DCOA E*News At-A-Glance
 Last week, D.C. Office on Aging Executive Director John
M. Thompson, Ph.D. hosted his quarterly roundtable discussions with seniors at
Washington Seniors Wellness Center in Ward 7 to ensure that seniors have an opportunity to
weigh in on issues that directly impact their lives.
Few major topics of discussion included:
- Expanding Senior Wellness Centers
to reach more seniors in the District, and to extend the days of service
to improve health and wellness, improve life expectancy, and to
maintain the dignity of every single senior in the District so that
seniors can remain active;
- Launch new Falls Prevention Initiative that will decrease the number of reports of seniors dying from a
preventable fall to zero; DCOA will dispatch an
occupational therapist to a senior’s home to conduct a falls assessment. Through the falls assessment, seniors will
receive a report with recommendations on how to eliminate fall hazards in their
homes;
- Provide an aquatic facility in each wellness center for seniors where seniors can have access to their own swimming pool.
For live coverage of each town hall meeting,
follow us on Twitter!
Upcoming town hall meetings:
July 25th, at 1:30 p.m.
VIDA Brightwood (Ward 4)
1330 Missouri Avenue, N.W.
July 29th, at 10:30 a.m.
VIDA Senior Center (Ward 1)
1842 Calvert Street, N.W.
|
Are
you interested in volunteering to be a part of D.C. Office on Aging's
Intergenerational Program? Do you have what it takes to make an impact?
DCOA is currently seeking seniors interested in volunteering to build
relationships with, mentor, and guide the District's youngest learners in
District of Columbia Public Schools’ (DCPS) early childhood classrooms. For more information on volunteering, please contact us
at 202-724-5622 or send us an e-mail at DCOA@dc.gov.
 Five million Americans suffer from Alzheimer's
disease and dementia -- many of them alone in nursing homes. A man with a
simple idea discovers that songs embedded deep in memory can ease pain and
awaken these fading minds. Joy and life are resuscitated, and our cultural
fears over aging are confronted.
Alive Inside is a joyous cinematic exploration of music’s
capacity to reawaken our souls and uncover the deepest parts of our humanity.
See full trailer here. In theaters this weekend, July 25th at E Street
Cinema.
|
 Free six-week classes will help persons live with chronic conditions. Supported by the D.C. Department of Health and the D.C. Office on Aging, Living Well with Chronic Conditions can help persons with diabetes, heart disease, asthma, arthritis, cancer, or any other chronic condition that may impact quality of life.
Workshops can also help you:
- Decrease stress, fatigue and/or frustration.
- Manage your symptoms effectively.
- Communicate better with your doctors.
- Make informed decisions about your treatment.
- Set and meet realistic personal goals.
- Learn healthier eating habits.
Register Now for a Living Well Workshop!
Thursdays:
9:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
D.C. Office on Aging, 500 K St NE
(Seniors, people with Disabilities, and Caregivers encouraged to register)
Contact Nita Sharma at 202-442-9129 or nita.sharma@dc.gov.
|
Please take a few moments of your time
to weigh in on an important, yet often hidden issue, facing seniors in the
District. For every one elder abuse case that comes to the attention of
people who can help and intervene, fourteen senior victims are thought to
suffer in silence, according to the National Research Council.
The District’s Collaborative Training & Response for
Older Victims seek to increase the ability of governmental
agencies, victim assistants, law enforcement personnel, prosecutors, and local
courts to recognize, assist, investigate, and prosecute elder abuse and is
supported through a three-year grant from the Office Against Violence on Women
at the U.S. Department of Justice.
As part of the project, surveys are being conducted in the senior and service
provider communities in order assess the needs of the elderly population and
orient the project.
Please consider filling out the Survey on Abuse in Later
Life: DC Service Providers and Allied Professionals, which is found below and
at this link: http://bit.ly/ProvidersSurvey
If you
know seniors who would like to provide input, please feel free to share the
Survey for Older Adults with them. You can email DC
TROV at merry@nvrdc.org and they will pick up the surveys.
Or, you could share the following link: http://bit.ly/SeniorsSurvey
If you
have any questions about the project or the survey, please contact DC TROV at merry@nvrdc.org.
 |
|
|
 Mayra Vasquez-Melgar, LGSW
Social Worker/Aging and
Disability Resource Center
Mayra graduated with a
master’s degree in Social Work from the University of Maryland with a
concentration in clinical social work, specialization in the area of Families
and Children. She is a Licensed Graduate Social Worker (LGSW) in the District
of Columbia and has worked as well as volunteered in public and private
agencies serving families, especially elderly citizens. She has also worked as
a case manager, social worker, therapist, mentor and as an advocate for senior
citizens of various ethnicities in the state of Maryland and in the District.
In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her family and one year old
son. Mayra looks forward to incorporating her previous work experiences with
the geriatric population to serve the senior citizens who look to the Office on
Aging and its resources for assistance.
|
Hakima Muhammad
Supervisory Contracts Specialist/Programs and Grants
Hakima Muhammad recently joined the Government of the
District of Columbia as Supervisory Contracts Specialist with a delegated
contracting procurement authority up to twenty million. Ms. Muhammad has
over 15 years contracting experience, and 25+ years’ experience in finance and
business operations. Ms. Muhammad serves as a volunteer for Courtney’s
House, a non-profit organization in DC that fights against domestic sex
trafficking of minors. Hakima earned her Bachelors of Science in Business
Administration at University of Maryland University College and is currently
seeking her Master’s Degree. She resides in Bowie, Maryland.
|
 Kenneth N. Muriithi
Technical PM/ Business Analyst/Planning, Policy and Evaluation
Kenneth Muriithi is a Business Systems Analyst with over 8
years’ experience in system design. His previous
work engagements were in the healthcare industry with a focus on practice and
patient management systems and prior to that, the development of a laboratory information
management system for a leading bio technology company.
He is originally from Kenya in East Africa and moved to the
United States at the turn of the century. Kenneth is a father of three children and
married to his loving wife Priscilla Muriithi. During his spare time, he likes
to spend time with the kids outdoors and fitness training. Other areas of
interest include involvement in charities and church ministry.
|
|
