The Best Of…Keeping Tabs on Your Wandering Parent

Published August 20, 2008, All Pawtucket All The Time          

           With the graying of Rhode Island’s population, a growing number of aging baby boomers are now taking care of their elderly parents who reside in their homes.  Adult children are often juggling professional careers and family responsibilities while spending countless of hours each week making sure their elderly parents needs are taken care of such as getting them to doctor’s appointments, taking them grocery shopping, assisting in house hold chores, or bringing them to family events.

            In recent months this writer discovered several close friends are dealing with parents facing these very issues – perhaps compounded with early stages of dementia or Alzheimer’s.  Often times the grown children suffer in silence – balancing the daily burdens of their own lives – while steadfastly tending to their parents care and needs, a very time consuming task especially if the older parent is frail or becomes confused and wandering.                                                                                                                                                                                

 Wandering a Common Occurrence

            This “care giving” life-stage experience is not uncommon, especially with approximately 25,000 Rhode Islanders who are afflicted with Alzheimer’s.  According to Elizabeth Morancy, President of the Alzheimer’s Association, Rhode Island Chapter, about 70% of people with dementia reside at home in the community    She estimates that six out of 10 people with Alzheimer’s will “wander” to some degree.

            Morancy notes that “wandering” occurs when a person with dementia becomes missing – where an individual becomes lost after leaving their home.  The restless individual may actually leave having a purpose or goal in mind, maybe he or she might search for an item that was lost, look for a child, or try to fulfill a former job responsibility.

            “Even situations that seem harmless to us can become dangerous, even fatal to the Alzheimer’s person,” Morancy notes.  Because a confused person does not panic not realizing their dangerous predicament of walking onto a highway or into woods, a very dangerous even a very life threatening, situation occurs, she says.

The ABCs of Reducing Wandering

            According to Morancy, wandering can be reduced by following a few tips. Movement and exercise can reduce behavior, agitation and restlessness (causes for this negative behavior).  Make sure that all basic needs, such as toileting, nutrition and thirst, are met.  Involve the person with dementia in performing daily activities like folding laundry or making dinner.  Color-matching cloth over door knobs can effectively camouflage the hardware. A black rectangle on the floor placed inside the door way can become a visual barrier, keeping the wanderer inside.  By placing a mirror near a doorway, a reflection of the person’s face will often keep the individual from opening the door and leaving the house.   

             Even simple actions like rigging an alarm by hanging tin cans from a door with string or using door locks the confused person can not operate work effectively, too, Morancy says.

             Morancy adds that one of the most effective ways of reducing wandering is to register the person with Alzheimer’s or dementia in Alzheimer’s Association’s MedicAlert + Safe Return Program.  It operates through local police departments and other emergency responder agencies working with Alzheimer’s Association chapters across the country.  The government-funded initiative has a national information and photo database.  It operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week, with a toll free crisis line. .        

            Once registered, when a person with dementia wanders or becomes lost, a phone call immediately activates a community support network that works together to reunite the lost person with their caregivers.  Once the wandering individual is found, an identification product on the wanderer provides law officials with information to contact the caregiver.  The nearest Alzheimer’s Association office provides support during the rescue efforts.  Medical information is immediately available if needed.

             MedicAlert + Safe Return Program needs to be tweaked, say Morancy.  “The initiative is not yet pro-active. Although the registration helps identify the person who wears an identity bracelets or necklace or carries wallet identity card (noting an 800 toll free number) because the identity information enables caregivers to ultimately be contacted, this is just after the fact,” she says. “There is no universal system that will track down persons while they are lost.

             However, in other states, Project Lifesaver, administered by the local sheriff departments, utilizes a tracking mechanism.  However, its high cost decreases its use throughout the nation. .

             Initiatives like MedicAlert + Safe Return and Project Lifesaver have been instrumental in returning wanders to the safe home environments.  These programs are crucial to aging baby boomers who work hard to successfully keep their confused parent at home rather than to institutionalize them. The incidence of physical harm and death increases if a person is not found within a 24 hour period.

             Care giving can be a stressful chore.  Programs like MedicAlert + Safe Return can make it just a little easier.  For more information about this Program, call 800 272-3900.

             Herb Weiss is a Pawtucket-based freelance writer covering aging, medical and health care issues. The article was published in the August 20, 2008 issue of All Pawtucket All the Time.  He can be reached at hweissri@aol.com.

