ChangingAging with Dr. Bill Thomas
Being Well — Well Being
By Dr. Bill Thomas on October 21, 2011 | ChangingAging.org
“Wellness” is a surprisingly difficult topic to talk about, here’s why…
If you talk about wellness from a truly holistic point of view, the concept is so smooth and round, so genial and bland that it is hard to say anything useful about it. Consider this… Full Story »
Honoring The Top Three Influential People in Long Term Care
By Kavan Peterson on October 21, 2011 | ChangingAging.org
The Erickson School at UMBC and Long Term Living magazine held a reception at the LeadingAge 2011 conference to honor three of the recipients of Long Term Living’s Top 10 Most Influential People in Long Term Care awards: Dr. Bill Thomas as founder of the Eden Alternative and Green House Project, Bob Kramer, Founder and President, National Investment Center for the Senior Housing & Care Industry (NIC), and David Green, (retired) CEO of Evergreen Retirement Community. Full Story »
LeadingAge Conference Focuses on the Future of Aging Services
By Kavan Peterson on October 18, 2011 | ChangingAging.org
If you work in the non-profit sector of the long-term care industry you know the biggest conference of the year kicked-off this week in Washington, D.C. at theLeadingAge 2011 “Celebrate Age” annual meeting. The first day of the conference was overshadowed by Friday’s announcement from U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius that the CLASS Act long term care insurance program could not be moved forward. Full Story »
Culture Change: It Works And It’s What People Want
By Kavan Peterson on October 20, 2011 | ChangingAging.org
I spent a couple hours on the exhibition floor of the LeadingAge 2011 conference interviewing vendors and leaders in long-term care about the growing influence of the culture change movement in the aging services industry.
One of those leaders — Doug Pace, executive director of the Long-Term Quality Alliance — summed it up best: culture change is growing like fire because it works, it’s affordable and it’s how people want to live and be served. Full Story »
Health and Wellness
How Does One Decide to Stop Getting Medical Tests?
By Marti Weston on October 18, 2011 | As Our Parents Age
I am astonished at the number of diagnostic tests prescribed for older seniors. When my husband’s mother was 90, she had a gynecological exam — we suggested it and the doctor carried it out — and though I knew the doctor was gentle, Mother cried out because of the discomfort. Full Story »
Using Seniors As Lab Rats to Study ‘Health Span’
By Jeremy Olshan on October 18, 2011 | WSJ SmartMoney Encore Blog
At a residential facility for seniors connected to the Mayo Clinic, researchers study how to extend health span to match lifespan. Full Story »
Dementia
Scientists Say They Have Physical Proof Bilingualism Delays Onset of Alzheimer’s
By [email protected] on October 17, 2011 | BruceFrankel Blog
When an editor at a major celebrity magazine proposed a profile of an educator teaching two-year-olds to speak second languages a few years ago, the editor in chief scoffed: “For what, so they can order their food in French?’ An embarrassed silence filled the air.
Now, a Canadian study has given a stunning retort:
People who speak more than one language suffer twice as much brain damage as those who speak only one language before they exhibit symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease. Full Story »
Retirement
Social Security COLA and Medicare 2012
By Ronni Bennett on October 19, 2011 | Time Goes By
As I write this on Tuesday, it is expected that on Wednesday – today – the Social Security Administration will announce a cost-of-living-adjustment (COLA) to the SSA benefit. It is expected to be about 3.5 3.6 percent and will be the first increase since 2009.
Now before you run out and spend that money (at 3.5 percent, $37.70/month on the average benefit of $1077) remember that for beneficiaries enrolled in traditional Medicare, with the COLA comes an increase in the Medicare Part B premium which is deducted from most people’s Social Security payment. Full Story »
By Jeremy Olshan on October 19, 2011 | WSJ SmartMoney Encore Blog
A new Washington office aims to prevent older Americans from losing their nest eggs to “financial abuse.”
The Boomer Legacy According to Tom Friedman and Steve Jobs
By Brent Green on October 14, 2011 | Boomers
According to the celebrated editorial columnist Thomas Friedman, The Greatest Generation saved prodigiously, consumed prudently, and elevated the nation into an international economic powerhouse following World War II. On the other hand, Boomers have been profligate spenders while failing to leave the nation in better condition than the nation they inherited from their parents. Full Story »
