Welcome to the new members of this list and a Happy New Year to those
of you who have joined the list some time ago.

Obviously, the Elder Care Digest has been inactive. We have been
looking for someone to serve as the list editor on a volunteer basis
and haven't found anyone yet. I've been engrossed in writing two
books and in taking care of commitments to clients and Gregg has been
busy with his work.

If any of you have an inclination and some time, we'd eagerly welcome
the help.

Meanwhile, I will try to find the time to resurrect the Elder Care
Digest until we do get some help.


Vern Jacobs

Welcome to the new members of this list and a Happy New Year to those
of you who have joined the list some time ago.

Obviously, the Elder Care Digest has been inactive. We have been
looking for someone to serve as the list editor on a volunteer basis
and haven't found anyone yet. I've been engrossed in writing two books
and in taking care of commitments to clients and Gregg has been busy
with his work.

If any of you have an inclination and some time, we'd eagerly welcome
the help.

Meanwhile, I will try to find the time to resurrect the Elder Care
Digest until we do get some help.

Vern Jacobs

Elder Care
          Digest

December, 2006

Making a difference at the holidays

I - Personal Contact is the Best Gift of All

Want a great idea on how to make a real difference?  Gerrett Matthews writes in the Evansville (Ind.) Courier & Press that nursing home residents, more often than not, will be spending the holidays alone.  Having outlived many family and friends, they are greeted by an occasional card from a stranger and a rotating staff of professional caregivers.  His response was to compose the biographies of local residents and, in his recent article, encourages readers to select one of these residents and make their holiday special with a personal visit, call or at least a card or gift.  This simple act can make all the difference this season.

If you are already visiting nursing homes, then you know the joy it can bring.  If you don't know where to start, just visit a nearby nursing home and talk to the activity director or the administrator.  They should be more than happy to help you get involved.

Many houses of worship have nursing home or elder care ministries that would appreciate your involvement. 

II - Students Play Santa

Students at Friendship Elementary (North Carolina) have adopted the Liberty Wood Nursing Home in Thomasville (N.C.) for a community service project, according to an article 11/17/06 in The Dispatch.  The students will collect personal need items such as lotion, bath soap, shaving cream, hair brushes/combs, Kleenex, shampoo and conditioner, notepads, large print word searches, color pens, markers, sugar free gum and candy.  The children will then deliver these glad tidings in the form of goody bags to the residents this holiday. 

These activities are great ways to introduce young people to nursing homes.  Several volunteers with Positive Lights started out this way and now bring their own young children with them as they continue their habit of elder care volunteerism.

Consumer Reports Offers Nursing Home Quality Monitor

CBS The Early Show Health Watch hosted a special on 8/22/06 regarding the importance of choosing a quality nursing home for eldercare.  Reporting that a not-for-profit nursing home is more likely to provide good care than a for-profit facility, they directed the public to Consumer Reports.  Previously titled, the Nursing Home Guide, the Consumer Reports experts have produced a Nursing Home Quality Monitor to aide the public in the search for quality care facilities.  This tool can be accessed at www.consumerreports.org by selecting the "Health" topic.

There are other good resources, some of which can be found on the Positive Lights web site at http://www.positivelights.org/elderfacilities.htm

As Consumer Reports points out, a change in administration or ownership can make a major difference so don't rely just on historical data.  Check things out for yourself.

Planning Ahead for Elder-Care

Jennifer Openshaw discusses the financial considerations regarding eldercare in her article published 9/27/06 in the Market Watch from Dow Jones.  Read this article at www.MarketWatch.com.  A website is referenced that offers legal direction in all states www.elderlawanswers.com.  Also, check our website,  www.positivelights.org under "Elder Law" for other excellent resources.

St. Louis University Develops Improved Dementia Test

The commonly used test doctors use to detect the early stages of dementia is called the Mini Mental Status Examination (MMSE).  Researchers at the St. Louis University have now developed a test that has improved the detection of persons with mild neurocognitive disorder (MNCD).  This new test is called the St. Louis University Mental Status Examination (SLUMS).  The SLUMS test is a 30 point screening questionnaire that tests for orientation and memory, attention and executive functions.  The article in the Belleville Newsdemocrat offers a link that anyone can use to perform this test themselves, but doctors warn that this should not replace a full screening.

http://www.belleville.com/mld/belleville/living/16101269.htm

For a copy of the test, click on: http://medschool.slu.edu/agingsuccessfully/pdfsurveys/slumsexam_05.pdf

Additional Information on the test can be found at: http://www.slu.edu/x11329.xml

The Positive Lights Elder Care Digest is a free news service from Positive Lights, Inc. Copies may be distributed to friends and colleagues without prior permission of Positive Lights, Inc.

