ProAging Information Network

ProAging @ Vinson Hall 9/9 - Are you prepared to deliver the lifestyle that aging baby boomers REALLY want? Activity Professional CEUs

• Date: Wednesday September 09, 2009
  
   


• Time: Noon - 2
  
   


• Location: Vinson Hall Retirement Community
  
   


• 6251 Old Dominion Drive
  
   


• McLean, VA 22101
  
   

Description: Are you prepared to deliver the lifestyle that aging baby boomers REALLY want? Learn about the innovative “Life Enrichment” approach from a nationally recognized leader! Discuss solutions to creating, managing and marketing your program and giving your participants “purpose”! If you work with seniors and their families you don’t want to miss this opportunity to learn and network with the most influential professionals in the region. Enjoy a free lunch and hear the latest trends in life enrichment programs from one of the leaders in new generational programs on a senior living campus that has created countless innovative programs. Bring plenty of business cards and brochures. Featured Speaker Nancy Ewald is the founder and CEO of Activity Connection.com, an online resource for activity professionals which is used by more than 6,000 senior care communities nationwide. She’s authored six manuals for national companies in the senior care industry and Nancy’s novel ideas and creative approaches to program development have made her a much sought out resource. FREE event, seating and parking is limited, RSVP required: rsvp@proaging.com For additional information call 703-992-1118 

• RSVP required
  
   


• Call: 703-992-1126
  
   


• rsvp@proaging.com
  
   

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ProAging @ Atrium Village 9/25 - featuring the "Sleepover" Project Architects

• Date: Friday September 25, 2009
  
   


• Time: 8:30 a.m - 10ish
  
   


• Location: Atrium Village
  
   


• 4730 Atrium Court
  
   


• Owings Mills, MD 21117
  
   

Description: Join us for the best networking and education opportunity for senior-serving professionals in the central Maryland region! Innovative Architecture Firm Creates the “Sleepover Project” to Better Understand Senior Living Design . CSD Architects launched its “Sleepover Project” in an earnest move to gain insight into the daily lives of aging seniors who reside in assisted living and skilled nursing communities. With the long-term goal of providing better design and building more responsive communities, CSD is sending each member of its senior living architectural design team to stay overnight in a senior living community. Don’t miss this opportunity to learn about this innovative project and engage in a thought provoking discussion with CSD team members! 

• Please RSVP
  
   


• Call: 800-394-9990 ext. 1126
  
   


• rsvp@proaging.com
  
   

Senior Living "Expert" Goes to the Source

By MATTHEW STABLEY and KEITH GARVIN ,  NBCWashington.com

 

A northern Virginia man considered an expert on senior living is moving into a retirement community to get a first-hand lesson in aging.

And he’s taking his 6-year-old son with him.

Steve Gurney, 43, founded Guide to Retirement Living SourceBook 20 years ago. Naturally, he’s ready to retire himself – at least temporarily.

"What I realized last year was I’m an expert in a field where I’ve never experienced it myself," he said.

But that’s changing this week. Gurney and his son are moving into The Residences at Thomas Circle, a retirement community in northwest Washington, to live for the next seven days.  His son’s bringing along his Pokemon cards, perhaps to teach his new neighbors something new.

"I think it’s absolutely wonderful," said resident Mary Washington, 83 years young. "I think it’s good for the youngsters and it’s good for us, too."

The goal of this immersion project is for Gurney and his son to learn from the senior citizens in the community, and the residents expect to teach them a thing or two.

"I’ve learned a lot more from the people who live here, now, because they’ve been places I’ve never been," Washington said. "And it’s very important, I think, to stimulate young people."

The residents expect some stimulation in return. They are excited to learn from the whippersnappers, too.

 

Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2009/08/25/ST2009082502553.html

More Retirees Find Facilities Speaking Their Language

Familiar Care in a Foreign Land

 

By Tara Bahrampour

Washington Post Staff Writer

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

"It’s very important for me to be among Russian speakers," said the onetime preschool teacher from Ukraine who earned three medals digging trenches near Stalingrad during World War II. "Everything he was telling and reading from his book corresponded with things I’d gone through in my life."

