"She never complains, and her brothers and sisters don't complain," Amy says. "But I sit back and wonder when my mom will run herself down. She's 67; she has her own retirement to deal with. I worry that she's going to hurt herself trying to help (Grandfather). Sometimes I wonder if this is what my grandfather would have really wanted had he known it would be like this. I wonder if everyone's quality of time together would be better in a different situation.
Jeff Opdyke's Love & Money column "A Parent Ages, and a Promise is Kept" in today's Wall Street Journal Sunday section of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel raises hard questions about aging in place--and the human cost to relatives and loved ones.
Opdyke's mother-in-law struggles to manage two households, with the help of four siblings and occasional aides who care for their 94-year-old father. His wife, Amy, a nurse, believes assisted living for her grandfather would be best for everyone. But her aunts and uncles believe that the highest good is to honor a promise made long ago, when the world was different.
This Friday, the Milwaukee Aging Consortium's Expanding Housing Options Summit will explore what it takes to let people age in place--or in community. We probably won't engage in those wrenching personal dilemmas. But we will be able to consider existing and future places and services for improving the lives of elderly people and their caregivers.
Some time ago I heard about a Canadian plan that made no-interest loans to families for building "mother-in-law" additions to their houses. Sounds like a win-win situation. Everyone gets to live in one household, and the younger family increases its net worth through increasing the value of its house.
What are your dreams/wishes/ideas for housing?
Sunday, January 28, 2007
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
More legislative priorities for Wisconsin aging groups
The Coalition of Wisconsin Aging Groups (CWAG) is an experienced and effective agent for change in Wisconsin legislation affecting older people.
A statewide nonprofit, nonpartisan organization, CWAG is made up of individuals and member groups that represents over 125,000 people in Wisconsin. Born out of grassroots activism, CWAG formed as the voice of older people in Wisconsin after 4,000 older people marched on the state Capitol in 1977 to improve senior conditions in the state. Today, we work together as productive, equal partners providing a variety of programs, services, advocacy, elder law and education to Wisconsin's senior citizens and to future generations.
Their three priorities for the state budget:
1. Benefit specialist/legal services program,
2. Elderly and disabled transportation program, and
3. Family Care expansion.
They're also specifically interested in expanding the volunteer ombudsman program, healthcare reform (supporting any one of the single-payer plans of state budget director David Riemer, Wisconsin AFL-CIO president David Newby, or state senator Mark Miller), property tax reform, funding for Family Care, and work on Medicare funding.
At the legislative caucus meeting CWAG convened January 18 in Madison, others named their priorities. Just a few:
-saving county-run nursing homes
-more nutrition program funding
-reimbursement for longterm care that is based on quality, not cost
-campaign reform (freeing money for social reform agendas)
-caregiver training and support
-more funding for Milwaukee County
-sprinklers in nursing homes (you thought they all had them, didn't you?)
-reinsurance to insure insurers and reduce their risk
-adding older adults who don't yet qualify for Medicare to BadgerCare Plus
-continued funding for education and reallocation of funds
-increasing CNA training requirement to 120 hours
-abuse registry
What are your priorities--and how should they be funded?
A statewide nonprofit, nonpartisan organization, CWAG is made up of individuals and member groups that represents over 125,000 people in Wisconsin. Born out of grassroots activism, CWAG formed as the voice of older people in Wisconsin after 4,000 older people marched on the state Capitol in 1977 to improve senior conditions in the state. Today, we work together as productive, equal partners providing a variety of programs, services, advocacy, elder law and education to Wisconsin's senior citizens and to future generations.
Their three priorities for the state budget:
1. Benefit specialist/legal services program,
2. Elderly and disabled transportation program, and
3. Family Care expansion.
They're also specifically interested in expanding the volunteer ombudsman program, healthcare reform (supporting any one of the single-payer plans of state budget director David Riemer, Wisconsin AFL-CIO president David Newby, or state senator Mark Miller), property tax reform, funding for Family Care, and work on Medicare funding.
