I'm so happy to announce that tax attorney Heather Gosnick will be joining us our February Legalities meeting at the Chelsea Senior Center! 

I'll post details later, but for now please save the date: 

Legalities Legal Discussion Group
February 18th at 9:00 a.m.
Chelsea Senior Center
500 Washington Street
Chelsea, MI 48118

Call us at the office, (734) 475-2100, for more information.

After watching my father and stepmother die of cancer (other loved ones, too), I've  formed my own strong opinions about how I want to spend my last days.

If you want more information so you can make choices, you can take part in a live conversation - a web chat - from PBS's Frontline. Click here to see more and join the chat.

By way of background, last night PBS’s Frontline aired their documentary “Being Mortal,” with Dr. Atul Gawande.

Being Mortal examines how doctors can help terminally ill patients make the most of the time they have left. Should they undergo any treatment, no matter how agonizing, in order to stay alive? Or should they try to spend as much quality time as possible with the people they love.

There are a number of so-called "Granny Scams." They account for losses by seniors of as much as $2.9 billion each year. This one isn't new, but it bears a look anyway. We should realize, too, that con artists don't just scam the dodo birds. They can catch intelligent, able people like US, too.

Once we're a bit older we can get tripped up because our hearing ISN'T what it once was, it's embarrassing to admit we don't recognize the voice on the phone, and we were brought up to be kind when our young relatives need our help.

To watch the video report from Peter Greenberg of CBS News, click here.

The second time I watched the report I noticed that the woman was holding an AARP book. It's titled: Outsmarting the Scam Artists: How to Protect Yourself From the Most Clever Cons. At first I wanted to recommend it, but while there are mainly positive reviews, there are a few that say the content is dated and lacks internet examples, even though the book was published in 2012. Can anyone recommend this title? Or another resource you've used to stay ahead of the criminals? Send me a message.

Bill Lamb
Nov. 19, 2014

For elderly folks, falling can be a major, life-changing event. I remember when I was a kid, my grandmother, Lillian, lived with her friend, my 'Aunt' Bessie. When my dad hadn't heard from Grandma in a couple of days, we drove over to Aunt Bessie's house. Both women were lying on the basement floor at the foot of the stairs. They were dehydrated, disoriented, and each had broken a hip. It turns out that Bessie had fallen and when Lillian tried to help, she fell, too. They lay on the floor for more than a day before we showed up. Both endured long recoveries in nursing homes, and I don't remember if my grandmother ever came home. And now that I'm in my fifties, I feel like I'm a lot less nimble than I used to be.

So here, in short form, are the best ways to reduce your risk of falling and becoming seriously injured:

• study tai chi
  
• exercise - the better your physical condition, the less likely you are to fall; and if you do fall, people in better shape have a better prognosis for recovery
  
• eliminate sleeping pills and use other ways to fall asleep
• take vitamin D
• drink water, especially on hot days (to reduce dizziness)
• eliminate hypertension drugs, if you can
• eliminate anti-depressant drugs, if you can
• reduce the number of tripping hazards at home:
• get rid of scatter rugs
• check your living space and eliminate tripping hazards
• have eyes checked once per year
• wear single-vision lenses (rather than bifocals) in your eyeglasses while out on walks

You can read more about avoiding falls by clicking here.

A new film chronicles Glenn Campbell's 2011 farewell concert tour as he retired from public performing due to advancing Alzheimer's Disease.

Parts of this radio piece were hard to listen to; others were fun.

Listen to John Hockenberry's "The Takeaway" radio interview with Campbell's wife Kim and filmmaker James Keach by clicking here.

Glen Campbell: I'll Be Me.  Watch the movie trailer here.

Medicare open enrollment is happening now.

Insurers tweak their coverage from year to year, including plan premiums, out-of-pocket costs, and what is and is not covered - medications, etc.

Check your 2015 coverage(s) and make changes if you need to.

Click here -  Detroit Free Press. - to read the rest of the story.

A new report by a 21-member panel appointed by the Institute of Medicine says that the current system for end-of-life health care in the U.S. is broken and needs to be overhauled.

The non-partisan panel included doctors, nurses, insurers, religious leaders, lawyers and experts on aging.

I first read about the report in the New York Times article, "Panel Urges Overhauling Health Care at End of Life." Click here to read it.




The report is titled,  Dying in America: Improving Quality and Honoring Individual Preferences Near the End of Life (2014). To read the report itself, click on the title.

Click here to read Paula Span's post about proposed legislation requiring a registered nurse to be on duty at all times in nursing homes that receive Medicare or Medicaid reimbursement. This seems pretty logical...

I shared this link to the New York Times New Old Age blog on my Facebook page as well.

Question:

• What is a Geriatrician?
  

Answer:

• a) an older doctor; 
  
• b) an electrical worker who makes haphazard repairs ("gerry-rigged");
  
• c) a doctor who risks a lousy Christmas by tugging on St. Nick's beard; or
  
• d) a physician who specializes in treating older people.

If you answered 'd,' then you are correct!

In my previous post I shared the KSTP television video, "Aging: A Family Affair." In the report, one woman's physician, Dr. Tom Von Sternberg, was introduced as a geriatrician. It occurred to me that few of us have regular contact  with this medical specialty, so I thought I'd provide some background.

A geriatrician is a physician who has completed a residency in either Internal Medicine or Family Medicine with an additional one or two year fellowship focusing on the medical, social, and psychological issues that concern older adults. (Source: Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Aging; University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences)

To distinguish, geriatricians are not the same as gerontologists. Gerontologists are scholars who focus on aging research. And while some geriatricians are also gerontologists, gerontologists are usually not physicians.

Although I haven't had a client experience difficulty finding one, I have heard that there are not enough geriatricians to serve the growing numbers of older patients. Have you or someone you care for been treated by a doctor who specializes in older people's health concerns? Have you had trouble locating a geriatrician?  Please write back or comment.