 Elder Care
          Digest

• Nursing Home Volunteers
• Resistance to Self Funded Health Care
• Proposed Developments in Elder-Care Technology
• Elder Care Speaker/Author Now Blogging on Health Site
• Providing Assisted Living Care for Low Income Seniors
• Check for Changes in Nursing Home Ownership or Management
• Helping Seniors
  

Volunteering at a nursing home can be a truly enriching experience.  Positive Lights volunteers participated in nursing home visits in a variety of ways:  they organized an "ice cream social", assisted in taking residents to a chili cook-off, and visited one-on-one with lonely residents.  Groups of ten to almost thirty volunteers, including small children through senior citizens, regularly visited nursing homes and led exercise activities and sing-alongs.  We found that residents were skeptical at first, but after months of regular semi-weekly visits, almost every resident who was able actively participated.  

Some of the most moving experiences were when residents who seldom responded to anyone started talking and even catching a foam ball.  Both the staff and the volunteers shed tears of joy when unresponsive residents would actually look at what was going on around them and smile with pleasure. As much as we would like to think we gave to the residents, we got far, far more in return.  (Gregg Gimlin, President, Positive Lights, inc.) 

You don't have to participate with a group to be a volunteer. Here is a story from the Chicago Tribune on other volunteer activities.

The solution to the escalating cost of health care in the U.S. is not one that most seniors want to contemplate. 

Logically, any benefit that an insurance company will pay for has to be covered by the premiums that are paid. Otherwise the insurance company will go broke and they know that better than their customers. If the insurance company is to pay for routine expenses, they will include that in the premiums and will mark up the cost to include their overhead, administration and marketing expenses. The most sensible kind of medical insurance is major medical. This is coverage that has large deductibles and co-insurance but provides greater protection for unusual and catastrophic injuries or illnesses. Minor and repetitive expenses are paid by the insured. 

Obviously, if an employer or the government is going to pay for the insurance, then the employees and Medicare beneficiaries will want the maximum amount of coverage. But that encourages people to approve procedures or testing that they probably would not choose if they had to pay for it themselves. Due to the threat of lawsuits and the lack of resistance from patients, doctors are encouraged to employ test procedures of marginal value to the patient. 

When someone else is paying the bill, everyone will insist on having the most expensive form of medical care rather than making tough choices. The result is that prices escalate because there is hardly any genuine restraint on the cost of health care. After many decades of excessive increases in health care costs, the government is pressuring insurance companies and insurers are pressuring employers (or Medicare recipients) to share more of the cost of the insurance. There is every indication this trend will continue and that employees and Medicare recipients will be forced to shoulder an increasing part of the cost of health care for themselves.  

Some information about major medical insurance is available at

http://www.healthinsuranceindepth.com/basics-how-it-works.html

http://www.ahipresearch.com/pdfs/Individual_Insurance_Survey_Report8-26-2005.pdf

Proposed Developments in Elder-Care Technology

Video cameras monitoring an elderly person's movement patterns in a room would go far in eliminating the need for costly and inconvenient human intervention. Since the computer capturing the video signals is able to detect anomalies in movement (such as a fall), an alarm would sound upon detection of such, and appropriate help is called for. (Wisdom Uncommon)

Elder Care Speaker/Author Now Blogging on Health Site

Columnist/author/speaker Carol Bradley Bursack, author of "Minding Our Elders: Caregivers Share Their Personal Stories," is now blogging on OurAlzheimers.com, part of the Health Central Network. Bursack is a regular on national radio writes articles on elder care.

Providing Assisted Living Care for Low Income Seniors

Assisted living centers are practical options for many seniors, but what about seniors who have very low incomes?  In Southern Illinois, of the 45,984 people in a four-county area, 18 percent were seniors, and 77 percent of the senior population had an income below $15,000 a year.  Read about the opportunities provided to low-income seniors in Southern Illinois and how similar programs might be available elsewhere.