Rososhanskaya is one of 42 Russian-speaking residents at the Rockville facility, which is responding to what experts believe will be a growing demand for multicultural offerings at senior centers and nursing homes as America’s elderly population becomes increasingly diverse.

In the Washington area, which has residents from 193 countries, there are retirement homes that cater to a single ethnic group, such as Chinese or Korean, serving their native foods and hiring staff who speak their native tongues. Now some general population facilities are also tailoring their services to an increasingly diverse clientele.

"Everyone is going to have to learn more about various ethnic and cultural sensitivities, because the marketplace of aging is getting more diverse," said Larry Minnix, president and chief executive of the American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging. "I think, over the next five to 10 years, you’re going to see a lot of attention paid to this."

About 10 percent of people 65 and older in the United States are foreign-born. The Pew Research Center estimates that by 2050, that figure will rise to 20 percent, with the total number of elderly immigrants quadrupling to about 16 million.

The movement to serve this population seems to be taking root in individual facilities that see a need rather than coming as a top-down corporate decision. Representatives for large national organizations such as Leisure World and Sunrise Senior Living said they knew of no such programs in their organizations.

Ian Brown, chairman of the diversity and inclusion council at Erickson Living, a retirement organization with 23,000 residents nationwide, said multiculturalism sometimes begins with the employees, who increasingly come from countries such as Nigeria, India and the Philippines.

"They go home to their own parents and say, ‘Hey, this is something that celebrates you and celebrates me, and I think this would be a great place for you to be,’ " Brown said, adding that the facility where he is based, in Illinois, hosts special meals that showcase staff members’ homelands.

In some ways, moving into a retirement facility can be a bigger culture shock than immigration itself. While younger immigrants usually learn some English and adapt to American culture for school and work, those who arrive after retirement often have less incentive to assimilate. Staying at home and communicating through younger family members, they can cling to their language and customs for decades.

But with fewer old-world extended families to care for them at home, many face the prospect of nursing homes where the language, food and signs are unfamiliar and where staff members and fellow residents might know nothing about their backgrounds.

On top of that, in many cultures, separating an old person from the family is taboo. Leaders of Muslim communities have approached Minnix’s organization looking for facilities, but also expressing ambivalence. "There’s a bias – if your mother has to be put somewhere, then you’re not fulfilling your responsibility," he said.

 

Source: http://www.usnews.com/blogs/the-best-life/2009/08/25/caregivers-need-health-reforms-too.html

Philip Moeller

Caregivers are mostly women taking care of mostly women, generally unpaid and stressed most of the time. And that was before the recession. Now, stress levels have risen, fueled by added family financial pressures due to job losses and retirement-fund declines. Health reform proposals and debates largely by-pass this group, which has been estimated at 34 million persons. A recent survey by two caregiver Web sites – Caring.com and VibrantNation.com – finds half of caregivers unable to take even a basic summer vacation because of their commitments. And of those who do travel, 92 percent report being concerned about how their parent is faring while they are away.

Now, blood is thicker than water, and family obligations are important whether anyone is footing the bill or not. But the primary reason many of those 34 million folks are caring for a loved one is because there is no money to provide professional care. And while there is some expanded access to Medicaid in health-reform proposals, it’s hard to see Medicare becoming more generous. If anything, it’s being looked to as a source for savings, not additional spending. And with more and more elderly people needing care each day, the nation’s caregiving dilemma seems certain to get worse, not better.

Whether you’re on the giving or receiving end of caregiving, here are the things that survey respondents said they did for their parent’s safety while they were away:

Placing daily calls, 54 percent.

Develop medication check lists, 35 percent.

Ask friend to check in on parent, 32 percent.

Talk with neighbors ahead of time, 31 percent.

Arrange live-in care, 24 percent.

Pre-make meals, 22 percent.

Arrange daily activities, 11 percent.

Ask post office to hold mail, 8 percent.

Leave little notes and photos so parent knows he/she is missed, 8 percent.

Arrange for parent to take his/her own trip, 6 percent.

Arrange drive-by with local police department, 5 percent.

Set thermostat, light timers, 5 percent.

