Being witness to the endless and deeply loving turning of the generations is one of the best parts of being human.

So welcome to the world little human— life is good!

We invite you to add to the story, increasing the depth of possibilities we have yet to reach in honoring Elderhood and enriching our care partnerships.

Sanctuary at St. Paul’s in South Bend, IN is a large campus serving a variety of support needs for about 377 Elders. They are located on 35 acres filled with reflection gardens, trees, paths and benches so everyone can enjoy the out-of-doors.  They have a lot of wildlife around like deer, raccoons and ducks. They have several vegetable and herb gardens and raised flower beds that the Elders tend to. The kitchen uses the herbs in meals and for decorations. Within their campus, the Elders can do their grocery shopping, banking, visit the library, seamstress, podiatrist, audiologist, beauty shop, restaurant, Bistro, wellness center or simply spend time reflecting in one of their chapels. The Elders here have some unique interests like participating in their world-famous chorus or bell choir, writing haiku poetry, the prayer shawl ministry, art or volunteering on the campus or throughout the larger community. They have one hallway decorated with artwork done by the Elders and host an Elder art show every two years.

Learn more about Sanctuary at St. Paul’s here.

We are getting ready for the Eden International Conference in Grand Rapids at the end of the month.

We are getting ready for the premier of my new play… “Play What’s Not There” at the Guthrie Theater in early June.

We are pushing to get the word out about “Tribes of Eden” (but you knew that already) and if you haven’t read it yet— you should.

I am traveling and I enjoying being with and working with some of the coolest people in the world.

There are some big new projects that are just about to hatch and I look forward to sharing them all with you…

Until then here is a photo of

Some friends celebrating the launch of “Tribes”

As many of us know, “culture change” is the common name for a global initiative focused on transforming care, as we know it, for Elders and individuals living with different abilities (physical, developmental, intellectual, and psychological).  It advocates for a shift from institutional models of care to person-directed values and practices that put the individual first.

The Eden Alternative began its journey focusing on transforming the culture of care in nursing homes and other institutional settings.  Since then, however, its impact has reached across the full continuum of care.  Person-directed care doesn’t stop inside the walls of the nursing home.  It reaches beyond those walls into the neighborhood streets and communities that make up our towns and cities.  It reaches into the faith-based communities, the senior centers, the adult day centers, the assisted living and independent living communities, small group homes for those living with special needs, the hospitals, and the home care networks that support the needs of the people who live in those towns and cities.

In each of these environments, care does not live in a vacuum.  The care experienced in the nursing home is connected to the care offered in the hospital or at home or in assisted living.  Each impacts and influences the other.  This is why culture change must reach across the entire continuum of care to be truly effective. We can’t push hard for change in nursing homes and simply ignore how the institutional model impacts care in someone’s home.  When the general public is educated about culture change and person-directed care, we raise the bar of expectation.  True mastery of culture change ideals involves an appreciation of the skills and perspectives that everyone in the community possesses to create a life worth living. Each and every one of us is part of the solution.

Conference sessions will reflect this full continuum perspective by filtering through several different tracks to respond to the interests of different stakeholders across various care settings.  By broadening the conversation about culture change, we begin to enrich networks of support and create a “multiplier effect” that hastens commitment to change.  This particular notion inspired The Eden Alternative to open the Eden Registry to include a much wider variety of care organizations.  By expanding the Registry, which highlights organizations stepping up to create a life worth living through person-directed care, we continue to confirm that, together, we are stronger.

See you at the conference!

No, I can’t applaud the president’s courage. He kept his convictions silent until the polls indicated there was clearly no risk whatsoever for him to join the rapidly growing number of Americans (a majority in fact for the first time ever) in supporting equal rights for gays and lesbians through marriage.

Obama should have spoken out before North Carolina voted on Tuesday to ban same-sex marriage, civil unions and domestic partnership benefits for all couples. This discriminatory amendment will hit families and older North Carolinians the hardest as the most important benefits provided in domestic partnerships are designed to protect couples and their children during times of illness and death.

As I blogged in March, my current home state of Maryland is the next to vote on constitutionally banning same-sex marriage this November. The stakes are not as high as in North Carolina, as Maryland lawmakers legalized same-sex marriage and clearly support gay rights. But the symbolism of the vote and I think the potential in Maryland to be the first state to vote down a same-sex marriage ban is huge.

