Living Like You’re Dying
Thank you to Ecumen colleague Shelly Cornish for sharing this video with us today. The video is about 10 minutes and it makes a mind do calesthenics. We’re all living. We’re all dying. We’re all empowered.A Happy Easter from Ecumen and Changing Aging.'[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=trplwjVwt7g[/youtube]
Technology and the Future of Senior Housing Webcast
Andrew Carle, founding director of the Program in Assisted Living/Senior Housing Administration at George Mason University, will hold an online keynote webcast next Wed., March 26th at 10 a.m. central as part of the McKnight’s Online Expo. Registration is free. You can reserve your spot here. You can read more about technology in senior housing and aging services by visiting our white paper library here.
Even Aspen Needs Senior Housing and Aging Services
People even get old in Aspen, Colorado …Pitkin County, which encompasses Aspen and Snowmass Village, is embarking on a senior housing and services study to determine what kind of senior housing and aging services this ski mecca needs.This quote in the Aspen Times by Ken Canfield, head of the Aspen Steering Committee, sums it up for a lot of people in a lot of American communities:“Our goal is to find a way to provide senior living here so that our longtime residents and those who love the Aspen lifestyle don’t have to move away to retire,” Canfield said. “Just because we’re older doesn’t mean we’re willing to sacrifice the lifestyle and friendships we’ve established here in Aspen.”
Paying for Aging Services - Long-Term Care Savings Plan Modeled After 529 Savings Program
I like Nebraska’s thinking on saving for aging services. What do you think? Taking a leadership role they’ve launched a savings option called The Long-Term Care Savings Plan. Here are some key elements of the first such state plan in the United States:- You can put $1,000 ($2,000 filing jointly) in an account to qualify for savings that’s state-tax free until withdrawn. They’re looking to increase those contribution limits.- When withdrawn they can be used to pay for a multitude of aging services, including home care, nursing care, assisted living, technology and other services.- If the account is not used, and the account holder dies, it can be passed on to a spouse or other family members.- At the age of 50, the account holder can withdraw savings tax-free to pay for long-term care insurance. There are a number of appealing things about Nebraska’s program:- It elevates the importance of planning ahead for aging services and makes you think about how you want to live if you need assistance or care.- It allows you to save money beyond traditional retirement accounts.- It gives you flexibility. You ultimately determine what services your dollars buy.- If you want to buy long-term care insurance, but don’t want to buy it in your 30s and 40s (which the vast majority of Americans don’t), you can use your savings to pay for premiums later in life.- You can pass the accumulated savings to heirs for them to use to pay for aging services, undescoring the need that even though we might come from different generations, we likely all will have the need for some type of assistance and care. And we have to pay for it.
New Quality Indicator Survey (QIS) Tips Whitepaper for Nursing Homes
For our readers who are nursing home professionals: 
Mary Leber, who heads Ecumen’s consulting division, which works with many long-term care and senior housing providers, has provided key tips for nursing homes preparing for the Quality Indicator Survey (QIS). You can download the QIS tips and other articles here. If you have suggestions on other articles , please let us know here. Thanks.
Ecumen’s Senior Customers Enjoying the Nitendo Wii
The Nitendo Wii video game was originanlly designed for young consumers, but we’re finding that a number of our customers are also enjoying it. Several Ecumen communities use the Wii for bowling (which seems to be the most popular Wii sport)m tennis, baseball and boxing. It also is being incorporated into Ecumen physical therapy sessions.The photo above taken by Brian Basham of the Detroit Lakes Tribune is from Ecumen’s Emmanuel Community in Detroit Lakes, Minn. Rossman Elementary School’s 4th and 5th graders have twice monthly Wii sessions with their friends at Emmanuel Community. Emmanuel Community customer Suzy Rogstad is a former college field hockey player. Now she’s trying tennis via the Wii and says 'it’s fun.' It’s interesting … just five years ago, there weren’t any Wiis. Now seniors are using a variety of technologies in their daily lives. And it’s only going to continue increasing.
For Our Long-Term Care Consulting and Senior Housing Development Readers
Two quick items for our readers who turn to Ecumen (thank you for counting on us) for senior housing development and long-term care consulting services:
Ecumen Adds Greystone Senior Living Veteran to Development Team
We’re pleased to welcome Julie Murray to the Ecumen senior housing development team. Julie joins us from 
Greystone Senior Living, a Dallas-based developer of continuing care retirement com
munities where she was regional manager. Julie’s focus at Ecumen is on pre-development analysis, development and marketing.
Julie graduated from Texas Tech University with a B.S. in restaurant, hotel and institutional management. Prior to joining the senior housing and aging services profession, she served as a chief purser for six years for Carnival Cruise Lines. In this role she oversaw all guest relations, accounting and human resources activities on major cruise ships in the Caribbean. We’re pleased to have Julie join our team and serving our senior housing development clients.
Ecumen Offering April Seminars for Long-Term Care Professionals
Ecumen is holding a series of April seminars throughout Minnesota and Western Wisconsin to help long-term care professionals make the most out of paperwork and maximize reimbursements. Areas covered in the course include: the key differences between subjective and objective charting, how documentation can change reimbursement, basics of effective documentation, and what is necessary to document and why. To register online and see the class agenda, visit us here.
