Photography and Text by Terry “Travels with Terry” Zinn t4z@aol.com

March 21, M.J.Van Deventer will be the guest speaker for a noon “Brown Bag Luncheon” at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum. She will speak on “Jerome Tiger ~ The Enduring Legend.” Her talk, which is open to the public free of charge, is one of several activities about the late artist’s life and influence, complementing a retrospective of Jerome’s influence and art, which hangs through May, 2018.
Jerome Tiger began to paint in “Indian Style” in 1962. Nettie Wheeler of Muskogee, Oklahoma, recognized Jerome’s talent and encouraged him in his artistic endeavors. Jerome submitted his early work to the 1962 Philbrook Art Center’s Annual Indian Art Exhibition and later was invited to have his first major exhibition where nearly all of his images sold out. A full blood Muscogee Creek-Seminole, Tiger’s style is said to be a combination of “spiritual vision, humane understanding, and technical virtuosity” but with traditional subject matter and composition.
Speaker, M.J. Van Deventer-Shelton says, “I grew up in Muskogee and became acquainted with Jerome Tiger through an English class at Muskogee Central High School in the late 1950s. Sitting next to Jerome in that class, I often watched him draw while the rest of the class labored over diagramming complex sentences.”
Fast forward to 1967 and the untimely accidental death of Jerome Tiger. By the late 1970s, M. J. embarked on a research journey to piece together the fragments of Jerome’s life, visit the artists and collectors he influenced and research the enduring quality of his art ~ paintings that changed the face of Native American art.
While serving as the Director of Publications and editor of Persimmon Hill for the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum for 18 years, Van Deventer had the opportunity to study Jerome’s art and become friends with Arthur and Shifra Silberman, whose gift of Jerome’s art has made this museum’s Jerome Tiger paintings, the largest archive of his art.
Van Deventer is a graduate of Northeastern State University in Tahlequah and received a Master’s Degree in Communications from Oklahoma State University. She did post graduate work in the pre-law program at Tulsa Junior College and also studied at Syracuse University in New York on a Wall Street Journal Fellowship.
For 25 years, she was a newspaper reporter/editor for the Stillwater News Press, Tulsa World, the Daily Oklahoman, Fort Worth Star Telegram and the Tulsa Tribune, which nominated her for a Pulitzer Prize for public service reporting. During that time, she also was an adjunct professor of journalism at OSU and the University of Central Oklahoma.
An award-winning journalist, her articles have appeared in Southwest Art, Oklahoma Today, Tulsa People, Oklahoma Magazine, Traditional Home, Art Gallery International, Cowboys & Indians and Triple AAA’s Home & Away. She is the author or co-author of 10 books and is currently completing a biography on Jerome Tiger and the well-known Oklahoma sculptor, Harold T. Holden.
Her passions are writing, cooking, gardening and traveling, especially to Santa Fe, New Mexico. She is a past chairman of the Muskogee Area Master Gardeners, and current President of the Muskogee Area Arts Council. She is a board member of the Five Civilized Tribes Museum, which has the second largest holding of Jerome’s art, including his only sculpture and his last work, The Stickballer.
The National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum is America’s premier institution of Western history, art, and culture. Founded in 1955, the Museum, located in Oklahoma City, collects, preserves, and exhibits an internationally renowned collection of Western art and artifacts while sponsoring dynamic educational programs to stimulate interest in the enduring legacy of the American West. More than 10 million visitors from around the world have sought out this unique museum to gain better understanding of the West: a region and a history that permeates our national culture.
The National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum features a superb collection of classic and contemporary Western art, including works by Frederic Remington and Charles M. Russell, as well as sculptor James Earle Fraser’s magnificent work, The End of the Trail. The exhibition wing houses a turn-of-the-century town and interactive history galleries that focus on the American cowboy, rodeos, Native American culture, Victorian firearms, frontier military, and Western performers. Outside, beautifully landscaped gardens flank the Children’s Cowboy Corral and interactive children’s space.
Additional information about the Brown Bag Luncheon Series is available by contacting Tara Carr at the National Cowboy Museum, (405) 478-2250.

