Pebble Beach, CA Elder Abuse Alert, Beware Of Fraudsters Asking You To Use CashApp, Venmo Or Zelle

An old woman with a bruised eye and hand on her face.


AARP has been great about tracking the latest scams tracking senior citizens, but a surprising number of people continue to fall for scams, mostly pitched over the phone.  First, I have a practice of using caller ID and won’t pick up the phone if I don’t recognize the caller.  This can screen out a lot of the potential scammers.  AARP says that historically fraud operators have tried to get your money in one of four ways—gift cards, wire transfers, cyber currency or cash.  These are all untraceable once you send them.  However, AARP says a fifth form of payment is on the rise, peer-to-peer (P2P) money transfer services like CashApp, Venmo or Zelle.  Beware of anyone asking you to send money using these apps.

Few Taking Advantage Of Free Lung Cancer Screening

A woman with glasses and a tie dye shirt smoking.


According to a study by Kaiser Permanente Colorado Institute for Health Research, only 5.8% of those eligible for a free lung cancer screening are getting them.  Many people believe that because they quite smoking many years ago that they are not at risk of getting lung cancer.  However that may not be true.  Lung cancer remains the deadliest cancer in the United States, killing about 130K Americans each year.  About 60% are caught after the tumor has spread beyond the lung and is past the point of being cured.  The five year survival rate for lung cancer is only 25% so please take advantage of this free screening!

Beware Of Fake Telehealth Companies

A person holding a stethoscope in front of a laptop.


A flurry of start-ups have been advertising on Facebook, Instagram and Tik-Tok touting medications which are not approved by the Food and Drug Administration for the purpose the advertisement is pushing.  For instance, the Wall Street Journal reported that start-up Home Health ran an ad with a middle-aged man holding a dumbbell and saying testosterone “literally changed my life†restoring his energy and happiness.  The problem is, the man is an actor who has never used the drug and the ad doesn’t mention that testosterone is only approved by the FDA for treating specific disorders and carries with it the risk of heart attacks and stroke.  Beware of these ads,  they have increased significantly since the pandemic began.

Age Well, Drive Smart CHP Workshop For Seniors March 22

A group of people giving thumbs up to the camera.


Alliance on Aging has a lot of great classes at their headquarters in Salinas called “The Hub†at 236 Monterey Street including an Age Well Drive Smart free CHP driving Workshop put on by the Independent Transportation Network in Monterey County March 22 from 10:00 a.m. to noon.  To reserve your spot, call 233-3447 and learn helpful tips from CHP Public Information Officer J. Madueno.  Participants must show proof of vaccination or wear a mask.

For more information go to www.allianceonaging.org/hub/

Biden Gives Proposes Additional Funding To Medicare

A woman sitting next to an older man on a couch.


President Joe Biden is about to release a budget proposal which would extend the solvency of a key Medicare trust fund by at least 25 years.  This would be funded by raising the Medicare tax on people earning more than $400K per year from 3.8% to 5.0%.  The tax would not only apply to earnings, it would be taxed on business income, self-employment income and investment income.  President Biden also said he would divert some taxes from the government’s general fund to a Medicare fund.  Reserves for Medicare’s hospital-insurance fund are only sufficient to fund it through 2028, at which point it would only cover 90% of hospital coverage.

Carmel, CA Home Care Aide (HCA) Senior Alzheimer’s & Dementia Caregiver Jobs Available : Set Your Own Hours: $2/Hour Extra On The Weekends CNA or HHA Designation A Plus

A man and woman looking at a laptop


Carmel-by-the-sea, CA Home Care Aide (HCA) Senior Alzheimer’s & Dementia Caregiver Jobs Available : Set Your Own Hours: $2/Hour Extra On The Weekends CNA or HHA Designation A Plus (Also Aromas, Big Sur, Carmel, Carmel Highlands, Carmel Valley, Castroville, Del Rey Oaks, Gonzalez, Greenfield, King City, Pacific Grove, Pebble Beach, Prunedale, Salinas, Seaside & Soledad

We have developed a reputation for having the best caregivers (Home Care Aides or Senior Companions) in Monterey County over the past decade and have recently expanded into Santa Cruz County.   We are currently looking for qualified caregivers.

Family inHome Caregiving of Monterey and Santa Cruz is seeking compassionate, mature and dependable caregivers who want to improve the lives of our elderly Clients by providing in-home, non-medical care.  Our services include:

Caring companionship

Meal preparation

Incidental transportation

Running errands

Light housekeeping

Medication reminders

Monitoring of safety while bathing

Information and referral services

Other services that improve the safety, security and quality of life of seniors.

