Silver Innings Newsletter: October 2008

“Growing old is part of life.It’s one of those inevitable things that you just have to deal with.

Graying hair, wrinkles, aching limbs, children moving out of the house, retirement…

There’s a lot of things that go along with getting old.But you don’t have to face it like doomsday.

Just like anything, you can face it with grace.’’

Dear Friends,

Happy Diwali and Happy New Year from Silver Inning Foundation.

It’s our pleasure to bring to you the update of your website Silver Innings. Below are new articles posted on various sections in October 2008, to read more you need to visit particular menu on the website www.silverinnings.com or the Link under each article.Hope you enjoy this and send us your feedback at info@silverinnings.com .

We also invite articles of interest, inspiring short stories, jokes, reviews, etc. Please note publication is sole decision of web master and as per rules laid down by Silver Innings.

SILVER PERSONALITY OF THE MONTH - October 2008

Prem Sagar Relli: Exploring Second Innings

Link: http://www.silverinnings.com/Silver%20Personality%20of%20the%20month.html

Ageing:

International

Ageism in America

Living and Caring? An Investigation of the Experiences of Older Carers

Health Care Voucher Scheme for the Elderly

New Plan for Seniors Outlined

International Year of Older Persons

Link: http://www.silverinnings.com/International.html

Fact and Issues

Census of India - Household with aged person

Census Reference Tables: Total Population of India

Census of India – Broad Age Group

Census of India Martial status

Link: http://www.silverinnings.com/Facts%20n%20Issues.html

Health/ Fitness

Physical

10 Ways to Improve Your Life With Arthritis

Link: http://www.silverinnings.com/Physical%20Fitness.html

Mental

Vitamin 'may prevent memory loss'

Pain Is Common in Parkinson's Disease

Link: http://www.silverinnings.com/Mental%20Fitness.html

Dementia & Alzheimer’s

Cultural Differences In Attitudes Towards Caring For People With Dementia

DEMENTIA IN THE ASIA PACIFIC REGION: THE EPIDEMIC IS HERE

Active Social Life May Reduce Men's Alzheimer's Risk

Combining Alzheimer’s Drugs May Offer Sustained Benefits

Link: http://www.silverinnings.com/Alzheimer%20n%20Dementia.html

Diet

Brain Food: What to Eat to Boost Your Brain Power

Link: http://www.silverinnings.com/Diet.html

Lifestyle

10 Ways to Fight Fatigue

To Live Longer, Article in French

Link: http://www.silverinnings.com/lifestyle.html

Finance

Insurance

HEALTH INSURANCE OF SENIOR CITIZENS

Link: http://www.silverinnings.com/Insurance.html

Pension

Don't Privatize Social Security

Link: http://www.silverinnings.com/Pension.html

Elder Law

Other Laws

SC: right to property now a human right

Link: http://www.silverinnings.com/Elder%20laws%20Others.html

Relationship

Parents and Grandparents

10 Steps to Increase Your Parent’s Mental Agility and Memory

Ten Reasons Why Your Parent May Not Be Eating Properly

THE WORRIES ADULT CHILDREN AND THEIR PARENTS EXPERIENCE FOR ONE ANOTHER

What To Do If Your Aging Parent Refuses To Go To The Doctor

Link: http://www.silverinnings.com/parents%20n%20grandparents.html

Grandchildren and Children

How To Connect With Kids By Volunteering At School/Daycare

Link: http://www.silverinnings.com/grandchildren%20n%20children.html

Directory (News additions)

