Is skin cancer hereditary? My 63-year-old sibling passed away from melanoma last year and I am wondering if I am at higher risk.

While long-term sun exposure and sunburns are the biggest risk factors for melanoma – the deadliest form of skin cancer – having a sibling or parent with melanoma does indeed increase your risk, according to the Skin Cancer Foundation.

Each year, around 100,000 Americans are diagnosed with melanoma and about 7,500 people will die from it. While anyone can get melanoma, those most often diagnosed are age 50 and older and of Caucasian descent. High-risk individuals include people with red or blond hair, blue or green eyes, fair skin, freckles, moles, a family history of skin cancer and those who had blistering sunburns in their youth.

Skin Exams

The best way to guard against melanoma and other skin cancers, such as basal and squamous cell carcinomas, is to protect yourself from the sun. Additionally, if you are over the age of 50, it is best to get a yearly, full-body skin exam done by a dermatologist, especially if you are high risk.

Self-examinations done every month or so may help detect early problems. Using mirrors check the front and backside of your entire body, including the tops and undersides of your arms, hands, between your toes, the soles of your feet, your neck, scalp and buttocks.

Be on the lookout for new growths, moles that have changed, or sores that do not heal, and follow the ABCDE rule when examining suspicious moles:

• Asymmetry: One half of a mole doesn't match the other.
• Border: The border is blurred or ragged.
• Color: The mole has uneven colors, often shades of brown, tan or black, with patches of pink, red, white or blue.
• Diameter: The lesion is new or at least a quarter inch in diameter.
• Evolving: The mole is changing in size, shape or color.

For more self-examination tips and pictures of what to look for, you can use your favorite search engine or use a skin cancer detection app. In the spring and summer, there are also a variety of places that offer free skin cancer screenings performed by volunteer dermatologists across the U.S.

Sun Protection

Although you cannot change your skin or family history, there are some proven strategies that can help protect against melanoma.

For starters, when you go outside, apply broad-spectrum SPF 30 or higher, water-resistant sunscreen on both sunny and cloudy days. Check with your healthcare provider for the best type for your skin. Additionally, seek the shade when rays are most intense – generally between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.

You can also protect your skin by wearing a wide-brimmed hat, long sleeves and pants when possible. The best clothing options are tightly woven fabrics that help prevent the sun's rays from reaching your skin. You can wash your clothes in a laundry additive to provide invisible shield sun protection. You can buy a variety of lightweight clothing and hats that offer maximum UV protection in their fabric. Use your favorite search engine to look for these types of products.

Treatments

If caught early, melanoma is curable. However, if it is not caught early, the cancer can advance and spread to other parts of the body where it becomes hard to treat and can be fatal. Standard early treatment for melanoma is surgical removal. In advanced cases, however, immunotherapies and targeted therapies have shown positive results, as well as chemotherapy and radiation.

Savvy Living is written by Jim Miller, a regular contributor to the NBC Today Show and author of "The Savvy Living" book. Any links in this article are offered as a service and there is no endorsement of any product. These articles are offered as a helpful and informative service to our friends and may not always reflect this organization's official position on some topics. Jim invites you to send your senior questions to: Savvy Living, P.O. Box 5443, Norman, OK 73070.

My doctor recently suggested I start a walking program to help get my weight and blood pressure under control. I do not exercise much, can you recommend helpful tips for staying active?

You should follow your doctor's orders. This column is not medical advice. It is an educational overview of the benefits of walking. Years of research have shown that walking may be one of the best exercises to improve your health as you age. It burns calories, which may help you lose weight, build endurance and enhance muscle tone. Walking is less likely to aggravate your joints as compared to other forms of exercise. It also helps improve or prevent many age-related health problems, including high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease, arthritis, osteoporosis, dementia and even depression.

Walking is one of the easiest and most convenient exercises and can be completely free. All you need is a good pair of walking shoes that fit well and a little motivation. Here are some things you should know to help get you started and stay motivated.

Getting Started

Start out slow. For many people this means head out the door, walk for five to ten minutes and walk back. Do it every day for a week. When that seems easy, add five minutes to your walks the next week and keep adding five minutes until you are walking as long as you desire. It is also a smart idea to start and finish your walk with a few simple warm up and cool down stretches. Stretching may make you feel better and help prevent injury.

