicating an eagerness to become more proactive health-wise.
Although the science of epigenetics is in its infancy, the principles clearly reflect common sense wisdom. Consider this Thomas Edison quote shared by Dr. Pettus:
“The doctor of the future will give no medicine, but will interest her or his patients in the care of the human frame, in a proper diet, and in
the cause and prevention of disease.”
For those  looking to learn more, Dr. Pettus shared his website: www.thesavvypatient.com. The site hold a host of articles related to epigenetics, nutrition, sleep, meditation/mindfulness and other aspects of health.  In his discussion of environmental toxins, Dr. Pettus suggested we check out the Environmental Working Group site (www.ewg.org) as a helpful resource.
Here at JFS and the NNORC we continue to look for ways to improve the well-being of our community members. We welcome your suggestions for future programs and activities that would support these efforts. Please feel free to contact us at 514-2023 to share your ideas.
 

We’re off on a fun and educational excursion to Wilderstein and FDR’s home at Springwood and taking time to have lunch overlooking the Hudson River at Shadow’s on the Hudson Restaurant.
We are also pleased to announce that Dennis Gaffney, SUNYA professor, writer and occasional NNORC speaker, will accompany us to add to the history of the day. “All that is within me cries out to go back to my home on the Hudson River.” This quote captures Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s connection to Springwood, the estate that he loved and the place he considered home. The first U.S. Presidential Library was started by FDR here. We will visit the home of FDR and Presidential Library & Museum to learn about the only President elected to four terms.
The last resident of Wilderstein was Margaret (Daisy) Suckley.  A cousin and confidante of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Miss Suckley traveled extensively with FDR during his presidency, gave him his famous black Scottish terrier Fala and helped to establish his library in Hyde Park. The True Story of Fala, written by Miss Suckley, describes Fala’s life as the presidential dog.  Miss Suckley was with FDR when he was fatally stricken at Warm Springs, Georgia in 1945. She died at Wilderstein in 1991, in her 100th year. The letters they exchanged during their friendship, discovered in a black battered suitcase at Wilderstein, provide one of the best resources for understanding the private side of Roosevelt’s life during his presidency. They have been edited by Geoffrey C. Ward in the book Closest Companion.
The trip promises to be one filled with history, good food and new experiences. With lunch overlooking the river, what could be bad?
DATE Wednesday, June 5, 2013
TIME Bus leaves St. Sophia’s at 9:00 a.m.
RSVP REQUIRED 518-514-2023 or Email JFS
FEE 
$59 for NNORC members and $62 for non members.
To warm you up for the day at Wilderstein and FDR’s home, on June 4 at 3:00 p.m., we will show the film “Hyde Park on the Hudson” at St. Sophia’s. The film is free for those participating on the trip. If trip participants wish to remain for dinner, a reduced rate of $8.00 will be charged for the dinner. Those coming just for the dinner and movie and NOT traveling the next day will be charged $10 for members and $12 for non-members.
 

Seniors do yoga with JFS.
Looking for a fun way to de-stress and shape-up? Wanting to build flexibility, balance and strength in a safe and gentle way? Join us for Yoga at St. Sophia’s!
Judi England, RN, LMT, Senior Health Education Coordinator for NNORC and Yoga Instructor and will lead an experience of movement and breathing as the foundations of this centuries-old practice.
All-levels of experience are welcome—even brand-new beginners. Participants should be able to get up and down from the floor. Wear comfortable clothing so you are free to move. Bring a water bottle, yoga mat, small pillow, and an open mind. A guided relaxation ends each class.
Judi England is the Senior Health Education Coordinator for the JFS NNORC. When she’s not teaching yoga, she is leading Healthy Living classes for seniors, conducting blood pressure clinics, writing articles for NNORC News and planning health and wellness clinicas for seniors. Judi is a certified Kripalu yoga instructor.

Instructor: Judi England
Date: Tuesdays, Five Sessions Remaining: 6/4, 6/11, 6/18, 6/25 & 7/2
Time: 5:30-6:30 pm
Place: St. Sophia’s Church, 440 Whitehall Rd., Albany
Fee: Free
RSVP Required: 518-514-2023 – space is limited

Couple Maximizes Their Health through Weekly WlakingConventional wisdom has long held that the genetic cards you inherent are yours for life—for better or worse. Despite what we’ve been told, we are not prisoners of our DNA.
Dr. Mark Pettus provides recent, compelling evidence that your genes are actually quite malleable, and that human beings are designed to change and adapt in response to our environment. How you bathe your DNA in food, love, stress, play and work ultimately influences your health now, and in the future! As one great Yogi [Berra] from the 20th century reminds us…”the future ain’t what it used to be.”