The latest polls had Marylanders about evenly split on the issue. I think the President’s announcement will have a profound effect on the debate. Conservative blogger Andrew Sullivan summed it up well on NPR yesterday:

There is something about hearing your president affirm your humanity that you don’t know what effect it has until you hear it. And I think of all those gay Americans over the centuries who never heard that, never believed it could happen. And I have to say I’m immensely proud of this president for doing what he did.

I may not be happy about how long it took, but now that the President is on the right side of history, I too am full of pride for what he did.

The Shire, for example, is really just a compound of the place I lived when I was growing up and the years Jude and I spent on the farm at Summer Hill. Sure some of the features were changed, exaggerated or diminished but the novelist has a right to do that to make the story flow more smoothly. It is true that Jude and I lived “off the GRID” and it is also true that when I was a child I lived close by my older relatives and had close relationships with them.

There is nothing simple about living the simple life and I think the greatest shortcoming we experienced on the farm was the struggle to do without all the modern conveniences and also do without a close network of friends and family to support and be supported by.

The Hobbits of the “Lord of the Rings” had a pretty good handle on things– they understood that living simply requires ample access to the gifts of community.

This video includes some further thoughts on the Shire and the GRID and the conflict that develops between them.

Hurricane Katrina, courtesy of NASA via Creative Commons

Live in a hurricane area with an older relative? Does your parent or someone else you’re responsible for? The hurricane season is six months long (June 1 to Nov. 30); and you as a caregiver needs a substantive plan.

You know how mothers-to-be have their bags packed and their route to the hospital mapped out? If an older adult lives with you, nearby, or at a distance, having the same mindset makes sense.

Creating contingency plans—where your family member or friend will go, what they’ll need to bring, and who will take them—will ensure the best outcome possible and help keep the calm.

These four tips work for tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes and other emergencies:

1. Think about it: Where will your loved one go if he/she needs to leave the house quickly? Out of town or the nearest shelter? There also may be a emergency shelter for special needs in the area. Know how to get there. Gas in the tank helps. Do they have a pet? Make a plan for their evacuation too.

2. ID your go-to people: Who will take them to safety? Even if they live with or near you, you may not be around when it’s time to vacate. Talk over disaster plans with a friend, family member, or neighbor who could step in. Caregiver No. 1 may not be available; have backup helpers who can do the job (i.e. are strong enough to lift a wheelchair or walker into the car.) They need a key to the house and instruction on where to find the evacuation bag.

Have a central person—you? —who is notified where they’re going. Before there’s a problem, let the county emergency services know if your parent is elderly or disabled.

3. Make a list of what you’ll need and pack that emergency bag now. It should have:

• spare clothes for the care recipient
• supplies they use (personal hygiene products or pills)
• legal and medical documents
• health insurance info
• a list of family, friends, and neighbors with phone numbers, email, etc.
• tips for comforting the recipient when they’re anxious (a favorite object, soothing music)
• medication.

Photo by taberandrew via creativecommons.org

Get an extra supply of medicine and pill splitter, perhaps. Once you’ve scoped out where you’ll go, locate the nearest pharmacy in case you need a medication refill.

If indicated, have a health care proxy so you will have access to your parent’s medical records. How about legal guardian or power of attorney papers? Consult a family or legal aid lawyer.

In the get-away bag, tape items you’ll put in at the last minute such as hearing aids or eyeglasses.

4. Play out the scenario. Pretend that you or your parent knows a hurricane is on its way. Whatever is missing from your plan, add in post-haste.

Be sure to browse these two must-read resources from FEMA and the American Red Cross. If you live in a neighborhood or attend a church with many older residents, you can use AARP’s Create the Good Hurricane Prepare toolkit to help them prepare.

Hope you never need it, but just in case, save this post. And get packing!

Follow Sally  at www.sallyabrahms.com or on Twitter @sallyabrahms.

I’m now surprised to find myself writing about the promise of curcumin (the active ingredient in the “spice of life” turmeric) as a remedy for a variety of ailments. I reported last week on curcumin’s potential for treating:

• Alzheimer’s, MS, Parkinson’s and other neurodegenerative diseases
• Cancer
• Arthritis
• Type 2 diabetes

As I noted, most of the studies on curcumin’s potential involved mice, not people. But natural curcumin, it turns out, is poorly absorbed in the human body. Efforts are underway to combine curcumin with other compounds to increase its “bioavailability” — the scientific term for the rate at which our bodies absorb substances. Piperine, derived from black pepper, is particularly promising. Some studies suggest it can enhance curcumin’s bioavailability by as much as 2000%.

