November is Caregiver month, did you know?

I give workshops on care for the caregivers as well as advocacy for patients and they fill an important role for those charged with caring or advocating for those who need extra help. This post was a result of reading a post by "A Place for Mom" who provides and honours family caregivers.

Here are some things that caregivers and others need to know and remember.

Caregiving is costly. 
According to the National Alliance for Caregiving and the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College about 17% of adult children take care of their parents at some point in their lives. Once they become caregivers, adult children are likely to commit a substantial amount of time, about 77 hours on average each month to look after their relatives. 

For people who provide round-the-clock care, the commitment is even greater. More than 40% of caregivers spend at least $5,000 a year to help pay for transportation, clothing and medical costs, according to a survey by Caring.com, a website that helps pair consumers with caregivers.

Help is available.
If you do decide that your loved one needs more than you alone can provide, A Place for Mom can help as can the following sites:
Next Step in Care

http://www.nextstepincare.org
Next Step in Care provides easy-to-use guides to help family caregivers and health care providers work closely together to plan and implement safe and smooth transitions for chronically or seriously ill patients.
 
Lotsa Helping Handswww.lotsahelpinghands.comLotsa Helping Hands is a free caregiving coordination web service that provides a private, group calendar where tasks for which a caregiver needs assistance can be posted. Family and friends may visit the site and sign up online for a task. The website generates a summary report showing who has volunteered for which tasks and which tasks remain unassigned. The site tracks each task and notification and reminder emails are sent to the appropriate parties.
 
Caring.com
www.caring.comCaring.com is the leading online destination for family caregivers seeking information and support as they care for ageing parents, spouses, and other loved ones. Caring.com offers helpful content, advice from leading experts, a supportive community of caregivers, and a comprehensive directory of eldercare services. Caring.com’s carefully researched and expert-reviewed content includes advice from a team of more than 50 trusted leaders in geriatric medicine, law, finance, housing, and other key areas of healthcare and eldercare.

• Caring.com’s Steps & Stages offers a free guide to Alzheimer’s care. Expert advice and practical tips provided in a Custom Care Guide and e-newsletter help family caregivers learn what to expect, what to do, and how to cope with Alzheimer’s.
• Caring.com also publishes findings from research with family caregivers at http://www.caring.com/about/news.

 
Financial Steps for Caregivers
WISER (Women’s Institute for a Secure Retirement)Financial Steps for Caregivers: What You Need to Know About Money and Retirement is designed to help you identify financial decisions you may face as a caregiver. The decision to become a caregiver can affect both your short-term and long-term financial security, including your own retirement. For more information on planning for a secure retirement, please visit http://www.wiserwomen.org.
 
National Transitions of Care Coalitionwww.NTOCC.orgThe last concern most individuals have when they or their loved ones are dealing with a health situation is ensuring effective communication between their doctors, nurses, social workers and other healthcare providers. However, poor communication between well-intentioned professionals and an expectation that patients themselves will remember and relate critical information that can lead to dangerous and even life-threatening situations. NTOCC has brought together industry leaders who have created resources to help you better understand transitional challenges and empower you as part of the care giving team.
 
Family Caregiver Alliance
http://caregiver.org/node/3831Established in 2001 as a program of Family Caregiver Alliance, the National Center on Caregiving (NCC) works to advance the development of high-quality, cost-effective policies and programs for caregivers in every state in the country. Uniting research, public policy and services, the NCC serves as a central source of information on caregiving and long-term care issues for policymakers, service providers, media, funders and family caregivers throughout the country.
 
Caregiver Action Network
http://www.caregiveraction.org/
Resources from the Caregiver Action Network, including a Peer Forum, a Story Sharing platform, the Family Caregiver Tool Box and more. CAN also provides support for rare disease caregivers at http://www.rarecaregivers.org

Knowledge can make your job easier.
A National Alliance for Caregiving survey found that  44% said that reading books about caregiving and visiting supportive websites helps them not only to manage their daily frustration but also gives them a sense of community. 