Minnesota Twins President Talks Aging and Major League Baseball With Changing Aging
It' spring training time, so Changing Aging sat down with Minnesota Twins President Dave St. Peter to talk a little baseball and a little aging:Q. You have fans of all ages at Twins games. Baseball is a sport that spans such interest across generations, moreso than other sports, why?More than any other sport, baseball is a game steeped in tradition, in numbers and in family. Baseball is a game that allows for conversation and in many cases provides a connection between parents, grandparents and children. For example, when we go on our Twins caravan, our off-season trip around the Upper Midwest, we have all ages come out to meet with our players and former Twins stars. There is just an incredible connection that is handed off and shared between generations.Q. Growing up in North Dakota, did you have any special older people in your life that you shared your love of the game with? There is no question that my grandparents had a huge impact on my love of the game. There never was a time that a game wasn’t on the radio or television at their place. Most importantly, I rarely played a game - from Little League to high school - when they didn’t take the time to attend and show support. I talked earlier about the connections that occur with baseball. I’m an example of that. Age was never a factor when my grandparents and I were around baseball. We were all Twins fans and loved talking baseball together.Q. Do you think the unprecedented aging of America, the age wave, is an opportunity for Major League Baseball?Based on baseball’s traditions, family friendly environment and affordability, I believe our game is uniquely positioned to make continued strides within a country that is growing older. One thing about baseball is it honors tradition and family connections. As long as we continue to effectively pass traditions between generations and give them a welcoming experience that people want to share, I think baseball will continue to be a great intergenerational experience. Here in the Upper Midwest, I think those connections are going to increase even more with our new outdoor ballpark, where you have older Twins fans sharing what it was like to go to an outdoor game with kids who have never seen an outdoor Major League baseball game. It will be neat.Q. Who are some of the seniors that the Twins turn to for their expertise? With the Twins, experience certainly starts at the top - considering our owner Carl Pohlad is 92 years old and remains one of the longest active owners in the game today. We also tap seniors, and long-time members of the Twins family, such as Harmon Killebrew and Tony Oliva for work in the community and on the field during spring training. If you’ve ever watched Tony and Harmon at spring training, you’ll always see them surrounded by large groups of people young and old. Again, it’s that shared intergenerational connection. Last year we lost one of our great partners, Hall of Fame announcer Herb Carneal. He was another great example of a person who connected with all ages and so effectively shared the tradition of baseball.Q. How do you want to be living when you’re 85? Will baseball play a role?I’m hoping I’ll be healthy and active at the age of 85. There is no question that baseball will play a role as I expect to be enjoying the game on multiple levels - probably as a fan - but no less passionate. And, I also know this: I’ll be sharing that love of the game and the Twins with my kids and hopefully theirs.
Aging and The Age Wave are Business Issues
DID YOU KNOW … …
Family caregivers comprise 13% of the workforce.
Source: Wagner, D. and Neal, M., “Working Caregivers: Issues, Challenges and Opportunities for the Aging Network”. National Family Caregivers Support Program, Program Development Issues Briefs, Administration on Aging, DHHS, 2002.
59% of family caregivers who care for someone over the age of 18 either work or have worked while providing care. And 62% have had to make some adjustments to their work life, from reporting late to work to giving up work entirely.
Source: National Alliance for Caregiving and AARP, Caregiving in the U.S., 2004.
37% of human resource directors did not feel that their organizations made a real and ongoing effort to inform employees of available assistance for managing work and family responsibilities.
Source: Galinsky, E. and Bond, J.T., The 1998 Business Work-Life Study. New York: Families and Work Institute, 1998.
Women average 14 years out of the paid labor force, primarily because of caregiving responsibilities.
Source: Maatz, Lisa, President’s Commission to Strengthen Social Security. Older Women’s League, August 2001.
American businesses can lose as much as $34 billion each year due to employees’ need to care for loved ones 50 years of age and older.
Source: Metlife Mature Market Institute and National Alliance for Caregiving, MetLife Caregiving Cost Study: Productivity Losses to U.S. Business, July 2006.
10% of employed family caregivers go from full-time to part-time jobs because of their caregiving responsibilities.
Source: National Alliance for Caregiving and AARP, Caregiving in the U.S., 2004.
Thank you to the National Family Caregivers Association and other sources for providing these statistics.
Kaiser Survey Raises Question: Shouldn’t We Ask New Questions About Nursing Homes and Long-Term Care Services?
In December of 07, Kaiser Family Foundation published results of a national survey on nursing homes and long-term care. Following are several topline findings, which aren’t surprising . . . we found similar thoughts in our age wave survey of baby boomers, but they point to a need to ask new questions as we face a U.S. silver tsunami:- 63% of Americans feel that nursing home quality has either stayed the same or gotten worse.- 86% say they are either very concerned or somewhat concerned about the quality of U.S. nursing home care.- 53% say they would prefer to receive care in their home if they are unable to care for themselves for an extended period of time, while 21% wanted to move in with family. Only 4% said a nursing home, while 17% said assisted living.It would be interesting to see if what people think when additional questions are asked, such as:- Would you like a high-quality place to rehabilitate from hip surgery if you didn’t have care available at home?- Would you like specialized memory care for a loved one if she or he had Alzheimer’s?- Would you like an aging services provider who served as your 'coordinator' and could help you navigate a variety of services based on your needs, rather than having to make 20 different calls for 5 different services? - Would you like technology that helps you maintain independence and social connections?When it comes to aging services in America, we need to ask new questions to get new answers.