At the legislative caucus meeting CWAG convened January 18 in Madison, others named their priorities. Just a few:
-saving county-run nursing homes
-more nutrition program funding
-reimbursement for longterm care that is based on quality, not cost
-campaign reform (freeing money for social reform agendas)
-caregiver training and support
-more funding for Milwaukee County
-sprinklers in nursing homes (you thought they all had them, didn't you?)
-reinsurance to insure insurers and reduce their risk
-adding older adults who don't yet qualify for Medicare to BadgerCare Plus
-continued funding for education and reallocation of funds
-increasing CNA training requirement to 120 hours
-abuse registry
What are your priorities--and how should they be funded?
Monday, January 22, 2007
Caregivers and the next Wisconsin biennial budget
The Wisconsin Long Term Care Workforce Alliance has been spearheading efforts to raise Medicaid reimbursement rates, which would affect direct caregiver wages.
They've asked us to send letters and call our state legislators and Governor Doyle, with an earlier deadline of December 1 for a petition drive. But there's still time to call your legislators, according to Anne Medeiros.
On the legislative front, Governor Jim Doyle plans to introduce his biennial budget to the legislature on February 13th. There is still time to contact his office by letter, phone, or email with your request for a 5% increase to CIP, COP, personal care, home health, nursing homes, and Community Aids.
More information at the Alliance archives.
Iowa CareGivers Approach
More good ideas come from the Iowa CareGivers Association's legislative priorities to address the problem of caregiver turnover:
Funding for the state Department of Public Health for expanded education and new standards oversight.
Raising the minimum wage and exploring ways to increase the average wage.
Expanding health care coverage for all of Iowa's uninsured and underinsured.
Increasing the tobacco tax by $1 to fund the initiatives.
Develop data collection mechanisms to measure outcomes that matter in nursing facilities by worker classification.
They've asked us to send letters and call our state legislators and Governor Doyle, with an earlier deadline of December 1 for a petition drive. But there's still time to call your legislators, according to Anne Medeiros.
On the legislative front, Governor Jim Doyle plans to introduce his biennial budget to the legislature on February 13th. There is still time to contact his office by letter, phone, or email with your request for a 5% increase to CIP, COP, personal care, home health, nursing homes, and Community Aids.
More information at the Alliance archives.
Iowa CareGivers Approach
More good ideas come from the Iowa CareGivers Association's legislative priorities to address the problem of caregiver turnover:
Funding for the state Department of Public Health for expanded education and new standards oversight.
Raising the minimum wage and exploring ways to increase the average wage.
Expanding health care coverage for all of Iowa's uninsured and underinsured.
Increasing the tobacco tax by $1 to fund the initiatives.
Develop data collection mechanisms to measure outcomes that matter in nursing facilities by worker classification.
Friday, January 19, 2007
Do programs like Family Care encourage dependency?
A reader commented on Family Care and other programs like it:
Even though I see a lot of effectiveness with the program, I see first hand the abuse. The money spent on providing care for someone who should be challenged to do more for themselves.
The extensive equipment that is purchased so that the client has everything they want regardless of whether they physically need it or rather should have it.
Paying of family members to provide care even though the client should re-trained to do it themselves as well as family members who should want to care for others out of love not money.
I am hopeful but not optimistic that as the population ages, more people will realize that we need to help seniors HELP THEMSELVES so as to age more gracefully and safely.
Are too many clients being overserved, having things done for them that they could do themselves? Are we “enabling” older adults to be dependent? I’m hoping some of you will continue this discussion, because I don’t have any professional knowledge about it.
I do have personal experience with my mother, who’s now over 85, living in independent senior apartments, and needing more help to get along. She’s frail and no longer drives. Judging by this brave woman, who's always made decisions that would keep her independent and not "burden" others, elders eventually reach a point at which no amount of retraining can compensate for lost health and abilities.