You are America’s #1 long-term care provider.
Family caregivers provide a staggering 90% of long-term care in America. (The National Academy of Medicine)

Your work is valuable.
The value of the unpaid care these 65 million caregivers provide is estimated to be worth $375 billion. (National Alliance for Caregiving)

You are not alone.
More than 65 million Americans care for their ageing or disabled loved ones on a yearly basis. (National Alliance for Caregiving)

you can take a break.
Just because you’ve committed to caring for a parent or senior loved one doesn’t mean you can’t take a break. Respite care is short-term care, lasting anywhere from a few hours to a few weeks, that can be provided at a local senior living community or even in the home. Adult daycare is another similar option. These services allow family caregivers to “recharge” with the knowledge that their loved one is safe and sound.

You have limits.
Despite the demonstrated perseverance and strength of family caregivers, each of us has limits. It’s important to recognize when our loved one has declined to a point that professional care is the best option.

You have someone to talk to.
Caregiver support groups meet throughout the U.S. For those caring for a loved one with Alzheimer’s disease or dementia, the Alzheimer’s Association maintains a database of support groups. General caregiving support groups that aren’t specifically focused on memory loss can be found by contacting your local hospital. Furthermore, there are many online support groups for caregivers.

You have to care for yourself first.
This is one of the most important things to remember. If you’re not keeping yourself happy and healthy, it’s doubtful that you will be able to do your best for your parent or senior loved one. Review the “Caregiver Bill of Rights” and remember to take care of yourself.

Caregivers and the Work Place

More and more businesses are facing a challenge and some decisions to be made. As the baby boom generation moves into retirement years and becomes elderly, the workers that make your business function so efficiently are going to have the additional demands placed on them of becoming the primary caregiver for an aging parent.

It’s easy to just shrug at this need in your employee population but just as the demands of parenting can have a huge impact on the workplace, the personal needs of your employees to take care of their aging parents will have an impact on the office and the productivity of your business.

Business can no longer be cavalier and declare, “Well they can just quit and we can find new employees.” The brutal truth is that skilled, trained and mature employees don’t, as the day, grow on trees. With the workforce shrinking, it’s foolish to think that if you have a solid and hard-working employee who knows his job and does good work for your business, that employee can’t just be replaced with a kid right out of school.

The cost to your business can be devastating if you have a policy of running off good, hardworking and smart employees because they are becoming caregivers in their personal lives and replacing them with younger, unskilled employees who are less informed about the ways of business. The costs of training and the learning curve of the job alone will easily be more than any costs of accommodating existing employees. Moreover, you cannot just replace judgment, relationships, market savvy and wisdom which many of the employees in the age bracket bring to your business.

So how do you accommodate the needs of this new group of caregivers who are beginning to become a regular part of your workforce? The first step is to understand what they are going through. These people are going to take care of their loved ones whether you are aware of it or not. So if you can partner with them to make them successful at home, they will work extra hard to make you successful in the marketplace.

Start with some seminars and brown bag lunches where people can come and share the demands they are going through as caregivers for elderly parents or loved ones. Invite everyone to these lunches because there will be many in your business who know that is coming up for them and want to learn all they can about what is ahead. By making an open discussion of elderly care issues part of the discussion at work, you are communicating that you want to help and not hinder what your employees are facing. And that will endear you to them and get you the reputation of being one of those “good employers” in town.

Not all employees who are caregivers will need accommodation all the time. If their parent’s needs are not that demanding, it will be more of an emotional adjustment than a demand on the schedule. But encourage each employee who is entering into a time of being the primary caregiver for their parent to communicate that to you both through meetings with the Human Resource department and to their boss as well.

There is a practical side to getting inside of what is going on with your employees. To your workers, they see you as family and feel more bonded to the workplace because you are concerned about their parents. But for you, the business will know in detail what is going on with that situation so you can anticipate if that worker will see sudden interruption come up at work and adjust schedules accordingly.

Be sensitive and be communicative with your employees and you can truly become their partner in dealing with this tough part of their lives. And in doing so, they will feel that you support them and their loyalty to the company will skyrocket. That loyalty will translate into better productivity and longevity in your workforce. That stability translates into a more efficient organization which is a more profitable organization. So in the long run, partnering with your caregivers in the workplace just makes good business sense.

