Aging Well with VNA

Join Aging Well With VNA Podcast Host, Kersten Rettig, in her conversation with Resource Center CEO, Cece Cox, J.D., where they explore the unique challenges and opportunities for our LGBTQIA+ older adult neighbors.  Cece shares insights into systemic barriers and discrimination and how that impacts the LGBTQIA+ community, especially as it relates to aging, asset accumulation, healthcare, and housing.  You’ll hear about resources available and how we can all be better allies.  

Episode Links:

Resource Center – Resource Center pursues societal equity by proudly offering LGBTQIA+ affirming resources designed to improve health and wellness, strengthen families and communities, and provide transformative education and advocacy.  

Oak Lawn Place – LGBTQIA+ affirming, affordable independent housing for seniors 214-272-9528

SAGE Care – VNA Hospice Care is SAGECare Certified to serve the LGBTQ+ community with cultural competency

Legal Hospice of Texas – Provides free legal services to clients in 16 North Texas Counties

Coalition for Aging LGBT – A nonprofit with a mission to improve and protect the quality of life of older LGBT adults in North Texas through community engagement and advocacy education.

Human Rights Campaign – resources for education and advocacy

For anyone experiencing serious illness and their loved ones, navigating care options and symptom management can be overwhelming.  In this episode of Aging Well with VNA, you’ll hear from VNA’s Vice President and Chief Nursing Officer, Olivia Rogers, RN, BSN, CHPN, CHPO, MBA, and Managing Director of Marketing, Sarah Harris, about a supportive palliative care program, VNA Care Choices.  You’ll learn more about who could benefit from one or all of the following offerings: physician-directed care, psychosocial support, symptom management, RN care coordination, medication reviews, advanced care planning, in-home care planning, and child-life specialist support.  They will also explore who is eligible for this program and when is it a good time to consider. You can learn more about VNA Care Choices here:  https://www.vnatexas.org/our-services/vna-care-choices/

The journey of finding the right living and care solutions for an aging loved one can be daunting. Paul Markowitz, of Senior Living Specialists, breaks down the types of senior living options and explains what questions families should ask when making this important decision. 

Planning for aging, illness and care can seem like a daunting task, but understanding options and discussing your wishes in advance of a crisis can bring peace for you and your loved ones.  Join Elder Care Attorney, Lori Leu, and podcast host, Kersten Rettig, for an informative discussion about short-term and long-term care, insurance options and how to plan for care.  

Resource Links:

National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys: www.naela.org

National Elder Law Foundation: www.nelf.org

Senior Source Elder Financial Safety Center:  https://theseniorsource.org/what-we-do/financial-assistance-for-older-adults-in-dallas/financial-help-for-elders/

VNA Advanced Care Planning Resources:  https://www.vnatexas.org/for-current-patients-family-members/advanced-care-planning-2/

Wellness Center for Older Adults:  www.wcoa.org

Lori Leu:  www.leulawfirm.com

VNA clinical leaders, Olivia Rogers and Sarah Miles, review data released from Medicare related to VNA’s participation in a Medicare pilot for home-based palliative care. Join us as we discuss the success of the program in terms of patient outcomes locally and nationally. Learn how this data, along with new regulations at the state level, are informing VNA’s future palliative care service. 

Featuring
Olivia Rogers, RN, BSN, CHPN, Vice President, Chief Nursing Officer, VNA
Sarah Miles, RN, BSN, Director of Quality and Palliative Care, VNA

In this episode, podcast host Kersten Rettig visits with VNA Managing Director of Marketing, Sarah Harris, about what hospice provides patients and families. You’ll hear tips and resources for selecting the right hospice provider and how to research options.

Host Kersten Rettig visits with geriatric specialist, Kate Taylor, DNP, FNP-C, CPPS, about how patients and families can navigate the often confusing, stressful time after receiving a terminal diagnosis.   You’ll hear advice from bucket lists, to communicating with family and caregivers, and how to prepare emotionally and logistically for what lies ahead.  This important conversation will be helpful for anyone currently experiencing serious illness for themselves or a loved one or those working on advanced care plans.  