Most fitness professionals recommend walking about 30 minutes, five or more days a week. For optimal health benefits aim for 10,000 steps per day, which is the equivalent of about five miles.

Your walking pace is also important. Strolling around the park or neighborhood at an easy pace is good for you. You may find that a brisker pace, which may look like an elevated heart rate while still being able to carry on a conversation, provides better health, fitness and weight loss benefits.

Staying Motivated

While starting a walking program takes initiative, sticking with it takes commitment. Here are some tips to help you stay motivated.

Find a walking buddy: Having a friend to walk with can provide motivation and support along with companionship.

Wear a fitness tracker or pedometer: Tracker devices can measure how far you have walked in steps and miles. It may provide motivation by spurring you to meet a particular goal and showing you how close you are to meeting it. If you use a smartphone there are free pedometer apps you can download.

Join a walking club: To find a walking club in your community, call your nearby medical center, mall, health club, senior center, running shoe stores or Area Agency on Aging to see if they sponsor or know of any clubs or groups. You can also use your favorite search engine to search for non-competitive walking clubs in your area. If you are not having any luck, you may want to start a walking club.

Keep a journal: Use a journal to keep track of your walking minutes, steps, or mileage and total it up at the end of each week to see your progress. There are free apps that use GPS to map your walk and measure your distance and time, which can be fun and motivating to see your end of week values and compare walking times.

Have a backup plan: Bad weather, allergies or other factors may limit your outdoor walking. It is wise to have a backup plan like walking at your local mall, buying a home treadmill or joining a health club.

Savvy Living is written by Jim Miller, a regular contributor to the NBC Today Show and author of "The Savvy Living" book. Any links in this article are offered as a service and there is no endorsement of any product. These articles are offered as a helpful and informative service to our friends and may not always reflect this organization's official position on some topics. Jim invites you to send your senior questions to: Savvy Living, P.O. Box 5443, Norman, OK 73070.

What are some of the best travel discounts available to seniors? My spouse and I are about to retire and are interested in traveling more but live on a tight budget.

There are hundreds of different travel-related discounts available to senior travelers that can save you hundreds of dollars on your next trip. To qualify, you will need to meet the age requirement, which varies by business. Some discounts may be available as soon as you turn 50, but most do not kick in until later ages. Here is a rundown of top travel discounts, along with some extra tips to help you save.

Ways to Save

The first thing to know is that most businesses do not advertise senior discounts, but many give them if you ask.

You should also be aware that the "senior discount," if available, may not always be the best deal. For example, hotels, resorts, airlines and cruise lines offer advanced bookings along with special deals and promotions from time to time that may be at a lower rate than the senior discount. Before you book, always ask about the lowest possible rate and the best deal available.

Another way you can save is by being flexible when you travel. Last minute travel deals can offer huge savings, as does traveling during off-season or off-peak times and avoiding holidays.

Club memberships can also garner you a wide variety of travel bargains. They offer dozens of travel discounts on hotels, rental cars, cruises, vacation packages and more. Some membership clubs provide some great travel discounts to members at any age.

Types of Discounts

Here are of some of the best senior travel discounts available in 2022:

Airline: You should check for club membership discounts, as well as senior discounts. Typically, passenger must be age 65 to take advantage of the benefits. Not all airlines offer senior discounts, but some may offer veterans discounts.

Train: Travelers ages 65 and older may ask for a senior discount on domestic travel, up to a 10% discount. For cross-border services passengers typically must be age 60 to obtain the senior discount.

Rental Car: Certain club members may receive up to 30% off for senior discounts. Some rental car companies offer senior discounts as early as age 50.

Hotels: Certain hotel chains offer discounted rates for seniors usually ranging between 10% and 15% off but may vary by location. There may be additional discounts for club memberships as well.

Restaurants: Many restaurant chains offer senior discounts such as free drinks, discounted senior menus and discounts off your total order. Senior discounts may only be available on certain days of the week or at certain locations.

Cruises: Cruise lines may offer discount rates to cruisers age 55 and older on select cruises. It is best to call before booking to inquire.