World Elder Abuse Awareness Day is June 15

World Elder Abuse Awareness Day (WEAAD) was launched on June 15, 2006 by the International Network for the Prevention of Elder Abuse and the World Health Organization at the United Nations.

The purpose of WEAAD is to provide an opportunity for communities around the world to promote a better understanding of abuse and neglect of older persons by raising awareness of the cultural, social, economic and demographic processes affecting elder abuse and neglect.

The day aims to focus global attention on the problem of physical, emotional, and financial abuse of elders. It also seeks to understand the challenges and opportunities presented by an ageing population, and brings together senior citizens, and their caregivers, national and local government, academics, and the private sector to exchange ideas about how best to reduce incidents of violence towards elders, increase reporting of such abuse, and to develop elder friendly policies.

Background

Currently, the world is undergoing significant demographic changes. Estimates indicate that by 2050, the global population of people above the age of 60 will exceed the number of younger people. These changes have led to a worldwide recognition of the problems and challenges that face the elderly. Research has shown that elderly abuse, neglect, violence, and exploitation is one of the biggest issues facing senior citizens around the world. World Health Organization data suggests that 4 to 6 per cent of elderly suffer from some form of abuse, a large percentage of which goes unreported.

The purpose of the WEAAD is to encourage communities to recognize the problem of elderly abuse, and for countries to create policies that foster respect for elders and provide them the tools to continue to be productive citizens.

Observances

The first WEAAD was observed in 2012, and was marked by meetings and conferences at the UN headquarters in New York.

In addition, WEAAD is in support of the United Nations International Plan of Action acknowledging the significance of elder abuse as a public health and human rights issue. WEAAD serves as a call-to-action for individuals, organizations, and communities to raise awareness about elder abuse, neglect, and exploitation.

Visit the WEAAD microsite on ACL.gov to become a collaborator.

Check out WEAAD events hosted worldwide at the WEADD International Events website  created by International Network for the Prevention of Elder Abuse (INPEA) 

We all should take action or at least be aware of this issue. To find the Tools & Tips you need to get started go to this site. Visit this Take Action page to find more ideas. Need additional resources? Contact the National Center on Elder Abuse

Elder Abuse

Elder abuse refers to actions that harm an older person or jeopardize their health or welfare. The harm can be physical, psychological or financial. It may also include inappropriate dominance or control and may include isolation from people who might intervene.

These statistics presented here are a snapshot and to me shocking. We have to understand that abuse is not some rare occurrence affecting only a few people. 

It would not be surprising that those reading this know people who are being abused, without realizing what is happening.

·       1 in 12 seniors in B.C. are abused - some experts believe this figure is only the tip of the iceberg

·       Between 168,000 and 421,000 seniors in Canada are experiencing or have experienced abuse or neglect

·       80% of abuse or neglect of seniors is never reported - only 1 in 5 cases comes to the attention of community agencies or authorities.

Abuse is not confined to certain kinds of people. Anybody can experience abuse, but some people are at greater risk, Abuse Can happen to any older adult including those who are mentally competent and independent. It can happen in a variety of living situations. At greater risk for abuse are:

·       Older people who are isolated socially and/or geographically

·       Elderly women from ethno-cultural minorities

·       People who have mental or physical impairments

·       Spouses who have been abused earlier in a relationship

Abuse and neglect can occur in any culture, but immigrant and refugee seniors face all these barriers and more because of:

·       Racism and discrimination

·       Lack of knowledge of social and financial systems

·       Inability to speak or understand English

·       Cultural traditions regarding family

·       Fear of deportation

An abuser is not necessarily a stranger an abuser can be a person in the family. This is a complicating factor because people don’t want their loved one to suffer the consequences of being treated as an abuser. Also, people want to believe that it won’t happen again. If it happens once, it will probably happen again. Who could be an abuser?

Family Abuser (Includes spouse, children and/or grandchildren)

·       4% of Canadian seniors suffer from serious forms of family abuse

·         Adult children were the abusers in 38% of the family assaults against seniors with older men more likely to be victimized

·         Spouses were the abusers in 26% of assaults against seniors with older women more likely to be victimized

·         Family homicides against seniors have increased over the last 10 years

·        Others such as friends, neighbours, landlords, and any individual in a position of power, trust or authority.

