By Teresa Carr

Adams County Senior Council

Administrative Assistant

All-County Senior Citizens Day is coming soon and we are reaching out for nominations for Adams County Outstanding Senior Citizen and Outstanding Senior Veteran for 2025, individuals should be at least 60 years of age or over. If you would like to nominate someone for either category, please submit a letter stating why they are outstanding and details about their service(s) to the community. Nominations need to be submitted no later than March 24.

Dates to note on your calendar:

• March 20 at noon is Free Lunch & Game Day. The sponsors are Eagle Creek Nursing Center and Hospice of Hope. A hot lunch, fun bingo and lots of fun and laughs. We hope you can attend.

• March 28 at noon is our Senior Social Carry-In Dinner. Our sponsor is Carolyn Portor from SOMC Therapy. Please bring a side dish or dessert to share, get some information and enjoy socializing with others from the community. We’ll see you there.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day and Happy First Day of Spring, which both happen next week. Warmer and greener days will be here soon. Anyone else as ready as we are?

From the CDC – Many Older Adults Don’t Protect Their Skin from the Sun

Less than half of older adults protect their skin from the sun when outside for an hour or more. This may raise their risk of getting skin cancer.

Most cases of skin cancer are found in people older than 65 years of age, but little attention has been given to ways to reduce skin cancer risk among people in this age group. Because older adults are living longer, the need for public health efforts to promote life-long skin health is more critical than ever.

A major risk factor for most skin cancers is too much exposure to the sun’s ultraviolet (UV) rays. Making sun protection an everyday habit can help prevent sunburns and lower a person’s chances of getting skin cancer.

Below are the key findings from a study by CDC researchers:

· Only about 15% of older adults and 8% of sun-sensitive older adults regularly used all 5 kinds of sun protection.

· The most popular kinds of sun protection among older men were wearing clothing to the ankles, such as pants (44%) and staying in the shade (37%).

· The most popular kinds of sun protection among older women were staying in the shade (47%) and using sunscreen (32%).

· Nearly 18% of older adults and 15% of sun-sensitive older adults said they didn’t use any kind of sun protection regularly.

· More than 1 in 10 older adults (13%) had been sunburned in the past year, and sunburn was nearly twice as high among sun-sensitive older adults (20%).

People who reach the age of 65 can expect to live, on average, 2 more decades. This means that efforts to improve the use of sun protection and reduce sunburn among older adults would likely help to reduce skin cancer risk in later decades of life. There is a need to understand the best ways to promote and support sun safety among older adults. Communities can continue making sun protection options easily accessible to older adults by increasing shade in outdoor public spaces.

Just A Thought: “I like friends who, when you tell them you need a moment alone, know enough not to stray too far. ~Robert Brault, rbrault.blogspot.com