Dementia diagnoses what next?

A friend of mine has been diagnosed with dementia. So, I started looking for what to expect as he progresses through the disease and found these guidelines expert Dr. Heather Palmer, National Director of Cognitive Well-Being for Amica. They are general in scope but gives an idea of what to look for and expect.

Safety

“I’d be evaluating if the parent is able to go about daily life in their environment in a way that’s not going to cause any harm or injury,” says Dr. Palmer. Can your mom manage the stove? If not, what safety precautions can be put in place to enable her to use the kitchen, but not be in danger? “Safety factors should be considered in every room,” says Dr. Palmer.

Wandering

Is your parent going out at 3 a.m.? It is common for people with dementia to confuse day and night and to wander or try to leave their environment. “When a person is feeling anxious because he believes he is late for work, you should know how to offer support by safely redirecting and reassuring him,” says Dr. Palmer.

Eating

Is your parent getting proper nutrition?

“Eating habits in someone with dementia can change quickly,” says Dr. Palmer. They may forget to eat, have changing taste preferences or not feel hunger. Others may require ongoing prompting because of confusion around how to use utensils.

Socializing

Research consistently points to the importance of social interaction to help slow cognitive decline. How are social opportunities being maintained for your loved one: Is someone visiting every day? Is the person seeing friends or staying home with very little interaction?

Hygiene

Is your loved one able to brush their teeth, comb their hair or bathe? If they’re living with a spouse, is the spouse able to help?

Do we pay more in taxes in Canada then we should?

As the year moves toward the end, and before we get into a frenzy about Christmas shopping many of us will be thinking about our Tax situation. The Canadian news media is always awash with coverage of studies purporting to show the growing burden of taxation, reinforcing a narrative that Canadians are paying high tax rates and providing, they hope, a justification for tax cuts. A study (THE BRASS TAX Busting myths about overtaxed Canadians) by done the Broadbent Institute investigates whether these claims and the popular anti-tax narrative they help underpin, hold up to statistical scrutiny. The bottom line is they don’t. The following is from the Executive study of this report.

The Brass Tax looked at key publications on taxation covered extensively by Canadian news media every year: The Fraser Institute’s annual Tax Freedom Day. That report claims “average” Canadian families pay a tax rate of over 40%. The Brass Tax study also looked at the trend highlighted by the Macdonald-Laurier Institute (MLI) showing that most affluent Canadians are paying a larger share of income taxes than they were in the past.

Employing more accurate statistical methods, the Brass Tax found compelling evidence that the Fraser Institute and MLI findings are problematic and do not provide an accurate depiction of typical Canadian tax rates.

The study’s key findings of the Brass Tax Study are:

•      The effective tax rate including income, payroll, and commodity taxes for the typical Canadian family is 24%, a little over half of the 40% plus claimed by the Fraser Institute.

•      The typical effective tax rate for a Canadian family, for income tax only, is 11%.

•      The typical working Canadian individual aged 25 to 54 pays a rate of approximately 14% in income taxes.

•      Only 20% of working Canadians pay more than 20% of their income as income taxes.

•      The typical income tax rate for Canadians in the middle of the income distribution is 10% to 19%. Only 2% of working Canadians pay more than 30%.

•      For Canadians that earn more than $250,000, their average income tax rate was 29%.

•      The share of income tax paid by the top 1%, has increased from 12% to 20% over the last 32 years.

§  This is due to their share of all income increasing from 7% to 10% — a 45%jump.

•      Their income tax rate has, in fact, been falling since2000.

Finally, this study finds that Canada’s tax revenue relative to GDP is trending downward and is substantially lower than that of most OECD countries — Canada ranks 25th of 35 member countries.

Much of the media coverage of taxation gives Canadians the impression that they are paying far more in taxes then the really do.

Taken together, this study’s findings undermine the narrative of an undue and growing tax burden for typical Canadians and provide a cautionary tale for news media that cover these misleading tax studies and their calls for further tax cuts.

Some idle thoughts on a Wednesday

Why do they give you a watch when you retire when it's the first time in your life you really don't care what time it is?

Life is tough. It's even tougher if you're stupid.

For every person with a spark of genius, there are a hundred with ignition trouble.

God could not be everywhere, so he created mothers

Love isn't only blind, it's also deaf and dumb!

The doctor took his patient into the room and said, "I have some good news and some bad news."

The patient said, "Give me the good news."

"They're going to name a disease after you."

True.

At first glance, it's just your average, innocent cookie tin. But upon closer inspection, you'll notice an image that's not so clean - a hidden drawing of two dogs having sex in the grass. Unaware that an angry employee had hidden sexually explicit images in the scene of a 20th-century illustration of a genteel picnic, biscuit makers Huntley & Palmers sold thousands of these cookie tins. The artist, who was not identified, had been fired from the cookie company and decided to get back at his employers with this final project. He included the small picture of the canines in the act as well as a pair of naked lovers.  The dirty tins have now become collectors' items and Lawrence’s Auctioneers in Somerset, England, hopes that collectors bid 250 pounds ($446) when one of the tins goes on sale.

I bought a package of low-fat cookies that had 50% more cookies in the box than usual, so if I ate the whole box, I would gain more weight than if it was a regular size box of cookies. They should call these types of cookies "Hi-Fats" cause that's what everyone's going to say when I walk into the room.

And finally 

Why is it that the easiest way to find something lost around the house is to buy a replacement.

Remember the food bank this fall.

Fall is half over and before we know it winter will be here. At any time of the year, your neighbours need your help. Food Banks Canada is a national charitable organization dedicated to helping Canadians living with food insecurity. They support a network of Provincial Associations, affiliate food banks, and food agencies that work at the community level to relieve hunger. Their work is focused on maximizing collective impact, strengthening local capacity, and reducing the need for food banks. 

Support your local Food Bank and Food Bank Canada offers several programs that help food banks enhance their ability to acquire a safe and steady supply of nutritious food and distribute it to people in their communities.  More importantly and perhaps not recognized as much is that the Food Bank programs not only help food banks to deliver food but they help deliver a range of other supports, including education and skills training in nutrition, meal planning, food preparation, and food growing. These programs help individuals and families lessen their reliance on the Food Bank.

One program that the Food Bank offers is The National Food Sharing System (NFSS), which is a cornerstone of its network support. Through this program, they acquire safe, nutritious, good quality food and essential consumer products in large quantities from corporate donors. These donations are transported to a national or provincial hub for sorting and then distributed fairly to provincial associations and the network of affiliate food banks.

Each year this program provides community food banks across the country with on average 5-6 million kg (11-13 million pounds) of non-perishable and fresh foods and consumer products worth approximately $32 million. By working in partnership with corporate donors, Food Bank Canada help them achieve their corporate social responsibility objectives, environmental goals, and financial goals, while also helping millions of Canadians in need.

To participate, please contact   ooddonations@foodbankscanada.ca.