Archive for the ‘Blog’ Category

What is Ageism?

Wednesday, October 19th, 2011

Prejudice and bigotry can be overt or covert. Sometimes negative bias toward older people is not so much an ‘attack’ or statement, but rather an unintended action or thought lacking a base sensitivity or understanding of the physical, mental, or emotional changes all experience in mature years.

In a book titled, “Ageism” author Erdman B. Palmore provides helpful definitions and descriptions of ageism. I thought it important to share these:

Marketing Images: Use of young people to promote products designed for older people including anti-aging products, lifestyles, and procedures.

Generalizing: Grouping people by age (e.g. “The elderly have special needs.”)

Stereotyping: Assuming all older people are retired, feeble, sexually inactive, hard-of-hearing, sad, lonely, grouchy, have failing memories, are prone to certain illnesses, etc.

Denial: Treating elders as if they weren’t old. (e.g. “Don’t you look pretty today, young lady!) Giving compliments that would not be given to younger persons. (e.g. “You certainly don’t look your aged.”)

Amazement: Being surprised that an older person is capable of looking, doing, or expressing something that seems inconsistent with your image of elders.

Induced Dependence: Viewing older people as being needier or more disadvantaged than they actually are. Treating the older person as dependent and helpless. Offering help when none is needed.

Elderspeak: Patronizing speech. Speaking slowly and loudly or with a high pitch and exaggerated intonation that is normally used with infants or young children.

Derogatory Observations: Attempting to maintain a positive self-image by devaluing people who are older. (e.g. “Look at that old coot shuffling across the street.”)

Elder Abuse: Seeing old people as ‘unproductive’ and ‘less deserving’ or as ‘disposable citizens.’ Valuing your needs above theirs and feeling more entitled to social or family resources. Taking advantage of an elders’ trust.

Year end Charitable Giving Guide

Monday, September 26th, 2011

Its time to review your end-of-year planning checklist!

It’s hard to believe that Dec. 31 is fast approaching. Before the busy holiday season, it could be to your advantage now to take steps in preparation for end-of-year charitable giving. To help you, here’s a checklist of actions for you to review as Dec. 31 approaches.

o Review your current will and trusts. These may need to be updated due to major changes in your life, such as births or deaths or a move to another state. Consider including a favorite charity in your will. You can designate a certain amount or a percentage and there is no minimum.

o Take inventory and make a written record of the contents of any safe-deposit box. Give a copy to a trusted family member or executor of your estate.

o Review and update beneficiaries of your life insurance policies and retirement plan assets. Including a favorite charity as a beneficiary is an excellent way to donate and reduce estate taxes.

o Name designated heirs or charities to receive bank account proceeds at your death. Using a “payable on death” (POD) designation to re-direct an account without unnecessary probate problems.

o Make sure your durable powers of attorney for health care and living will are current.

o Offset your capital gains with losses. As volatile as the market can be, many portfolios may have both gains and losses. If you plan to make gifts of stocks to a charity, it is beneficial to make those gifts with stocks that have appreciated in value (worth more now than you originally paid for them). Appreciate securities must be transferred directly to the charity in order to avoid tax on capital gain. If the stock has depreciated in value, it may make more sense for you to sell the shares and donate the cash proceeds, thus preserving the ability to declare capital loss on your tax return.

o Increase your spendable income by funding a charitable gift annuity. A gift annuity allows you to make a future gift to the mission of a charity while at the same time receiving income throughout your lifetime.

o Complete charitable contributions by Dec. 31. Honoring a family member or friend with a donation during the holiday season is a memorable gift and may offer you tax benefits.

This information is not intended as legal or tax advice. Please consult your advisors.

The day the Nursing Home Residents Cared for the Nurses

Thursday, September 8th, 2011

9/11 . . . it’s been 10 years since the demise of the World Trade Centers in New York at the hand of terrorists. While there is healing, there will always be memories.

It is certainly appropriate to hear the stories of the tragedy and the heroism of that took place at all of the sites of the tragedies of that terrible day. We can not forget the courage and the death of the innocent at the site of the Pentagon and of those on Flight 93 in Pennsylvania, along with the World Trade Center and surrounding buildings.

At the 10th anniversary of 9/11, we focus on the sites, sounds, people, stories and the depth of the tragedy that has changed the world forever. But 9/11 was not only experienced by people at the airplane crash sites, it was a personal event experienced by every American.

Here in the ‘heartland’ of America, 911 had profound affects. As a nursing home administrator I witnessed something extraordinary. I remember being in the nursing home hallways on September 11th 2001. Residents had their televisions blaring as news reports announced the epic tragedy. I saw our younger nurses and nursing assistants in complete fear and confusion. They were very worried about their children in school. They were worried about their spouses, partners, parents, friends and neighbors. With the crashing of more airplanes . . . a second World Trade Center building, then the Pentagon, then an airplane headed toward the Capitol that ended with the crash of Flight #93 in a field in Pennsylvania, our nurses seemed to be nearer and nearer to emotional ‘break-down.’ After all, most of our younger nursing home staff had never really experienced a national tragedy.

At this point I started witnessing something wonderful and it was being replicated throughout the entire nursing home. I witnessed that residents were inviting the nursing staff into their rooms. They told them how they had experienced other national tragedies such as: the bombing of Pearl Harbor; the assassination of President John F. Kennedy; the assassinations of Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King; the tragedies of World War II, Vietnam, Korea; and other such events.

I witnessed the residents comforting and consoling the nursing home staff. They assured them that their families and loved ones would be all right. They talked about the strength of the nation, the resolve of its leaders, the resilience of all Americans. Residents offered prayers. Listened to staff concerns. Provided words of hope. They took charge. They calmed things down. They provided care to the caregivers!

Out of the tragedy of 9/11, I will always remember a little bit of good that happened that day. For it truly was the day that the Nursing Home Residents took care of the nurses!