The Southern Illinoisan » Home Health Series Part 3 - Assisted Living: Independent, affordable, apartment style living for seniors is a reality

One problem in selecting a nursing home is that no matter how good it is today, a change in ownership or even a change in the home's Director could mean that the care will be significantly different within a short time.  Being able to get current data on North Carolina nursing homes is the subject of this article. For your State, you might check out your Department of Aging or its equivalent. 

The article notes that for North Carolina, the records will indicate whether nursing homes have been fined or cited for serious violations that endangered residents. Those records are already available at www.medicare.gov, but that's a national listing, making it a little more difficult for users to navigate to a particular home in North Carolina.  Our view: Online nursing home records a plus

Helping Seniors

The Network for Enriched Seniors in Training will help provide trained volunteers to staff Citizens Helping Individual Retired People, the commission's senior care program that was established in 2005 following the start-up of 24-hour telephone service. The citizens group is organized around seven volunteer teams providing services such as Meals on Wheels in time of need; assistance with household tasks; providing sitting services to senior caregivers; regular phone calls and house visits; offering group counseling to grieving seniors; visiting seniors at home or in hospitals; and arranging for transportation to doctors. 

Source: Miami Herald, July 23, 2006

October 20, 2006
Copyright, Positive Lights, Inc.
www.positivelights.org


Nursing Home Volunteers

Volunteering at a nursing home can be a truly enriching experience.
Positive Lights volunteers participated in nursing home visits in a
variety of ways:  they organized an "ice cream social", assisted in
taking residents to a chili cook-off, and visited one-on-one with
lonely residents.  Groups of ten to almost thirty volunteers,
including small children through senior citizens, regularly visited
nursing homes and led exercise activities and sing-alongs.  We found
that residents were skeptical at first, but after months of regular
bi-weekly visits, almost every resident who was able actively
participated.

Some of the most moving experiences were when residents who seldom
responded to anyone started talking and even catching a foam ball.
Both the staff and the volunteers shed tears of joy when unresponsive
residents would actually look at what was going on around them and
smile with pleasure. As much as we would like to think we gave to the
residents, we got far, far more in return.  (Gregg Gimlin, President,
Positive Lights, inc.)


Resistance to Self Funded Health Care

The solution to the escalating cost of health care in the U.S. is not
one that most seniors want to contemplate.

Logically, any benefit that an insurance company will pay for has to
be covered by the premiums that are paid. Otherwise the insurance
company will go broke and they know that better than their customers.
If the insurance company is to pay for routine expenses, they will
include that in the premiums and will mark up the cost to include
their overhead, administration and marketing expenses. The most
sensible kind of medical insurance is major medical. This is coverage
that has large deductibles and co-insurance but provides greater
protection for unusual and catastrophic injuries or illnesses. Minor
and repetitive expenses are paid by the insured.

Obviously, if an employer or the government is going to pay for the
insurance, then the employees and Medicare beneficiaries will want the
maximum amount of coverage. But that encourages people to approve
procedures or testing that they probably would not choose if they had
to pay for it themselves. Due to the threat of lawsuits and the lack
of resistance from patients, doctors are encouraged to employ test
procedures of marginal value to the patient.

When someone else is paying the bill, everyone will insist on having
the most expensive form of medical care rather than making tough
choices. The result is that prices escalate because there is hardly
any genuine restraint on the cost of health care. After many decades
of excessive increases in health care costs, the government is
pressuring insurance companies and insurers are pressuring employers
(or Medicare recipients) to share more of the cost of the insurance.
There is every indication this trend will continue and that employees
and Medicare recipients will be forced to shoulder an increasing part
of the cost of health care for themselves.

