Thank you for all who attending this morning’s meeting, and participated in the Q&A, your thoughts and questions during these presentations help guide us to the areas our members are interested in learning about.

We were very lucky to have Paul Minardi, MD, EVP & CEO, KP Medical Foundation joining us to give an update on the work of the Medical Foundation. If you were not able to join, please do watch the recording and feel free to email me with follow up questions.

June 6th YouTube link: https://youtu.be/_-nsiNUbw5Y

Reminder!!: Summer is here!

Senior Caucus does not run July or August; we will start our monthly presentation back up in September!

-  Look for emails from me starting in late August on the fall sessions

Upcoming Opportunity

·  Senior Caucus has had a long-standing relationship with the Research Institute, and they have asked for your input if you would like to be involved, please email me so you are contacted as opportunities come up over the summer.

o   Areas of interest in the coming months may be:

§  Veterans

§  Environmental Health concerns

§  Dementia Prevention

·    In you have an interest in any of these specific areas and are willing to participate in the development of these programs please let me know.

Getting involved:

·    Have an idea for an upcoming topic we would love to hear from you, please email memberparticipation@KP.ORG

·    Have a KP member in mind who is not a Senior Caucus member, send them this form to join today:  https://forms.office.com/r/hZdXLf23tH

We were very lucky to have Andrea Grace, MD join us on Friday, as one of KP’s coveted Geriatricians. If you were not able to make the presentation the YouTube recording is located below.

• Andrea Grace, MD has worked for Group Health/Kaiser for 20 years.

• Trained as a family medicine, geriatrics and palliative care physician and is medical director of Geriatrics and Palliative Care at KPWA.

• She sees patients in the hospital as a consultant for seriously ill members.

• She is honored to be asked to give this talk Friday with practical advice about managing your health and wellness in older age!

• She will be guiding us in ways to make your appointment work for you, and other resources that are available as KP members.

 May First Friday YouTube link: https://youtu.be/7cMnnWmAB60

Upcoming “Special” Voices & Choices: Register today as space is limited!!!

• Senior Caucus has had a long-standing relationship with the Research Institute, and they have asked for your voices once again:

• Research Institute is hoping to develop new non-pharmacologic treatments for sleep concerns in older adults.

• To help them develop a grant application, they will be doing in-depth interviews with older adults on their sleep concerns and the types of treatments they’d be interested in. They are hoping to pilot test some of the questions with Senior Caucus.

• To get input on the questions they will ask in the study

• To get your ideas and answers to the study questions

In you are interested and willing to participate please register using this link:

Registration Link: https://zoom.us/meeting/register/l7dxKaq1RDCddimn9cjiZw

• Meeting will be Thursday May 15th @ 2pm, shouldn’t be more than 30-45 minutes

• We greatly appreciate your input and want your voice to be heard.

Getting involved:

• Have an idea for an upcoming topic we would love to hear from you, please email memberparticipation@KP.ORG

• Have a KP member in mind who is not a Senior Caucus member, send them this form to join today: https://forms.office.com/r/hZdXLf23tH

Thank you to all the members who were able to join us this morning for our monthly Senior Caucus meeting. We appreciate all the questions we received and feedback from our survey.

If you did not have your questions answered in real time, or left additional questions in the survey we will respond once Angela has reviewed and reached out for additional information. Please remember if you were not able to join in real time, you can watch the meeting on YouTube, we would still love to hear from you. Send questions or future topic suggestions for First Friday or our Voices & Choices program to memberparticipation@kp.org.

April Monthly meeting: YouTube link: https://youtu.be/fkkh7Crwo4U

Thank you to both of our presenters, we appreciate your time and knowledge!

Upcoming Voices & Choices: Ready to register! Be sure to register using the links below.

•  February 25th Bill Affolter:  # 1 key to successful healthy aging: social connections

               Registration link: https://zoom.us/meeting/register/dpIAH2CfRlSoOiGuj-dmuw

•  February 11th Chris Fordyce: Plan to grow old part 3: Dementia Advanced Directives

               Registration link: https://zoom.us/meeting/register/oP4wl9KSRB2qCrCeffWvDQ

Senior Lobby Resources:

https://doh.wa.gov/you-and-your-family/injury-and-violence-prevention/older-adult-falls/fall-prevention-resources

Getting involved:

• Join the Senior Caucus: https://forms.office.com/r/hZdXLf23tH

• Have an idea for an upcoming topic we would love to hear from you, please email memberparticipation@KP.ORG

• Have a KP member in mind who is not a Senior Caucus member, we are looking to grow our membership, email memberparticipation@KP.ORG

Thank you so much to those that were able to join Thursday’s ARMS luncheon. 

If you were unable to attend the meeting, or if you would like to view again, the video can be viewed here.

Please take a few minutes to fill out our post-luncheon survey.  This will help us in preparing for our future meetings as well as making ARMS what you -- its members -- want it to be.

Please click here to complete the survey.

For those interested in signing up for the Senior Caucus, you can fill out their membership form

Don’t forget to email wpmgretirees@kp.org if you:

• Would like to share something with ARMS members in our Newsletter or on our website (news about work, travels, family, experiences, obituaries/memorials of members, etc.)