• Curcumin may significantly reduce the side effects for bowel cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy  and help them tolerate the treatment longer, according to cancer researchers at the University of Leicester. Normally between 40 to 60 percent of bowel cancer patients do not benefit from chemotherapy medications. Those who do benefit report painful side effects and can only tolerate reduced chemotherapy cycles. Previous studies supported the idea that curcumin strengthens chemotherapy’s ability to eliminate bowel cancer cells in the lab. Now, the Leicester researchers are launching a trial involving 40 patients to test the effects of giving curcumin pills seven days before starting standard chemotherapy treatment. The study’s leader, Prof. William Steward, said, “The prospect that curcumin might increase the sensitivity of cancer cells to chemotherapy is exciting because it could mean giving lower doses, so patients have fewer side effects and can keep having treatment longer.”
• Curcumin’s potential for treating erectile dysfunction (ED), established in earlier studies, was explored further in a study reported in the April issue of the Journal of Sexual Medicine. That article confirmed the success of treating ED by administering water-soluble curcumin. That finding was a follow-up on an earlier study that showed curcumin as effective as Viagra. Unfortunately, these studies involved rats, not humans.

‘Deficit-based’ refers to the fact that, at the moment, you may have to prove how bad things are (and often, how little money you have), before you can get a response from the social care system. There’s a reason for this: if services aren’t ‘rationed’, more people might want them and there’s not enough money in the system to pay for them. The problem is that forcing people to prove how little they can do is demeaning and can actually add to the problems a person was facing in the first place.

An ‘asset-based’ approach says that we should always look for people’s strengths, resources and potential to solve their own problems. This has to be right: my kids’ school is open to everyone their age and the teachers are focused entirely on helping the children to grow and become more independent and responsible. It’s a happy place. I feel slightly less positive about my GP surgery – it’s there for everyone, but I only go there with a problem I can’t fix and I’m in the hands of experts who know stuff I don’t understand myself. Social care is often a place of last resort. It is becoming more asset-based, in that, once I am ‘in’ the system, I am more likely to be given choices, control and some responsibility for decisions affecting my life. Getting ‘into’ the system though is still a fairly grim process for many people. And whilst there is a much greater expectation that we will control our social care support than that we will control support offered by the NHS (or the education system, for that matter), how that gets implemented in practice varies enormously, as different bits of the system have remained impervious to the ideas of choice and control behind the ‘personalisation’ reforms in social care.

What can a White Paper do about this? Firstly, it can get the idea of thinking assets and solutions, rather than just deficits and needs, into the water supply. It can also set out some expectations for the new social care law and regulations which are expected to follow, which would create a new front door for social care, that was much more easily opened, and housed a system which tried to treat people as the experts in their lives at every step. We could change the focus of the assessment system from being a list of your needs (often accompanied by the news that there’s no service available to help with them), to being help to draw up a plan. Even where that plan should not or cannot be a list of services, it can be a useful starting point to finding what else there is out there in community which can help.

A White Paper could encourage or even set out a programme of local demonstrations of asset-based approaches, or at the very least shout about those areas which are already doing their best to be asset based, such as Derby and Middlesborough which are bringing in Local Area Coordination, Lancashire which is investing in Shared Lives in place of care homes, the twenty-odd councils which are working with Community Catalysts to develop micro-enterprise-friendly environments and Walsall and Leeds which are embedding community development into all of their social work.

Importantly, it’s time to make sure that when councils carry out a Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA) – the mapping and analysis they carry out to work out what needs to change and where they should spend their money – that in future they carry out Joint Strategic Needs and Assets Assessments which look at what communities, as well as services, have to offer, or could offer with a little support. A consultation on JSNAs is imminent and this is a message I hope the government will hear from lots of people.

Some people would read a White Paper which talks about focusing on what people can bring, rather than just on what they need, with dread. It will sound to some like an excuse to cut more services. Some councils may well wish to interpret it that way. Helping people and communities to tackle problems themselves does not have to mean cutting services. In fact, community action rarely springs up out of thin air – it happens when the state does something different, not when the state disappears. There will always be people who need services, but those services should always think about people as more than just a set of needs.