Entertainment and Attractions: Most museums, zoos, aquariums, movie theaters, public golf courses and even ski slopes provide reduced admission to seniors over age 60 or 65. And for those 62 or older, one of the best deals available is the America the Beautiful Senior Pass ($20 for an annual senior pass, or $80 for a lifetime pass) which provides admittance to more than 2,000 national parks and recreation sites.

Savvy Living is written by Jim Miller, a regular contributor to the NBC Today Show and author of "The Savvy Living" book. Any links in this article are offered as a service and there is no endorsement of any product. These articles are offered as a helpful and informative service to our friends and may not always reflect this organization's official position on some topics. Jim invites you to send your senior questions to: Savvy Living, P.O. Box 5443, Norman, OK 73070.

From May 2022 Landscape Architecture Magazine
The Magazine of the American Society of Landscape Architects
By Timothy A. Schuler

A NOOK? A CRANNY?
THE DESIGNERS AT LAA OFFICE CAN WORK WITH THAT.

Lulu Loquidis, ASLA, and Daniel Luis Martinez founded LAA Office in Columbus, Indiana, in 2018.

Lulu Loquidis, ASLA, and Daniel Luis Martinez are comfortable in the gaps. As the founders of the multidisciplinary practice LAA Office (pronounced “law office”), the designers’ work exists between the disciplines of landscape, art, and architecture and, more often than not, in the voids of the built environment. Even their chosen home of Columbus, Indiana, represents a certain enthusiasm for the in-between.

“That willingness to explore the territory between disciplines is something that I think we were pretty keen on early on. And it’s been really fruitful, not only in Columbus, but we’re starting to work now generally in the Midwest, in Southern Indiana, in towns that are smaller than Columbus, and a lot of the driving force behind it is looking at these spaces between disciplines,” Martinez says.

The duo moved to Columbus in 2018, after Martinez accepted a teaching position in Indiana University’s newly established graduate architecture program in Columbus. The change opened new horizons. “Moving to the Midwest, we realized that most of our country does not look like New York City,” Loquidis, a landscape architect, says. “It’s opened up a broader view of our country and what it’s like,” Martinez adds.

A recent project in Salem, Indiana, exemplifies the designers’ interest in working with communities to reveal the artistic potential of disused, residual, or otherwise forgotten public space. Salem is a community of roughly 6,000 people located an hour south of Columbus, and like many towns its size, its public realm has been gradually ceded to cars. Heritage Park represents the beginning of an incremental reclamation, with a linear pocket park and 4,500 square feet of contemporary public art sited on what was an asphalt parking lot.

Funded through an initial $10,000 grant from Indiana University’s Center for Rural Engagement and $165,000 from Southern Indiana’s Regional Opportunities Initiative, the park is sited directly in front of city hall and one block from the town square. Running alongside the pocket park is a bright blue and green ground mural inspired by the region’s vernacular barn quilts (quilted patterns that are painted on the side of a barn or other outbuilding). The mural makes visible an existing pedestrian right-of-way that over time had been absorbed by the surrounding parking lots.

Loquidis and Martinez describe the park and mural as a “stitch” in Salem’s urban fabric, connecting two segments of a path originally designed to connect Salem’s historic town square and the John Hay Center, a prominent history museum. “This was very much a missing link in that path,” Loquidis says.

Dissolving the boundary between building and landscape, the art at Heritage Park extends from the ground plane up the blank facade of an adjacent building—an idea LAA Office first explored with Columbus’s 6th Street Arts Alley. Here, a commissioned mural by the Chicago-based artist Rafael Blanco features the faces of six trailblazing women with ties to Salem’s Washington County, including Sarah Parke Morrison, the first woman to graduate from Indiana University, who went on to also become the school’s first female faculty member.

Judy Johnson, the executive director of the Washington County Community Foundation, which helped fund and facilitate the building of Heritage Park, says that the park has had an eye-opening effect on the people of Salem.

“This has been a major catalyst for our city,” she says, citing the project’s direct influence on the foundation’s decision to install two new pieces of art outside Salem this summer and to continue the use of quilt patterns in other public projects. “Would we have gone down that road [without the park]? Maybe,” she says. “Did Heritage Park open up the avenue a whole lot quicker and make us more intentional about doing things that would promote an artistic flair in our community? Absolutely.”

