Why Cut Social Security while NOT taxing Wall Street?

Dear GAA Reader,

Dean Baker wrote an instructive article for the Huffington Post asking why older persons must endure possible cuts to Social Security while the Wall Street bankers who brought on the Wall Street collapse in 2008 smile easily as they rake in more money.

Baker says, "Since Social Security benefits account for more than 70 percent of the income of a typical retiree, President Obama's proposed Social Security adjustment would reduce benefits by an average of 3%."

According to Baker's research, "a wealthy couple earning $500,000 a year would see a hit to their after-tax income of just 0.6 percent from the tax increase that President Obama put in place last year." Small change for them!  While the rich have little pain, most US  seniors will feel the hurt as their Social Security check drops 3%.

Do you think that US seniors should pay for the current economic crisis?  If you say "no", then support Senator Tom Harkin's proposed legislation that would put a .03% tax on stock trades and other financial assets. Such as measure, Dean says, could raise $40 billion per year or over $400 billion over a decade once it went into effect.

If you think these are good ideas, share them with your colleagues, friends and family. Ask them to write their Congressional Representatives and urge them to enact legislation that Harkin proposes.

We older persons must stand up to support ideas and policies that assure fair,  just and adequate incomes for all of us.  We are many.  We can do it!

Have a good week!

Susanne Paul for Global Action on Aging

How to Prevent Amputation among Diabetic Elders

Global Action on Aging

Chiquita Smith is the most beloved volunteer in our GAA family. Blind due to diabetes, she is a strong advocate for impoverished older persons living in public nursing homes in the New York City area.  She led GAA interns on investigative visits to such homes and asked interns to describe what they saw.  For example, "Are older persons parked in hallways one behind another in wheehchairs?  Is anyone speaking to them?  Are they asleep?"   She wanted interns to describe the clothing that the older residents were wearing-- "Did it match, top and bottom?  Was their bed clean?  Did they have any visitors?"  And she instructed the young people to inquire of residents if they had had the opportunity to vote in the last public election.  GAA interns benefted from her advocacy and helped prepare her "talking points" with the institutions' administrators. If Chiquita did not get satisfactory answers and action from administrators, she wrote to City and State Health officials informing them of the situation.  What a role model for the young. . . and a very strong advocate for poor old people.

Today Chiquita is in Beth Israel Hosptial in New York having had two legs amputated due to diabetes. Will you hold her in your thoughts during these difficult days for her?   We are posting an article by Laurie Umeh (National Health Service Corps, July 2006) in her honor.

"Preventing Amputation in Older Adults with Diabetes, Proper Foot Care Is No. 1 Strategy
By Laurie Umeh, NP Lower extremity limb loss is a dreaded complication of diabetes at any age. For the older adult, limb amputation often has particularly far-reaching consequences: loss of mobility and independence. Amputation may be the one event that ultimately and prematurely forces someone into nursing home placement. Diabetes mellitus (DM) increases the risk of lower extremity amputation 15-fold.¹ Older adults in general are particularly vulnerable; approximately 96% of amputations occur in people older than 45.² Survival statistics about amputation are bleak. The 5-year survival rate after amputation is only 27%.³For the older adult who has had an amputation, rehabilitation may be limited by cardiovascular disease or other medical conditions. Many older amputees find a prosthetic limb heavy and uncomfortable and lack the stamina to ambulate with it.⁴ In one study, only 53% of patients older than 65 could be fitted with a prosthetic limb.⁵The direct and indirect costs of amputations represent a major burden for the health care system. Yet 85% of lower extremity amputations can be prevented through programs for preventing and treating foot ulcers, preventing ulcer recurrence and educating patients about proper foot care.⁷The cascade of events that ultimately culminates in limb amputation often begins with an innocuous-appearing ulcer on the foot. The mechanism of injury may seem trivial — a wrinkled sock, an improperly trimmed toenail or a foot that swelled in its shoe and led to skin breakdown. A tiny blister or shallow ulceration becomes a draining, infected wound. After months of immobility and heroic efforts to save the ailing limb, osteomyelitis sets in, and amputation often results.As providers of primary health care in clinic and nursing home settings, nurse practitioners are perfectly positioned to champion primary and secondary prevention of diabetic ulcers and lower extremity amputation. The ability to perform foot care has limits in the older person with DM. Understanding the disease process, acquiring a repertoire of effective wound treatments, and knowing when to refer may prevent the progression of injury to ulceration and ulceration to amputation.

Please share this information with your friends, particularly those who suffer from Diabetes. 

