Conwell Hooper | Guest columnist

It appears that age 62 is the most popular age to receive Social Security, according to a June 19 News Sentinel article, but what what happens if our Social Security trust fund runs dry one day? With the recent news from the trustees of the Social Security and Medicare trust fund, let's just hope we have the luxury to choose in the future. The trustees have often said Social Security will be depleted by 2034 if we don't make changes, but for the first time in 36 years, costs will exceed income, forcing the program to dip into our reserves to cover benefits. This news is frightening for our seniors and future generations.

One thing is certain, Americans love to travel, eat and spend time with family on Independence Day.  A U.S. News AAA Independence Day forecast calls for 41.9 million Americans traveling at least 50 miles while consuming a whopping 150 million hotdogs over the holiday weekend. That recipe may call for your favorite antacid too.

Every year during the month of June the United States has the opportunity to bring awareness to Alzheimer's and Brain Awareness.  Alzheimer's is a degenerative brain disease and the most common type of dementia. According to the Alzheimer's Association, 5 million American's suffer from this horrible disease and with our population aging by the day, we have a difficult road ahead of us.

In 1994, Congress understood it was time for men to get serious about their health and approved legislation sponsored by Senator Bob Dole and Congressman Bill Richardson recognizing National Men's Health Week. 

There is not a better time of year to kick off Skilled Nursing Care Week than Mother's Day! This is a week where we can recognize the extraordinary stories and events that transpire every day in the lives of our older Americans and those with disabilities.

Whether you are in a long term care facility or a newborn, we have all had the wonderful experience of being cared for by a nurse. 

A stunning recent report by Pew Research shows 34 % of our senior citizens 65 plus are not using the internet.

The Louisiana House of Representatives voted 55-47 to approve a budget that would make substantial cuts to programs and services that help our seniors and disabled Louisianians.  With a fiscal cliff looming, we understand that tough financial decisions need to be made, but we encourage our Louisiana legislators to reconsider and think about our elderly and disabled citizens.

With our senior citizens continuing to live longer, we should all take a moment to think about these staggering statistics that affect the well being and safety of our senior citizens. 

It's that time of year when scammers are targeting senior citizens with creative Internal Revenue Service scare tactics. Since taxpayers are anxious this time of year, fraudsters are using telephone IRS schemes to dupe their victims out of millions.