Category results for: Season 9

Road to Happiness – Understanding Depression

Category: Season 9

Tags: brain, health

Claire Kuzmicki, BSPH

Claire works for the Montgomery County Pennsylvania Office of Senior Services as a Program Specialist. One of her main job responsibilities is to develop and deliver Health and Wellness Programming to the Senior Community. Claire is trained in several programs designed to manage depression and respond appropriately to mental health crises.

Depression is a medical condition that affects many older adults, but depression is not a normal part of growing older. This presentation examines factors that put seniors at an increased risk of depression, explains how to detect depressive symptoms and reveals methods that help those affected begin to feel like themselves again.

Additional Resources:

• Relatives as Parents Program Resources
• Tips for Talking With Your Health Care Provider
  

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Relatives as Parents Program (RAPP)

Category: Season 9

Tags: family, society

Darlene Sansone, Extension Educator

Darlene is an PennState Extension Educator based in Lawrence County, PA. She works in the Food, Families, and Health unit and provides community-based educational programs related to Family Strengths, Early Childhood, Parenting Education for custody, divorce and truancy, Strengthening Families, Better Kid Care, and the Relatives as Parents (RAPP) program.

Rozalia Horvath, Extension Educator

Rozalia is an Extension Educator in the PennState Extension Food, Families, and Health unit, based in Centre County, PA. She delivers community-based educational programs related to Type 2 diabetes, cooking, healthy lifestyle, cancer prevention, financial literacy for older adults, Alzheimer’s disease, and the Relatives as Parents (RAPP) program.

If you’re raising a grandchild or another relative’s child, you’re not alone. In Pennsylvania, over 250,000 children are living in homes where a relative is the head of the household. The Relatives as Parents program aims to expand supportive services available for PA relative caregivers and the children they are raising by helping them find needed information and resources, find and enroll in support groups that serve kinship care families, and engage in family-based recreational and relationship-enhancing activities.

Additional Resources:

• Relatives as Parents Program Resources

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Mending the Stress Fence

Category: Season 9

Tags: family, health

Jacqueline Amor-Zitzelberger, MA, Extension Educator

Jacque’ is an PennState Extension Educator based in Clearfield, PA. She works in the Food, Families, and Health unit and provides community-based educational programs related to Early Childhood Education, Family Strengths, Behavioral Health & Substance Misuse, and the Relatives as Parents (RAPP) program.

Agriculture ranks among one of the most stressful and hazardous industries. Farmers face numerous risks, including personal injuries, extreme and unpredictable weather conditions, machine breakdowns and rollovers, disease outbreaks in their herds or flocks, and fluctuating crop prices. Managing these challenges can create undue stress on the farmer and farm family. Mending the Stress Fence is a 45-minute webinar, developed by Michigan State University Extension in response to the increasing levels of stress in the farming community.

Additional Resources:

• MY COPING STRATEGIES PLAN
• MY FARM STRESS ACTION PLAN
• OPIOIDS IN RURAL FARMING COMMUNITIES
• RESPONDING TO DISTRESSED PEOPLE

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Kinship Family Bonding

Category: Season 9

Tags: cooking, family, history, society

Matthew Kaplan, Extension Educator

Professor Kaplan is a prominent leader in the intergenerational studies field, conducting research, developing curricular resources, and providing leadership and guidance in the development and evaluation of intergenerational programs in the U.S. and internationally.

Darlene Sansone, Extension Educator

Darlene is an PennState Extension Educator based in Lawrence County, PA. She works in the Food, Families, and Health unit and provides community-based educational programs related to Family Strengths, Early Childhood, Parenting Education for custody, divorce and truancy, Strengthening Families, Better Kid Care, and the Relatives as Parents (RAPP) program.

Learn the benefits of engaging in family bonding activities. We will also discuss cooking, having meals together, playing games, watching movies, and other activities that promote family closeness. Family Bonding can reduce stress, create positive relationships, and generate lasting memories for the entire family. Learn creative ways grandfamilies can make new family traditions and ways of being, learning, and growing together.

Additional Resources:

• From Me to We … Let’s Have Fun Together
• Intergenerational Activities Sourcebook
• Intergenerational Activities from a Native American Perspective
• Generations United for Environmental Awareness and Action
• Developing an Intergenerational Program in Your Early Childhood Care and Educational Center
• FRIDGE (Food-Related Intergenerational Discussion Groups Experiences) Curriculum

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Art Lessons on Demand

Category: Season 9

Tags: brain, exercise, health, hobbies

Jamie Dunlap

Chief of Creative Catalysts and Lifelong Learning, Pennsylvania Council on the Arts

Catherine Richmond-Cullen, Ed.D

President of neuroLEARN, LLC

The Academy for Creative Aging’s Lessons on Demand track provides individuals and groups with the opportunity to explore and enjoy the web site’s complete video catalog. Lessons on Demand aims to provide users with an entertaining and stimulating creative resource, including videos on Indian classical dance, how to create a still-life self-portrait, storytelling through theatre, and jazz singing fundamentals.

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Pennsylvania’s Flooding Hazards & How to Prepare for Them

Category: Season 9

Tags: environment, safety

Jeff Jumper, PEMA

Jeff Jumper is the Resiliency Program Manager within the Bureau of Recovery at the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency (PEMA). Prior to moving to this resiliency role, Jeff was the PEMA State Meteorologist from 2015 until 2022. During his PEMA tenure, Jeff has helped to better prepare the agency and its stakeholders for weather hazards through forecasts, outreach, partnerships, and training.