If you believe you would make an exceptional Home Care Aide, we would love to hear from you!  We prefer those with experience helping the elderly, disabled and others with mobility problems.  Having cared for those with dementia and/or Alzheimer’s is a plus.  To work for us, you must have excellent references, a clear criminal record, a good driving record, and an insured reliable vehicle.  To apply, please visit our website www.familyinhomecaregiving.com, click on careers where you can fill out an application online or go to https://tsc221.ersp.biz/index.cfm?event=Apply.index

We have immediate openings all over Monterey County.

Labor Shortage Bringing More Seniors Into The Caregiving Industry

A close up of an old person holding someone 's hands


The Wall Street Journal wrote an interesting story about more older Americans entering the labor market, and many becoming caregivers.  The article profiled Diane Richards, a Registered Nurse who began working at a home care agency at the age of 81!  Seniors are taking personal care and companionship positions at home-care agencies which aren’t extremely labor intensive and can boost their income.  The number of people older than 65 working or seeking work has increased by 6.4 million or 144% over the past two decades according to the Labor Department, while the broader labor force grew by about 13% during the same time period.  These older workers can be more dependable and often more flexible about working weekend shifts than younger workers.  They can also identify and empathize with the aches and pains which come with aging.

New Cholesterol Treatments Hit The Market

A stethoscope and heart on the table.


Roughly 30% of people who have been prescribed traditional statins to reduce blood pressure in order to reduce the risk of heart attacks and strokes can’t take the dosage prescribed because they can’t tolerate the muscle pain that is often a side effect.  Recent research has provided new evidence that non-statin treatments can reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease by taking two daily cholesterol-lowering pills along with an anti-inflammatory pill.  Physicians have embraced the new treatment strategy.  “We need to do whatever we can to lower LDL cholesterol,†Dr. Eugene Yan, a cardiologist at the University of Washington, told the Wall Street Journal.  Unfortunately, the new treatment options are more costly than statins, so we will have to see how Medicare and private insurance companies weigh in on this.

Diabetes Treatment Enters A New Phase

A person holding their hands together in the middle of a field.


New guidelines for treating Type 2 diabetes call for the use of one of the newer diabetes medicines rather than Metformin in order to help reduce weight and protect the heart and kidneys.  Many people suffer from hypertension, kidney disease and obesity along with Type 2 diabetes so this should be welcome news that these new drugs can help with that.  “It’s a fundamental departure from the classical approach of trying to fix the blood sugars, which is what we used to focus on because it’s all we could really do,†Dr. Marie McDonnell, director of the diabetes program at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, told the Wall Street Journal.   The new drugs belong to two classes known by the acronyms SGLT-2 and GLP-1.  The changes are being made so doctors can tailor the drug to the patient, rather than have a one-size-fits-all strategy, according to Dr. Nuha Ali El Sayed, an endocrinologist at the Joslin Diabetes Center in Boston.  He is also VP of healthcare improvement at the American Diabetes Association.

A man and woman looking at a laptop


Carmel, CA Home Care Aide (HCA) Senior Alzheimer’s & Dementia Caregiver Jobs Available : Set Your Own Hours: $2/Hour Extra On The Weekends CNA or HHA Designation A Plus (Also Aromas, Big Sur, Carmel-by-the-sea, Carmel Highlands, Carmel Valley, Castroville, Del Rey Oaks, Gonzalez, Greenfield, King City, Pacific Grove, Pebble Beach, Prunedale, Salinas, Seaside & Soledad

We have developed a reputation for having the best caregivers (Home Care Aides or Senior Companions) in Monterey County over the past decade and have recently expanded into Santa Cruz County.   We are currently looking for qualified caregivers.

Family inHome Caregiving of Monterey and Santa Cruz is seeking compassionate, mature and dependable caregivers who want to improve the lives of our elderly Clients by providing in-home, non-medical care.  Our services include:

Caring companionship

Meal preparation

Incidental transportation

Running errands

Light housekeeping

Medication reminders

Monitoring of safety while bathing

Information and referral services

Other services that improve the safety, security and quality of life of seniors.

If you believe you would make an exceptional Home Care Aide, we would love to hear from you!  We prefer those with experience helping the elderly, disabled and others with mobility problems.  Having cared for those with dementia and/or Alzheimer’s is a plus.  To work for us, you must have excellent references, a clear criminal record, a good driving record, and an insured reliable vehicle.  To apply, please visit our website www.familyinhomecaregiving.com, click on careers where you can fill out an application online or go to https://tsc221.ersp.biz/index.cfm?event=Apply.index

We have immediate openings all over Monterey County.