Dear Savvy Senior,

What resources can you recommend to help older job seekers? I’m 60 and have been out of work for nearly a year now and need some help.

Seeking Employment

Dear Seeking,
While the U.S. job market has improved dramatically over the past few years, challenges still persist for many older workers. To help you find employment, there are job resource centers and a wide variety of online tools specifically created for older job seekers. Here’s where you can find help.
Job Centers
Depending on where you live, there are career service centers located throughout the U.S. that can help you find a job. One of the best is the American Job Center (AJC) that has around 2,500 centers nationwide. Funded by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration, AJCs are free-to-use resource centers that can help you explore your career options, search for jobs, find training, write a resume, prepare for an interview and much more. To find a center near you, call 877-872-5627 or go to CareerOneStop.org.
Some other good programs for older workers include the Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP), and AARP’s Back To Work 50+ program.
The SCSEP – sponsored by the Department of Labor – helps place income-eligible workers over age 55 in part-time, temporary community service positions where they can learn job skills. To learn more or locate a program in your area visit DOLETA.gov/seniors or call 877-872-5627.
AARP’s Back To Work 50+ program currently offers workshops in 19 locations around the U.S. that provide career counseling, job coaching and skills development for 50-plus job seekers. Or, if you can’t attend their workshop, they also offer an excellent guide called “7 Smart Strategies for 50+ Jobseekers.” To get a free copy, or see if there’s a workshop in your area call 855-850-2525.
If none of the above programs are available in your area, check with your local public library or nearby community college to see if they provide career services.
Job Search Sites
There are also a number of online job search sites that can help you connect with companies that are looking for mature, experienced workers.
Some good sites for 50 and older job seekers include: WhatsNext.com, which offers a job search site and has online assessment tools, calculators, career guides and career coaches to help you; RetiredBrains.com that provides information on finding temporary or seasonal jobs, as well as starting your own business, working from home, writing your resume, finding full-time work, and continuing your education; RetirementJobs.com that lets you post your resume and search for full-time or part-time jobs online; and Workforce50.com, which has job search functions and a list of favorite age-friendly employers by industry. It also gives you the ability to sign up for job alerts.
Work at Home
If you’re interested in working at home, there are many opportunities depending on your skills, but be careful of work-at-home scams that offer big paydays without much effort.
Some popular work-at-home jobs include sales and marketing, customer service, teaching and tutoring, writing and editing, Web development and design, consulting, interpreting and medical coding just to name a few.
To find these types of jobs, a good place to start is FlexJobs.com, which filters out the job scams and lists thousands of legitimate work-at-home jobs in dozens of categories. You can gain access to their listings for $15 for one month, $30 for three months or $50 for a year.
Start a Business
If you’re interested in starting a small business but could use some help getting started, the U.S. Small Business Administration offers tips, tools and free online courses that you can access at SBA.gov. Send your senior questions to: Savvy Senior, P.O. Box 5443, Norman, OK 73070, or visit SavvySenior.org. Jim Miller is a contributor to the NBC Today show and author of “The Savvy Senior” book.

Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation scientist Rizwan Qaisar has been awarded an Irene Diamond Fund/AFAR Postdoctoral Transition Award in Aging.
The award, presented by the American Federation for Aging Research (AFAR) with support from the Irene Diamond Fund, will provide $120,000 in flexible transitional funding to Qaisar, who is researching age-related muscle loss called sarcopenia at OMRF. Postdocs are individuals conducting research after finishing their doctoral studies and are pursuing further training and a well-defined career path.
AFAR is a leading nonprofit dedicated to advancing healthy aging through biomedical research. The goal of this program, according to AFAR, is to provide portable and flexible transitional funding for senior postdoctoral fellows as they develop and negotiate for faculty positions and research programs. The award provides full-time research training and grant support.
Founded in 1981, AFAR has awarded more than $175 million in grants to investigators and students across the U.S., Ireland, Israel, Italy and the United Kingdom.
“By giving these postdoctoral fellows this extra boost at a critical moment in their career path, AFAR is helping create a research pipeline that is essential to advancing better therapies for age-related diseases and discoveries that will help us all live healthier and longer,” said Jeremy Walston, M.D., Chair of the 2017 Selection Committee for the Irene Diamond Fund/AFAR Postdoctoral Transition Awards in Aging.
At OMRF, Qaisar works in the Aging and Metabolism Research Program with under the guidance of Program Chair Holly Van Remmen, Ph.D. looking specifically at the role of oxidative stress, or free radicals, in the long-term deterioration of muscle. Qaisar researches potential interventions for the disease pathways for sarcopenia, specifically the activation of the SERCA ATPase.
Qaisar earned his Ph.D. at the University of Uppsala, Sweden. His academic focus was looking at the mechanisms of muscle aging, and evaluating potential therapies to counter age-related weakness and muscle loss.
“I am extremely grateful and honored to receive this award,” said Qaisar. “This funding will provide me with a real opportunity to push my research forward and make a difference for our aging population.”

