Savor Wisconsin For The Holidays

Guest: Christine Lindner, Wisconsin's 63rd Alice in Dairyland

"Something Special from Wisconsin" is a great way to flavor up the holidays says Christine Lindner, Wisconsin's Alice in Dairyland. Whether it's a holiday meal or a gift basket of Wisconsin products, the best choices are often from our own backyard. Wisconsin's $59 billion agriculture industry provides our citizens and global neighbors with plenty of options for down home goodness.

Buying local is good for Wisconsin, good for our health, and offers opportunities for fun family outings as agriculture combines tourism and entertainment throughout the state. Christine Lindner shares lots of ideas on how to make your holidays special.

For more suggestions of unique Wisconsin products and gift ideas, go to www.savorwisconsin.com.

Up Close And Personal With John and Barbara DeMain

Guests: John DeMain, Music Director, Madison Symphony Orchestra
Barbara DeMain, wife, supporter and former promoter of classical music concerts

They first met in Houston. She was there on a concert assignment from her home in Germany. He was there conducting and offered her a ride to the concert hall. The conversation was good and it continued via telephone after she returned to Germany. He then invited her to Aspen, and a few days after she arrived, he asked her if she would like to elope. She had to look up what the word meant in her German/American dictionary. It said, "to flee." He said it would be "fun." She said, "okay!" Nineteen years later, John and Barbara DeMain are still having fun together and united in their love of music.

In Barbara DeMain's first broadcast interview, listeners will get an insight into this fascinating couple, each grounded in their own history and committed to their relationship with the community through the Madison Symphony Orchestra.

The community will once again welcome the holiday season with their annual Christmas Spectacular concerts, December 3-5 in Overture Hall. Joining the MSO will be Metropolitan Opera star, soprano Angela Brown, and the outstanding local talent of the Madison Symphony Chorus, the Madison Youth Choirs and the Mount Zion Gospel Choir. For more information, go to www.madisonsymphony.org or call 608.260.8680.

There's More To Dementia Than Alzheimer's Disease

Guests: Dr. Cindy Carlsson - Assistant Professor, Geriatrics UW School of Medicine and Public Heath and Madison VA GRECC. Medical Director, VA Memory Assessment Clinic

Mary Reines - Program Director, Alzheimer's & Dementia Alliance of Wisconsin

November is National Alzheimer's Awareness Month and National Family Caregiver's Month. The two come together on this program as Dr. Cindy Carlsson discusses the medical characteristics of not only Alzheimer's Disease but other dementias as well - Vascular Dementia, Lewy Body disease and Frontal Temporal Dementia. Mary Reiner describes the unique and complex caregiving issues that each form of dementia presents.

For more information and assistance, contact the Alzheimer's and Dementia Alliance of Wisconsin: www.alzwisc.org. Call 608.232.2400 or 888.308.6251

The Future Of Medicare and Health Care

Guest: Nino Amato, President and Executive Director - Coalition of Wisconsin Aging Groups (CWAG)

Now that the campaign rhetoric has calmed down, what exactly is the state of Medicare and health care in general? Public opinion polls show Americans are fairly equally divided on their support or opposition to the health care reform legislation, but the bigger statistic is that recent polls show widespread misunderstanding of what the law actually says. According to a survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation, half of people over 65 think Medicare benefits will be cut and over one-third believe "death panels" are included in the legislation. NEITHER IS TRUE!

According to Nino Amato, cost, access, and medical safety are the big issues in the future of health care. In this umbrella discussion, Amato clarifies the misperceptions, discusses what is needed for sustainable health care, and describes Wisconsin's own Campaign for Better Care.

For more information, go to www.cwag.org

The Spectrum Of Caregiving

Guests: Marilyn Lawler, Director of Community Education, Independent Living, Inc.
Pat Wilson, Family Support Specialist, Alzheimer's & Dementia Alliance of Wisconsin
Margo Belz, Caregiver Support Coordinator, HospiceCare, Inc.

Caregiving is a family issue, a health issue, and a growing challenge in our aging society. Most caregiving falls upon family members who take on the unpaid responsibility of caring for a loved one with little or no training and often juggling a job and a family at the same time. This is a sampler of the annual Caregiver Forum, Empowered Caregiving, which will be held on Wednesday, November 10th, 2010, from 8:30-1:30pm at Covenant Presbyterian Church, 326 S. Segoe Rd., Madison. On this radio program, you will hear what it means to be a caregiver, understand the new path your life is taking, what the unique demands are when dementia is involved, and how to confront end of life issues.

TO REGISTER FOR THE NOVEMBER 10TH CAREGIVER FORUM: Contact Claire Culbertson at 608-261-5679 or culbertson@co.dane.wi.us
Cost: $10 per person includes continental breakfast and lunch

For more information on caregiving, contact:

Independent Living, Inc. - www.indepenliving.com - 608-274-7900
Alzheimer's & Dementia Alliance of Wisconsin - www.alzwisc.org - 608-232-3400, 1-888-308-6251
HospiceCare, Inc. - www.hospicecareinc.com - 608-276-4660