Dr. Mark Pettus
is the Chief of Medicine at St. Peter’s Hospital in Albany, NY. He is former Chief of Staff, Associate Chair of the Department of Medicine and the Associate Program Director of the Internal Medicine Residency Training Program at Berkshire Medical Center. He is the author of two books: The Savvy Patient: The Ultimate Advocate For Quality Health Care and It’s All in Your Head: Change Your Mind, Change Your Health, and Change Your Life. Dr. Pettus has appeared on numerous TV and Radio venues nationally including Good Morning America, NPR and PBS.
DATE Monday, May 20, 2013
TIME 6:30
PLACE Congregation Beth Emeth, 100 Academy Rd., Albany, NY 12208
RSVP 518-482-8856 or email JFS
FEE Free

If you’re thinking this is going to be an article about ecology or even about getting ready for next month’s St. Patrick’s Day, guess again.
What I’m talking about are the greens that you dine on. The leafy, crunchy delicious morsels that are absolutely essential to a healthy diet, and that we don’t get quite enough of in the SAD (Standard American Diet).
Back in ancient times when early man wandered the earth, they grazed as they went. One article mentioned that man may have consumed as much as six pounds of leaves in a day.  With all that walking we were hungry, and our eyes were no doubt attracted to the beautiful color of the foliage. I can hear them now, walking through the prehistoric landscape: “Ugh….. Ummmm…. tasty…ummm.”
Well, modern man still needs those greens for optimal health. The USDA recommends three cups per week. Calorie for calorie, greens pack the most concentrated form of nutritional punch of any food. They contain abundant minerals such as iron, calcium, potassium and magnesium. As far as vitamins go, they are rich in K,C, E, and B—all of which are necessary for everything from blood clotting, to building strong bones, reducing inflammation and preventing diabetes.
Then there are the phytonutrients . Neither vitamin, nor minerals, these chemicals found in plant foods carry names like beta-carotene, lutein, and zeaxanthin, and their presence in our diet can help ward off disease, and mitigate the damage aging may do to our eyes, skin and other cells.
Trying to manage weight gain?  Get more greens in your diet! Low in carbs, high in fiber, they are slow to digest and have a high satiety value in addition to their nutritional benefits.
Best of all—they are delicious! There are lots of choices out there: kale, collards, spinach, arugula, Swiss chard, mustard greens, escarole and rapini, just to name a few. When choosing remember the darker the green color, the higher the vitamin content.
Tossing fresh greens with a little unsaturated oil such as olive or canola, or serving greens with fish or nuts will help the body absorb vitamin A and K—both of which are fat-soluble.
One word of caution about greens:  make sure to wash them thoroughly before eating as greens such as spinach can frequently be a cause of food-born illness.  I wash mine again, even if the bag says they’ve been “triple-washed,” just to be on the safe side. Not a bad idea to choose organic for greens as well.
So, put those greens on your grocery list with a big exclamation point!
Looking for a tasty recipe that’s easy to fix and easy to enjoy?  Here’s one for a lovely soup which a friend shared with me a while back. Even if you choose to go completely vegetarian switching out the chicken stock for vegetable broth, the lentils give this soup plenty of protein.
Lentil, Spinach and Lemon Soup
(serves 4 with leftovers)
Ingredients
Olive oil
2 shallots, chopped
1 rosemary stalk
1 cup red lentils, rinsed and picked over
3 medium potatoes, quartered and sliced into bite-sized pieces
1 quart chicken (or vegetable) broth
1 tsp. fennel seeds, crushed
3 handfuls fresh spinach, stems removed and chopped
juice of 1 lemon (plus some zest if you really like it lemony)
salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
In a medium-sized pot, heat a bit of olive oil, and cook the shallots for a few minutes.  Add the garlic and rosemary.  Cook for another few minutes, until fragrant and soft.  Add the lentils, and cook, stirring, for another few minutes.  Add the potatoes, broth, and fennel seeds.  Simmer, covered for 20 minutes until potatoes are soft and soup is creamy.  Stir in the spinach and lemon, and serve hot.
Bet our prehistoric ancestors would have walked an extra mile or two for a bowl of this!
 