Abuse can happen in Residential Care

There has been little research about abuse and neglect by residential care staff but

·         10% of consumers of attendant care services said they had been physically abused by their attendants

·         Ontario College of Nurses Survey: 50% of staff had witnessed abuse in institutions

American Study of Nursing Staff:

·         36% witnessed physical abuse, 10% had engaged in it

·         81% observed psychological abuse

·         40% had engaged in it

When looking at Residential care there are risk factors that are particularly important because the shortage of residential beds and the very high cost forces people to enter residences with poor care, where the proprietors are more concerned with the bottom line than the welfare of the residents.  I am not saying that most residences are in this category but those that are have a steady supply of people to abuse. Signs to look for:

·         Staffing factors

o    Poorly trained staff

o    Overworked staff

o    Language barriers and cultural misunderstandings

·         Institutional factors

o    Low standards of care

o    Substandard physical environment

o    Policies that favour the interests of the institution rather than of the residents

There are many factors which are ingrained in society’s view of older persons as burdens rather than blessings.

We must work to change that mind set. Sometimes abuse happens because we don’t have proper support systems for caregivers and proper home support for seniors. 

Some of the factors that contribute to Elder Abuse are:

·         Ageism:  Belief that older adults are not entitled to respect

·         Vulnerability:  Opportunities for abuse increase as the older person becomes more frail or ill

·         Caregiver stress and frustration increase as the older person becomes more dependent (e.g. burnout)

·         Weaker ties between family generations

·         More demands on family caregivers, i.e. the sandwich generation

·         Social isolation because of physical or mental infirmities or through the loss of friends and family

·         Changes in the basic support systems available to seniors False sense of entitlement because care is being provided (however, the care is not necessarily of high quality)

·         Need or greed:  Abuser feels he or she needs or could enjoy the money or possessions more than the elder adult does

·         Seniors are easy targets – more likely to have assets, a home and money in the bank

Sometimes Just Getting a Caregiver is Not Enough

Today we have a post by Zaeem Sarwar, who is with Mavencare, which is a home health care company, located in Toronto, Ottawa, Calgary, and Edmonton 

Your home. It’s probably not perfect by any stretch. Often we look at it as too messy or too small or too big or too cluttered or the wrong colour or… you get the picture.  It is a place we are always trying to improve and can always find some little (or big) fault with. Yet despite the amount of time we spend fixing it, it is ours. It is a place of comfort, of refuge, of familiarity, and of memories. It is the place we feel safest and from which we can explore the world around us. Spending one's last years happily at home should be achievable by anyone who wants that, yourself and your elderly family, naturally, included.

Nearly 90% of all seniors want to stay in their own homes as they age, often referred to as “aging in place”. 

This is where caregivers come in. They provide our loved ones the assistance they need while attending to their preferences and fostering independence. Senior care is not just about performing medical duties with any available caregiver from some agency, it is about building a relationship with someone professional who works well with your family. Here’s why just getting a caregiver for your aging loved one isn’t enough.

·        Seniors need to trust who they depend on

·        Different clients need different levels of care

·        The right caregiver can benefit the emotional and mental health of your loved one

A trusting relationship between a client and caregiver cannot be forced. It takes compatible personalities between both people, which means there is no “best” caregiver, only the best caregiver for a given person in need. Finding the right caregiver for your loved one is essential if they are going to work together. To fix this, Mavencare uses an effective matching algorithm that pairs seniors with the ideal senior caregiver for their needs. Considerations go beyond just the skills necessary for the job. They consider factors like personality characteristics, language, cultural background, and even common interests in order to find the best possible match. 

Furthermore, the caregivers are equipped with their HIPPA compliant mobile application that digitalizes each client’s plan of care and collects real-time data on the clinical, social, and psychological well-being of each client. This information is constantly monitored by their clinical team, and when a change in condition is detected, the clinical team intervenes to preserve the health of the senior.

When it comes to in home care, it is crucial to find a caregiver that your loved one will get along and feel comfortable with. The benefits of personalized home care boil down to that simple idea. Why settle for anything less than that?

About Mavencare

Mavencare is a tech-enabled home health care company dedicated to supporting seniors and their families to promote aging in place. 

