ELF News Archives
February 2007
- Nursing homes: Business as usual -
Two decades after the passage of a federal law to clean up the nation’s nursing homes, bad care persists and good homes are still hard to find
Consumer Reports 02/27
- Numbers of elderly homeless decreasing -
Though the results are still preliminary and the full report has not yet been issued, the Mayor’s Press Office said Feb. 12 that the number of elderly homeless individuals found on the streets of Boston during the annual Homeless Census had decreased by nearly half since last year.
South End News 02/27
- Pitfalls, resources of home care -
LAST week we presented ways to access ongoing home care for an older relative. Although home care may seem as easy as finding and paying for a caregiver, there are challenges that can cause headaches for all involved: convincing the elder to accept and pay for it, deciding what is needed and successfully overseeing it.
Inside Bay Area 02/26
- Elder Care Pays Off For Everyone -
Johnny Taylor, who tracks workplace trends, says corporations that once were pressured to provide better child care are now going to have to provide better elder care.
CBS13 02/26
- In-home care could help cut outlays -
Nursing-home care is nearly five times more expensive for the elderly and mentally challenged than hiring nurses to care for those who are able to live at home, according to a recent study. Tending a person for a year using home care costs about $11,800 per year, while an institution runs about $56,000 per year, according to the Ohio Council for Home Care.
Enquirer 02/26
- Nursing Home Nightmares Part Four -
Senate Bill 1202 was a compromise when it was signed into law by Jeb Bush in 2001. In exchange for making it more difficult to file a lawsuit against nursing homes, nursing homes had to increase staffing.
WCJB 02/22
- Caregivers could use some help -
A recent report called "Caregiving in America" tells us that 12 million people in this country need long-term care. Mercifully, 21 percent of American adults give of themselves to provide free caregiving for loved ones.
News Observer 02/22
- Elder care can’t afford break time -
Joining a growing list of families who are eschewing nursing homes in favor of in-home care for their elderly relatives, Ms. Fay’s daughters decided to employ the services of AmeriCare, a health care agency that, among other services, provides nurses, rehab professionals and paraprofessionals to clients in their homes on a one-to-one basis.
Worcester Telegram 02/22
- Meeting the challenges of home care arrangements -
THE MOST common challenge for participants in our recent elder care seminars was how to arrange successful, ongoing home care service. Some wanted to know how to get started, and others asked how to avoid pitfalls.
Inside Bay Area 02/19
- Elder abuse sickening -
After the woman was silenced, the nurses drew a happy face on the tape. Mission accomplished: The 80 year-plus resident was "calmed down" and "distracted" and everyone carried on with business as usual at the Glen Haven Manor in New Glasgow.
Otto Sun 02/19
- Tax break available for elder care -
There is some tax relief for adult children who support their aging parents. You can reduce your 2006 taxable income by $3,300 if you claim a parent as your dependent.
DFW 02/18
- Nursing homes are stressful enough -
For most families, committing an aged member to a nursing home is the hardest thing they’ll ever have to do...At the very least, they should be entitled to an assurance that their loved one will be well-treated by professionals.
Chronicle Herald 02/18
- Nursing home just wants to be "a home" -
The staff and administration at Uplands Retirement Village are changing the way care is provided at Wharton Nursing Home..."We don't want a nursing home; we want a home,"
Crossville Chronicle 02/15
- Finding housing a struggle -
Like thousands of area seniors, Gonzales has put her name on a waiting list in hopes of snatching a coveted spot in a senior housing facility...But she can expect the wait to be long - several months or even years.
SB Sun 02/15
- Family caregivers eager to learn -
MOST FAMILY CAREGIVERS report that they are not prepared for some of the responsibilities they face in caring for an older relative...
Contra Costa Times 02/15
- Generation gap at nursing homes dividing 70- and 90-year-olds -
For most of the past 37 years, the dinner dress code was coats and ties for men, skirts or dresses for women, at The Sequoias, a high-rise retirement community. But the newer, younger residents lobbied successfully for more casual dining. More than two years later, some of the old-timers are still grumbling. “There is a definite generation gap between the ones who have lived here 20 years” and more recent arrivals,
LV World 02/15
- Finding a Better Way -
Tillinghast, like many his age, realized there were three options before him: aging in an institution, aging in place or aging in a community. With the pending avalanche of retiring baby boomers, a generation known for its independence and forward thinking, the question of how to live one's elder years is not the forgone conclusion it once was. And, locally, a group of about 50 people, organized by Tillinghast, are starting to look forward, and envision how they want to age.
Medical News Today 02/14
- Elderly Married Couples Don't Let Nursing Homes Keep Them Apart -
Seniors work hard to keep their marriages alive and well, even after one spouse falls ill and goes into a long-term care facility, according to a new study from the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada.
Medical News Today 02/13
- Elderly suffer from neglect, cruelty and abuse -
If the cruelty that is being inflicted on some of our most frail and vulnerable senior citizens was being done to children, there would be an immediate public outcry and the abusers would be frog-marched straight to prison.
This is London 02/12
- Family caregivers steer through the treacherous learning curve -
MOST family caregivers report they are not prepared for some of the responsibilities they face in caring for an older relative, according to a survey by Opinion Research Corporation. Our recent seminars for family caregivers demonstrated that many of them are eager to learn faster.
Inside Bay Area 02/12
- Model retirement community falters despite its popularity -
The first phase of ElderSpirit opened last year and is the country's first mutual care co-housing retirement community. Built for $3.5 million, it includes 16 apartments and 13 town homes, and quickly had a waiting list of seniors hoping to move in.
