Coleman, Franken and Barkely: Thoughts on Innovation in Aging Services
A very close U.S. Senate race is occurring in Minnesota between Republican candidate Sen. Norm Coleman, the Democratic candidate Al Franken and Independence Party candidate Dean Barkely, who served in the U.S. Senate filling out the late Paul Wellstone’s term.How do these candidates stand on innovating in aging services?Here at Changing Aging we provide a glimpse through an AARP Magazine question answered by Coleman and Franken. Changing Aging also sought to interview all three candidates. Franken answered our questions, Barkely provided a statement and we haven’t heard from Coleman’s campaign although we’ve made several requests. If we receive information from the Coleman campaign, we will post it. You can read Barkley’s response here and Franken’s here.Below are the responses from Coleman and Franken to this question posed by AARP:How would you shift long-term care services and financing so that people can afford to stay in their homes and communities as long as appropriate?Sen. Norm Coleman:As a member of the Senate Special Committee on Aging I’ve strongly supported efforts to enable seniors to continue to enjoy the dignity of independent living, including more opportunities to remain in the workplace. In fact, I’ve introduced legislation to to bring together stakeholders to help build a vision in which older Americans can stay independent, live active and mobile lives, and contribute to their communities through employment opportunities. I’ve also cosponsored S. 1980, the Long-Term Care Quality and Modernization Act of 2007. This bill will enhance long-term care quality and will remove barriers to care for long-term residents.Al FrankenIt is imperative that we develop a long-term care system that allows seniors to make choices about the care that works best for them. We should give seniors choices that are consistent with their needs, while making long-term care more affordable for seniors and their families. No one is better equipped to ensure that seniors are treated with the dignity they deserve from their families. Current long-term care options are geared toward institutions that remove the patients from home. We must develop a program that allows patients to remain in their homes, and family members to become as involved as possible in care. Home-based care options are often more personal, comfortable, and affordable than caregiving institutions and must always be available.
Last Titanic Survivor Sells Treasures to Finance Long-Term Care
Some have compared long-term care financing in America as the equivalent to rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. Well, above is a photo of the last Titanic survivor, Millvina Dean, age 96, who sold her Titanic keepsakes at auction recently, so she can afford care in England. When she was two-months old, she arrived in New York with her mother and brother after surviving the Titanic sinking. City residents gave them a suitcase full of donated clothing to help rebuild their life.Now, more than 96 years later, that gift is helping her pay for care. Dean sold the small wicker suitcase, along with other mementos of the doomed ocean liner, at auction last two weeks ago to help pay her nursing home fees. The sale raised $53,906 - ten times the amount she had hoped to make. The suitcase alone sold for $18,650.In the U.S., that amount would pay for just a year of assisted living. Just think how many seniors will have to give up their most cherished items to pay for care. We can do better as a country than having people give up lifelong keepsakes to pay for their care and simply rearranging the chairs on the deck of the Titanic.
To learn more about potential long-term care financing solutions, go here.
Long-Term Care Financing: U.S. and States Have to Look at This Differently
So a new stat comes to Changing Aging today … and Changing Aging asks what’s wrong with this picture?
According to new analysis by the American Health Care Association, Medicaid is underfunding state long-term care efforts by $4.2 billion this year. ACHA president Bruce Yarwood and other health care advocates have called on Congress to include an increase to state Medicaid as part of any stimulus package. At the same time Yarwood also noted that Medicare’s continued cross-subsidization of Medicaid could have serious negative repercussions on the long-term care profession. According to the Medicare Payment Advisory Committee, the combined average margin on payments to nursing homes by the two programs was negative 1.8%.
Why This Picture Needs A Different Frame
On first glance there is nothing wrong with this picture. Bruce Yarwood is absolutely right. We have a horrible underfunding of long-term care in America. It’s a big, big problem.
But let’s take another look. There is no mention of a solution or that we need a new solution. So how do people read this who have no clue that our national long-term care financing system is beyond broken?: They read it as 'spending more government dollars … huge government dollars … spending that is never-ending and will only get larger.'
We in the aging services profession need to change the frame on this issue and talk about a new way to finance aging services. Every time there is a sentence for increased government funding, every time we say there is a crisis, there should be an immediate declaration that says: This isn’t sustainable; we have to develop a new solution in how we finance long-term care. We’re all aging. This is about all of us.
We need to make this case and have others with us at the table to forge solutions … citizens (experts and non-experts) … business … education … and more. The old way of addressing these kind of problems was episodic and isolated. Used to be you’d hire a lobbyist and just cash in on one-to-one relationships and get some more funding and patch budgets. This problem is too big for that.
Effective public affairs today has a different frame - note the emphasis on public and effective. Shared agendas, collaboration and widespread public support are how things move most effectively. You simply can’t have major change until you’ve done the work to build allies and consensus. Think common good. Arisotle highlighted it years ago, but the common good isn’t a relic. For us to solve these issues, it can’t be.