THE ART OF MARGINS
Heritage Park in Salem, Indiana, used public art to transform a sliver of a parking lot into a community hub.

 

TIMOTHY A. SCHULER, THE EDITOR OF NOW, CAN BE REACHED AT TIMOTHYASCHULER@GMAIL.COM
AND ON TWITTER @TIMOTHY_ SCHULER.

On May 5, 2022, the Internal Revenue Service published a brief guide on tips to help you prepare for natural disasters. The month of May includes National Hurricane Preparedness Week and National Wildfire Awareness Month. Other natural disasters could include tropical storms, tornadoes, winds, floods, landslides and mudslides.

The month of May is an excellent time to begin reviewing your emergency preparedness plan. Part of that plan includes taking steps to protect personal documents and tax-related information.

1. Secure Key Documents — You should gather your tax returns, birth certificates, deeds to property and insurance policies and place them in a waterproof container or a secure location. Many individuals also create a duplicate of key documents and leave those with a trusted person or store them on an external drive.

2. Document Valuables — If there is a natural disaster, you could suffer the loss of valuable collections, furniture and other items in your home. You will have a much better opportunity to receive compensation from an insurance company or claim tax benefits for a disaster loss if you have good records. IRS Publication 584 includes disaster-loss workbooks that may help you compile lists of property.

3. Rebuild After a Disaster — If you do experience a disaster, you may need assistance from the government or your insurance company. If you have lost some or all of your tax records, the IRS has a webpage on " Reconstructing Records After a Natural Disaster or Casualty Loss" on www.irs.gov.

4. IRS Assistance — If the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) issues a disaster declaration for your area, the IRS often will postpone tax-filing and tax-payment deadlines. You do not need to call the IRS. The IRS computers can identify taxpayers who are located in covered disaster areas. If you have tax-related questions on a disaster in your area, contact the IRS at (866) 562-5227 to speak with a specialist. The IRS has trained staff who can answer disaster-related questions.

While individuals all hope not to be involved in a natural disaster, it could happen to you without notice. There are additional natural disaster preparations that will help protect you on www.irs.gov. There is also a webpage on the FEMA website with a recommended set of emergency supplies for a natural disaster. Check out "Build a Kit" on FEMA.gov for more information.

What exactly does Medicare cover when it comes to Alzheimer's disease? My spouse was recently diagnosed with early-stage Alzheimer's and we would like to find out what is covered and what is not.

You will be happy to know that most medical costs to treat patients with Alzheimer's disease are covered by Medicare. Unfortunately, long-term custodial care costs that most patients eventually need are not. Here is a breakdown of what Medicare does and does not cover when it comes to Alzheimer's disease, along with some tips to help you plan ahead.

Medical care: For the most part, ongoing medical care to diagnose and treat Alzheimer's disease is covered by Medicare Part B. This typically includes visits to primary care doctors and specialists, lab tests, speech and occupational therapy, home health care and outpatient counseling services. Medicare pays 80% of these costs, and the patient will be responsible for the remaining 20% after the annual $233 Part B deductible is met.

Sixty days of inpatient hospital care is also covered under Medicare Part A after the $1,556 deductible is paid. If the care goes beyond 60 days, a daily coinsurance fee is added.

Medications: Most Alzheimer's medications are covered under Medicare's Part D prescription drug plans, however, the coverage varies so check your plan's formulary. The only exception is Aduhelm, the controversial new drug that is estimated to cost $28,200 per year. Medicare Part B will only cover this drug if the patient is enrolled in a clinical trial.

Long-term custodial care: It is important to understand that original Medicare does not cover long-term custodial care such as nursing home care, assisted living facilities and adult day care. Medicare does, however, pay for some shorter-term nursing home care, but only up to 100 days if it is following a three-day or more inpatient hospital stay.

Home help for bathing, toileting and dressing (known as custodial care) is not covered by Medicare typically. It may be covered if the patient is also receiving skilled-nursing care or physical or occupational therapy.