Some information about major medical insurance is available at
http://www.healthinsuranceindepth.com/basics-how-it-works.html
http://www.ahipresearch.com/pdfs/Individual_Insurance_Survey_Report8-26-2005.pdf


Proposed Developments in Elder-Care Technology

Video cameras monitoring an elderly person's movement patterns in a
room would go far in eliminating the need for costly and inconvenient
human intervention. Since the computer capturing the video signals is
able to detect anomalies in movement (such as a fall), an alarm would
sound upon detection of such, and appropriate help is called for.
(Wisdom Uncommon)

Elder Care Speaker/Author Now Blogging on Health Site

Columnist/author/speaker Carol Bradley Bursack, author of "Minding Our
Elders: Caregivers Share Their Personal Stories," is now blogging on
OurAlzheimers.com, part of the Health Central Network. Bursack is a
regular on national radio writes articles on elder care.

Providing Assisted Living Care for Low Income Seniors

Assisted living centers are practical options for many seniors, but
what about seniors who have very low incomes?  In Southern Illinois,
of the 45,984 people in a four-county area, 18 percent were seniors,
and 77 percent of the senior population had an income below $15,000 a
year.  Read about the opportunities provided to low-income seniors in
Southern Illinois and how similar programs might be available elsewhere.

SOURCE: The Southern Illinoisan » Home Health Series Part 3 - Assisted
Living: Independent, affordable, apartment style living for seniors is
a reality


Check for Changes in Nursing Home Ownership or Management

One problem in selecting a nursing home is that no matter how good it
is today, a change in ownership or even a change in the home's
Director could mean that the care will be significantly different
within a short time.  Being able to get current data on North Carolina
nursing homes is the subject of this article. For your State, you
might check out your Department of Aging or its equivalent.

The article notes that for North Carolina, the records will indicate
whether nursing homes have been fined or cited for serious violations
that endangered residents. Those records are already available at
www.medicare.gov, but that's a national listing, making it a little
more difficult for users to navigate to a particular home in North
Carolina.

Helping Seniors

The Network for Enriched Seniors in Training will help provide trained
volunteers to staff Citizens Helping Individual Retired People, the
commission's senior care program that was established in 2005
following the start-up of 24-hour telephone service. The citizens
group is organized around seven volunteer teams providing services
such as Meals on Wheels in time of need; assistance with household
tasks; providing sitting services to senior caregivers; regular phone
calls and house visits; offering group counseling to grieving seniors;
visiting seniors at home or in hospitals; and arranging for
transportation to doctors.
Source: Miami Herald, July 23, 2006

We are delighted to pass on the following article by Jacqueline
Marcell, author of "Elder Care Rage".

Vern Jacobs
--------------------------------

When Mom and Dad Need Help

By Jacqueline Marcell,
Author, Elder Rage

Convincing elderly parents they need help in their home, or that they
need to downsize into assisted living, can be a tough hurdle for
families to accomplish. The best way is to start the conversation
early, before their health is an issue. Getting them used to the idea
by being part of the planning process will make it easier when the
time comes.

But what if you haven't discussed it nor made plans for their
transition into old age? If the time has come for your parents to
alter their living situation because they can no longer take proper
care of themselveshere are some important points to consider.

Think Safety First

Keep in mind that your parents' safety is the most important factor.
If you know in your heart they cannot remain by themselves in their
own home safely, don't let your emotions override what needs to be
done. Don't wait for a broken hip, a car accident, medicine overdose,
stroke, or that crisis call in the middle of the night before you step
in.

Recognize that when you were a child, your parents would have done
everything in their power to keep you safe. Now, as hard as it is, you
have to be the "parent" and make the best decisions possible for them.
Ask their relatives, friends, doctors and healthcare professionals to
help you by encouraging your parents to accept a caregiver in their
home or to move to a facility--for their safety.

Hire In-Home Caregivers

Since most people would rather stay in their own home as long as
possible, this is often the first step chosen. Families hire
caregivers to come in for several hours a day and increase the time as
care is needed. It is best to hire through an agency that does
extensive background checks--and that can always supply an alternate
caregiver if the regular one can't make it. Ask for numerous
references, and be sure to remove all valuables.

Consider a Multi-Level Facility

The benefit of a multi-level facility is that additional services can
be added as your loved ones' health declines. This prevents the
turmoil of having to move again as more help and services are needed.
Many seniors start out with their own private apartment and then
progress through stages of assisted living and eventually to skilled
nursing and dementia care, all within the same facility. Your parents
may be able to bathe, dress, and take their own medications properly
now, but as they need help, it's a blessing to know that services can
be added. Many times the friends they have made along the way progress
right along with them, providing the comfort of familiar faces.