Final thoughts how to protect yourself against scams Elder Abuse

• Older adults often don’t report frauds and scams because they 
• Don’t know who to call
• Don’t think anyone can help
• May not realize it was a scam or a fraud
• Shame

Here are the suggested steps about how to report frauds and scams as outlined on
the RCMP website. Reporting Frauds & Scams
• If you are a victim of fraud and it is not identity theft, contact the Police in your
area (but NOT 911). 
• If you are a victim of fraud and it is identify theft, go to the RCMP website
(www.rcmp-grc-gc.ca) and click on Scams and Frauds for more information.
• If you simply wish to report a fraud, contact the appropriate organization and
also the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre at info@antifraudcentre.ca or
1-888-495-8501.

Remember:
1: Fraud is the number one crime against older adults. Some Canadian older adults spend their days at home and are lonely, vulnerable and trusting. Plus, they are perceived to have money. This makes them very good targets for frauds and scams. However, fraud does not discriminate based on age. Anyone could become a victim

2: Con artists do not just target people with lots of money to lose. Con artists don’t care how much money you have; they just want it. If they can get $100 from 100 people, that is $10,000. Not bad for a day or two of work! Billions of dollars are lost every year to frauds and scams.

3.  Always be cautious about websites you do not know. If you think that you should only do business over the internet if the website looks professional and includes contact information you are wrong. Anyone can create a website and load it onto the internet. There are programs to help people do this and the costs to do so are very small. Websites are like the windows of a store. Fraud artists want to lure you in to cancel it. to buy something or give them information..

4: The first thing to do if you think your credit card has been compromised is to cancel it. As soon as you realize your card is lost or stolen, or that your credit card information may have been used, contact your financial institution to report the loss, cancel the card and get a new one. Be sure that mail coming to your house is secure. A thief could be watching your mail in the hopes of stealing your new credit card.

5: The worst place to keep your personal identification documents (Social Insurance Number, passport, birth certificate or citizenship papers) is in your wallet. Do not carry your personal identification documents such as your SIN, passport or birth certificate unless you need them. Always keep them under lock and key at home. If you do need to take them with you, leave a photocopy at home. A thief who takes your wallet may use your personal documents.

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More thoughts on Elder Abuse

One of the longest election in Canadian history is finally over; not with the result I wanted, but a result that our country thinks it needs. I have much sympathy for my American friends and the fact their elections go on for years. For all of those who voted have faith that the new leader will be true to his word and will move on many of the progressive ideas he gave during the election. 

On a more serious note, common Internet Frauds & Scams that take money from Seniors are still in play and we need to protect our selves and our seniors from these which may be:
• Email Offers
• Software Viruses
• Bogus Ads
•Online Dating Sites
• Bank Scams – “Phishing”

EMAIL OFFERS – many types. Some are fake emails from websites like Paypal or Ebay asking you to provide your personal information or follow a web link (which can be a way of stealing the information on your computer’s hard drive). Others offer prizes outside of auction sites once you give out your personal bank information. Email scammers (like all scammers) are always changing their strategies, so it’s impossible to list every type of scam you might find, but you should beware whenever an email asks you for money or personal information.

SOFTWARE VIRUSES – Malicious software - also referred to as malware, spyware, key loggers, trojan horses – poses online security threats. Scammers try to install this software on your computer so that they can gain access to files stored on your computer and other personal information.

BOGUS ADS – Online classified ads may be fake and can cheat the buyer out of money. Avoid purchasing things like gift certificates and gift cards from online classifieds. If they are offered for less than the value, the card may be stolen or a fake.

ONLINE DATING SITES – Some dating sites require you to pay for each email or message and connect you with a fictitious person. In other cases, scammers will try to build a friendship with you to eventually scam you out of a large sum of money.


BANK SCAMS – “PHISHING” - Emails from banks look very professional and real but all aim to trick you into handing over your personal and banking details to scammers. Scammers can easily copy the logo from a real bank or even duplicate an entire website. If the email is asking you to visit a website to “update”, “validate” or “confirm” your account information, be skeptical because genuine banks or government agencies will never expect you to send your information in this way.

