Good morning and welcome to agebuzz… Headlining today’s topics:

-The Abridged Version: 15 Minutes of Exercise Can Help

-Money Masters: The New Profession Of Daily Money Managers

-Tricky Transitions: Dangers Following Hospital Discharge

-Comedy Of Aging: Your Next New Beach Read By Cathleen Schine

-Home Rule: Medicare Payments For Home Health Care

-Losing My Religion: Rethinking Faith (And Bacon) At Age 90

-The Last Word

The Abridged Version: 15 Minutes Of Exercise Can Help: No time or inclination to exercise? Well, it turns out very little effort may in fact yield tremendous benefit. French researchers have determined that for older people, just 15 minutes of exercise a day- say one brisk walk- can lead to a 22% lower risk of death compared to those who do no exercise.  While more physical movement is better, this 15 minute goal is a pretty reasonable target for most people. So start the clock and Read This.

Money Masters: The New Profession Of Daily Money Managers: Family caregivers often find themselves handling not only household chores but also the financial matters of their loved ones. Overseeing someone else’s finances can be tricky and becomes even more difficult if you’re not always present to address whatever arises. Enter the latest professional helpers: Daily Money Managers. This new, largely unregulated group can provide help with bill paying, form filing or paperwork handling chores, if a trusted daily money manager can be found. While the new American Association of Daily Money Managers sets standards and best practices for such professionals, it’s probably best to hire this new type of money handler through the recommendation of a trusted attorney or other involved professional. Could a daily money manager help fill in a gap for you? To find out, Read This. 

Tricky Transitions: Dangers Following Hospital Discharge: No one likes being hospitalized but for some patients, the real trauma begins post-hospitalization. The transition to home, rehab facility or some other setting can be fraught with miscommunication and lack of oversight, leading to unnecessary and at times life-threatening complications for the patient. In particular, medication mistakes can cause tremendous problems: patients leave with a set of instructions but home care providers, pharmacists or other health professionals may be unaware of these. According to a Kaiser Health News analysis, insufficient communication and coordination makes this care transition especially dangerous for older patients.  To better understand the problem and how to avoid it for your aging relatives, Read This.

Comedy of Aging: Your Next New Beach Read By Cathleen Schine: Aging parents, family caregiving, ever present guilt- not usually the stuff from which comedy is mined. But author Cathleen Schine’s brand new novel, They May Not Mean To, But They Do has managed to find humor in the real life events often borne of tragedy. Centered around the family matriarch, 86 year old recently-widowed Joy, the story involves the commonplace dilemmas of where to live, who should provide care, how to help and many of the other questions facing adult children and their aging parents. While the scenarios may sadly ring familiar for many, the New York Times review proclaimed the book “a very funny novel” and a portrayal of family “as united by its trials as by its triumphs.” Need your next summer read? Consider this. 

Home Rule: Medicare Payments For Home Health Care:  Following a hospitalization many older patients and their families are often surprised at the limited insurance coverage Medicare provides for home-based care. Generally speaking, once a patient leaves a hospital Medicare will only pay for in-home skilled services and physical therapy.  This means the patient must require a skilled health professional, rather than just an aide to help with daily chores.  Eligibility for Medicare in the home setting can be confusing, and denials of payment are common, sometimes necessitating an appeal to obtain coverage. This is particularly true for the requirement that the patient be “homebound” to be eligible. To better understand the requirements and the best tactics to obtain coverage, Read This.

Losing My Religion: Rethinking Faith (And Bacon) At Age90:  By the age of 90 there are probably few surprises in life.  For 90 year old Razie, the star of the new documentary short “Bacon & God’s Wrath” her lifelong religious beliefs and faith become the subjects of reconsideration once she discovers the internet. Razie seizes the opportunity to explore online intellectual challenges to organized religion, including her own observant Jewish faith.  This short, humorous film captures Razie as her google searches veer from Julia Child to Christopher Hitchens, and as she finally gives in to her curiosity about the taste of bacon. Prepare to be enchanted as you Watch This.

THE LAST WORD: “I didn’t get old on purpose, it just happened. If you’re lucky, it could happen to you.” Andy Rooney