Even if there was endless money, it’s becoming ever-clearer that there are many problems which services simply can’t fix. We can supply an older person with a meal in a tin, and even with occasional visits from a befriender. But they won’t fix isolation and loneliness in the way that providing transport to meet with friends will.

“[Green House Homes offer] an individually tailored environment and experience so someone doesn’t feel as if they’re trapped in a long, pale green hallway of an institution” says Gary Passmore, Vice President and Director of the Congress of California Seniors, which supports a bill being introduced in California by Democratic Senator Elaine Alquist.  The bill, SB 1228, would provide a new licensing category so more person-centered care facilities can operate in the state of California.

To read more about the positive impact the SB 1228 bill will make in the state of California and for additional commentary from Gary Passmore, click here.

Tell us what you think about this exciting new development in California Legislature!

Sagecrest Alzheimer's Care Center in San Angelo, Texas

via Texas AARP

“The state supports a culture change” in institutional care that would allow more Green house homes in Texas, says Chris Traylor, commissioner of the Texas Department of Aging and Disability Services.

Elders and family members are extremely pleased with the care offered at the Sagecrest Alzheimer’s Care Center in San Angelo, Texas, a Green House home project.  Many wish there were more homes being built, but money is the issue.  Texas Medicaid reimbursement is among the lowest in the country, and two-thirds of Texas elders in nursing homes get help from Medicaid.  AARP Texas advocacy manager, Amanda Fredriksen, says those rates largely determine “what Texas nursing homes look like.”

Read more about a Medicaid reimbursement rate that would encourage more Green House homes in Texas…and then tell us what YOU think!

Corporate Compliance and Ethic Week is celebrated nationally every May by organizations that have Compliance Programs! This year’s Corporate Compliance and Ethics Week is from May 6^th -12^th  and the theme is

“THINK COMPLIANCE  FIRST”^“!!

During this week the purpose of the Compliance Program is reinforced, employees are provided with an opportunity to engage in a competition where they have to seek out the answers to a questionnaire and return completed, to the Compliance Department. If they answer all the questions correctly, they are the recipients of giveaways. 

It is also an opportunity to remind the employees of their responsibilities for coming forward and reporting their concerns and observations truthfully, and to report all Fraud, Waste and Abuse and it is also a time to  do some additional training topics  such as the Deficit Reduction and the False Claim Act of 2007!

During this week , the Compliance Officer  along with members of the Compliance Committee will also recommend and select locations that demonstrate the following criteria for the Annual Compliance Program Award:

• Evidence that supports that required Compliance Training has been fully implemented and completed.
• Staff selected for interviews by the Compliance Officer demonstrated thorough knowledge of our organization’s Compliance Program.
• Findings of Compliance Officer documented in Compliance Reports provided, following on-site review shows a location that has been proficient in positive performance in the following areas:
  • Client Trust
  • Quality of Care
  • Documentation
  • Billing
• External Survey Reports do not document adverse findings in the following areas:
• Consumer Rights Protected
• State & Sunrise Required Training Completed
• Environmentally Safe
• Fines or Sanctions
• Leadership
  • Leadership of the operation sets the “Tone at the Top” which actively embraces the Compliance Program.
  • Leadership ensures that information related to the Compliance Program is visible and immediately available to staff.

The winner will be announced along with the two runners up and will receive monetary rewards, to be used to do something special for all their employees.

She vividly remembers that first visit to the nursing home; she loved the smiles and gratitude from the elders, but didn’t enjoy the institutional feel or smells associated with the home.  While attending the University of Texas Lisa was again in a nursing home setting, but this time as a CNA.  Those experiences helped her realize that the traditional model of skilled nursing care needed to change, and she began her journey to support person-centered care and ultimately to oversee the development, construction and operation of two Green House homes.

Today, as a Project Guide for THE GREEN HOUSE ® Project, Lisa is excited to be part of the team and share her knowledge of the model with potential and current adopters.

• Administrator and Guide—The Village of Redford, two Green House-10 bed homes
• Master’s degree in Business Administration, an undergraduate degree in Business Administration with a concentration in Marketing
• Licensed Nursing Home Administrator – largest facility 556 Skilled Nursing home
• 14 years of experience in a variety of positions in Skilled Nursing and CCRC’s
• Entrepreneur & Business Plan Development expertise

In addition, while Lisa was in Michigan she was an active member of the education task force for LeadingAge Michigan.