And daughters like me are pressured by jobs to support their families and responsibilities to their own children. That can get in the way of expressing love through caregiving the way we might like to do it.
Even though I see a lot of effectiveness with the program, I see first hand the abuse. The money spent on providing care for someone who should be challenged to do more for themselves.
The extensive equipment that is purchased so that the client has everything they want regardless of whether they physically need it or rather should have it.
Paying of family members to provide care even though the client should re-trained to do it themselves as well as family members who should want to care for others out of love not money.
I am hopeful but not optimistic that as the population ages, more people will realize that we need to help seniors HELP THEMSELVES so as to age more gracefully and safely.
Are too many clients being overserved, having things done for them that they could do themselves? Are we “enabling” older adults to be dependent? I’m hoping some of you will continue this discussion, because I don’t have any professional knowledge about it.
I do have personal experience with my mother, who’s now over 85, living in independent senior apartments, and needing more help to get along. She’s frail and no longer drives. Judging by this brave woman, who's always made decisions that would keep her independent and not "burden" others, elders eventually reach a point at which no amount of retraining can compensate for lost health and abilities.
And daughters like me are pressured by jobs to support their families and responsibilities to their own children. That can get in the way of expressing love through caregiving the way we might like to do it.
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
Building senior housing that's quiet and private
On January 11, Jenny wrote:
I'm old and tired of looking for a smaller residence that is quiet. I urge the panel of speakers on 12/02/07 on Housing to reflect on the noisy condos and apartments being built. Especially since the elderly tend to pump up volumes...
Why don't builders, designers have noise insulation in the walls for senior citizens? Most of us who are looking to sell our homes are repelled by the lack of quiet and privacy.
When we talk about senior housing, we talk a lot about safety and mobility, but I'm not sure we talk enough about sound and style. Maybe deep soundproofing ought to be a part of "universal design," or design features that should be incorporated in all housing, not just housing for seniors and people with disabilities.
Construction trends also seem to be favoring the open plan, and nobody is talking much about the limitations of loft and great room spaces.
In his ShorewoodNOW January 10 blog entry, Richard Thieme wrote about his experience looking at downtown condos:
We climbed steep, narrow stairs to what they told us was the bedroom. But all we found was a kind of platform without walls or doors on which a queen-size bed and a small table had been crammed.
We asked the real estate agent what we did if one wanted to watch television downstairs and the other wanted to go to bed. The young couple, who had gone to explore the kitchen that had neither walls nor doors, overheard this and laughed again, loudly.
The young woman came into view around the dining area (large enough for a small round table and four chairs pushed in tightly) and shouted: "Do you really not know?" She seemed amused. "That's what headphones are for!"
Maybe it's generational. Or maybe you don't really appreciate privacy that doesn't require headgear and shutting out your surroundings until after you've had kids. Jenny probably isn't in the minority on this issue!
We're sponsoring Expanding Housing Options: An Issues in Aging Summit the morning of February 2 at the Italian Community Center. We'll mention this point to the panelists. And if you attend, you can bring it up yourself! More information at our website .
I'm old and tired of looking for a smaller residence that is quiet. I urge the panel of speakers on 12/02/07 on Housing to reflect on the noisy condos and apartments being built. Especially since the elderly tend to pump up volumes...
Why don't builders, designers have noise insulation in the walls for senior citizens? Most of us who are looking to sell our homes are repelled by the lack of quiet and privacy.
When we talk about senior housing, we talk a lot about safety and mobility, but I'm not sure we talk enough about sound and style. Maybe deep soundproofing ought to be a part of "universal design," or design features that should be incorporated in all housing, not just housing for seniors and people with disabilities.
Construction trends also seem to be favoring the open plan, and nobody is talking much about the limitations of loft and great room spaces.
In his ShorewoodNOW January 10 blog entry, Richard Thieme wrote about his experience looking at downtown condos:
We climbed steep, narrow stairs to what they told us was the bedroom. But all we found was a kind of platform without walls or doors on which a queen-size bed and a small table had been crammed.
