Not always old....

The next time you look at an old woman, just remember... she was not always old....and when she was young, she might have been a burlesque dancer!



The next time you look at an old woman, just remember... she was not always old....and when she was young, she might have been a burlesque dancer!

the dancer Pat Flannery. See the NYTimes for a burlesque dancers' reunion; photos by Nicole Bengiveno.

Protest closing of Holyoke Geriatric Authority

65 elderly men and women will have to leave their home; another 65 elderly will lose services that help them stay in the homes they have now-- unless we can do something about it.

I don't often write about the paid work I do for the Mass. Senior Action Council, because I am not the spokesperson, I am the organizer. In this case, however, the situation is so urgent that I want to get the word out anyway I can-- and my own organization, Arise for Social Justice, was the one that tipped me off first to the threatened closing of the Holyoke Geriatric Authority.

The Holyoke Geriatric Authority may have other financial problems-- in this day and age, what agency doesn't?-- but what prompts the Authority into asking permission to close its doors is the failure of Gov. Patrick to release a million dollar bond he promised them last August. It's all too easy to make cuts in programs where the recipients of the services are presumed to have the least political power to protest. Let's make sure that's not true in this case.

Here are two links to MassLive stories about the closing, and here is the press release we've sent out.

Please join us on Wednesday, February 18 at 12:30 pm. in front of the Governor's Western Mass office, Springfield, MA on Dwight St. Here's a link to a Google map to the site.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE FEBRUARY 15, 2009

COMMUNITY GROUPS TO PROTEST CLOSING OF HOLYOKE GERIATRIC AUTHORITY

Community organizations and members will be holding a protest over the closing on the Holyoke Geriatric Authority this Wednesday, February 18, at 12:30 p.m. in front of Governor Patrick’s Western Mass. Office, 436 Dwight St., Springfield.

Because the state has failed to release a $1,000,000 bond it promised the Holyoke Geriatric Authority in August, 2008, the Authority administration says it has no choice but to close its doors and relocate its 65 residents. The facility also provides off-site services to an additional 65 elderly community members.

John W, Bennett. President of Mass. Senior Action Council said, “I was born and brought up in Holyoke, and I am dismayed that the Holyoke Geriatric Authority facility is in danger of being shut down, For as long as I can remember, Holyoke has provided a place where the elderly could get affordable care when their families could no longer care for them. In these times when seniors are faced with rising costs for food, shelter and health care, it would be a mistake to shut down this important facility, especially if State funding which could keep the facility open has, in fact, been earmarked for the Authority.

“We must also consider the impact on the facility’s workers and the Holyoke economy if 130 workers lose their jobs. In a time when the national focus is on a stimulus package to increase the number of good available jobs, it seems inappropriate to allow this facility to close. Massachusetts should be providing the funds to keep this place open, and then use stimulus funds to ensure that these workers keep their jobs and that they receive proper pay for the work that they do.”

Arise for Social Justice President Don James says his organization condemns the failure of Gov. Patrick to release the bond which will result in the sudden closing of the Holyoke Geriatric Authority.

“We are deeply concerned this closing will have a traumatic effect on the residents of the Holyoke Geriatric Authority who will be forced to find housing on very short notice. Relocating a person at an advanced age can be a death sentence. We call on Governor Patrick and the legislators to release the promised bond to this valuable social services asset and to allow the Holyoke Geriatric Authority to remain open and operational for the people who have called it home for many years.

“We hope the community will join us in opposing the closing,” James said.

For more information, contact the Mass Senior Action Council at 786-3741 or 455-3829, or Arise for Social Justice at 734-4948.

Every gray hair a blessing

Media coverage today will give us a brief and welcome break from coverage of the upcoming inauguration to focus on the "Miracle on the Hudson." Many stories will be milked-- er, told-- about the dramatic rescue and the heroism of many involved, in particular the heroism of the plane's captain, Chesley B. Sullenberger, known as Sully.

What I haven't heard anyone mention yet is that Captain Sullenberg is old-- well, maybe not old, but no spring chicken, either. Every hair on his head-- what he has left, anyway-- is gray. Of course, he's from California and his wife is a fitness expert, so that helps. But experience pays off, yes? And you only get experience by living.

A new report by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety says that auto crash deaths among people 70 and older are going down. (So there!) you can read about the report at Science Daily.

Baby talk no good for Alzheimer's patients

I don't usually print an article in its entirety but, given experiences during a recent hospitalization, this one really hit home:

Don't treat Alzheimer's patients like they are children, researchers say

August 7, 2008

Researchers from Kansas have offered a rare glimpse into the interior world of Alzheimer's patients with a new study presented at a major international conference in Chicago. The study, while small, is highly suggestive: Key findings indicate that patients - even those who may seem deeply disoriented or cognitively impaired - dislike being patronized or treated as if they are children.

This suggests that a sense of adult identity remains intact in people with dementia, even when individuals aren't able to remember how old they are, where they are, what day it is or which family members are alive and present. How people experience Alzheimer's disease, especially in its latter stages, is a mystery because those with the illness lose the ability to articulate their thoughts and feelings.

In the Kansas study, researchers tried to get around this hurdle by videotaping 20 elderly men and women living in three nursing homes during the course of a day as aides helped them bathe, brush their teeth, dress, eat and take their medicines, among other activities.

Researchers then analyzed the tapes, assessing how the manner in which staff interacted with patients influenced patients' behavior and the quality of care.

They discovered that when nursing aides communicated in a kind of baby talk for seniors - using a high-pitched sing-song tone, comments like "good girl," diminutives like "honey" and language that assumed a state of dependency ("Are we ready for our bath?") - Alzheimer's patients were twice as likely to resist their efforts to help.