Lisa thoroughly enjoys cooking and has quite a collection of pots, pans and utensils for her craft!  She enjoys international travel and watching TV game shows.

In San Francisco, I will start with three “conversations” that will explore concepts around forgetfulness and dementia from a more holistic, philosophical framework. I’ll be joined by Eden Board member Sarah Rowan, and Dr. Nader Shabahangi, CEO of AgeSong communities. We will be speaking at three different locations on May 14th and 15th.

Nader, a psychologist and philosopher, is a remarkable person who has taught me a lot about different ways to frame aging and changing cognitive abilities. He organized an eye-opening “Poetics of Aging” conference last fall. Check out the video on this link for a fascinating glimpse of that ground-breaking event: http://poeticsofaging.org/

And if you have ever heard Sarah speak, then I need say no more. She is simply amazing!

On Wednesday May 16th, I will be giving a 3-hour “Dementia Beyond Drugs” seminar for the Alzheimer’s Association of Northern California and Northen Nevada, in Foster City, CA. There will also be sessions on the latest research and on LGBT issues in dementia.

Then it’s off to Portland for an all-day seminar I am presenting for the MOVE organization (Making Oregon Vital for Elders) on Thursday the 17th, and a Friday breakfast talk with local physicians. It’ll be my first ever visit to Oregon (that makes 48 states!). Looking forward to catching up with my friend Joanne Rader and the MOVE crew.

I would love to stay and see the sights, but I will be doing an all-day intensive session at LeadingAge NY in Saratoga Springs on Monday the 21st: Culture Change: From Big Picture to Bedside to Bottom Line. It will be a very comprehensive, participatory, and challenging 6-1/2 hour session!

I hope you West- (and East-) Coasters can stop by. For details, see the schedule page of my website at: http://www.alpower.net/Pages/edenschedule.htm

Welcome to the 2012 presidential campaign, now officially underway – that is, if you falsely believed it hasn’t been going on since 4 November 2008.

Without the input of the latest campaign ad attacks, faux outrage, lies and refutations, I have had time to think about what is at stake in the November election.

That ought to be the presidential election, right? Well, I don’t think so. From his speeches, it has been easy to see that Mitt Romney has an enormously inflated idea of presidential power – an affliction suffered by all candidates until they attain the White House. Just ask President Obama.

So I’m much more concerned with the other two branches of government and foremost between them, the Judicial. The next president of the United States will be called upon to appoint at least one and possibly three Supreme Court justices.

Although our courts are supposed to be independent of political bias, that ideal is never met. But has there ever been such a democracy crushing Supreme Court as the current one? With each decision, they move our nation more terrifyingly toward the extreme right.

We all know about Citizens United and are seeing the disgusting results as rich people and corporations pour billions of dollars into this year’s election campaigns. But did you take note of the Court’s decision in Florence v. Board of Chosen Freeholders on 2 April this year?

According to Adam Liptak writing in The New York Times (emphasis is mine),

”The Supreme Court on Monday ruled by a 5-to-4 vote that officials may strip-search people arrested for any offense, however minor, before admitting them to jails even if the officials have no reason to suspect the presence of contraband.

According to Liptak, Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer referenced examples of arbitrary strip searches in his dissenting opinion:

”Citing examples from briefs submitted to the Supreme Court, Justice Breyer wrote that people have been subjected to ‘the humiliation of a visual strip search’ after being arrested for driving with a noisy muffler, failing to use a turn signal and riding a bicycle without an audible bell.

“A nun was strip-searched, he wrote, after an arrest for trespassing during an antiwar demonstration.”

If you do not think this can happen to you, go back and read those last two paragraphs again. Then imagine what a Supreme Court could do to Constitutional rights with just one more right wing zealot – especially if the Senate too were majority Republican. We are chillingly close to that situation.

A president can nominate a justice of any or no political stripe. Doesn’t matter. What does matter is the Senate which confirms the appointment by a simple majority vote.

So it seems to me that to ensure a future for Constitutional law in the U.S., the most important elections this year are for Congress.