We asked the real estate agent what we did if one wanted to watch television downstairs and the other wanted to go to bed. The young couple, who had gone to explore the kitchen that had neither walls nor doors, overheard this and laughed again, loudly.
The young woman came into view around the dining area (large enough for a small round table and four chairs pushed in tightly) and shouted: "Do you really not know?" She seemed amused. "That's what headphones are for!"
Maybe it's generational. Or maybe you don't really appreciate privacy that doesn't require headgear and shutting out your surroundings until after you've had kids. Jenny probably isn't in the minority on this issue!
We're sponsoring Expanding Housing Options: An Issues in Aging Summit the morning of February 2 at the Italian Community Center. We'll mention this point to the panelists. And if you attend, you can bring it up yourself! More information at our website .
Monday, January 15, 2007
Civil rights and dignity for the old
If Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. had not been the victim of the violence he deplored, he’d have been 78 years old today.
I wonder what wisdom age would have added to his extraordinary dedication to “the cause of justice and the imperative of human dignity.”
One blog responder in the Huffington Post who calls herself auntigrav wrote:
“We must never EVER forget that Civil Rights are not the rights of the groups who get all the press, but the rights of the individual, whatever color or belief they have. Rosa Parks was a person who needed to sit down.
”The fight is always for one person: you, or I, or a child. When we forget the individuals, we forget what Being is all about.”
If King had lived, he might be teaching us today about the civil rights and dignity of older adults, too.
Senior citizens hold—and exercise—great legal power as a voting block. But seniors (and the disabled) who are frail and isolated may depend on people like us to “sit down” on the bus for their right to live in dignity as respected individuals.
Thanks for the courage, commitment, and love you bring to your work with older people.
I wonder what wisdom age would have added to his extraordinary dedication to “the cause of justice and the imperative of human dignity.”
One blog responder in the Huffington Post who calls herself auntigrav wrote:
“We must never EVER forget that Civil Rights are not the rights of the groups who get all the press, but the rights of the individual, whatever color or belief they have. Rosa Parks was a person who needed to sit down.
”The fight is always for one person: you, or I, or a child. When we forget the individuals, we forget what Being is all about.”
If King had lived, he might be teaching us today about the civil rights and dignity of older adults, too.
Senior citizens hold—and exercise—great legal power as a voting block. But seniors (and the disabled) who are frail and isolated may depend on people like us to “sit down” on the bus for their right to live in dignity as respected individuals.
Thanks for the courage, commitment, and love you bring to your work with older people.
Friday, January 12, 2007
Other voices: your comments
Thanks to those of you who've peeked at the blog, and special thanks to those who've responded!
Right now the comments appear in a separate link at each entry. While I'm trying to figure out how to get them to be displayed more prominently, I'll copy some of them here so it's easier for you to read them.
Regarding why we pay caregivers so much less than copy machine repair people, one reader said:
We have a long history of valuing the material product over the service related product, especially when the service rendered involves caring for other human beings. Perhaps because servicing the copy machine is usually done infrequently, and care of another is done daily and the costs accumulate quickly.
Yes, I agree. We think of caring for people as labor of love, paying emotional rewards. But I keep looking around for the cadre of (mainly) women at home, taking care of their families and their communities while their partners work in the paying workplace, and I don't see them. The world's changed faster than the systems that keep it running, or limping, depending on your point of view, along.
Next, another reader disagrees with my personal opinion that universal healthcare insurance would be the best response to the present crisis in healthcare access and reimbursement.
What is the evidence that the cost of insurance would be reduced should the state cover all people?
The proposal I remember seeing would require all employers to pay 20% of their gross to the state to pay for healthcare - there are equity issues with that, too. My son works for a firm that does 20 million dollars over the course of a year and has eight employees. Should they be required to pay $4million to provide coverage that costs them about $200,000 now?