• If you have any speakers to recommend or would like to present something of interest at our luncheons

• Would like to be a part of the ARMS Advisory Committee

• Have any questions for us (Ruth & Annie) or ARMS

Please continue to visit our website for the latest happenings and announcements at https://www.wpmgretirees.com/

The speaker for March 27th Bill Affolter, MD. Bill Affolter, a retired family physician talked about a personal project he started last summer called Story Bench. He stressed the importance and joy of staying socially connected

His story was covered by a local TV station. (can be seen here)

Thank you for joining our meeting this morning. For those who were not able to join, the YouTube link is located below.

YouTube link: https://youtu.be/noSEwWWnm14

March First Friday Senior Caucus Monthly Webinar. We were very lucky to have Eric Larson, MD, MPH join us this morning.

·         Eric Larson, MD joined us to present the most up to date research on dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.

·         After watching the recording, please send any follow up questions for our presenter

Upcoming Presentations:

• Linda Tolbert , MD: WPMG Leadership updates

• Andrea Grace, MD: Top 10 things your geriatrician wants you to know

• Paul Minardi, MD: Foundation Leadership Updates

Spring Voices & Choices sessions will be announced soon, and registration links will be sent.

Getting involved:

• Have an idea for an upcoming topic we would love to hear from you, please email memberparticipation@KP.ORG

• Have a KP member in mind who is not a Senior Caucus member, we are looking to grow our membership, email memberparticipation@KP.ORG

Good afternoon and thank you for joining our meeting this morning. For those who were not able to join, the YouTube link is located below.

YouTube link: https://youtu.be/-yQV0t2enxw

Friday, February 7th@ 10am will be our February First Friday Senior Caucus Monthly Webinar. We are very lucky to have Mary Badger joining us this week. Zoom link below for Friday’s meeting.

• Mary Schaefer Badger, MD will be joining us as an expert on Climate Change, what you should know? And what we should be doing?

To set up emergency kits: https://www.ready.gov/kit    

Upcoming Voices & Choices: Ready to register!

              Be sure to register using the links below.

February 11th Chris Fordyce: Plan to Grow Old, Part 2: Emergency planning for older adults

               Registration link: https://zoom.us/meeting/register/rS5rcS8VSTq74d8rmjyMAQ

February 25th Cynthia Stewart:  Trends in Legislative Action

               Registration link: https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJUrcuqurjotH9F7ydbHh32UltlKqtWow9pp

Getting involved:

• Have an idea for an upcoming topic we would love to hear from you, please email memberparticipation@KP.ORG

• Have a KP member in mind who is not a Senior Caucus member, we are looking to grow our membership, email memberparticipation@KP.ORG

Thank you for joining today’s meeting, and the engaging conversation and insights you have as our valued Senior Caucus members

Attached are the presentations from today’s meeting along with the link to the YouTube video.

YouTube link: https://youtu.be/gs78t7T5f30

Satisfaction Survey: https://kp.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_5tM7R7nr8csUPb0

Additional Links:

• Individual Medicare Advantage plans: https://healthy.kaiserpermanente.org/washington/shop-plans/ready-for-medicare

• Federal Retiree Medicare Advantage plans: https://healthplans.kaiserpermanente.org/federal-employees-fehb/medicare/

• Public Employee Retiree Medicare Advantage plan: https://mybenefits.kaiserpermanente.org/pebb/plans

• Member Health Apps: https://healthy.kaiserpermanente.org/washington/health-wellness/mental-health/tools-resources/digital

• Hearing Aid benefit response:

  • Hearing Aid “Advantage Plus 2”:  The 24-month calendar does not reset if members purchase the optional rider. If a member used the benefit in 2024, and then purchased the rider in 2025, the 24-month timing would still apply to the use date in 2024. 

Upcoming Voices & Choices:

               Our second year of the Voices and Choices series will be rolling out in October 2024, with new topics from some of our favorite presenters, and some fresh faces. Please look out for upcoming information on these presentations, dates below if you would like to add these to your calendar.

• Eric Larson, What the Conversation Around Aging Presidential Candidates Can Teach Us About Our Aging Selves: Oct. 15th @ 10am

• Registration link: https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJIuc--tpj4vH9G0MUby2LlZeeEUENRbap0g

• Jackie Lopez, Patient Advocacy: November 5th @ 10am

• Registration link: https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJcpd-ugqT8oHNNG66pUpp47srJOvZbNIPI6

• Bill Affolter, Social Connections and the Science of Connectedness, Project StoryBench : Nov. 19th @ 10am

• Registration link: https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJAoduquqzMtGNI56RkyvPd_mfa3_fUmjn_s

Getting involved:

• Have an idea for an upcoming topic we would love to hear from you, please email memberparticipation@KP.ORG

• Would you like to be on a distribution list for upcoming volunteer opportunities, or feedback requests? Email: memberparticipation@KP.ORG

• Have a KP member in mind who is not a Senior Caucus member, we are looking to grow our membership, email memberparticipation@KP.ORG for more information.