PHISHING can be done as follows:
You get an email or phone call from somebody posing as a representative of your bank. The email might look very official and contain the correct logo. However, banks and credit unions will never contact you via email to ask for your information. If you receive a phone call, do not provide your information on the spot but hang up and phone your bank back at the
phone number on your bank statements—then you can find out for sure whether it was really your bank phoning.
Q. What makes the email seem real?
A. The slogan, colours, logo, models and layout all look like components of a real CIBC ad. Some real CIBC services (such as “Investor’s Edge” and “CIBC Wood Gundy”) are mentioned in the email. The email also talks about security features on the CIBC website, which gives a false sense of safety.
Q. What should raise concerns in this email?
A. The number one concern is that you are being asked to follow a web link and to provide personal information (which can be used for identity theft). Whenever you visit a website you do not know, you are at risk of getting a computer virus or having information stolen from your computer’s hard drive.

Other details to notice are:
•The poor grammar and spelling (“For upgrade • the security questions follow the link bellow”)
• The fact that the email address is not at cibc.com but at cib.com
• The fact that the website URL of the link is at the domain mail.assconsult.eu, which is not the correct domain name for CIBC
• The website you are being asked to sign into is not secure, because it begins with “http” rather than “https” (the “s” indicates “secure”)


However, scammers are always developing new strategies, and you can’t always tell if an email is a scam. Just remember to be very cautious about providing personal information online or following links to unknown websites.

B.C. Government says elder abuse rampant in the province

I follow Paul Caune on Facebook, he is an advocate for the disabled and others who cannot stand for themselves. The following article on Elder Abuse was written by By Paul Caune and published in the Beacon News an online independent source of news. 

Elder abuse is a horrific crime against society’s most vulnerable citizens. And now the BC government has admitted just how prevalent it is.

“Every day in British Columbia, thousands of older adults are subjected to some form of physical, emotional, financial or sexual abuse, and/or experience neglect.”

That is not a statement from a sensationalistic tabloid journalist or a Beacon News head-line writer. It is a statement made by the Government of British Columbia in a March 2013 document titled “Together To Reduce Elder Abuse—B.C.’s Strategy: Promoting well- being and security for older British Columbians.”

The BC Liberals, who have been in power for twelve years, stated as fact in a Ministry of Health document signed by the then Secretary of State for Seniors Ralph Sultan (himself a senior) that “every day” “thousands” of British Columbian seniors are abused.

Thousands? Every day? If true, this would be one of the greatest crime waves in Canadian history. Let me repeat: thousands of seniors are abused every day in BC. Why is this not headline news? Why did the BC NDP, the Official Opposition, not make this an issue in the May 14, 2013 provincial election? Why is this not common knowledge? Why isn’t BC an international pariah for being one of the worst societies on Earth? The best place on Earth? A place where thousands of older adults are abused every day?

It was reported in the Province on May 1, 2013:

MLA Ralph Sultan, who served as the first Minister of State for Seniors, said his government’s overhaul of the senior-care system is adequate and, about “as done as it is going to be done.”

When are seniors most vulnerable? When they are physically fragile and cognitively impaired. Where are the most physically fragile and/or cognitively impaired seniors? They live in long term residential care facilities. If, as the Government of BC states, thousands of seniors are being abused every day in BC, it is most likely happening in long term residential care facilities.

Those facilities are either directly administered by the government, or by service providers contracted by the BC government. Therefore: most of the abusers must be government employees or contractors with the Government.

Why is this not national headline news?

What is the government’s strategy to reduce elder abuse? If you read the twenty-four pages long document closely, with the exception of a little tinkering of some existing laws, the best the BC government can come up with is an awareness campaign.

The awareness campaign includes teaching staff in residential care facilities how to report abuse. Given that most elder abuse most likely happens in those same facilities, what is the likelihood that the staff don’t know what’s happened on their work-site? How likely is it that they will report what they know? (After a five years long investigation BC’s Ombudsperson Kim Carter concluded in February 2012: “The health authorities do not track the number of reports of abuse and neglect they have investigated or the number of support and assistance plans they have implemented in response to investigations of abuse and neglect.”)

There is a bizarre unreality to the BC government’s entire strategy to reduce elder abuse.

