Compiled by Debra Scherban. Please send items to dscherban@gazettenet.com.
The AARP Driver Safety course will be offered for those 50 years old and over Sept. 14 from 2:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. at Baystate Medical Center, 361 Whitney Avenue, Holyoke.
The course is designed to help drivers familiarize themselves with the current rules of the road and defensive driving techniques. In addition, participants will learn how aging, medications, alcohol, and other health-related issues affect driving ability, and how to adjust accordingly. The course also will help participants plan for the time when they can no longer drive.
AARP offers both classroom and online courses. The classroom course costs $15 for AARP members and $20 for non-members. The online version is $19.95 for members and $24.95 for non-members.
Call 794-8982 for information or to register or visit www.aarpdriversafety.org
Deborah Yaffee of Shelburne Falls has been elected a senior trainer with the Tai Chi for Health Institute (TCHI), an international tai chi training organization under the direction of founder and family physician, Dr. Paul Lam.
As a Tai Chi for Health Senior Trainer, Yaffee helps instructors and participants develop their skills and supports them at instructor certification workshops.
Yaffee, who began with Sun Style tai chi eventually moved into the Sun Style form, Tai Chi for Arthritis (TCA), becoming a certified instructor.
Over the years Yaffee has become certified to teach Lam’s Tai Chi for Diabetes, Tai Chi for Beginners (yang 24 form), Tai Chi for Energy (Parts 1 and 2), Tai Chi for Arthritis for Fall Prevention, and Tai Chi for Rehabilitation. She has continued her education with training in Tai Chi for Chronic Conditions and various workshops with master trainers.
Yaffee teaches classes at the Greenfield YMCA, the Shelburne Senior Center, local yoga studios, and in private lessons.
Her tai chi for health programs at the Greenfield YMCA are part of the Exercise is Medicine program there. Beginning in September, Yang 24 (modified for safety) will meet on Tuesdays from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. and Tai Chi for Health (a Sun style based form, aimed at falls prevention and pain relief) will meet on Thursdays from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m.
Tai chi classes at the Y are free to members but nonmembers can join for $10 per class.
Yaffee can be reached at 625-2800 or by email eztaichiforhealth@gmail.com
Bruce I. Goderez, MD, the founder of Pioneer Valley Hyperbaric, has reopened his treatment center in Hadley, which offers oxygen therapy for a range of medical disorders and conditions. After a brief relocation, the business has returned to 8 River Drive.
Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy is offered at hospitals for a limited number of conditions approved by the Federal Drug Administration, including non-healing wounds, abscesses and damage from radiation treatment. Pioneer Valley Hyperbaric offers “mild” Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy, which Goderez says has been found to be safe and effective for a variety conditions, including the treatment of traumatic brain injury. He also says it can be helpful in controlling chronic neurological Lyme disease and improving symptoms of multiple sclerosis. The therapy is also useful in treating musculoskeletal issues, degenerative disc disease and diabetic ulcers, he says.
Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy is delivered in a sealed, slightly pressurized chamber, in which the patient breathes 100 percent oxygen through a mask. The procedure raises oxygen concentration in the blood and other tissues to high levels, which causes an anti-inflammatory effect and triggers a variety of healing processes, Goderez says.
For more information, visit www.pioneervalleyhyperbaric.com or contact Goderez at goderez@charter.net or 582-1839.