Susanne Paul for Global Action on Aging

US Citizens: Stop ANY cuts to Medicare, Social Security or Medicaid

Roger Hickey, Co-Director of the Campaign for America's Future says we must act now!  Read this edited version of his post:

"Last night at the State of the Union speech, the President promised Republicans he wants to do 'entitlement reform' as part of a deficit deal. And he is still is still on record as willing to cut Social Security benefits for today’s seniors by imposing an inaccurate “chained CPI” formula --and to make unnamed Medicare cuts, in return for Republican support for more tax increases.

Contact your Senators and Representative today and tell them NO cuts to Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid in any budget deal.

The "chained CPI" involves a change to the cost-of-living adjustment, which compounds over time, cutting the benefits of an average earner by $1,100. By the time that person is 85, the cut amounts to the equivalent of 24 weeks of groceries a year.

We’ve got to get them . .  to get them to stop using our social insurance programs as bargaining chips. . .  

That’s why we ask you to send a message to your representatives in Congress: Refuse to vote for any future budget deal that cuts Social Security, Medicare or Medicaid benefits.

And tell them you need to know they won’t vote for the chained CPI. Politicians run on the promise that they will protect the benefits of current beneficiaries, and the chained CPI is a betrayal of that promise.

It's a battle we've won before and can win again. But we need your voice. Contact your Senators and Representative today.

Sincerely,

Roger Hickey
Co-director, Campaign for America’s Future

Posted by Susanne Paul at Global Action on Aging

No hope for Persons diagnosed with Alzheimer's

Global Action on Aging recently posted a list of items that might indicate Alzheimer's disease.  Today, November 16th, the New York Times published information that brain scan technology can now detect the presence of Alzheimer's disease.  However, once detected, there is no cure or treatment options.

Writer Gina Kolata says that over 300 new brain scanning machines are discovering "barnaclelike clumps of protein, beta amyloid, that, together with dementia, are the defining feature  of Alzheimer's."  More scanners are on the way to eager doctors. But getting a scan can be very expensive.  New York City's Mount Sinai Hospital charges $3,750 for the scan. More bad news: People wth brain plaques can be denied long-term health insurance. 

If you had the money, would you get a brain scan?  Would you want to know the results?  Do you want others to know?  What are your feelings about privacy on this issue?  Please share your ideas  in our "Comment" section.  Feel free to use a pseudonym or no name if you wish. 

And find three good ways to enjoy your weekend!

Susanne Paul for Global Action on Aging

 

Age Does not Slow Down Triathlete Nancy Avitabile

A USA TODAY journalist, Janice Lloyd, reported on October 13, 2012, about a 64 year old woman athlete, Nancy Avitabile, who keeps improving her track record as she gets older.  What are her secrets?

First, she swims, bikes and and runs to strengthen her body by cross-training.  She offers you and me some tips about how to remedy some of the issues we older persons face as the years pile on.

"Building a strong core as well as strong legs and upper body has been essential to me as I've gotten older. . . Injuries can really set older people back. . . I keep my muscles strong to avoid injuries."

Second, our muscles start to weaken in our 20s and continue on the downward path unless we take action.  Athletic trainer Kent Biggerstaff has worked with top-class athletes and has come up with some recommendations for older persons.

Biggerstaff says that many people begin to lose muscle as early as their 20's.  Then, we may hurt one leg or ankle and begin to favor it.  If we don't correct this situaiton, the weakened muscles get worse and we can endure a more serious injury.  Kent suggests a test:  "Put your back against the wall with your feet 18 to 20 inches in front of you, squat down part way; lift up your left leg, and hold it off the ground for 15 seconds and then return your foot to the ground."  Keep trying to increase the time you can hold up the leg, thereby strengthening the quadriceps, hip muscles and the "glutes."  Crunches performed on an exercise ball can also strengthen your stomach muscles, Kent says. 

Are you exercising?  Are you pushing yourself to keep your leg and ankle muscles strong?  What works for you?

Please comment. 

Susanne Paul for Global Action on Aging

Nearly 40 Percent of HIV infected persons in Washington, DC, are over 50 years old

Washington, DC, must face up to HIV/AIDS among seniors; nearly 40 percent of affected older persons are over 50 years old. The Huff Post publication, DC Impact, posted Deborah Gresko's release on October 17, 2012.  She reports that seniors don't think that they are at risk due to their advanced age.  Some older women believe that menopause protects them against HIV/AIDS; other seniors think that if they are not sharing needles, then they are protected. Moreover, doctors rarely talk about unsafe sex or offer condoms to their senior patients. 