The media lumps all elders into the right wing of the political spectrum. And it’s true that an embarrassing (for me) number of my contemporaries believe way too many of extreme right wing articles of faith.

But there are the rest of us and there are some ways we can, perhaps, make a bigger difference than just through our votes. One of them is to contribute to the campaigns of candidates in states not our own.

Nothing says we cannot and our money – even small contributions – are needed because most of the billions unleashed by Citizens United go to Republicans.

Vermont Independent Senator Bernie Sanders, a reliable populist who caucuses with the Democrats, is up for re-election. There probably isn’t much chance he’ll lose the election. As Wikipedia explains:

“Polling conducted in August 2011 by Public Policy Polling found that

Sander’s approval rating was 67% and his disapproval rating was just 28%, making him the third most-popular Senator in the country.”

But why not help make sure with a small contribution. You can do that here if you are so inclined.

Another of the good guys, Democrat Alan Grayson, was defeated in 2010 by a Republican zealot after being heavily targeted by right wing radio, conservative pundits, organizations, money and even Sarah Palin.

He is back this election season running for Congress from the new district 9 in central Florida, created due to population growth. Here is one of Grayson’s recent ads – I like its retro feel and the numbers are correct:

He’s going for the House seat so would not vote for a Supreme Court justice but we sure do need his voice in Congress. You can find out more here where you can also contribute to his campaign.

Feel free in the comments below help create a list of good-guy candidates we should all be aware of.

At The Elder Storytelling Place today, Johna Ferguson: A Pereidolia

During a recent bridge game, a friend asked if we thought that human activity on earth has played a role in climate change. With varying degrees of certainty, we all agreed: “People are the culprits.”

As a result of my morning scan of intriguing online articles, I may have to adjust my position, and advise my bridge partners when next we meet.

An Ill Wind… From Dinosaurs?
In a May 7, 2012 article in Britain’s The Telegraph, scientists speculate that the giant dinosaurs might have caused climate change simply by passing enormous quantities of methane gas. Yes, dino-farts with an earth-shattering effect.

According to study leader Dr. David Wilkinson from Liverpool John Moores University:

GOP lawmakers say they support Medicaid’s Home and Community Based programs that provide long-term services and supports in the community rather than in nursing homes. Many GOP governors are leading efforts to shift Medicaid spending to home care. Yet, the new House GOP budget would slash the very federal programs that provide the infrastructure this vulnerable poulation needs to stay at home.

The House would not directly cut Medicaid long-term care benefits themslves. But it would entirely eliminate funding for the Social Services Block Grant program, which helps fund Meals on Wheels, transportation, and other important assistance for people with chronic disease who live at home. It would also eliminate or cut other key programs for respite care, food stamps for low-income seniors, and other key services

Even with a well-functioning Medicaid home care program, it is not possible for the low-income frail elderly to live safely at home without these additional supports. Medicaid itself does not pay for these services but they are often not available without other federal support.

Without this assistance, many frail elderly will have no choice other than to move into a nursing facility–an inappropriate setting for many and a more costly option for Medicaid.

The block grant cuts are especially curious because House Republicans say they support the oncept, which provides states with far more flexibility than typical federal programs. Indeed, the House GOP likes the idea so much that it wants to turn Medicaid into a block grant.

The losers in these cuts would be the frail elderly, adults with disabilities, and their caregivers. But governors,including many Republicans, would also suffer because they’d end up footing the bill for that costly nursing home care.

This budget will never pass the Senate, at least not this year. But budgets send an important message about a political party’s priorities. And these seem pretty strange. 

I understand that House Republicans are anxious to find ways to stop scheduled cuts in defense spending that are due to take effect at the end of the year. But slashing home care services for vulnerable seniors is an especially bad way to do it.

We believe this initiative has potential to make a strong impact because CMS designed it to enhance person-centered care for nursing home residents, particularly those living with dementia. The goal is to reduce the use of antipsychotic drugs in skilled nursing communities by 15 percent before the end of 2012. This measure mirrors a similar goal launched recently by the American Health Care Association (AHCA) as part of its Quality Initiative, which charges its members to safely reduce the off-label use of antipsychotics by 15 percent by the end of 2012.