Link : http://www.silverinnings.com/Directory%20sublink.html

Hobbies and Activities

Activities

Finland keeps its retiree active, Article in French

Emergency Preparedness for Older People

Link: http://www.silverinnings.com/Activities.html

Amusement

Jokes: http://www.silverinnings.com/jokes.html

Books: http://www.silverinnings.com/books.html

Products for Elderly

Link: http://www.silverinnings.com/links%20for%20products.html

Old Age Homes

Architecture

Ergonomics for the Aging Population

Ergonomics and the Elderly

Ergonomics for the elderly

Top 10 Ergonomic Needs for the Aging

Link: http://www.silverinnings.com/Architecture.html

News and Event

Articles

Alzheimer’s Europe August 2008 News letter

Article about Caregivers in DNA Newspaper

Article about World Alzheimer’s Day in DNA West coast

CONCESSIONS AND FACILITIES GIVEN TO SENIOR CITIZENS, Article by M.V.Ruparelia

Article about Abuse of Senior Citizens in Hindi Film

Global Alzheimer’s disease Charter

Article about World Elders Day in Hindustan Times

Article about Computer Education course in Hindustan Times

Article about World Alzheimer’s Day in Hindustan Times

Life is like that! , Article by M.V.Ruparelia

Growing need for Dementia Day care center article in DNA

Design for All newsletter September 2008

Letter of objection for Elder abuse for ‘Sing is Kinngh’ Film

So Is it Respect for 'the Aged,' 'the Elderly' or 'the Seniors'?

Town to Provide Free Health Care for Elderly

World Alzheimer's Awareness Week 2008

‘Umang’ World Elders Day 2008 Report

World's First End-Of-Life Research Institute to Be Built in UK

Link: http://www.silverinnings.com/Articles.html

Thanks for giving your valuable time, see you soon with next update.

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Is Age catching up?

Tired? Grumpy? Not interested in sex anymore? You are into a committed relationship for the past 25 years and yet you are forever arguing. You want to buy a sportier car, she does not, she has put on weight and you too are getting older with hair thinning and waist thickening. You want ‘space’. You can’t handle it! What now?

Perhaps there is a midlife crisis brewing. It can happen with both men and women and hormones are partly to be blamed. The more dramatic plunge occurs in women than in men as they approach their menopause and a gradual drop occurs in men as they approach andropause. But is this transition really a cause of concern?

Research reports suggest that almost 80 per cent of people in the ages of 40-60 undergo midlife changes such as depression, anxiety, freedom, relief or guilt. However, these are not necessarily perceived as crises but are normal developmental changes occurring because of environmental demands. The ageing brain is resilient and adaptable. Several activities practiced regularly therefore can boost the power, clarity and excite the ageing brain.

Time for a change

The term midlife crisis was first identified by the psychologist Carl Jung and is a normal part of the maturing process. You have reached the ‘half time’ of your life. Ageing, hormonal changes, changes in the family and social life and sometimes drastic events such as divorce or death of a parent or children leaving home giving you an ‘empty nest’ syndrome – all can set off major feelings of disaster or crisis in your life. Re-evaluating future goals too may put you in an emotional turmoil.

Says Seema Hingorrany, clinical psychologist and psychotherapist, “Most men and women do experience some form of emotional transition during this time of life. A transition that might cause you to take stock of where you are in life and make some needed adjustments to the way you live your life.”

“Psychologically”, she says, “You might experience a wide range of feelings, such as discontent with life or the lifestyle that may have provided happiness for many years. For instance, boredom with things or people that have hitherto held great interest in your life, wanting to do something completely different, questioning the meaning of life and the validity of decisions clearly and easily made years before and confusion about where your life is going.”

Most people today do not perceive mid-life changes as crisis, especially in India. Because of different social and cultural values, there is less isolation, fewer divorces and older parents and children living together as a family. The process of ageing is accepted with ease. According to a study carried out by the Dr John D and Dr Catherine T MacArthur Foundation Research Network on Successful Midlife Development (MIDMAC), USA, mid-life is smooth sailing for most people with financial security, stable relationships and good health.

Physical changes

Studies indicate that middle-age women show varied reactions to menopause in different cultures. Opines Dr Rishma Pai, leading gynaecologist attached to Jaslok and Lilavati hospitals, Mumbai, “The peri-menopausal and menopausal period in a woman’s life, when the hormones are declining, is definitely a difficult time for many women. This is usually in the mid forties and onward, the woman experiences physical and mental changes such as hot flushes, mood swings, depression, anxiety, forgetfulness, insomnia, loss of sexual drive, vaginal dryness, skin and hair changes.”

“In later years there is osteoporosis, loss of urinary control, increased risk of heart disease etc. These can be quite severe in some women and she may be unable to cope with the changes. And the stress of changes around her, may push her into a midlife crisis”, she adds.

