The Older Americans Act, the umbrella federal law that includes programs such as Meals on Wheels, senior transportation, information services, adult day, and caregiver support was hours from being expanded and winning congressional approval for another five years. Now, its fate has become far more uncertain. Its all because the OAA, despite broad bipartisan congressional support, got caught up in [...]
The Obama Administration has announced its preliminary plans for the next White House Conference on Aging, which would be held next year. It would be the first such conference in a decade and could be quite valuable, given the rapid aging of the U.S. population and vast changes in the medical and long-term care environment since the last session. 2015 [...]
Elder abuse is hard to define, and it is a challenge to know how widespread it is. But it is a deeply serious problem and I recently came across two elder abuse stories worth passing on. If you are an elder care professional or an adult child caring for parents, read them carefully. And beware. The first is courtesy of Steve Goldberg, a Washington, D.C. investment adviser and contributing [...]
Elder abuse is one of those issues we prefer to not talk about. And, in truth, there is much we don't know about it. For instance, even the most basic data on how often abuse happens are notoriously unreliable. Yet, we know it occurs. And far too often. Financial scams, sometimes orchestrated by trusted advisers and friends; physical abuse by caregivers; physical abuse of caregivers (I [...]