Accel at Crystal Park to offer BCBS and Humana options

In a move that increases health care insurance options and manages cost for consumers, StoneGate Senior Living, LLC, an award-winning full spectrum senior care and housing facility, announces new in-network insurance provider agreements with Blue Cross Blue Shield and Humana for Accel at Crystal Park. Accel at Crystal Park is a skilled nursing care and rehabilitative facility serving the Oklahoma market, and its newest agreements join existing contracts with Medicare Advantage, the Health Insurance Marketplace, Tricare military health benefits plan and the Oklahoma government employee’s health plan.
“Our commitment at Accel at Crystal Park is to ensure the highest standard in patient care and rehabilitation, and access to in-network insurance providers is a critical part of this effort,” says Tamara Meadows, RN-BC, StoneGate Senior Living Divisional Director of Clinical Operations, Oklahoma. “We are proud to add Blue Cross Blue Shield and Humana to our in-network insurance options, and offer expanded choice and cost management to our patients.”
The new in-network insurance provider agreements with Blue Cross Blue Shield and Humana for Accel at Crystal Park will allow admittance for short-term, inpatient therapies and skilled nursing with lower, in-network copays, deductibles, & annual out-of-pocket expenses.
The Blue Cross Blue Shield contract agreement was effective as of December 1, 2017, and the Humana agreement took effect February 1, 2018.
For more information, visit: http://accelcrystalpark.com.
Accel at Crystal Park opened in February 2017, and features 59 private transitional care suites designed for patients recovering from an acute care event. Accel delivers modern amenities and technology, with a rehabilitation gym offering modern equipment and technologies that help patients complete post-acute rehabilitation as quickly as possible and return to their lifestyle. Learn more: http://accelcrystalpark.com/

The Oklahoma Insurance Department (OID) is continuing its mission to protect seniors from con artists. The agency is hosting a series of free events across the state to teach the state’s most vulnerable citizens how to spot, avoid and report fraud.
“The rise in the use of technology has given crooks new ways to scam people out of their hard-earned money,” said Oklahoma Insurance Commissioner John D. Doak. “Seniors are especially susceptible because many of them have a substantial savings, excellent credit and aren’t likely to go to police if they think they’ve been scammed. We want to give seniors the upper hand the next time someone tries to take advantage of them.”
The U.S. Subcommittee on Health and Long Term Care estimates that seniors represent 30 percent of scam victims even though they make up only 12 percent of the population. One 2015 report estimated that older Americans lose $36.5 billion a year to financial scams and abuse. The perpetrators include fraudulent telemarketers, door-to-door con artists, identity thieves and Internet schemers.
At eight events across the state, experts from the OID’s Anti-Fraud Division, the Oklahoma Attorney General’s Office, Oklahoma Bankers Association and Oklahoma Department of Securities will detail the latest scams. The conferences will be held in March, April and May. Two paper shredders will be given away to public attendees at each location.
Each seminar is free for seniors and includes breakfast. Insurance professionals can attend a conference for four hours of Continuing Education (CE) credit. The cost for CE credit is $30.
The conferences are partially funded by the Administration on Community Living’s Senior Medicare Patrol grant. Attendees must register online at map.oid.ok.gov or by calling 800-763-2828.