For men, says Dr Pai, “This is a part of ageing and is accompanied by decline in sexuality mood and overall energy. There may be loss of muscle strength, emotional and behavioural changes, increased upper central body fat, osteoporosis and increased cardiovascular risk. The condition may be more severe in men who undergo psychological stress, drink alcohol, are obese or have some illness during this period.” This is the time when you may develop blood pressure problems, diabetes, heart ailments and joint ailments.

Making life interesting

Try and make a healthy ‘half-time’ transition. Middle age is a period of adjustment between the potentialities of the past and perhaps the limitations of the future. Get rid of that emotional rebellion. Go shop for clothes, jewellery or go window-shopping to soothe your midlife upheaval. Snappy cars, exotic getaway vacations and social gatherings can bring back that zing into your life. Learn to cope with the ‘new’ you. Get past that rocky beginning and the mid-life journey will be rewarding.

Dealing with midlife

• Communicate more often with your partner
• Add spice to your intimate relationships
• Socialise, meet with friends
• Find yourself a hobby, do things which you enjoy the most
• Take a break from your work
• Exercise – aerobics, jog, walk, swim, go to the gym or practice yoga
• Indulge in mental exercises – neurobics – brain exercises, solving crossword puzzles, reading
• Eat nutritious food, if need be take vitamin, iron or calcium supplements with your doctor’s advise
• Take regular diagnostic tests to check on your health
• Be positive

By Dr Parul R Sheth

Source : http://www.timeswellness.com/index.aspx?page=article&sectid=1&contentid=200810262008102608055338680e95f3a#ftr2

Prem Sagar Relli : Silver Personality of Month October 2008

Prem Sagar Relli: Exploring Second Innings

Prem Sagar Relli was born on 18th Jan 1943 at Sialkot Punjab now in Pakistan, His father late Shri Thakur Dass Ulfat was an Urdu Poet and Journalist in various Urdu Daily Newspapers of New Delhi. Though born in Hindu Panjabi family, Mr Relli lived in a Hindu Muslim Community which resulted in secular and positive mindset. He always thought beyond family and care for needy and downtrodden people of society right form his childhood and growing years.

He was pained to notice that there were several magazines for men, women, children and on several other issues but there was hardly any magazine available on news stands exclusively for elderly persons. However, some organizations printed their newsletters and magazines for their members against annual subscriptions which only very few people could avail of this facility.

There was hardly any magazine whatsoever for the benefit of older persons exclusively publishing their problems, difficulties, quarries, healthcare, travel, spiritual and family related emotional support from family and society and financial support along with security assurance from government.He felt an unending urge for publication of a magazine which can be beneficial and provide guidelines for better lifestyles to the senior citizens of India.

Read in Detail: http://www.silverinnings.com/Silver%20Personality%20of%20the%20month.html

Who Cares for the Caregivers?

The economic value of family caregiving in 2006 was $350 billion, according to recent research, a figure that exceeded the total spending for either Medicaid ($342 billion) or Medicare ($300 billion) in 2005. Without the unpaid labor of family caregivers — provided at great physical, emotional and financial cost — the long-term care system in this country (if you can call it a “system”) would collapse. Nursing homes, far and away the most expensive form of care, would burst at the seams with elderly men and women who might otherwise have been supervised in the community by adult children and spouses.

There is widespread agreement that these devoted caregivers, thought to number about 33 million, are an essential national health care resource and will become increasingly necessary. The population of those ages 85 and above is soaring. Many will live for years unable to take care of their most basic needs. Hospital stays grow ever shorter, meaning that very sick people are sent home once their immediate health crises have passed.

And in an effort to rebalance institutional and community-based care, states are experimenting with reimbursement models that make it feasible for more people to stay home. While these are commendable pilot programs, family caregivers will continue to bear primary responsibility even when some subsidized home care is available. Currently, studies show, three-quarters of those who remain in their homes depend solely on family and friends to meet their day-to-day needs with no professional support whatsoever.

Yet these family caregivers — you and me — come to the task with no formal training, little in the way of help from medical professionals, scant information about how to find the services for their ailing loved one or for themselves, and no clue how to pay for it. When was the last time a doctors, nurse or social worker even inquired, “How are you doing?”