Andy Cohen, head of Caring.com, and Stephen Reily, founder of VibrantNation.com, said in separate interviews that there are no magic wands to remove caregiving stresses but mention several things that caregivers should consider. Rule #1 in caregiving, they said, is to take care of your own health first. Your value as a caregiver declines dramatically if your own health suffers from caregiving.

Take a Staycation. If you can’t get away for a true vacation, figure out ways to create some special "staycation" days for yourself, Reily said. if you have a normal routine, change it for your staycation. Don’t set your alarm. Take a camera when you leave the house and treat your hometown as a tourist destination.

Don’t Be Isolated. For you, and your parent, social interactions with friends and visits to area museums and cultural events are great for your mental and physical health, and needn’t be hard on the pocketbook. Also, "really let your friends know what you’re going through," Reily says. Friends want to help, but they can’t help if they don’t know you’re in need.

Having Difficult Conversations. Caring for an aging parent often involves painful role reversals. Who’s in charge? How do you tell your parent things they need to hear but may not want to face? For example, Caring.com has some scripted conversations on its site to help with these discussions. One of its most popular topics is talking to parents about giving up their cars. Cohen said users can search the site for advice on dealing with other sensitive topics.

Money and Time Help. "Caregivers don’t choose to do this," Cohen said. "It’s usually sort of a last resort" that is thrust on them with little time to prepare. "So, they’re incredibly stressed right away, and anything that helps save them time and money" is really helpful. Caring.com has a Medicare Information Finder  to help caregivers figure out if Medicare will cover specific care expenses.

You’re Not Alone. Cohen said Caring.com recently launched a "Light a Candle" feature that allows site users to light a virtual candle, create a web page dedicated to a loved one and even send electronic "hugs and prayers" to someone who is in your thoughts. "The response has been overwhelming," he said.

 

Man, 87, Charged in Attack on 91-Year-Old

 

By Don Markus and Larry Carson

The Baltimore Sun

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

They were two elderly men living out their days at Harmony Hall, an assisted living facility in Columbia. James W. Brown and Earl Lafayette Wilder didn’t know each other, according to an official at the facility, and might not have had any contact until Aug. 14.

Now, Brown, 91, is dead, and Wilder, 87, has been charged with killing him that afternoon in an incident outside the home. It was Howard County’s first homicide of the year.

Joseph LaVerghetta, general counsel for Harmony Hall’s owner, said it isn’t clear what triggered the incident.

"Nobody knows what happened,” LaVerghetta said. "It’s shocking. It’s sad, a very strange thing."

Police said Brown was sitting on a bench outside Harmony Hall when Wilder struck him in the head.

Brown was taken by medical helicopter to a hospital and later was placed in hospice care, where he died of his injuries Saturday.

The state medical examiner’s office ruled Monday that Brown’s death was a homicide. Wilder was charged with second-degree murder and first- and second-degree assault.

A police spokeswoman said that Wilder is not in police custody but had been taken to a "private, nonprofit facility."

Police declined to comment on Wilder’s mental condition, citing privacy laws.

According to Sue Vaeth, administrator of Howard County’s Office on Aging, elder abuse or exploitation affects 1 million to 2 million people a year in the United States, but is usually caused by younger family members or staff members at an institution.

Incidents in which one elderly person kills another – a stranger – are unusual, Vaeth said.

Donna Cohen, a University of South Florida professor who has studied violence among seniors, said an incident such as the one at Harmony Hall would not necessarily be a premeditated crime. It could be triggered by a "catastrophic reaction to some event," she said.

Cohen said one question she has is whether officials at the assisted living facility could have anticipated the attack. She said residents who show signs of violent behavior are often relocated as quickly as possible.

On Monday, the scene outside Harmony Hall was serene. A man and a woman sat on a bench enjoying the late afternoon breeze.

"It’s a nice place," said the man, who didn’t identify himself.

 

Visit www.everyoneisaging.com

Visit www.retirement-living.com

Chevy Chase, MD—The Hormone Foundation, the public education affiliate of The Endocrine Society, in collaboration with the National Alliance for Caregiving, today released key findings from a first-of-its-kind survey (http://www.hormone.org/Public/diabetes_caregiver.cfm) aimed at better understanding the daily needs and struggles of unpaid caregivers of people with diabetes.