2018 Senior Fraud Conference Schedule
Registration – 7:30 a.m., Breakfast – 8:00 a.m., Conference – 8:30 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.
March 13 – Ardmore – Ardmore Convention Center, 2401 N. Rockford Rd. Salons D & E, Ardmore, OK 73401
March 28 – Oklahoma City – The Tower Hotel, 3233 Northwest Expressway, Oklahoma City, OK 73112
April 3 – Woodward- Woodward Conference Center, 3401 Centennial Lane Exhibit Hall A, Woodward, OK 73801
April 10 – Tulsa – Marriott Tulsa Hotel Southern Hills, 1902 E. 71st St. Council Oak Ballroom A-C, Tulsa, OK 74136
April 19 – Ponca City – Carolyn Renfro Event Center, 445 Fairview Ave., Ponca City, OK 74601
April 25 – Lawton – Cameron University, McMahon Centennial Complex, McCasland Ballroom A&B, 501 S.W. University Dr. Lawton, OK 73505
April 26 – Norman – Embassy Suites Norman, 2501 Conference Dr.
Norman, OK 73069
May 1 – Broken Arrow – Stoney Creek Hotel, 200 W. Albany St. Stone Room, Broken Arrow, OK 74012

by Bobby Anderson, Staff Writer

When it comes to the health of family members, you can’t always know what’s ahead.
Patti Abercrombie, RN, knows this better than most.
It was a few years ago while living overseas that Abercrombie got the dreaded call.
Dad has cancer.
With a husband who was finance director for a large global company, Abercrombie had the luxury of hopping onto a plane and coming back to Chickasha to be with her family.
She put her nursing skills to work, pouring into her family for her father’s remaining few months.
After the dust had settled she realized that virtually every family gets one or two of those phone calls at some point.
But how many are able to hop on a plane and rush right home?
“I came back to take care of him. Most people just aren’t able to do that,” she said. “I was very fortunate.
“I thought ‘what if I hadn’t been able to get here.’”
Abercrombie came back to take care of her father, a Marine of 42 years, while he was battling bone cancer.
Out of that situation eventually led to Around the Clock Home Care in Chickasha.
“That was one thing that really bothered me. What about the people that don’t have anybody?” Abercrombie said.
“We’re there to stay,” Abercrombie says. “We’re not popping in and out every two or three days and moving on to the next patient. We really get attached and we see what’s going on.”
MAKING A DIFFERENCE
“I think it brings comfort for the families,” Abercrombie says of her company. “If they live in New York and have a loved one here that wants to stay in their house and they need someone to help them … I would be much more comfortable knowing there was a nurse there to oversee what is going on.”
Around the Clock Provides a fully customized care plan for families. With services ranging from three-hour visits to to 24/7 around-the-clock care, the company can meet most needs.
All care plans are customized specifically for family needs and visits can be planned for any time of the day or night and designed with daily or weekly visits.
Abercrombie is a dedicated RN with nearly 30 years supervisory experience in Oncology, Bone Marrow Transplant, Pain Management, Hematology, Home Health, and Hospice. She’s provided quality patient care, as a supervisor at a 700 bed hospital and brings her commitment to clinical excellence into the home setting.
She offers free in-home consultation with her or one of her nurses.
Long Term Care Insurance accepted as well as all major credit cards. Assistance with VA Aid and Attendance is also provided.
Around the Clock services Central Oklahoma and south.
One thing that makes Abercrombie’s staff very unique is their combined life history.
“I would say nearly every one of our staff members have gone through this with their own family member,” Abercrombie said. “They’ve taken care of their grandmother or were the only caregiver for their mother or father. They’ll tell me the stories.”
It’s one of the qualities she looks for when hiring staff. Those life experiences translate into the type of care she ensures.
Abercrombie utilizes RNs, LPNs, certified nursing assistants and sitters to accomplish the mission of helping people not only stay but thrive in their homes.
Coming back to Chickasha from Saudi Arabia Abercrombie felt at peace.
“Chickasha is so comforting. It was like Chickasha had stood still in time,” she said.
Those family values were still there.
Around the Clock is moving into its fifth year serving the surrounding counties and Abercrombie says the need grows every passing day.
GROWING NEED
About 1 in 3 people caring for someone at home (as opposed to a nursing home), said they had hired paid help in the past year, according to a survey by the AARP Public Policy Institute and National Alliance for Caregiving. The median cost nationwide for either homemaker or home health aide services is upward of $125 a day, assuming 44 hours of care per week.
When someone calls with questions Abercrombie will not let them off the phone without a solution – whether it be Around the Clock or another resource.
“All of these scenarios could be me and I’m not going to do anything to anyone I would not do to myself or my parents,” she said. “I’m not a bottom line person.”

