HOME SWEET HOME: Help Elders Age In Place
by Linda LaPointe, MRA
Worried about mom living at home alone?
Baffled about how to keep dad from driving when he shouldn't be?
Concerned about them not eating or taking their medicines right?
Frustrated that you don't know how or where to begin to help them?
This book will answer your questions and help you to help them;
Press Release Book Review Linda is also the author of ARTICLES by the author Meeting Planners
“ ...practical information, excellent examples and thorough coverage of critical issues involved in helping older family members maintain their quality of life....”
Dr. Mike Kenny Director CU Aging Center University of Colorado
If you plan to buy a book on caring for others,
or even think you might care for your own parents, you need this book!
“I wish this wonderful book had been available when I first noticed that my parents were aging and before I had become their caregiver. It would have helped me avoid so many costly, time consuming and heart-wrenching mistakes –while teaching me how to turn the situation around and even be grateful for the experience.” Jacqueline Marcell, author, Elder Rage, and host of the Coping with Caregiving radio program.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/14/health/14aging.html?fta=y click to learn about the grass-roots effort to age in place
HOME SWEET HOME: Help Elders Age In Place begins
“Most people say they want to die at home with their loved ones around them. But most of us die in a hospital. Alone.
Why? Because caregivers don’t know how to help make this happen.”
>>You will learn how to help make this wish come true. . . and so much more.
Read this CNN report Caring for Mom and Dad from afar
When I wrote
My Mother's Haunting End about the health care system's
failings during my mother's last hours, I knew that by telling her
story I would be expressing the sentiments of many..... an article in
Washington Post by Richard Pretorius, a former copy editor for The Post.
You will also learn:
· conversation starters about the future
what it is to 'age in place'
· the warning signs that your aging loved one needs help
if you can successfully be a caregiver
· traits of the ‘Family Care Manager’
your responsibilities as an adult child of a vulnerable adult
· why 74% of caregivers report it as a negative experience
and how you can make it a positive experience for you and your family
Embedded By Barry Corbet, January & February 2007 A no-holds-barred report from inside a nursing home
No one could better guide you through the nuts and bolts, the big picture and the details, of keeping people safe at home. Linda LaPointe has helped make homes safe for people with disabilities like Chris Reeves and Stephen Hawking. So she can help you to help your loved one.
You will also learn:
Earthquakes in the U.S. do much less damage than in 3rd world countries. Why? Because our buildings have an infrastructure that is not seen but helps the building stand in a natural crisis. This book will help families put that same unseen foundation in place to help keep people home, sweet home.
Most recently having worked for Alterra Healthcare, Ms. LaPointe currently owns and operates a Professional Geriatric Care Management practice, and is an Adjunct Professor in aging and disabilities.
Contact her to speak at your organization, conference, or meeting: lindal@ghvalley.net
Front page main story NY Times on nursing home abuse.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/23/business/23nursing.html?_r=1&th&emc=th&oref=slogin
HOME SWEET HOME: Help Elders Age In Place
". . . it's like having Linda coach you in your own living room, holding your hand . . ." reader LM Pueblo CO
"complete....fabulous....thank you for writing this book." radio celebrity, Joan Nathan, IL
Send check for your purchases to SOS P O Box 740 Rye CO 81069
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Linda LaPointe
719-248-8554
HELP ELDERS AGE IN PLACE
RYE, CO May 16, 2007 – Geriatric care manager and author Linda LaPointe announced the release of “Home, Sweet Home: Help Elders Age in Place,” a book for everyone who even thinks they may become a caregiver to a vulnerable adult. “The majority of Americans want to die at home with those they love around them. But most of us die in a hospital. Alone.” So begins this book. Then it goes on to detail how caregivers can help make this dream come true for those they love.
The National Alliance for Caregiving Survey, taken in 1997 by the American Society on Aging, stated that 75% of caregivers report negative caregiving experiences. Linda LaPointe speculates on why this may be so, “When people become caregivers by default, mid-crisis, instead of by choice and plan, their lives can easily become chaos and resentment. But after futures-planning, an acute medical event doesn’t have to be a crisis.”
Another study reported that most of adult children of aging parents don’t know what questions to ask or how to prepare for caregiving. For those people who don’t know where to begin, “Home, Sweet Home”:
One reader said, “It’s like having Linda in your living room, coaching you through it all.” The book goes further than others in this genre, in that it contains forms which are used to create a care book to which all caregivers will refer and follow. From the experience of a former long term care administrator, Linda LaPointe’s forms ensure simplicity yet consistency of services and supports. The forms guide you through:
The material, forms, top 10 lists and annotated resources combine to give practical and relevant information that empowers individuals to successfully help someone else, and hopefully, be moved, proud and contented with their caregiving experience. This book may be the most important one adult children of aging parents ever read.
To learn more, arrange for a review copy, or to interview Linda LaPointe, see www.homesweethomebook.com or call at 719.248.8554.
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ARTICLES scroll down
Legitimate bank rip-offs
By Linda LaPointe
Credit cards at 25% interest?
Consolidation, second mortgages in exchange for the deed?
Yes it’s true, and given out freely to seniors.
Every town has a senior fraud program which educates and tries to protect seniors from outright illegal scams. We are somewhat familiar with the scam artists who promise to re-roof the house, take a check and never return. Or the caller who tries to get a credit card or social security number.
But these scams I’m revealing are perfectly legitimate because they are done by your local banker, trusted friend and neighbor down the street. One day the person gets an offer from their own bank for a bank card. The senior doesn’t necessarily read all the fine print as they know and trust this bank. Indeed, they were probably a good customer of many years, with a good credit rating and a good income. Not clear if it’s a debit or charge card, after all, there are so many new options that it’s hard to keep up, the senior grabs it, signs it and uses it.
More and more, in my work as a senior life navigator, I am finding them. Credit cards, offered by the person’s own hometown bank, at 24.99% interest. And, more shameful than that, they are co-sponsored, for lack of a better word, by a well known, national, senior advocacy organization. Right on the monthly invoice, in big letters the name of the well known bank and the senior group is there, to reassure and give the impression of safety. In smaller print is the interest rate. Oh it’s there, but is seldom seen or understood, or else so many wouldn’t own these cards.
The other rip-off is the couple who may be struggling as their income from investments begins to dwindle. They may go to their friendly bank and borrow against their home, which is paid for, to consolidate all their outstanding bills. Take Ed and Jean, who in their late 70’s lived with no relatives near in a nice home and had used up most of their retirement. After all, they never thought they would live so long. Soon they would only have their social security to live on. They owed for her recent dental work, had a few department store debts and a car loan. They, of course went to the bank which they had used for 33 years. In exchange for the deed on their home worth $100,000.00, their long time banker cheerfully gave them a loan for $30,000.00, with 12% interest (when the going rate was 6%) and with a manageable payment of only $263.00 a month.
The banker could count on a few things at their age:
-they may well pass away before the debt is paid thereby making the bank a tidy sum on the house
-they may well forget to make the payments on time so the interest calculated daily would decrease the part paid against the principle, meaning the debt could go on indefinitely
-no one would ever know as they had no close relatives to check on this and have them reconsider
-they were both of sound mind at the time so it was a perfectly legal transaction
What did happen to Ed and Jean? Ed died about 6 years into the debt and about 2 years later Jean got dementia. When the friendly banker called to remind her, she might send a check or go to see him so months of payments went toward interest only. The principle owed on the principle about 10 years later was still $24,000, almost ensuring that the bank would own the home upon her death.
All legal, all local, all legitimate. Watch your loved ones.