The online survey completed by 1,002 respondents in April 2009 found that the major challenges in caring for those with diabetes include exercise and diet compliance, patient depression and maintaining target sugar levels. Caregivers reported that the physician is their top information source, followed by the Internet. However, while 73 percent of caregivers reported using the Internet to obtain diabetes information, many expressed frustration in evaluating the quality and reliability of online content.

Specific survey findings include:

More than half of respondents (54 percent) struggle with diet-related issues like cooking, meal planning and non-compliance;

Nearly half of respondents (49 percent) reported challenges with medical management of diabetes; and

Twelve percent of respondents reported their own stress and emotional health as a significant concern.

"Caregivers are involved with a wide range of diabetes-related responsibilities and as a result, many report some social and personal health sacrifices due to their caregiving," said Gail Hunt, president and CEO of the National Alliance for Caregiving. "The more information we have to understand the issues and burdens caregivers experience, the better equipped we will be to provide them with meaningful assistance."

"This survey identified many important needs among caregivers of adults with diabetes, but this is only the first step," said Alvin M. Matsumoto, MD, chair of The Hormone Foundation Committee that spearheaded the survey initiative.

"To address the needs identified through the survey, the Foundation will be creating Diabetes Caregiver Central®, an easy-to-use Web site containing the most up-to-date information relevant to diabetes caregivers. The new Web site will serve as a comprehensive one-stop shop including resources and information about diabetes; diet and exercise; optimizing blood sugar control; managing complications and coexisting illnesses; and handling patient and caregiver stress and mental health," said Matsumoto.

Diabetes Caregiver Central® is expected to go live in the fall of 2010.

Additional findings from the survey suggest that: 92 percent of respondents are often dealing with other conditions in addition to diabetes caregiving; women caregivers are more likely than men to have their mental and physical health affected by their caregiving role; and finally, women caregivers are more likely than men to seek information on diabetes caregiving.

###

The research for this survey was conducted by Richard Day Research, Inc. and was supported by an educational grant from Eli Lilly and Company.

About The Hormone Foundation

The Hormone Foundation is the public education affiliate of The Endocrine Society and is a leading source of hormone-related health information for the public, physicians, allied health professionals and the media. Their mission is to serve as a resource for the public by promoting the prevention, treatment and cure of hormone-related conditions through outreach and education. For more information about the Foundation, visit www.hormone.org

About The Endocrine Society

Founded in 1916, The Endocrine Society is the world’s oldest, largest and most active organization devoted to research on hormones and the clinical practice of endocrinology. Today, The Endocrine Society’s membership consists of more than 14,000 scientists, physicians, educators, nurses and students in more than 100 countries. Society members represent all basic, applied and clinical interests in endocrinology. The Endocrine Society is based in Chevy Chase, Maryland. To learn more about the Society and the field of endocrinology, visit our Web site at www.endo-society.org.

About the National Alliance for Caregiving

The National Alliance for Caregiving is a non-profit coalition of national organizations focusing on issues of family caregiving. It was created to conduct research, do policy analysis, develop national programs, increase public awareness of family caregiving issues, work to strengthen state and local caregiving coalitions, and represent the United States caregiving community internationally. For more information about the Alliance, visit www.caregiving.org

 

Source: http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2009-08-17-newbingedrinking_N.htm

By Erin Thompson, USA TODAY

Binge drinking has become nearly synonymous with college students, but a study out today shows a significant, worrisome level of binge drinking among those age 50 to 64 as well.

Working with the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, Duke University researchers report that 22% of men and 9% of women ages 50 to 64 engaged in binge drinking — five or more drinks at a time — within the past month of the survey. The research, based on a survey of 11,000 men and women that took place in 2005 and 2006, is reported today in the American Journal of Psychiatry.

The survey also found that 19% of the men and 13% of the women had two or more drinks a day, considered heavy or "at-risk" drinking under American Geriatric Society guidelines for older people.

Dan Blazer, the study’s lead author and a professor of psychiatry and behavioral science at Duke, says that level of drinking places the older group at more of a health risk than younger counterparts.

"They don’t metabolize alcohol as quickly, they may be on medications, or they may have some health problems that alcohol may contribute to," Blazer says. "On average, if a young person drinks five beers and an older person drinks five beers, the older person is almost certainly going to have more difficulty."