Nowhere does it propose a law similar to the U.S Civil Rights of Institutionalization of Persons Act (CRIPA), which I discussed in a previous column.

What BC needs is our Attorney General to have the power to intervene in any community care setting, (such as long term residential care facilities) when they have good reason to believe there are widespread civil rights abuses occurring. And, if necessary, to bring civil suits against the abusers.

Most of BC’s seniors are Canadian citizens. Canadian citizens have a civil right to equal benefit and equal protection under the law. If thousands of Canadian citizens are getting abused every day in BC, they’re not getting equal benefit and protection under the law. If thousands of older adults are abused every day in our jurisdiction, we are not yet a civilized society.

In the meantime, until BC gets a law like CRIPA, I advise seniors who can afford it to hire bodyguards.

Paul Caune is the Executive Director of CIVIL RIGHTS NOW! Contact him at civilrightsnow@yahoo.ca or his websiteWatch Paul’s film Hope Is Not A Plan here.

Resources for Seniors

Here are some resources for Boomers and those that care for them:

Consumer information - International Council on Active Aging(Canadian Based)

is dedicated to changing the way we age by uniting professionals in the retirement, assisted living, fitness, rehabilitation and wellness fields to dispel society's myths about aging. We help these professionals to empower aging Baby Boomers and older adults to improve their quality of life and maintain their dignity.

Canadian Coalition for Seniors' Mental Health: CCSMH 

The Canadian Coalition for Seniors' Mental Health (CCSMH) is hard at work ensuring that seniors' mental health is recognized as a key Canadian health and wellness issue. Working with partners across the country, the CCSMH is busy facilitating initiatives to enhance and promote seniors' mental health. Below is a listing of what's new at the CCSMH, but there are always more projects in development. Please bookmark this site and visit us frequently for updates.

Public Legal Information on Elder Abuse (Canadian Based)

Providing care to an older person can be a demanding but rewarding experience. Education and support services are critical in preventing and addressing abuse and neglect and promoting overall wellness. To this end, the Government of Saskatchewan set out the following principles to guide policy and programming for older adults. The spirit and intent of many of these principles are already reflected in our laws and serve as a helpful starting point for any interactions with older adults in our communities.

National Clearinghouse on Family Violence Elder Abuse (Canadian Based)

This fact sheet provides information on abuse and neglect of older adults living in the community. It updates the 1990 fact sheet, Elder Abuse. The information will be of greatest interest to professionals and community service providers who want to learn more about abuse and neglect of older adults. Materials written for seniors and their families may be obtained from seniors' centres and other community resource centres. Information on abuse in institutions is the subject of Abuse of Older Adults in Institutions, another fact

sheet available from the Clearinghouse.

Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (Canadian Based)

Good Information for Older Adults and their families about Anxiety,  Dementia and Depression

Elder Helpers (US Based)

This website is dedicated to the Elder Helpers program, which aims to match volunteers with elders in need of help within their own community.

Seniors Resource Network

There are some national organizations as well as the Canadian Government which offer services to seniors. This page lista those resources. 

National Resource Center on LGBTA Aging (US Based)

The National Resource Center on LGBT Aging is the country's first and only technical assistance resource center aimed at improving the quality of services and supports offered to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) older adults. Established in 2010 through a federal grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the National Resource Center on LGBT Aging provides training, technical assistance and educational resources to aging providers, LGBT organizations and LGBT older adults. The center is led by Services & Advocacy for GLBT Elders (SAGE) in collaboration with 18 leading organizations from around the country

National Service Framework for Older People (Great Britain Based)

The ‘National Service Framework for Older People’ sets quality standards for health and social care. It will help older people to stay as healthy, active and independent as possible, for as long as possible. The NSF for older people will: ensure that older people are treated with respect, prevent unnecessary hospital admission, and support early discharge, reduce long term illness by providing specialist care, promote healthy lifestyles and independence for those in older age

Older People Day

October 1st is the International Day of Older Persons. People are living longer and 23% of the UK will be aged 65 and over by 2035. The main aim for this website is to celebrate the achievements and contributions that older people make to our society and tackle negative attitudes and outdated stereotypes.