Rarely does anyone pay attention to the caregiver’s declining physical and emotional health, and many risk becoming patients themselves. Rarely does anyone tell us about hands-on care, about tube feedings, transferring bed-bound patients to wheelchairs or commodes, turning them to avoid bedsores, making judgments about which symptoms require immediate medical attention, and interacting with a cast of professionals often short on time, patience or shared information about the patient.

But at long last, this terrible disconnect is the subject of interest from many professional and advocacy organizations, which are conducting research on what sort of help caregivers need and how best to deliver it.

One of the most promising ideas is to assign the task of educating and supporting family caregivers to the geriatric nurses and social workers who already work most closely with families. For that to succeed, the nurses and social workers would themselves require additional training and reimbursement for the time they spend assessing the needs and capabilities of family caregivers and then teaching them necessary skills, giving them ongoing support and connecting them to additional resources.

How to engage nurses and social workers in this vital work was the subject of a symposium last January organized by AARP, the Family Caregiver Alliance, the Council on Social Work Education, the Rutgers Center for State Health Policy and the American Journal of Nursing.

“In policy and in practice, the U.S. long-term care system fails to recognize, respect, assess and address the needs of family caregivers,” wrote Lynn Friss Feinberg, deputy director of the National Caregiver Alliance in San Francisco, one of the symposium participants. “Practitioners must consider not only how the caregiver can help the care recipient, but also how the service provider must help the family. Are family members seen as ‘resources’ to the care recipient, or are they viewed as individuals with needs and rights of their own?”

Ms. Feinberg’s comments are included in a supplement to the September issue of the American Journal of Nursing, which has published the results of that symposium, including 17 essays by conference participants as well as accompanying research. The essays are designed so that professionals can use them to earn continuing education credits, but they are also accessible to the non-professional and a source of information, inspiration and hope for family caregivers who stand to benefit the most from this ambitious project.

The complete supplement is available, chapter by chapter, at this section of the journal’s Web site. Browse the table of contents; cherry-pick what interests you, or read it all. It will be time well spent.

Many of you, I’m sure, have stories of taking a loved one home from the hospital with no instructions on follow-up care and no one to call when you find yourself in trouble. What does it mean to be responsible for a sick, frail or demented loved one when you have no idea how to take care of them properly and nobody assigned to guide you, when you have no telephone assistance or home visits?

If you have thoughts on how the cracks in this part of our system should be filled, and in particular on how the expertise of nurses and social workers could be better utilized, please share them below.

Source: http://newoldage.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/10/14/who-cares-for-the-caregivers/

JOB FOR SENIOR CITIZENS IN MUMBAI

Society for the Education of the Crippled (SEC ) has been building up expertise in the care and education of the Orthopaedically handicapped children and adults for last 45 years.SEC has been working with children above the age of 5 years,they also address the need for early intervention through Therapeutic pre-school Community centers. The trend is now changing from poliomyelitis to cerebral palsy and multiple disabilities.

SEC has three schools at Agripada, Antop hill & Santacruz and they are planning to start English speaking course for their exsisting children & ex- students.

All together they have about the 100 students at all three units including the ex-students. And for this they need Two Full Time teachers who will work at the Agripada, Antophill & Santacruz ,for the English speaking course.The teacher should have the knowledge about the English grammer & he should speak English very fluently. The salary should be Rs.5000/- per month.

Requirement: 2 Teacher Full time - Male / Female

Location: Mumbai - Agripada, Antophill & Santacruz

Subject: English

Age group: Prefereabely 50 yrs and above with good health

Honorarium : Rs.5000/- p.m.

Contact:

Mr.Pramod Patole or Ms.Manju

Society for the Education of the Crippled (SEC)
Agripada Municipal School Bldg.
Motlibai Street
Agripada
Mumbai 400011.

Tel: 23074517 / 23090355

Email: pramod_prithvis2@yahoo.co.in ; manjuutam@hotmail.com

Website : www.sec-india.org

Silver Inning Foundation(SIF) is supporting SEC and is in process to plan Networking for the benefit of social cause.