Tom Hughes, PEMA

Tom Hughes is the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania’s State Hazard Mitigation Officer (SHMO) with the PA Emergency Management Agency. As the SHMO, he is responsible for the revision of all 67 FEMA required county Hazard Mitigation Plans and 14 State System of Higher Education (state colleges) Disaster Resistant University Plans.

“I don’t live in a flood zone. Am I at risk?” The short answer is, yes. Anywhere it can rain, it can also flood. Did you know that 90% of the flooding that was reported to the National Weather Service was outside of the 100-year flood zone? Using an innovative flooding demonstration tool, representatives from the PA Emergency Management Agency (PEMA) will show you why it now floods in areas that might not have flooded before and what you can do to protect yourself and your belongings.

Additional Resources:

• Where it can rain, it can flood – map
• READY, SET, CHECK! checklist
• FLOOD SMART Do It Yourself in 5 checklist
• FEMA National Flood Insurance Program Substantial Damage/Substantial Improvement

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The Invasive Spotted Lanternfly

Category: Season 9

Tags: environment

Emelie Swackhamer, Extension Educator

Emelie Swackhamer has served as a horticulture educator with Penn State Extension for 27 years. Penn State Extension provides research-based information to help people solve real world problems. Emelie mostly works with landscapers and ornamental plant growers but tries to help anyone with a question about growing plants. She has been on the educational front line of the local spotted lanternfly invasion since its discovery in 2014. This talk will describe the life cycle of the insect, the impact it is having on trees, crops and landscapes, and a variety of management options.

The spotted lanternfly (Lycorma delicatula) is a pest of grapes, walnuts and other trees and is a nuisance in
residential landscapes. This talk focuses on the biology, behavior, and management of this insect. You will
hear about regulations in place to slow the spread, and some of the research that is taking place.

Additional Resources:

• Spotted Lanternfly Why You Should Care
• Spotted Lanternfly Frequently Asked Questions
• https://aese.psu.edu/outreach/intergenerational/international/intergenerational-activities-from-a-native-american-perspective/view
• Spotted Lanternfly News

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Understanding the Legal Challenges of Kinship Families

Category: Season 9

Tags: family, health, society

Jacqueline Amor-Zitzelberger, MA, Extension Educator

Jacque’ is an PennState Extension Educator based in Clearfield, PA. She works in the Food, Families, and Health unit and provides community-based educational programs related to Early Childhood Education, Family Strengths, Behavioral Health & Substance Misuse, and the Relatives as Parents (RAPP) program.

Kristina P. Brant, Ph.D., Extension Educator

Kristina is a sociologist interested in the family and community dimensions of substance use. Her research concerns topics such as institutional responses to parental substance use disorder, family dynamics amid kinship care, and community understandings of addiction and recovery. She utilizes qualitative methods, including ethnography and in-depth interviewing, to examine these issues in rural U.S. communities, particularly rural Appalachia.

Kinship Legal Issues discusses the physical and legal custody of children held by kin caregivers and the implications of these different legal arrangements for families. There will be further discussion on the statutes under Title 23, which specifically impact grandparents and their ability to file for primary physical and legal custody, partial custody, and visitation.

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Protecting Yourself from Mosquito Bites

Category: Season 9

Tags: environment, health

Emily Struckhoff, Vector-Borne Disease Program Specialist

Emily is an Education Program Specialist on Penn State Extension’s Vector-Borne Disease Team. She received her B.S. in Biology from Saint Louis University and M.S. in Entomology from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. At Penn State Extension, Emily develops and delivers programming about vectors, such as ticks and mosquitoes, throughout the state, and she is passionate about helping the people of Pennsylvania protect themselves from vector-borne diseases.

Mosquitoes are a common pest throughout Pennsylvania in the spring and summer months, but how can we protect ourselves from these insects? In this presentation, attendees will learn about mosquito biology, the diseases they can cause, and strategies you can use to protect yourself from mosquito bites.

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Substance Use, Stigma, and Support

Category: Season 9

Tags: brain, family, health, society

Kristina P. Brant, Ph.D., Extension Educator

Kristina Brant is an Assistant Professor of Rural Sociology at Penn State. She is a qualitative researcher who studies the family and community dimensions of substance use. Her work has been recognized by the American Sociological Association and the Rural Sociological Society, and it has been funded by multiple organizations including the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the Center for Rural Pennsylvania. She also works with Penn State Extension to put research into practice through community-based education and programming in rural Pennsylvanian communities.

Since the start of the opioid crisis, communities across the U.S. have been devastated by the growing impacts of opioid use disorder and overdose. Pennsylvania has had one of the highest rates of overdose deaths in the entire country. In this talk, Dr. Brant will discuss one of the biggest factors which impedes people with opioid use disorder from achieving and maintaining successful recovery: stigma. She will also discuss one of the biggest factors which can help people with opioid use disorder achieve and maintain recovery: social support. Mitigating future impacts of the opioid crisis depends on cultivating communities where substance use is destigmatized, and where there is ample support for people with substance use disorder and people in recovery.

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