Click here for resources and information on caring for aging parents and other senior/elderly family members.

SHIBA (Senior Health Insurance Benefits Assistance) counselors are available to help with free, unbiased information about Medicare health insurance, Medicare Advantage Plans, Medigap Policies, and other retiree insurance plans. The 2021 Oregon Guide to Medicare Insurance Plans will be available by October 15th.  Print copies will be available in November.

Portland-based nonprofit Lines for Life and the Oregon Health Authority (OHA) have launched the Safe + Strong Helpline at 800-923-4357 (800-923-HELP). The line offers free, 24-7 emotional support as well as resource referral to anyone who needs it — not just those who are experiencing a mental health crisis.

Visit Safe + Strong Oregon for mental and emotional support information and resources as well as guidance for how to have conversations with loved ones who may be struggling.

We (the HT Health Ministry) felt that it would be important to provide information about advance health care planning in our current COVID-19 environment, as many of you might be thinking about how much medical treatment youmight want if you develop COVID-19 and are unable to make health care decisions yourselves.

Click here for information on the Oregon Advance Directive and POLST documents as well as additional resources you can access.

From the Oregon Attorney General's office:

• Partners for a Hunger-Free Oregon has information on where to get food, as well as information on where your child can get daily meals within your school district. You can also contact our Food Closet at 503.641.1842, or call the Parish Office at 503.643.9528.

• If you have questions about your rights for sick time, call BOLI (Bureau of Labor & Industries) at 971.673.0761.

• If you're worried about quarantining in a home where you don't feel safe, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1.800.799.7233 or text LOVEIS to 22522.

• If you have mental health conditions that could be triggered during this crisis, call your county OHA Crisis Line or the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Service Administration's 24/7 Disaster Distress Helpline, reachable at 1.800.985.5990.

• Feeling anxious and uncertain is normal while we are coping with the COVID-19 events. However, advice and help are readily available to us. The CDC has information on coping with the anxiety and stress of the pandemic, including information for parents to help them support and reassure their children.

• The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) also offers useful resources. They are available Monday through Friday, 7:00-3:00pm at 1.800.950.6264.

• The Hospice and Grief Support Group at Providence St. Vincent Medical Center (503.215.4622) can provide arrangements for individual support with a Bereavement Counselor. If you have an urgent need you can also phone 503.215.2273 during regular business hours and ask to speak with their Triage Social Worker.

• The Senior Loneliness Line (503.200.1633) is a wonderful resource. This "Warmline" offers 24/7 support, resources, and volunteers to listen to older adults experiencing loneliness, isolation, depression, and crisis support is also available.

• Oregon Senior Peer Outreach, a program of Community Counseling Solutions launches “Senior Connection”, a NEW program to keep Washington County older adults connected while they shelter in place (see flyer below). Call 1.833.736.4676 to sign-up for this free program.

• Parenting Support hotline — 1.800.422.4453

• Lines for Life — 800.273.8255 or text "273TALK" to 839863

• Crisis Text Line — text "HOME" to 741741

• Washington County Crisis Line — 503.291.9111

• Multnomah County Crisis Line — 503.988.4388 or 1.800.716.9769

• Aging & Disability Resource Connection (ADRC) — 1.855.673.2372

• Senior Loneliness Line — 503.200.1633

• Senior Connection Calls by the Oregon Senior Peer Outreach — 1.833.736.4676

• National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) — 1.800.950.6264

• Hospice and Grief Support Group at Providence St. Vincent Medical Center — 503.215.4622

• National Domestic Violence Hotline — 1.800.799.7233 or text "LOVEIS" to 22522

Our Health Ministry helps with issues of health, healing, and wholeness. We work with other Holy Trinity ministries to encourage and foster healthy habits for the body, mind, and spirit. You do not need to be a healthcare professional to be a member of the Health Ministry!

There is a lot of information available online regarding the COVID-19 pandemic. Our Health Ministry has compiled the following from a variety of sources in an effort to quickly lead you to the resources you need.

• Oregon Health Authority: COVID-19

• Centers for Disease Control (CDC): COVID-19

• World Health Organization (WHO): COVID-19

Getting your flu vaccination has never been more important! The CDC notes that getting the flu vaccine will reduce symptoms that might be confused with those of COVID-19. While flu activity remains low overall at this time, Oregon has already seen multiple cases.

If you haven't already, we strongly recommend that you get vaccinated as soon as possible. The flu vaccination is always the best way to avoid developing the illness, and the CDC recommends that everyone six months and older get the vaccine each year.

Getting vaccinated not only helps to protect you, but it also helps to protect the people around you — especially those who are more vulnerable like babies, young children, older people, and pregnant women. For some children aged six months through eight years, two doses of the flu vaccine are needed for adequate protection.

Visit the CDC's website to learn more about the flu and how to protect yourself and your loved ones this season.

As Oregon reopens, it is important that we all do our part to protect ourselves and one another. Per the updated statewide guidelines on October 19, 2020, wearing a face covering or mask is required in all public and private workplaces, all businesses, and all indoor or outdoor spaces open to the public. Multiple studies have shown them to be a simple and effective method to reduce the spread of COVID-19. Face coverings are strongly recommended in place of a face shield except in limited situations (e.g., communicating with an individual who is deaf or hearing impaired).
 

It is strongly recommended that everyone, including children between two and five years of age, wear a face covering at all times in indoor and outdoor public spaces.

Guidance from public officials has shifted on the benefit of mask use over these many months, which can get frustrating and confusing. This article from Dr. Malcom Butler helps to explain why it's normal for our understanding of the disease to change over time, as frustrating as that can be (he's the chief medical officer at Columbia Valley Community Health in Wenatchee, WA). You can read further guidance about wearing masks, face shields, and face coverings here.

Continuing to practice physical distancing is critical as well. Whenever possible, you should stay at least six feet away from people who you do not live with — while still wearing a mask, as droplets can travel farther than six feet.

Wash your hands thoroughly and regularly throughout the day for 20 seconds at a time. If soap and water are not readily available, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer that contains at least 60% alcohol.

Avoid touching your face, especially your eyes, nose, and mouth.

Cover your nose and mouth when coughing and sneezing with a disposable tissue, then immediately wash your hands (or use hand sanitizer). If a tissue is not available, use a flexed elbow.

Clean and disinfect surfaces that are often touched on a regular basis (e.g., children's toys, doorknobs, kitchen and bathroom surfaces, etc.).

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From the July Newsletter for the Health Ministries Network:

The Palliative Care Institute at Western Washington University has initiated a weekly on-line support group via a Zoom video conference call for staff at nursing homes, assisted living facilities, providing in-home care, and/or hospice care. The goal of creating this virtual space is for them to come together to talk about the impact of the pandemic on their work and their clients and residents — a kind of ‘COVID coffee break room,’ a place to sit down to talk for a few minutes with others who are also struggling to reconfigure all aspects of care. By gathering their thoughts, PCI hopes be a vehicle for sharing these stories more widely with those outside their worlds. Anyone who would like to join this support group can email pci@wwu.edu to request the Zoom link.

An Oregon Wildfire Resource website has been created to help Oregonians stay informed. You’ll find information on current conditions, county news and alerts, Ready-Set-Go evacuation levels, what to pack, daily air quality reports, emergency response agency websites by county, and more.

You can register on the Red Cross Safe and Well List to post and update messages about your status that loved ones can view to reunite or let know you are safe.  If forced to evacuate your home, you can look for open shelters through the Red Cross as well.

For more information on how to stay safe in a smoky pandemic, read this OPB article and learn more from the CDC.