http://www.aroundtheclockhc.com/

My daughter, Jolene, committed suicide ten years ago this March. My daughter, Jolene, committed suicide ten years ago this March. My world still stops for a few seconds when I say those words. I still feel the enormity of the loss, the emptiness left in her wake. The wound has healed, but the scar remains. On the other hand, life has moved on. Jolene is in my past (and in my future, in heaven), but she’s not a part of my present. And yet. . . when people ask how many children I have, I hesitate. Do I say one son, or explain about Jolene? When I brag on my beautiful daughter-in-law, my four lovely grandchildren and one greatgrandchild, I wonder if Jolene could ever have handled motherhood, given her mental illness.Mostly I wonder if Jolene would ever have found enough peace to enjoy her life and share all that was uniquely hers with the world.The questions will never be answered this side of heaven, except that I know without a doubt Jolene is now fully herself, in ways no one ever can be on earth. It’s time for me to go back. I’ve gained perspective into how I survived the loss in one peace (sic). I’ve summarized the lessons as statements, some complex, some simple. They offer hope to people struggling with mental illness, grief, depression, any one of a multitude of losses.What I can say beyond any doubt is that God was intimately involved with every breath I took. “But God” became the theme of my days.1. The days crawled into weeks then months as I wallowed in grief but God gave me time and distance. 2. I blamed myself for my mistakes but God helped me understand I’d done my best.3. I wanted to take responsibility for Jolene’s death but God gave me grace to forgive myself.4. The days were empty but God filled my nights with dreams where Jolene was close enough to touch.5. My arms ached to hold my daughter but God gave me her teddy bear to hold.6. My heart felt ripped in two but God surrounded me with twenty-four hour love from friends around the world. 7. My lips had forgotten how to smile but God helped me laugh again.  8. My life spun out of my control but God gave me stories to write that I could control.9. I had questioned God during my children’s teen years but God used those times to prepare me for the trial of Jolene’s death.10. When Jolene lived, her illness made it difficult for me to enjoy her but God has restored the memories of her heart for God, her generosity, her passion for winning souls, and her poet’s heart. 11. I imagined the future Jolene had missed but God showed me her life wouldn’t have been perfect and probably not pleasant. 12. Jolene had felt misunderstood and unwelcome at church but God has used her life and death to shine light on mental illness in the Christian community.13. I could barely function at work but God made me strong in my co-workers’ eyes.14. I lost my daughter but God gave my granddaughter Jordan Elizabeth Franklin (name meant to echo Jolene’s) nine months later.  15. Two years later, I lost my mother, but God gave me my grandson, Isaiah Jaran Franklin. My son said Isaiah, “the Lord is salvation,” came to remind us our hope is in the Lord. 16. I shuddered when I pictured how Jolene died but God showed me how He stood, waiting to take her into His arms.There is so much more I could say. The principle that God takes every grief and pain and transforms them continues to direct my life.

I’ll close with Jolene’s own words:Hope in Black and WhiteBy Jolene FranklinHow can I be such as I am in this world of whiteIn this world of white where everything goes rightBut there’s a world of blackWhere the sky is gray and no sun shinesI go into that black sometimesInto a world of darkness and despairBut hope is always thereI am on a journey to hopeWhere the sun shines and gladness stays

Darlene Franklin is both a resident of a nursing home in Moore, and a full-time writer.