Get References

The best way to check out a facility is to talk to numerous families
who already have a loved one living there. Drop in on weekends when
more families visit and ask if they are happy with the accommodations,
food, service, activities, cleanliness, reliability, personnel, etc.
If they had it to do again, would they move their loved one there?
What have they learned from the experience? What do they wish they had
known when they were beginning the process?

Be sure to check out the kitchen for cleanliness and eat a meal there
yourself. Also, ask the administrators if there are any liens or
lawsuits filed against the facility. Ask to review their licensing and
certification reports. If they will not put in writing that there are
no legal problems--keep looking! Also, be sure to check with your
local Area Agency on Aging and their long-term care Ombudsman who
monitors the area. That person is the consumer's advocate, letting you
know if the location you are considering is a good choice.

Ask About Activities

Adult children are often filled with guilt about moving their parents
out of their own home, that is, until they see them flourishing in a
new environment and participating in activities they haven't enjoyed
for years. Speak with the Activity Director to make sure there are
numerous activity options. Does the facility offer field trips, games,
crafts, singing, dancing, gardening, cooking, bingo, exercising,
movies, interaction with animals, etc.? Be sure to monitor the
Director regularly to make sure activities are being offered.

Create a Relationship

Once you have picked out the right place, ask the administrators for
their help in convincing your loved one to move. They are very
familiar with this problem and deal with it daily. Ask an
administrator to call your parent and develop a relationship over the
phone. He or she may be able to drop by (while you just happen to be
there) to talk to your parents and invite them for a get-together. A
few days later, take your parents out to lunch and then casually stop
by the facility to say hello to that lovely person who was so kind to
drop by to visit them. Seeing a familiar face is usually very helpful.
Remember, any kind of change can be very scary for an elder. Take
things slow, planting the idea calm and steady, making their safety
your goal.

Create a Need

Another idea is to have a social worker ask for your loved one's
"help" with the other seniors at the facility. Could they, for
example, go over there a couple times a week to help out with the
bingo, crafts, or singing classes? Perhaps they can help prepare lunch
for the elders there. Tell your loved one that they are "needed" there
to help and entertain the other seniors. Giving them a "job" to do
will help them become comfortable with being there. They will make
friends, which can ease the transition to eventually moving there.

Reach for Support

Realize that everyone since the beginning of time, who has been lucky
enough to have their parents reach old age, has experienced the pain
of watching their once-competent loved ones decline and pass away. We
all know it is a sad part of life, but even with all that's been
written, there are no words that can prepare us for the sorrow. Reach
out for help from family and friends and get into a support group
right away--don't even think you can do it alone.

###


Jacqueline Marcell is a former television executive, who after caring
for her elderly parents (both with Alzheimer's Disease) became the
best-selling author of "Elder Rage", a Book-of-the-Month Club being
considered for a feature film. Over fifty endorsements include: Hugh
Downs, Regis Philbin, and the National Adult Day Services Association
who honored her with their Media Award. She also received "Advocate of
the Year" from the National Association of Women Business Owners at
their Remarkable Women Awards. A national speaker on eldercare, she
also writes Blogs on http://www.healthcentral.com/alzheimers/ and
http://blog.thirdage.com/?author=12, and hosts an Internet radio
program on http://www.wsRadio.com/CopingWithCaregiving. A recent guest
of the TODAY SHOW, Jacqueline is also featured in an upcoming PBS
documentary on Alzheimer's. Also a recent breast cancer survivor,
Jacqueline advocates that everyone (but especially caregivers) closely
monitor their own health. For more information: http://www.ElderRage.com/


© Copyright 2006
For permission to forward or publish all/part of this article, or to
interview the author, please contact Jacqueline Marcell in Irvine, CA:
949-975-1012 or j.marcell@...

Positive Lights, Inc.
Elder Care Digest
June 14, 2006

Note: Some of the links to stories in the digest may be removed by the
time you attempt to review the information. We have no way to control
how long any web site retains a story or news item.