This is a call to action and culture change adopters are leading the way. The Eden Alternative has responded by launching two new groundbreaking trainings to help reduce the off-label use of antipsychotic drugs: Reframing Dementia and Dementia Beyond Drugs. These education programs are designed to introduce providers to fundamental and advanced techniques in person-directed care that have been proven to reduce the off-label use of antipsychotic drugs. Reframing Dementia highlights building meaningful relationships with individuals who live with dementia, as an essential first step to care that puts the person first. Dementia Beyond Drugs takes the learning to the next level through application of advanced skills integral to Dr. Al Power’s “Experiential Model” as described in his award- winning book with the same title.

If you are interested in learning more about these trainings, please contact Meredith Burrus, Education Coordinator at The Eden Alternative. Her contact information is education@edenalt.org and (615) 785-1600.

“‘Honored Citizen’ is how TriMet identifies seniors age 65 or older, people on Medicare and people with mental or physical disabilities. Honored Citizens receive reduced fares and priority seating on buses and trains.”

What a crock. Empty phrases like “honored citizen” are what give political correctness (and in this case, elders), a bad name.

ITEM: A local service organization that does excellent work for elders in many areas of need and interest is using the May designation of Older Americans Month as a fundraiser urging people to donate in the name of an old person who will then receive a “handmade card” recognizing the gift made in their honor.

Just what every elder needs; Crabby is sure they are thrilled.

ITEM: The U.S. government’s Administration on Aging (AOA) website explains that Older Americans Month is meant to “honor and recognize older Americans for the contributions they make to our families, communities and society.”

But that’s not what the AOA does. Instead, each year, the organization issues a theme for Older Americans Month:

”This year’s theme ‘Never Too Old to Play’ encourages older Americans to stay engaged, active and involved in their own lives and in their communities.”

The AOA’s big suggestion for communities to encourage older Americans’ engagement is to host a “Day of Play” during May with such activities as a “team trivia night, inter-generational Wii bowling tournament or…a photo scavenger hunt.”

Oh yeah, Crabby is certain that a round of miniature golf will honor elders as never before.

To be fair, an activity guide brochure [pdf] has some other, more palatable, “play” suggestions but to Crabby, it still looks like the same two, disturbingly wrong depictions of elders repeated in every discussion about us:

• Photos of grinning old people who don’t look all that old

• Concentration on activities that are usually more suitable for second-grade recess period

Crabby Old Lady is not saying crossword puzzles, quilting and Pokeno are not perfectly fine pastimes in their place. But she finds it demeaning that what are, undoubtedly, well-meaning efforts to include elders are always about light entertainment and provide nothing that can be defined as the AOA’s own call for elders to be “engaged, active and involved in their own lives and in their communities.”

And just to be clear, Crabby’s complaint about all this has nothing to do with the thousands of local social workers nationwide who do amazing work helping elders against sometimes astronomical odds no small part of which is constant cutbacks in federal and local funding.

What Crabby Old Lady objects to is this belittling of old people with empty “honoring.” Crabby does not want to be honored, especially with such a pandering title as “honored citizen” that nobody believes in anyway.

Nor does she want a card – hand-made or store-bought – in “honor” of someone else’s donation.

She does not want an afternoon of games one day a year and to be ignored for the other 11 months.

Crabby wants inclusion for elders in daily life every day of the year.

There is so much that needs doing for elders that would help them take part in the life of their communities – that would help everyone else too. Such as:

• Improve public transportation

• Enforce age discrimination in the workplace laws

• Encourage better geriatric education for physicians

• Invite elders onto the citizen advisory boards of cities and towns

• Create opportunities to serve that make use of elders’ decades of experience and knowledge

• Teach elders how to effectively lobby government officials

Most of all, stop Congress from scaring the crap out of elders with constant threats to cut or kill Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.

Working on these issues would be real honoring of elders.

February is Black History Month and every year, there are hundreds of activities that involve poetry, music, science, politics, military, entertainment, lectures, book signings, famous firsts, civil rights movements, biographies, exhibits and that doesn’t begin to cover it all.

Lots of this information is on the television broadcasts we regularly watch and on the websites we visit every day and in special sections of book stores, for example. Black History Month is hard to miss and each year, Crabby learns more and more about the African American experience.

What Crabby Old Lady would be thrilled to see something similar for Older Americans Month. Now, THAT would be honor. After all, elders come in all colors and there is a lot more to know about us than games, greeting cards and demeaning euphemisms.

At The Elder Storytelling Place today, Lia Hirtz: Abraham