The Best of…Lack of Guaranteed Income Makes Retire Years Bleak, Study Says

Published in All Pawtucket All the Time on July 18, 2008

Good health, combined with a strong work ethic, keeps sixty-nine year old Herman Brewster looking for full-time job in his later years.  The former Providence School Teacher now works part-time at the state’s Adult Corrections Institute (ACI) as a counselor, a place he once worked at for over 18 years.  Since 2006, Brewster has held a number of part time jobs since he left his full-time teaching position.  He believes a recession along with being almost seventy years old, hinder his chances of landing a full-time position with benefits.

Herman and his wife, Madeline, are life-long Rhode Islanders who have raised two sons in their Eastside residence. Now empty nesters, they are faced with a lower household income.   With less household income, the couple no longer  takes annual vacations or trips, nor do they have discretionary income to purchase Native American pottery for their collection, a once favorite past time.

Madeline, 57, a secretary in the Applied Math Department at Brown University, has now become the major breadwinner of the family, bringing health insurance benefits to the couple.

Cutting Back Expenses

“We have already cut back on our [household] spending,” says Herman, acknowledging that the couple’s belt tightening is due to skyrocketing gas, utility and food costs.  Although the couple is now eating out less to save money, they will splurge weekly by going out for Sunday breakfast, a less expensive alternative when compared to ordering from a lunch or dinner menu.

Herman acknowledges that he cannot even live comfortably now on his Social Security check.  “Fortunately between our two jobs we have not gone into our savings yet,” he says.  When retirement comes, probably in five years, he plans to take income out of his retirement annuity.

While currently walking on a financial tight rope, the Brewster’s ultimate retirement will be made easier because of Social Security payments, combined with their guaranteed incomes, an annuity and pension.  According to a newly released Ernst & Young Study, others may not be so lucky, especially those living only on a Social Security check.

New Retirement Study Released

According to the national economic study released by Ernst & Young on Monday, 54 percent of retirees in theOcean State entering retirement are at high risk of outliving their retirement savings. The study, commissioned by the Americans for Secure Retirement coalition, finds that in order to not outlive savings, the average Rhode  household will have to reduce their standard of living by a whopping 19 percent.  Both national and state-specific data were made available in the study entitled, “Retirement Vulnerability of New Retirees: The Likelihood of Outliving Their Financial Resources.”

“Many Americans envision a leisurely retirement where their lifestyle continues much as before,” said Tom Neubig of Ernst & Young, in a press release heralding the release of the economic study.  “Our work shows that this is not a realistic expectation and that, with the current state of savings, retirees will have to cut back far more on expenditures than they had ever expected.”

The researchers also found that retirees in Rhode Island are much better prepared to have a financially secure retirement if they have a guaranteed source of retirement income beyond Social Security, such as annuities and defined benefit plans. For example,Rhode Island residents who have a guaranteed source of retirement other than Social Security have an 18 percent chance of outliving their assets if they retain their pre-retirement standard of living.  However, those with Social Security as their only guaranteed income have an 80 percent chance of outliving their assets during retirement.

“As a guaranteed source of retirement income, life annuities relieve the risks and burdens of managing a nest egg and can maximize savings’ value over the course of an individual’s retirement years,” adds Joe Reali, Chairman of the Americans for Secure Retirement coalition. “Life annuities are the only vehicle besides pensions and Social Security that provide a steady stream of income for life – a “paycheck for life.”

Other key findings of the study include:

Almost three quarters of middle-income Rhode Island households seven years from retirement (near retirees) can expect to outlive their financial assets if they attempt to maintain their pre-retirement standard of living;

Over half of middle-class Rhode   retirees can expect to outlive their financial assets;

Almost nine out of ten near retirees and eight out of ten new retirees without an employer pension plan in Rhode Island are likely to outlive their assets;

Married couples are more likely to outlive their financial assets, due to their longer joint life spans, than single households. Single females are more likely to outlive their assets than single males;

Near retirees in Rhode Island would have to reduce their standard of living on average by 32% to reduce the likelihood of outliving their financial assets (failure rate) to only five percent;

Finally, new retirees in Rhode Island would have to reduce their standard of living on average by 19% to reduce the likelihood of outliving their assets to only a five percent failure rate

The national study should serve as a warning to many of the 77 million middle income baby boomers — it’s never too late to get your financial house in order.  Guaranteed sources of income can be instrumental help you maintain your pre-retirement standard of living.