ELDER CARE AND ELDER RAGE:

Jacqueline Marcell is baby boomer who discovered the problem of elder
care the hard way. Both of her parents developed Alzheimer's and she
had to stop her career to take care of them. From her experience, she
wrote "Elder Rage" -- which has become a best seller. She has
established a web site to promote her book, which is appropriately
called http://www.elderrage.com/  Hers is a story about coping with
parents who

Make unreasonable demands, wanting all of your time
Are experiencing memory loss or dementia / Alzheimer's
Are obsessed with ill health, but refuse to see the doctor
Have become depressed, manipulative, distrustful or hostile
Refuse any mention of caregiving or elder care help

PITFALLS IN SELECTING A RETIREMENT CARE FACILITY:

Here is a story about one person's problem with trying to find a
retirement residence for her mother. It is worth reviewing as an aide
to avoid the many pitfalls she encountered.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/06/11/REGROJB7LA1.DTL

ELDER FRAUD IS A GROWING "INDUSTRY":

Elder law attorney Deb Speyer of Philadelphia says elder fraud is a
major industry in America. And Carole Moore at Bankrate.com describes
9 common scams on the elderly.
http://www.bankrate.com/brm/news/pf/20060403a1.asp


Vern Jacobs
Editor
Elder Care Digest

Copyright, 2006, Positive Lights, Inc.
All rights reserved
www.positivelights.org

Here is a moving story about one daughter's problems in caring for her
aging parents and whose father was periodically prone to extreme anger. The
first few visits to doctors revealed nothing.  But after a number of
checkups that were of no help, a geriatric specialist found that both
parents were suffering from early stages of Alzheimer's.  The author of the
article has written a book called "Take my father ... please", a story of
elder rage.  Information about the author and her book is available at
http://www.elderrage.com/

Positive Lights Elder Care News
www.positivelights.org

--- In Positivelights@yahoogroups.com, Vern Jacobs <jacobs1@k...>
wrote:
> There does seem to be a perceived difference between care in smaller
communities and large cities.  Partly, it seems that in small towns
there is larger participation of local residents who have family
members at a facility, (and also perhaps that community/church/civic
participation is more a given?).  Another factor is that even if the
residents of a small town facility aren't blood relatives, volunteers
and employees have known the residents all their lives and may
regularly see or know the resident's family anyway.

Does this result in better care?  I don't know of any studies that
confirm that, but my personal experience is that there are a lot of
eyes on what goes on in a small town facility.  Bottom line is that
becoming involved and known while still independent may prove
beneficial when more care is needed and the resident is seen as part
of a small, committed community.

Gregg

When Mom or Dad reach the point where they need help to stay at home, where
can their children  turn for help?

While there are an abundance of resources for the family care-giver that
are listed on our web site at www.positivelights.org, another place to look
for help is the nearest Area Agency on Aging.  There is a national
association of these local agencies. Information about the varied services
provided by the AAA is on the Internet at
http://www.n4a.org/aboutaaas.cfm.  A directory that can lead you to the
nearest office can be located at
http://www.aoa.gov/eldfam/How_To_Find/Agencies/Agencies.asp#K

Vern Jacobs
www.positivelights.org

Positive Lights News
May 23, 2005

Here is an interesting alternative to in-home care of an elderly or
disabled relative and an assisted living facility or nursing home. It's
called the "Eden Alternative" and is superbly described in an article by
Abbie Reese in the Rockford Register Star. The article was written on May
19th, 2005 and we are going to try to get permission to archive the article
so that it won't be lost if the newspaper has a policy about how long they
keep articles on their web site.

The Eden Alternative is an approach to elder care that involves small
numbers of residents, with professional caregivers and with volunteer help
from the relatives of the residents. More extensive information about the
concept is available at http://www.edenalt.com/welcome.htm

The concept is based on ten principles of elder care. They are described at
http://www.edenalt.com/10.htm.

Vern Jacobs
http://www.PositiveLights.org

Enter your vote today!  A new poll has been created for the
Positivelights group:

What is your role in Elder Care?

Please check all categories that apply.

   o Family caregiver
   o Professional caregiver
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   o Non Profit or Public Charity
   o Elder Care Lawyer
   o Insurance or Investments
   o Tax and accounting services
   o Media


To vote, please visit the following web page:
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Note: Please do not reply to this message. Poll votes are
not collected via email. To vote, you must go to the Yahoo! Groups
web site listed above.

Thanks!