This podcast is a little different from our previous episodes.  In this episode, we host two culinary greats to discuss their passion for food and feeding the hungry.  

Toni Tipton-Martin is a culinary journalist, author and a pioneering advocate for the preservation and education of cultural heritage as it relates to cooking, food, and community.  Also joining us is Chris Williams, a classically trained chef, restaurateur, and most recently, founder of the nonprofit organization, Lucile’s 1913 in Houston, whose mission is to feed those in need while addressing food insecurity and food waste. Both are headlining VNA’s upcoming signature fundraising events: Chris, at the Cocktails in the Kitchen event and Toni at our Celebrity Chef event in March 2022. 

Throughout her career, Toni Tipton-Martin has used cultural heritage and cooking to build community.  She is Editor in Chief of Cook’s Country by America’s Test Kitchen, a PBS television show host, a two-time James Beard Award winner for her books on African American cooking, and she recently was awarded the prestigious Julia Child Award, which is given to an individual (or team) who has made a profound and significant difference in the way America cooks, eats, and drinks. 

Toni’s latest book, Jubilee: Recipes From Two Centuries of African American Cooking, brings to life 125 dishes from the African American cookbooks in her rare collection. Jubilee is a James Beard Award winner, earned the IACP (International Association of Culinary Professionals) Book of the Year Award, and was named one of the “Cookbooks You Need for 2020” by the New York Times. 

In 2008, Toni founded the SANDE Youth Project, a 501c3 organization, whose mission was to increase wellness by celebrating cultural heritage, community role models and ancestral recipes. In 2021, the organization was re-named the Toni Tipton-Martin Foundation and its mission was re-engineered in an effort to help the next generation of aspiring women gain knowledge and skills in the areas of food and cultural heritage writing. 

Chef Chris Williams is the Founder and Owner of Lucille’s Hospitality Group in Houston, Texas. Classically trained in French, Mediterranean, West Indian and East African cuisine, Chef Williams has made a name for himself serving up well-refined Southern food with international infusions at his restaurant Lucille’s—opened as a tribute to his great grandmother and culinary pioneer Lucille B. Smith. 

Chef Williams has served as the lone culinary cultural ambassador for the USA for three years, advancing food diplomacy in destinations like Croatia, Slovenia, and Ukraine. He is also a member of the Southern Food Ways Alliance, an organization that documents, studies, and explores the diverse food cultures of the changing American South.

Williams’ most recent endeavor, Lucille’s 1913, is a nonprofit he founded. The organization mimics the ethos of his restaurant group and its namesake: functioning as a conscious community collective that is building a vertically integrated ecosystem to combat food insecurity and waste; creating training and employment opportunities in traditionally under-resourced neighborhoods; and empowering communities to discover a self-sustainable livelihood through food.  To date, Chef Chris and the Lucille’s 1913 team have provided more than 350,000 meals to Houstonians in need since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Williams is part of Restaurant Hospitality’s coveted 2021 Rising Star class and most recently was named to Bon Appetit’s inaugural “Heads of the Table” Awards List, which honors the trailblazing, community-building, future-making leaders changing the restaurant industry. 

Join the Visiting Nurse Association of Texas (VNA) for a virtual Lunch and Learn featuring experts in the field of Hospice and Palliative Care. There have been many recent changes in this ever-expanding industry, which, like everything else, has been impacted by the pandemic. Our panelists will discuss what the future of serious illness care will look like in the years to come.

Moderator:

Chris Culak, VP/Chief Strategy & Development Officer VNA Texas

Panelists:

Dr. Mark Casanova, MD, Supportive & Palliative Care, Baylor University Medical Center
Dr. Kelley Newcomer, MD, VNA Medical Director, UTSW Asst Professor-Internal Medicine
Sarah Miles, RN, BSN, VNA Director of Quality
Claudia Shook, LMSW, ACM-SW, APHSW-C, Supportive & Palliative Care, Baylor University Medical