The Oklahoma Insurance Department (OID) recovered more than $3 million for policyholders in 2017. The money was paid out to Oklahomans who had claim disputes with their insurance company.
“Oklahomans have the right to expect their insurance company to uphold the agreement made in their policy,” Insurance Commissioner John D. Doak said. “I am very proud of our Consumer Assistance Division for its work to recover this money and their daily dedication to educate and help all Oklahomans with insurance issues.”
OID’s Consumer Assistance/Claims Division processes and investigates all complaints lodged by the public against insurance companies. The division opened 6,220 files in 2017. In that year, employees also answered more than 16,000 phone calls. The money recovered for last year totaled $3,326,828.16.
“Our department’s mission is to protect consumers by making sure insurance companies are following all laws and regulations,” said Lydia Shirley, Assistant Commissioner of the Consumer Assistance/Claims Division. “We are here to make sure Oklahomans are getting the coverage they were promised.”
Oklahomans who believe their insurance claim has not been handled properly are encouraged to call the Consumer Assistance Division at 800-522-0071.
The Oklahoma Insurance Department, an agency of the State of Oklahoma, is responsible for the education and protection of the insurance-buying public and for oversight of the insurance industry in the state.

Eleven Oklahoma skilled nursing care centers, their nurses and other staff members were recently recognized by the American Health Care Association and National Center for Assisted Living.
The centers, located throughout the state, were recognized through AHCA/NCAL’s Quality Initiative Recognition Program for quality and service improvements. Facilities honored were:
*Cedar Creek Nursing Center – Norman
*Claremore Nursing Home – Claremore
*Forrest Manor Nursing Center – Dewey
*Grace Living Center – Edmond
* Grace Living Center-Southwest – Oklahoma City
*Emerald Care-Southwest – Oklahoma City
*Medicalodge of Dewey – Dewey
*Montevista Rehabilitation and Skilled Care – Lawton
*Rainbow Health Care Community – Bristow
*Shanoan Springs Residence – Chickasha
*The Village at Southern Hills – Tulsa
AHCA’s Quality Initiative Recognition Program recognizes association members who attain at least four of eight quality initiative goals, President/CEO Mark Parkinson said. Those objectives include:
*Reducing hospitalizations – Facilities are assessed either for their safe reduction of long-stay resident hospital stays of at least 15 percent from December 2014 or for achieving or maintaining a 10 percent or lower rate.
*Minimizing nursing staff turnover – Centers that either accomplish a 15 percent decrease from 2015 levels or maintain less than 40 percent total nursing turnover rates meet this criteria.
*Cutting hospital readmissions – This goal aims at safely reducing hospital readmissions, within 30 days of first admission, by 30 percent, compared to December 2011 levels or maintaining a 10 percent readmission rate overall.
*Decreasing off-label antipsychotics use – Long-stay nursing resident use of off-label antipsychotics must be reduced by 30 percent from December 2011 levels to qualify for this particular achievement.
*Reducing unintended health care outcomes – Accomplishing this goal “improves the lives of the patients, residents and families skilled nursing care providers serve,” the Office of Inspector General found, according to a 2014 report.
*Improving discharge rates – Facilities are tasked with maintaining a 70 percent rate, or 10 percent improvement since December 2014, of patient discharges back to the community.
*Boosting functional outcomes – Centers must improve functional outcomes by 10 percent since December 2015 or maintain a 75 percent improvement rate to attain this goal.
*Adopting Core-Q questionnaire – AHCA developed the Core-Q questionnaire specifically for use by post-acute and long-term care providers, Parkinson said. Adopting the practices outlined, measuring and uploading results may satisfy this particular program aspect.
“Improving quality care as a profession requires dedication from many organizations,” Parkinson said. “The program provides an opportunity to shine a spotlight on the progress that our members have made by achieving the quality initiative goals and improving care for individuals living in their communities, and I commend their hard work.”
Oklahoma Association of Health Care Providers is the AHCA state affiliate. More information about AHCA may be found on its website, located at https://www.ahcancal.org/Pages/Default.aspx; OAHCP’s site is http://www.oahcp.org/index.php.