To help with these costs, you may want to look into getting a long-term care insurance policy or short-term care plan if possible. Additionally, if your income and assets are very limited, you may qualify for Medicaid.

Hospice: In the final stages of the disease, Medicare Part A covers nearly all aspects of hospice care, including doctor services, nursing care, drugs, medical equipment and supplies, physical and occupational therapy, homemaker services, counseling and respite care. To qualify, a doctor must certify that a patient has six months or less to live.

Other Insurance and Assistance

A supplemental insurance or Medigap plan will help pay for things that are not covered by original Medicare such as co-payments, co-insurance and deductibles. To search for plans in your area, go to Medicare.gov/plan-compare and click on “Medigap policy only.”

If you are enrolled in a Medicare Advantage plan (like an HMO or PPO), the plan must provide at least the same coverage as original Medicare does. Some advantage plans may also offer additional coverage for home care services.

If you cannot afford your Medicare out-of-pocket costs or need help with medication expenses, there are Medicare Savings Programs and the Extra Help program that provide financial assistance for medications. To learn more, see Medicare.gov/your-medicare-costs/get-help-paying-costs.

You can also get help through your State Health Insurance Assistance Program, which provides free Medicare and long-term care counseling.

Savvy Living is written by Jim Miller, a regular contributor to the NBC Today Show and author of "The Savvy Living" book. Any links in this article are offered as a service and there is no endorsement of any product. These articles are offered as a helpful and informative service to our friends and may not always reflect this organization's official position on some topics. Jim invites you to send your senior questions to: Savvy Living, P.O. Box 5443, Norman, OK 73070.

Can you recommend any businesses or services that specialize in helping seniors downsize and relocate? I need to find some help moving my mother from her four-bedroom home to an apartment near me.

The process of downsizing and moving to a new home is a big job for anyone, but it can be especially overwhelming for seniors who are moving from a long-time residence filled with decade's worth of belongings and a lifetime of memories. Fortunately, there is a specialized service available today that can help make your mom's move a lot easier.

Senior Move Manager

To help your mom with her move, you should consider hiring a "senior move manager." These are trained organizers who assist older people with the challenges of relocating and can minimize the stress of this major transition by doing most of the work for you.

A senior move manager can help your mom pare down her belongings, decide what to take and what to dispose of, recommend charities for donations and help sell her unwanted items. They can even create a customized floor plan of her new home so your mom can visualize where her belongings will fit.

Senior move managers can also obtain estimates from moving companies, oversee the movers, arrange the move date, supervise the packing and unpacking and help set up her new home, have the house cleaned and just about anything you need related to her move.

If you want to do some of the work yourself, you can choose the services you want. For example, you may only want a move manager's help with downsizing and selling excess furniture and unwanted belongings but plan on doing the actual packing and moving yourself.

The cost of working with a senior move manager will vary depending on where you live, the services you want and size of the move. You can expect to pay somewhere between $60 and $125 per hour or more, not including the cost of movers.

How to Find One

To locate a senior move manager in your area, visit the National Association of Senior Move Managers website at NASMM.org or call 877-606-2766. The NASMM is a trade association with an accreditation program that requires its members to abide by a strict code of ethics that ensures integrity. They currently have around 1,000 members across the U.S.

You can also search for a senior move manager using Caring Transitions which is the largest senior relocation and transition services franchised company in the U.S. They currently have nearly 200 franchises throughout the country.

Before you hire one, be sure to ask for references from previous clients and check with the Better Business Bureau. Additionally, find out how many moves they have managed, get a written list of services and fees and make sure they are insured and bonded.

If you cannot find a senior move manager in your area, another option is to hire a certified professional organizer who specializes in downsizing and relocating. To find one, check the National Association of Productivity and Organizing Professionals, which has a searchable database on its website at NAPO.net.

Savvy Living is written by Jim Miller, a regular contributor to the NBC Today Show and author of "The Savvy Living" book. Any links in this article are offered as a service and there is no endorsement of any product. These articles are offered as a helpful and informative service to our friends and may not always reflect this organization's official position on some topics. Jim invites you to send your senior questions to: Savvy Living, P.O. Box 5443, Norman, OK 73070.