Roanoke.Com 02/12
- Nursing homes wrestle with staffing -
Nurses are at a premium throughout California, but high nursing home employee turnover is leaving some facilities scrambling just to fill ranks.
Daily Journal 02/12
- A Parent's Wish -
Poignant message about how we should relate to our parents in their elder years.
Parents Wish.Com 02/11
- Elderly married couples don't let nursing homes keep them apart -
Seniors work hard to keep their marriages alive and well, even after one spouse falls ill and goes into a long-term care facility,...Researcher Robin Stadnyk was surprised to discover that community-dwelling spouses were heavily involved in the lives of their institutionalized partners, and that many of the couples stayed active together both inside and outside the nursing home.
Eurekalert 02/09
- Care industry stressed for funds, workers -
The arrival of the baby boom generation in the ranks of elder Americans will present a huge challenge to an already stressed long-term care industry,...Americans born between 1946 and 1964 are nearing the age when they will need more health services, but the current health care system is nowhere near ready for them.
Big Fork 02/09
- Elder care: know your options before you need it -
The elder care experts agree that you need to have a plan before a crisis strikes. With the graying of the population, it's a good bet you or a loved one will eventually need some form of elder care - and it's expensive....The number of Americans age 65 and over will jump from 34 million to 70 million in the next 30 years, according to U.S. Bureau of Census data.
One quarter of the nation's elderly have some form of functional limitation for which they require assistance, such as bathing, dressing, eating and taking medication, as stated in Nursing Homes magazine. About 34 percent of caregivers get no help from family or friends to ease the burden of caregiving, according to the New England Elder Life Planning Symposium.
Zwire 02/09
- The ever-changing face of senior care -
Abuse of the elderly must be treated with the same seriousness as child abuse, with police receiving special training to protect older people from what has become a "national scandal",...half a million older people were neglected or abused at any one time — physically, sexually, or psychologically — but a third of people had not heard of "elder abuse" and almost a quarter had no idea what the signs were.
Telegraph 02/07
- 'Half a million old people suffering abuse' -
...each state can, and some do more than others, supplement what is available through programs funded by the federal government. Accessing services can become complicated because funding is different in most states. Depending on where someone lives they may be eligible and have access to services coming from a number of different agencies.
Stoneham Sun 02/07
- Senior housing projects abound in Milton -
Within the next 15 years, the number of Vermonters age 62 and older is expected to grow by more than 66,000...In Chittenden County between 2000 and 2010, the number of households with residents in that age bracket is expected to rise by 26 percent...With that expansion comes the need for affordable housing for seniors who might not want to stay in their homes but who do not need the services provided by a nursing home or an assisted-living facility.
Burlington Free Press 02/07
- Why You Can't Parent Your Parents -
"Why You Can't Parent Your Parents", Bursack will address the fact that taking care of your aging parents is very different than taking care of your children. No matter how many decisions you need to make for your elders, they are not children. The idea that they are children strips their dignity. If dementia has taken nearly everything else, we do not need to further the damage by treating them as children.
News Release Wire 02/06
- Elder abuse: A 'hidden crime' -
Elder abuse runs the gamut from physical, emotional and neglect-related incidents to financial exploitation - often at the hands of family members or trusted caretakers.
Savannah Now 02/06
- Inspirations - A Poem for the Siksika Elders -
Elder LifeCare Inspirations 02/05
- No experience needed to visit nursing-home residents -
Almost every time I have visited a nursing home, the staff has asked me to stop by some of the rooms and greet as many people as possible -- even some who are bedridden or have limited abilities...The reason is simple: One of the biggest problems people in facilities like this face is loneliness. Many of them have lost their spouses or friends; others seldom have anyone visit them.
Seattle PI 02/05
- Elder facility accused of abuse -
Children of former residents at the Lakeside Park elder care facility near Lake Merritt have gone to court charging the facility's management with neglect, abuse and fraud against their family members with Alzheimer's or dementia.
Inside Bay Area 02/05
- Recognizing financial scams against the elderly -
Experts estimate that one in five elderly Americans is a victim of financial exploitation. Some studies put the figure at closer to 50 percent. However, only 4 percent to 15 percent of such cases are ever reported to authorities, and even those that are reported often don't result in convictions.
Eagle Tribune 02/05
- How to Discuss Money With Your Parents -
You thought your parents were nervous when they sat you down to have The Talk about sex. Now it's your turn to have The Talk with your parents -- about how they wish to handle their finances as they get older -- and your beads of sweat are really popping.
Kiplinger 02/02
- Seniors housing needed, says real estate board -
“If there is a problem in Portage, it is a lack of senior housing. In the next 15 years, there will be a huge demand for senior housing...“Because of a shortage of senior housing, we don’t have a lot of people moving out of their $150,000 homes,” he said yesterday, adding that is a price range many families want to move into.
Portage Daily 02/02
- PRO-CON: IS SOCIAL SECURITY A FINANCIAL TIME BOMB? YES -
In theory, the Social Security Trust Fund will pay benefits until 2040. But the Trust Fund contains no actual assets. The government bonds it holds are simply a form of IOU, a measure of how much money the government owes the system.
Centre Daily 02/01
- Home care organization spreads to Wickenburg -
“With Baby Boomers aging, the demand for elder care is going to soar,” said Cogan. “Yet, it's still an industry lacking professional standards. That's what Synergy HomeCare is trying to change.”
Wickenburgsun 02/01
- Long term care bill sharply reduced -
The provision for adult foster care homes is modeled on a program in Oregon that allows five seniors to live in a house with a certified nursing assistant.
Billings Gazette 02/01