With new healthcare rules and changes we need to understand what is involved in discharge planning.   Discharge planning helps to make sure that you leave the hospital safely and smoothly and get the right care after that. This sounds simple, but it can be frustrating.
You might wonder why you are leaving. You might have questions about what will happen when you get home and what your family can do to help. You may worry about who’s going to pay for your care.
You, the person who is caring for you, and the planner work together to address your concerns in a discharge plan. Whether you go home, to a relative’s home, to a rehabilitation facility, or to another health care setting, your plan outlines the care you need.  Let’s review the “risk” involved and the qualifiers:
Low Risk Discharge

  • Independent in activities of daily living
  • Caregivers in the home and available to assist
  • Live alone with community support
  • Independent with management of chronic disease
  • Adherent to treatment plan
  • Consistently followed by practitioner

Moderate Risk Discharge

  • Lives alone with limited community support
  • Requires assistance with medications
  • Issues of health literacy
  • History of mental illness
  • Polypharmacy (taking more than 7 medications)

If you are deemed to have two or more of these qualifiers you may be referred to home care or skilled nursing for observation and assessment, teaching and training, performance of skilled treatment or procedure, physical, speech or occupational therapy, medical social work, or telehealth care management.
High Risk Discharge

  • Lives alone with no community support
  • Lives with family that is not actively involved in care
  • Clinically complex—e.g., multiple co-morbidities, repeat hospitalizations or Emergency Room visits, needs considerable assistance to manage or is unable to manage medical needs
  • History of falls
  • Acute/chronic wound or pressure ulcer
  • Incontinent
  • Cognitive impairment
  • History of mental illness
  • COPD/ Diabetes/ HIV/AIDS
  • End stage condition
  • Requires assistance in transferring, ambulating, medication management or management of oxygen and/or nebulizer

This patient is high risk for rehospitalization and should be referred to home care services ASAP.
Get involved with your discharge planning. You (or your caregiver) can give the discharge planner important information about your daily activities. Tell your discharge planner what you and your caregiver can and can’t do, and make your wishes known. As always, call the JFS NNORC if you need help with accessing services. We can be reached at 514-2023.
 

Aaaah sleep. Nothing is quite as wonderful as drifting off to sleep undisturbed after a full day.
A “Good Night’s Sleep” is right up there on most folks’ wish list right along with world peace, more closet space and winning the lottery. Despite the fact that we supposedly spend one third of our lives in dreamland, lots of us bemoan the fact that we’re not getting nearly enough. Even if you do manage to log in the needed hours according to the clock, quality not simply quantity is also an issue.
Far from being idle during snooze time, your body and mind are doing some very important work. The body needs sleep—enough sound sleep—to function at peak. Besides the obvious fatigue and crankiness that follows a short, fitful night here’s some of the other negative consequences of having poor sleep:

  • Increased risk of depression
  • Greater tendency to weight gain
  • Higher incidence of prostate cancer in men, breast cancer in women
  • Poor memory, impaired creativity
  • Increased production of inflammatory hormones which affect blood vessel walls, and may contribute to developing heart disease
  • Increased risk of Type 2 Diabetes

No thanks. Don’t want any of those!
There’s been lots of articles on how to improve sleep. There’s the obvious suggestions about getting enough exercise during the day, allowing yourself transition time in the evening, avoiding stimulants such as caffeine later in the day, even foods which can help ease us off to “Lily White’s Party” (my Mom’s favorite term for bedtime).
But there’s another culprit that seems to be a growing problem. Light at night (LAN)—even in very small doses disrupts that critical internal clock—our circadian rhythm—that naturally regulates the wake/sleep cycle by suppressing the chemical regulator melatonin.
In nature, as daytime light fades, the production of melatonin begins to increase. We yawn, stretch and find that our eyelids are getting heavy, very heavy. Notice I said “in nature.”  Technology has gifted us with new ways of simulating daytime light—high in the “blue” spectrum. We have TV, Computer screens, iPads, even glowing alarm clocks.  Sitting for hours in front of these gadgets tricks the body into delaying melatonin release. It only takes a moment or two of light exposure for melatonin production to drop.
Some other helpful suggestions for promoting sound sleep include:

  • Dim lights and turn off lighted screens about an hour before turning in. Turn down the brightness on your computer screen, and position the device as far away from your eyes as you can.  E-Readers are not backlit, and don’t seem to be a problem.
  • Remove as much ambient light from the bedroom as you can with darkening shades or curtains. Even turn that glowing alarm clock around to the wall. Consider using an eye-mask for sleep.
  • Avoid nightlights or overhead lights once you turn in. One article suggests keeping a flashlight (not LED) at bedside for trips to the WC or to let a pet out.
  • Get enough natural light during the day either outdoors or with full-spectrum bulbs.
  • Try to get to bed by 10:00 pm, so your body can work with, rather than against, melatonin.
  • Get the TV out of the boudoir! Bed is for rest and romance…end of story.

So—Good-night. Sleep tight!

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