The future of aging in America demands a new frame in which everyone can see themselves.
Our Vision for Changing Aging
At Ecumen, we envision a world in which aging is viewed and understood in radically different ways. It’s our vision for 'changing aging.' Ecumen customer Joyce Denning is one example of giving life to that vision. As Joyce mentions in this Saint Paul Pioneer Press article:
'Remaining independent,' 'That’s the main thing.'
She is staying independent through the use of sensor technology. Just a few years ago there was no such thing being used in aging services. Now it’s a norm in our communities and other aging services providers. It’s just one example where innovation can change how we live in this country. Read the Pioneer Press' full article here.
Want More Technology Information?
For more information on new technology visit our technology area here. Also, download our technology in aging services white papers.
Long-Looming Age Crisis Has Arrived
That’s the title of an interesting article today by Saint Paul Pioneer Press reporter Jeremy Olson:U.S. policy leaders have fretted over the coming of a single year €” the one that will kick off the graying of the baby boomers and prompt dramatic increases in health care and long-term care costs. That year will see a 30 percent increase in the number of workers turning 62, the age of eligibility for Social Security benefits. It will also be the tipping point when aging trends cause a sharp drop in the labor force and a decline in productivity. That year? 2008. State demographer Tom Gillaspy told members of the Minnesota Senior Federation on Monday that this year has been anticipated for decades, but too little has been done to prepare for it. Unchecked, the rising costs of health care for state government eventually will stifle spending on roads, bridges, education and other public programs. Untrained, the coming generations will yield too few doctors and nurses to care for the boomers and keep the economy churning. The next five years will be critically important to the future history not just of Minnesota but of the entire United States,' Gillaspy said during the advocacy group’s annual convention. 'What we do now, people will look back and say, 'Wow, these people did the right thing' or they will look back and say 'Wow, that’s when it all started falling apart.' Read Jeremy’s full article here.Did you Vote? Which Presidential candidate do you think will do the most to help America ride the Age Wave: Vote Here
Ecumen News Widgets: Age Wave, Senior Living Development & Long Term Care
Keep up to date with news and events about the age wave, senior living development and long term care with Ecumen widgets.The widgets, each be seen below, can be added to your blog, social network, start page or website.To install, click the Get Widget button at the bottom of the widget. It’ll then give you code for your site.It’s completely free and will help you and your site’s visitors keep up on the latest age wave, senior living development or long term care news.
Obama or McCain - Who Will Be Best For Changing Aging in America?
Last night was the last debate between Sen. John McCain and Sen. Barack Obama. As we make the turn to voting day, who do you think will be the best President in providing leadership in developing policies that help America ride the historic age wave?[poll id=5']Want more information on Obama and McCain’s views on aging services? Go here.
The Healing Power of Paro, The Robotic Seal
The healing value of animals is well documented, but what about robotic animals? You have to check out this video from what looks like a traditional nursing home in Japan. It tells a lot about our human need for friendship. By the way, the seal’s name in this video is Paro. He or she comes from Japan.[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3npV-npZkxI&feature=related[/youtube]For Other Technology-Related Information in senior services: Visit our technology area or visit or Library of Successful Aging, where you can find a new whitepaper on the Sandwich Generation’s to connect with and be involved in the care of aging parents.
Who Will Care for America’s Seniors?
That’s the question raised by Neil Johnson, executive director of the Minnesota HomeCare Association, in a article he penned in yesterday’s Minneapolis Star Tribune business page. The looming wave of baby boomer retirements underscores the country’s shortcomings in caring for seniors and the need for business and policymakers to take action, he writes. Read Neal’s full article here.
Are You Speaking Elderspeak? In Sweetie and Dear There’s Hurt for Seniors
Check out the article by John Leland at The New York Times on 'elderspeak' … it ties directly to customer service in aging services …
Professionals call it elderspeak, the sweetly belittling form of address that has always rankled older people: the doctor who talks to their child rather than to them about their health; the store clerk who assumes that an older person does not know how to work a computer, or needs to be addressed slowly or in a loud voice. Then there are those who address any elderly person as “dear.”“People think they’re being nice,” said Elvira Nagle, 83, of Dublin, Calif., “but when I hear it, it raises my hackles.”Now studies are finding that the insults can have health consequences, especially if people mutely accept the attitudes behind them, said Becca Levy, an associate professor of epidemiology and psychology at Yale University, who studies the health effects of such messages on elderly people.“Those little insults can lead to more negative images of aging,” Dr. Levy said. “And those who have more negative images of aging have worse functional health over time, including lower rates of survival.”In a long-term survey of 660 people over age 50 in a small Ohio town, published in 2002, Dr. Levy and her fellow researchers found that those who had positive perceptions of aging lived an average of 7.5 years longer, a bigger increase than that associated with exercising or not smoking. The findings held up even when the researchers controlled for differences in the participants’ health conditions… . . Read John’s full article here.