Herb Weiss is a Pawtucket-based freelance writer who covers aging, health care and medical issues.  This article was published in July 2008. He can be reached at hweissri@aol.com.

The Best of…Don’t Fall Flat on Your Face: Simple Tips to Keeping Standing

Published July 11, 2008, All Pawtucket All The Time

I  know how easy it is to fall.  On March 14th, leaving the War in Iraq Art Exhibit this writer, an aging baby boomer, fell down several steep steps, tripping after he walked through the huge wooden front door, falling down several slippery steps in front of the historic Pawtucket Armory onto the front sidewalk.   Thank God…No serious injury, only a bruised ego and shins, and scuffed up palms. .

Three months later, within weeks of each other, two of my older friends, in their seventies, unexpectedly fell.  One tripped on a rug in his kitchen breaking several ribs.  The other one fell down a flight of stairs outside his bedroom injuring his spine. Luckily, both are on the mend, slowly recuperating in their homes.

But for others who were not so lucky as my elderly friends, traumatic brain injuries due to falls caused nearly 8,000 deaths and 56,000 hospitalizations in 2005 among Americans age 65 and older, according to a new report released last month by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.  .

The national report notes that traumatic brain injuries, (called TBIs), are caused by a bump or blow to the head; however, they maybe missed or misdiagnosed among older adults. TBI often results in long-term cognitive, emotional, and/or functional impairments. In 2005, TBIs accounted for 50 percent of unintentional fall deaths and 8 percent of nonfatal fall-related hospitalizations among older adults.

According to the CDC report, each year, one in three older Americans (65 and older) falls, and 30 percent of falls cause injuries requiring medical treatment. In 2005, nearly 16,000 older adults died from falls, 1.8 million older adults were treated in emergency departments, and 433,000 of these patients were hospitalized. Falls were the leading cause of injury deaths and nonfatal injuries for those 65 and over.

Falls are not an inevitable consequence of aging, the researchers say, but they do occur more often among older adults because risk factors for falls are usually associated with health and aging conditions.  These conditions include mobility problems due to muscle weakness or poor balance, loss of sensation in feet, chronic health conditions, vision changes or loss, medication side effects or drug interactions, and home and environmental hazards such as clutter or poor lighting.

“Most people think older adults may only break their hip when they fall, but our research shows that traumatic brain injuries can also be a serious consequence,” said Dr. Ileana Arias, director of CDC’s National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, in her statement announcing the release of her agency’s report.  “These injuries can cause long-term problems and affect how someone thinks or functions.  They can also impact a person’s emotional well-being.”

Reducing falls can be a simple as removing obvious household hazards along with adding or improving simple safety features in the home, notes an AARP spokesperson in response to CDC’s released report.  The Washington, DC-based nonprofit group represents over 39 million members, age 50 plus, in the United States.

According to AARP, studies indicate that half of all falls happen at home and research suggests that one-third of home accidents can be prevented by easy home updates and preventative maintenance.

It’s easy to fall-proof your home, AARP says.  Aging baby boomers or the elderly parents can:  Install handrails on both sides of all steps (both in and outside);  Secure all carpets and area rugs with double-sided tape;  Install easy to grasp shaped handles for all drawers and cabinet doors; Use brighter bulbs in all lighting fixtures;  Install night lights in all areas of night activity;  Add reflective, non-slip tape on all non-carpeted stairs;  Install lever handles for all doors;  Place a bench near entrances for setting down purchases and resting;  Install closet lights, as well as adjustable rods and shelves; Install rocker light switches; and consider illuminated ones in select areas.

Finally, why not check out your local hardware stores, too, the businesses even carry many of the products to make simple updates to homes. For homeowners making more extensive renovations, AARP recommends that they consider hiring a contractor who is licensed, certified and bonded to do work in that particular location. A Certified Aging in Place Specialist (CAPS) is a professional designation signaling that contractors have had specified additional training, but homeowners should still ask for documentation that the contractor is licensed or certified and bonded.

Herb Weiss is a Pawtucket-based freelance writer who covers medical, aging and health care issues. The article was published in the July 11, 2008 issue of All Pawtucket All The Time.  He can be reached at hweissri@aol.com.