FIND MORE STORIES IN: Duke University

The survey also found binge drinking in those over 65: 14% of men and 3% of women.

In the past, binge drinking has been overlooked by physicians as a health risk because they have been focused on the excessive drinking of young people. But adults in the Baby Boomer generation could be putting themselves at a greater risk of more serious problems such as stroke, cardiovascular disease, liver disease, neurological damage and poor diabetes control, the Duke research says.

"We typically think of binge drinking as something that occurs with young people such as college students, and here we have examples of older closet drinkers," Blazer says. "Because we don’t expect older people to binge-drink, this can be missed by a person’s doctor because they are not asking."

The nationally representative study, Blazer says, also found that people don’t tend to change such behavior as they get older.

"We may see some younger people’s patterns continue and become even more problematic," he says. "You may think that you are more tolerant and your health is just as good or better than it was 20 or 30 years ago, but it’s not."

Source: http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/oped/bal-op.medicare18aug18,0,121019.story

Our national experience with the Medicare program can provide guidance to the choices our legislators must make regarding health care reform. If one favors more or less government in health care, positive and negative lessons emerge from the nearly 50-year Medicare experience of providing universal health care coverage for all those age 65 and older.

Medicare eliminated the fragmented, episodic and often dehumanizing care that many retired seniors were forced to seek through emergency departments or charitable sources because they no longer had coverage from an employer. I witnessed this phenomenon first hand, and I don’t believe anyone who has experienced such care as a patient or a provider would argue that it should be acceptable. The implementation of Medicare increased the demand for primary care from physicians in private practice. With access to comprehensive primary care, overall health care quality went up, and average per-patient costs went down.

Patients generally like Medicare and the freedom of choice it provides. Admiration seems to hold even if individuals had private insurance before retirement. It seems to be admired by individuals of nearly all political persuasions. It is a largely government-run program then does seem acceptable to many Americans.

Medicare was designed in the 1960s when life expectancy was only around age 68 and acute health care problems dominated. Now, the life expectancy is closer to 80 years and chronic diseases are most prominent. Some argue updating of Medicare has been slow. Yet it has adapted partially to the changes of the past 50 years. Improved coverage for prevention, counseling/education and house calls and, most recently, partial drug coverage show such improvement.

But there are problems. Primary care in Medicare has become unattractive to providers in recent years. Increasingly, seniors and especially those with multiple chronic diseases can’t find a primary care provider. Experts argue this is because of the increasing complexity of illness, mostly in the very old.

Many patients find they must participate in a concierge program or the like or join a practice. Caring for older patients with multiple chronic diseases does take more provider time.

Team care is ideal in such situations, yet it is inadequately compensated and, therefore, not widely available. Accordingly, any health care reform must include strategies for recruiting professionals of all disciplines to primary care and sponsor the creation of innovative models of care delivery.

Medicare is a successful public/private partnership. In the fee-for-service Medicare program, most individuals have a co-payment or purchase supplemental private insurance in the form of a MediGap policy or they participate in the Medicare drug program.

Seniors in the Medicare Advantage program essentially have private insurance that is paid for by Medicare. In the 1980s, most experts predicted the vast majority of seniors would enroll in Medicare Advantage plans. This didn’t happen, and many argue that some private insurers didn’t recognize that the very old and those with multiple diseases could not be treated as if they were well 50-year-olds. There are stories of private insurance companies or groups subcontracted to them not allowing physicians the time to provide proper care.

However, some private insurance companies used this opportunity to create innovative programs to provide care for the chronically ill and disabled. But still proven innovations are not widely available in either the Medicare Advantage or fee-for-service programs. If one finds fault with government programs, there seems to be opportunity to do the same with private companies.

The Medicare program has been a godsend to American seniors. I shudder to think of their plight had it not been enacted. Without regard to one’s political persuasion, lessons from our Medicare program, both its government and private components, could serve as a guide to doing what we must do: assure that all Americans have some form of adequate health insurance.

Dr. John Burton is a professor of medicine and director of the Johns Hopkins Geriatric Education Center and Consortium. His e-mail is jburton@jhmi.edu.