Chicago Tribune
Copyright © 2008, The Baltimore Sun

Another side of seniors

Seniors in the Western Mass area are leaders in the anti-war movement. Don't know who this woman is, but she's beautiful.

More homeless elders on the street than ever before

Homeless men and women aged 62 or older are the fastest-growing population among the homeless, a new study finds. On any given night, between 3,000 and 4,000 elders are on the streets of L.A. or in shelters.

Shelter Partnership, Inc. has used these findings to underline its new strategic plan to develop permanent affordable housing. You can read more about it here.

Bill could protect elders' human rights

Two weeks ago the Boston Globe reported on the lack of protection for seniors when their competency is challenged: no legal representation, no right to be present at competency hearings (if they even are informed that it's taking place), no access to their money if they are declared incompetent. I wrote about it here.

Now two bills in the Massachusetts Legislature would go a long way to remedy this injustice: S.843, An Act Relative to the Uniform Probate Court and S.1116, An Act to Establish a Public Guardianship Commission. Last Thursday these bills had a hearing before the Judiciary Committee.

Al Norman, Director of Mass Home Care, had this to say in his public testimony: "We wish to be recorded in support of S. 843, which we believe is another part of our mission to ensure that only people who really need to be in a nursing home reside there. Reforming the guardianship process is one way of guaranteeing that elders and the disabled are not inappropriately institutionalized or warehoused because of a guardianship process that takes shortcuts with the disabled persons’ independence and dignity. Not only is the elder unjustifiably segregated, but the taxpayers of the Commonwealth have to pay for an inappropriate and expensive level of care for people who should still be living in the community."

Now, just because the bills have had a hearing doesn't mean they will become law! If you are represented by any Judiciary Committee members, tell them you want the bill reported out favorably. Then start working on your state representatives and senators.

Judiciary Committee Members:
Creedon of Second Plymouth and Bristol
Baddour of First Essex
Antonioni of Worcester and Middlesex
Creem of First Middlesex and Norfolk
McGee of Third Essex and Middlesex
Tarr of First Essex and Middlesex

O'Flaherty of Chelsea
C. A. Murphy of Burlington
Naughton of Clinton
J. M. Murphy of Weymouth
Peisch of Wellesley
S. M. Walsh of Lynn
Curran of Springfield
J. D. Keenan of Salem
Walz of Boston
Evangelidis of Holden
Webster of Hanson


If we're lucky, we'll all be old someday. Let's keep our independence as long as we can.

Mass. elders without families have no protection against being declared incompetent!

Yesterday the Boston Globe reported on the risks of being a Massachusetts elder without family and friends-- you might find yourself placed into state custody against your will!

I didn't want to write this post until I had some good news to go along with the bad, but haven't been able to find much. Surely elders placed into state guardianship are at least entitled to legal representation, right? Well, not that I could figure out.

Every year an unknown number of elders are declared incompetent and placed in state guardianship at the request of nursing homes, hospitals and others. They then become virtual prisoners of the nursing home, with no legal representation, no access to money or even the ability to find out where their money and belongings are, and no one to watch out for them.

Some of these elders, of course, do meet the legal definition of incompetent, defined in the Law.com Dictionary as " referring to a person who is not able to manage his/her affairs due to mental deficiency (low I.Q., deterioration, illness or psychosis) or sometimes physical disability. Being incompetent can be the basis for appointment of a guardian or conservator (after a hearing in which the party who may be found to be incompetent has been interviewed by a court investigator and is present and/or represented by an attorney) to handle his/her person and/or affairs (often called "estate"). They need help and they should get help, but they do not deserve to be treated like children. Actually, I take that back, even children don't deserve to be treated the way they are.

A few of the unjustly confined do manage to get out. "In December 2006, it took just 2 minutes and 10 seconds for Mass. General to convince Judge Merrill that 74-year-old Rose Doyle should be put in the care of a guardian. Doyle was confined to a nursing home for three months. She complained to Greater Boston Legal Services. In May 2007, after an outside psychiatrist concluded that Doyle was competent, Merrill reversed her decision. In November, Doyle died."

Massachusetts guardians get $1,200 a year from Medicaid per elder, so some have built businesses around guardianship. Guardians are supposed to file quarterly reports with the court but of 308 reviewed Suffolk County cases, only 46 reports had actually been filed.

I'm a fairly savvy web researcher so I set out looking for a list of rights for elders in this situation. I could find no such list. The Massachusetts Legal Corporation has a web page that addresses a myriad of elder issues, but not this one. Still, I'd start with Legal Services-- here in Western Mass the numbers are

• 781-7814 for Hampden County
• 584-4034 for Hampshire County
• 774-4737 for Franklin County
• 664-4531 for Berkshire County.

The Massachusetts Dept. of Elder Affairs has a hotline, 1-800-AGE-INFO, and a website, although again, I could find no reference to this issue. The U.S. Administration on Aging also has an "Eldercare Locator"-- an elder referral service-- at 1-800-677-1116.

Last year the Dept. of Elder Affairs and the Dept. of Mental Health had a series of regional forums about the mental health needs of elders. I don't know how many elders were there, because strangely, elders' opinions themselves were not mentioned in the memo about the conclusions reached. Instead, the "stakeholders" were defined as local caregivers, DMH staff, the provider community, the Councils on Aging and some others.
Once again, as I've seen over and over in my organizing life, those most directly affected have the least opportunity to shape the policies that are designed for them.

I could really use some help on this one. If anyone knows of other resources of strategies elders should be using to protect themselves, let me know. I turned sixty last month, and I know there are many issues ahead of me as i age, but nothing terrifies me more than threats to my autonomy.