Showing posts with label aging. Show all posts
Showing posts with label aging. Show all posts

Tuesday, September 2, 2025

Elder abuse is surging: Congress must protect long-term care residents

Long-term care ombudsman representatives help address serious complaints, including involuntary discharge or eviction, physical abuse, neglect, poor staff response to requests for assistance, inadequate or poor medication management, insufficient quality or quantity of food and many other issues. 

However, funding for the Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program and other services authorized by the Older Americans Act has not kept pace with the growth in our population of older Americans. Federal funding falls far short of meeting the needs of all long-term care residents…

https://thehill.com/opinion/healthcare/5477954-ombudsman-program-elder-protection/


 

Friday, October 18, 2024

Opinion | AI, Aging and Shifts Globalization Will Shock the American Economy - The New York Times

The bad news is that these issues are not getting the attention they deserve, even though they are much more important for our future than debates about price gouging, taxes on tips or whether inflation is one point higher or one point lower. Unless we focus on them and act decisively, they will not just be mismanaged but also may spell a more dire future of work...

Sunday, March 3, 2024

Why remember and why we forget. (Terry Gross; Fresh Air podcast)

When is forgetting normal — and when is it worrisome? A neuroscientist weighs in.

When cognitive neuroscientist Charan Ranganath meets someone for the first time, he's often asked, "Why am I so forgetful?" But Ranganath says he's more interested in what we remember, rather than the things we forget.

"We're not designed to carry tons and tons of junk with us. I don't know that anyone would want to remember every temporary password that they've ever had," he says. "I think what [the human brain is] designed for is to carry what we need and to deploy it rapidly when we need it."

Ranganath directs the Dynamic Memory Lab at the University of California, Davis, where he's a professor of psychology and neuroscience. In the new book, Why We Remember, he writes about the fundamental mechanisms of memory — and why memories often change over time.

Ranganath recently wrote an op-ed for The New York Times in which he reflected on President Biden's memory gaffes — and the role that memory plays in the current election cycle.

Recent gaffes by Biden and Trump may be signs of normal aging — or may be nothing.

"I'm just not in the position to say anything about the specifics of [either Biden or Trump's] memory problems," he says. "This is really more of an issue of people understanding what happens with aging. And, one of the nice things about writing this editorial is I got a lot of feedback from people who felt personally relieved by this because they're worried about their own memories."

Interview: 


Wednesday, November 22, 2023

What Long-Term Care Looks Like Around the World - The New York Times

The Dutch have included long-term care in their universal health care system since 1968… 

The Netherlands spent 4.1 percent of its gross domestic product on long-term care in 2021, more than any other country tracked by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, and four times the amount the United States spent…

Monday, November 6, 2023

Florida guardianship case illustrates lack of safeguards as number of cases rise - The Washington Post

So judges now often assign professional guardians, a person paid to care for someone they don't know. Carlson told the court she was already caring for 18 others when she was assigned to Hulse. Carlson charged him $65 an hour, according to her bills filed in court. When a judge signed off, she paid herself from Hulse's bank account. 

In some states, the only requirement to be a guardian is to be 18 years old. Florida has more requirements including a background and credit check. But still, compare the 40-hour training course with, for instance, the 900 educational hours required to become a licensed barber. 

Yet these caretakers control people's lives and money. In just one Florida county, Palm Beach, guardians control about $1 billion, according to Anthony Palmieri, deputy inspector general for the Palm Beach Circuit Court. 

"You have your nail techs and tennis pros — their business is not so good and they want something more lucrative and they're jumping into guardianship," Palmieri said...









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