Finally, Viagra has given older men the capacity to have sex with many partners, including neighbors in nearby housing. After attending a recent workshop on the topic, an older woman said that she might share her new knowledge with her adult son.

What do you think?  Would you talk with your adult children about protecting themselves against HIV/AIDS?  Or, if you are a younger person, would you ask your grandmother about protective measures that she might need?  Have you or your friends been tested for HIV/AIDs?  Is it topic that you can even talk about?  Please comment.

Susanne Paul for Global Action on Aging

LINK to "Ageing in the Twenty-First Century:A Celebration and A Challenge

Dear GAA Friend,

Here is the link to the important new resource from UNFPA and HelpAge International describing the situation of older people worldwide: To access the report, go to: http://www.unfpa.org/public/home/publications/pid/11584.  

You will find helpful data that summarizes how older people are living their lives--some with joy and others with great pain--in every region of the world.  You will also learn how social protection that embraces income support and access to health care figures in a "good old age." 

We could all wish to say along with 86 year old Tony Fitzpatrick from Ireland: "I know that I'm lucky.  Younger people nowadays are crippled with large mortgages and by high unemployment.  It must be very stressful for them.  Throughout my life, I had a stable pensionable job.  Young people now feel threatened that they might lose their jobs at a given moment in time."  (See page 53.)

What is your situation? Please comment.  

Have a good day, Susanne Paul for Global Action on Aging

Older Persons and Computers by Susanne Jayawickreme

We are meeting my Mother via Skype. The retired lady on the right and her husband have also learned to Skype in the meantime.

My mother is 87 year old, born in 1923. She is still very active, lives in an apartment, still drives her car to do her shopping, plays in 2 bridge clubs and does an hour of long walking in various shopping malls every day.

Since my mother feels uneasy, walking in the forest nearby, she started driving to a different shopping mall every day independent of the weather condition. She takes a shopping cart to have support during her hour-long walk, enjoys being among people, and strolling through the shops and departments. She feels safe in the case that she fell or felt unwell all of a sudden etc, because there are so many people all over the place and security cameras, which ensure that help will be there for her immediately. Only heavy snow fall and really bad weather would keep her away from her daily shopping mall fun.

My mother played cards all her life. She used to play bridge in 3 different clubs until recently, but 2 clubs are left only as my mother survived the members of the other club. My mother loves playing cards. The youngest bridge player in my mother's 2 groups is 22 years junior to her. They all love my mother, her good humour, optimistic spirit and her playing skills.

But a couple of years ago, my sister and I discovered the most admirable surprise my mother had in store for us when I visited Germany. I have been living in Sri Lanka since 1994 and I go back home to Germany once a year. My mother can't cope with long distance flights any longer. Therefore we had to rely on phone calls, which were faint and full of awful noises more often than not. When I returned home a couple of years ago, after coming home from the airport, my sister pointed to a brand new laptop waiting to be used in the centre of the dining table. After the long warm welcome, my mother smiled with a twinkle in her eye and said that she bought the laptop the day before my arrival so that I could teach her the basics during my stay in Germany. But most important for her was to learn how to Skype and to use the camera so that we can see each other when we speak together when I am abroad again. To cut a long story short: My then 85 years young mother made myself, my sister and her 3 grand children feel like fools when we saw how quickly she picked up the functions after my brother-in-law installed all the programs. When I left she even played cards online and she googles everything she wants to know now. Her grandchildren help out immediately when the laptop crashes, which hardly happens.

My mother and I enjoy seeing each other via skype.

My sister and her family take their laptops with them when they travel in order to be in visible touch with my mother. When my husband and I have visitors at home and where ever we travel we Skype with my mom, so that she can join us and be with us as often as possible. As my mother puts it, "The only thing missing is that we can't hug and touch each other." But be assured of all our flying kisses circling throughout cyberspace.

With her knowledge of computing my mother solves her homework she has to do for her memory training class. She googles and also skypes with me to solve word puzzles and together we crack other hard brain teasers. Her memory jogging friends call her to get the results and you guess it: her group is doing very well!

I would like to not only encourage older people to start computing, but also to get the entire families involved in the computer fun with grandparents and other older relatives. It could be such fun for several generations of the family. But most importantly, it helps to fight the loneliness of old people, as they can't move around like they used to, and due to the natural effects of old age which leave them with less and less friends to talk to.

My husband talks with my mother. A German friend looks on. He and his wife retired a long time ago and learned to Skype as soon as they returned to Germany.