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The Elder Beat Newsletter — July 2026
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Hello neighbors — and welcome to the July edition of The Elder Beat.
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Summer has settled into Happy Valley and Clackamas, and with it comes a timely reminder that this season can be both a gift and a challenge for older adults. Longer days, warmer temperatures, and the rhythm of community life in full swing — but also the heat, the disruption of routine, and the particular loneliness that can come when neighbors are traveling and the neighborhood feels quieter than usual. What I have noticed is that loneliness, left alone, tends to compound. So I have been making a deliberate effort to reach out — a phone call instead of a text, stopping to chat with a neighbor, saying yes to things I might otherwise have let slide. It helps.
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We have a full newsletter for you this month. I hope something in it is useful.
With warmth from Happy Valley and Clackamas —
Molly Skeen
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Recent Posts on the Blog
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Aging in Place: How to Stay Safely and Comfortably in the Home You Love
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Most older adults want to stay in their own homes as long as possible — and with the right planning and support, that goal is achievable for many people. In this comprehensive guide we cover home safety assessments and the modifications that make the biggest difference, Oregon and Clackamas County programs that help fund home modifications for qualifying residents, in-home support services available locally, and technology tools that support independent living. We also address what to do if you do not have family members to call on — and we tackle the question: what if the home itself is part of the problem? If you have been putting off thinking about any of these topics, this post is the place to start.
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Getting the Most Out of Medicare
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Medicare has four parts, dozens of plan options, and enrollment deadlines that can result in permanent penalties if you miss them. In this plain-language guide we explain Parts A, B, C, and D clearly, walk through the key differences between Original Medicare and Medicare Advantage, cover important enrollment deadlines, and introduce SHIBA — Oregon's free Medicare counseling program that provides unbiased one-on-one help to Clackamas County residents at no cost. With the Annual Enrollment Period opening in October, now is exactly the right time to make sure you understand your options.
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Local Resource Spotlight
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Clackamas County Area Agency on Aging
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If there is one local organization that every older adult and family caregiver in Happy Valley and Clackamas should know about, it is the Clackamas County Area Agency on Aging.
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The AAA — as it is commonly known — is the county's primary hub for services and programs supporting older adults and people with disabilities. Through the AAA you can access care coordination and case management, caregiver support programs, information and referral services that connect you with local resources, nutrition programs including home-delivered meals, legal assistance, and much more. The AAA also serves as a bridge between local residents and the full range of state and federal programs available to them — including Oregon Department of Human Services benefits, Medicare counseling through SHIBA, and home modification assistance.
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If you aren't sure where to start when it comes to finding services for yourself or a loved one, a call to the Area Agency on Aging is almost always a good first step. Their team knows the local landscape better than anyone, and their guidance is free.
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Info Tip of the Month: The Medicare Annual Enrollment Period
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Here is something worth putting on your calendar today: the Medicare Annual Enrollment Period — the window during which you can change your Medicare coverage for the coming year — opens on October 15 and closes on December 7. Any changes you make during this period take effect January 1, 2027.
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Why start thinking about it now? Because comparing Medicare plans takes time, and doing it under pressure in late October or November often leads to rushed decisions. The best approach is to spend a few minutes in July or August reviewing your current coverage, making a list of your medications and your preferred providers, and identifying any benefits you are not using — like SilverSneakers or dental coverage — that might be available through a different plan.
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Oregon's free SHIBA counseling service can walk you through the comparison process one-on-one at no cost. To schedule an appointment with a SHIBA advisor serving Clackamas County, visit oregonshiba.org or call 1-800-722-4134. We covered Medicare in detail in our June 20th blog post — you can read it at theelderbeat.org.
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Health Tip of the Month: Beat the Heat
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Summer heat is more serious for older adults than many people realize. As we age, the body becomes less efficient at regulating temperature, and many common medications can further impair heat tolerance. Heat exhaustion and heat stroke are genuine risks during Pacific Northwest heat events — and they can come on more quickly than you expect.
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A few simple habits make a real difference. Drink water consistently throughout the day rather than waiting until you feel thirsty — thirst is often a late signal in older adults. Stay indoors during the hottest part of the day, typically between noon and four in the afternoon. Keep curtains and blinds closed on sun-facing windows to keep rooms cooler. If your home gets uncomfortably hot and you do not have air conditioning, your local library, senior center, or community center can serve as a cool refuge during heat events.
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Check on your neighbors too. A quick phone call or knock on the door during a heat advisory can literally save a life — and it is exactly the kind of neighborly connection that makes Happy Valley and Clackamas the community it is.
