The growing problem of elder abuse

by Patricia Grace, Senior Care Examiner

Many uncompensated caregivers — spouses, adult children, relatives and friends — find caring for an elder to be satisfying and enriching. However, the responsibilities and demands of elder caregiving, can be extremely stressful. The stress of elder care can lead to mental and physical health problems that contribute to caregiver burn out. This stress often leads to unintentional as well as intentional elder abuse.

Even caregivers in institutional settings experience stress at levels that lead to elder abuse. Nursing homes may be susceptible to elder abuse issues if their employees do not receive adequate training, or have too many patients or responsibilities, and/or work under poor conditions.

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When Parents Are Too Toxic to Tolerate

By RICHARD A. FRIEDMAN, M.D.
Published: October 19, 2009 New York Times

You can divorce an abusive spouse. You can call it quits if your lover mistreats you. But what can you do if the source of your misery is your own parent?

Granted, no parent is perfect. And whining about parental failure, real or not, is practically an American pastime that keeps the therapeutic community dutifully employed.

But just as there are ordinary good-enough parents who mysteriously produce a difficult child, there are some decent people who have the misfortune of having a truly toxic parent. Read full article

Continuing Care Retirement Community (CCRC) vs. Lifecare Community - are they the same?

By Patricia Grace, Senior Care Examiner

In the past 10-15 years, the senior housing industry has introduced several new concepts and terms that are easily confused. For example, many people believe, that life care and continuing care communities are the same, and they use these terms interchangeably. However, life care is actually a subset of continuing care. While the offerings may look similar at a glance, they are not. Read full article

Alzheimer's Association Launches Comfort Zone(TM), The First Comprehensive Location Management System Designed For People With Alzheimer's
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Why Swearing Eases Pain

by Dr. Vicki Rackner

It's almost involuntary. You slam your finger in the car door and out comes a colorful word. Even if you never, ever swear.

Swearing seems to be a universal response to pain, no matter what corner of the world you inhabit.

Why do we do this?

It may be a reflexive pain-reduction strategy like pulling your finger from a hot stove.

A group of scientists enlisted volunteers to submerge their hand in ice water while repeating either a neutral word or a swear word of their choice. students who swore kept their hands submerged longer and reported less pain that when they uttered a civil, neutral word.

The scientists speculated why. Your brain's speech center lies in the left side of your brain. words are generated in the amygdala--the emotional center on the right side of the brain involved with the fight-or-flight response. The fight-or-flight response seems to disrupt the connection between nerves that receive the pain signal and the nerves that interpret the experience. Blunted pain response would allow you to run away from a saber-tooth tiger who just released your calf muscles from its jaw.

So, next time your parents are in pain, encourage then to swear! Just think how much fun it will be to say to your parents with a smile, "Mom and Dad, you know how you always threatened to wash my mouth out with soap for saying naughty words? How things change!"

Vicki Rackner MD, founder of The Caregiver Club is a former surgeon who left the operating room to help family caregivers give their best and be their best by managing stress, speaking up with their loved ones’ doctors and asking the right questions. Dr. Vicki, as she has come to be known, is a speaker and author who is regularly quoted in the national media, including AARP, USA Today and NPR. Her most recent book is Caregiving without Regrets: 3 Steps to Avoid Burnout and Manage Disappointment, Guilt and Anger. You can reach her through at DrVicki@TheCaregiverClub.com or (425) 451-3777.

"My Name is Lisa"

A short film about a 13 year old girl dealing with her mother's Alzheimer's Disease. Alzheimer's is one of many serious and scary diseases still without a cure. Alzheimer's causes gradual memory loss. 250,000 children, age 8-18 are caregiving for someone with Alzheimer's or dementia. To find out more and take action, visit: http://www.actionalz.org/\

No Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) for Social Security recipients for the first time in 35 years

Courtesy of Chris Orestis

Another sign of things to come for seniors in the 21st Century: for the first time since the darkest days of the economic crisis of the 1970’s, seniors will not see a cost of living increase in their Social Security checks. Combine this new development with proposed cuts to Medicare and Medicaid and the trend for seniors is becoming clearer every day. The realities of a global economic recession intersecting with explosive growth in the senior populations will create increasing pressures for the United States. More people needing help (money), with less resources to go around (money), equals hard choices about how to help those who need it most (money).

Increasing emphasis on the individual to shoulder more of the costs of their senior years will grow quickly. Moves to cut COLA’s, raise the minimum age for Medicare and cut Medicaid funding in the states will become more common occurrences. The Baby Boom generation is still in the early stages of moving into their retirement years and the amount of money required to support these programs is already overwhelming.

As economic and demographic trends over the coming years continues to challenge the governments ability to keep pace, seniors and their families must do all they can to prepare themselves financially for the costs of retirement and the even greater costs of long term healthcare.

Chris Orestis, president and a principal with Life Care Funding Group, is an acknowledged national expert on insurance and long term care issues. His Blog on senior living issues has become one of the more popular forums on the internet about the impact of the economy and politics on seniors and their housing and long term care needs. Learn more about senior funding alternatives and life settlements on the Life Care Funding Group web site.