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Community Corner
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This is a space for reader questions, local news, and the knowledge our community shares with each other.
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One of the best things about building a community resource is what the community teaches you in return. After we published our June 10th post on aging in place, a subscriber left a comment that stopped us in our tracks — in the best possible way. The post had focused primarily on homeowners: modifications to make, resources to draw on, plans worth making before you need them. Our reader pointed out, gently and correctly, that we had left out a significant part of the picture. Renting, she noted, is a legitimate and sometimes preferable option for aging in place. We think she is absolutely right.
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For older adults carrying the full weight of homeownership — property taxes, maintenance, unexpected repairs, the physical demands of keeping up a house — renting can offer real relief. It can also free up home equity built over decades, converting a largely illiquid asset into resources that improve daily life. Some rental communities are designed specifically for older adults, with accessibility features, social programming, and a sense of community that can be harder to cultivate in a single-family home. And it is worth remembering that many older adults have been renters their entire lives — for them, the question is not whether to rent but how to find the right rental situation as their needs change.
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This is a topic we plan to explore more fully in a future post. In the meantime, we want to say thank you to the reader who reminded us that aging in place is not one-size-fits-all — and that the best ideas often come from the people we are trying to serve.
If you have a question, a topic suggestion, or something you think our community should know about, we want to hear from you. Write to us at info@theelderbeat.org. You just might end up in this column.
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Question of the Month
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Every month we pose a single question to our community and invite you to respond. Responses submitted this month may appear in the August newsletter. There are no right answers — only neighbors sharing what they know, what they have learned, and what they think. We love hearing from you.
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This month's question: Is there something you have started doing in the last few years that you wish you had started sooner?
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Elder Beat Reads
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Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End
by Atul Gawande, M.D.
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Atul Gawande is a surgeon and staff writer for The New Yorker who became troubled by medicine's tendency to prioritize extending life at any cost over helping people live well until the end. Being Mortal is his examination of what it actually means to age and die well — and why the medical system so often fails people at the moment they need it most.
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What makes this book essential is its practicality. Gawande does not just diagnose the problem — he offers a way forward, centered on one deceptively simple practice: asking people what matters most to them and building their care around the answer. The conversations he describes having with his own father, a surgeon who was diagnosed with a spinal cord tumor, are among the most moving passages in recent American nonfiction.
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For older adults thinking about their own future, for adult children navigating a parent's declining health, and for anyone who wants to approach the end of life with intention rather than avoidance, Being Mortal is an invaluable and deeply humane guide.
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If you read it, we would love to hear what it meant to you.
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Coming This Month
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This month on The Elder Beat we are publishing two posts that respond directly to questions and themes we have been hearing from readers:
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- In-Home Care Services (July 10)— What does it actually mean, and what resources are available to help you stay safely and comfortably in your own home right here in Happy Valley and Clackamas?
- Prescription Drug Costs and the Oregon Prescription Drug Program (July 20) — Medication costs are one of the most significant financial burdens facing older adults on fixed incomes. We will cover practical strategies for reducing what you pay at the pharmacy, including the Oregon Prescription Drug Program, Medicare Extra Help, and generic alternatives — with a focus on resources available right here in our community.
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Earlene on the Lighter Side
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Meet Earlene. Because aging well includes laughing well — at life, at the absurdities of getting older, and occasionally at ourselves. We hope she brightens your day.
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Earlene took up watercolor painting in March.
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Her instructor is encouraging in the way that good instructors are — finding something genuine to praise in work that does not entirely deserve it. Earlene appreciates this more than she lets on.
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Her paintings so far include two landscapes that look like weather events, a bowl of fruit that could be anything, and one piece her grandson called "actually pretty good" in a tone that suggested he was as surprised as she was.
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She has signed up for the summer session.
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She is not getting better quickly.
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She is, however, getting better.
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A Closing Note
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July feels like a good time to pause and notice what is working.
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The Elder Beat is still very new — just a few months old — and yet the community gathering around it is already something I am genuinely proud of. Readers who write in with questions, neighbors who share posts with friends, people who have found a resource they needed through our directory — I'm especially grateful for the reader who pointed out that many of us elders are renters.
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Thank you for being part of it. Enjoy your summer, look out for each other during the warm days ahead, and do not hesitate to reach out if there is anything The Elder Beat can do to help.
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With warmth from Happy Valley and Clackamas —
— Molly Skeen
Founder, The Elder Beat
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