Also, as managed care and gov't funding of healthcare becomes more prevalent, the pay scale of health care providers will have to be reduced to allow the "discounts" that will be forced on the provider. Gov't funding is not near the "real" cost, and privately insured people are needed to "offset" the loss to the company. This is one the reasons we don't have a Milwaukee County Medical Complex anymore!
Many good points.
I wonder what "real costs" are. In this odd system, charges are set high with the understanding that buyers with clout (large groups) will negotiate reduced fees, and that the fees need to be high enough to offset nonpayers. While the government reimbursement may be rock-bottom (or lower), the insurers are paying much less than the ticket price, too. The poor guy who pays cash is the only person who pays the asking amount. That seems goofy, since it's much cheaper to process that transaction.
I don't know the answers. And remember, I'm expressing my own opinions here, not those of the Milwaukee Aging Consortium or anyone else.
I do know that what I pay for health insurance prevents me from getting necessary health care, sometimes. One thing that seems like a must: linking what you pay for premiums to your household income. If you are paying 20% of your income for health insurance, chances are you are in dangerous financial territory.
Anyone have any creative solutions?
Right now the comments appear in a separate link at each entry. While I'm trying to figure out how to get them to be displayed more prominently, I'll copy some of them here so it's easier for you to read them.
Regarding why we pay caregivers so much less than copy machine repair people, one reader said:
We have a long history of valuing the material product over the service related product, especially when the service rendered involves caring for other human beings. Perhaps because servicing the copy machine is usually done infrequently, and care of another is done daily and the costs accumulate quickly.
Yes, I agree. We think of caring for people as labor of love, paying emotional rewards. But I keep looking around for the cadre of (mainly) women at home, taking care of their families and their communities while their partners work in the paying workplace, and I don't see them. The world's changed faster than the systems that keep it running, or limping, depending on your point of view, along.
Next, another reader disagrees with my personal opinion that universal healthcare insurance would be the best response to the present crisis in healthcare access and reimbursement.
What is the evidence that the cost of insurance would be reduced should the state cover all people?
The proposal I remember seeing would require all employers to pay 20% of their gross to the state to pay for healthcare - there are equity issues with that, too. My son works for a firm that does 20 million dollars over the course of a year and has eight employees. Should they be required to pay $4million to provide coverage that costs them about $200,000 now?
Also, as managed care and gov't funding of healthcare becomes more prevalent, the pay scale of health care providers will have to be reduced to allow the "discounts" that will be forced on the provider. Gov't funding is not near the "real" cost, and privately insured people are needed to "offset" the loss to the company. This is one the reasons we don't have a Milwaukee County Medical Complex anymore!
Many good points.
I wonder what "real costs" are. In this odd system, charges are set high with the understanding that buyers with clout (large groups) will negotiate reduced fees, and that the fees need to be high enough to offset nonpayers. While the government reimbursement may be rock-bottom (or lower), the insurers are paying much less than the ticket price, too. The poor guy who pays cash is the only person who pays the asking amount. That seems goofy, since it's much cheaper to process that transaction.
I don't know the answers. And remember, I'm expressing my own opinions here, not those of the Milwaukee Aging Consortium or anyone else.
I do know that what I pay for health insurance prevents me from getting necessary health care, sometimes. One thing that seems like a must: linking what you pay for premiums to your household income. If you are paying 20% of your income for health insurance, chances are you are in dangerous financial territory.
Anyone have any creative solutions?
Tuesday, January 9, 2007
Close to home
There are only four kinds of people in the world: those who have been caregivers; those who are currently caregivers; those who will be caregivers; those who will need caregivers.
Oh boyhowdy, was Rosalynn Carter right about that!
There’s another group, though: those of us who should – or would like to - be caregivers but can’t and feel guilty about it.
I’m in that group. While Mom lives independently in senior apartments, she can’t drive anymore and needs help with transportation and other things. Because she lives in Oshkosh, and because I’m a sandwicher with kids still at home, my sister and niece share the privilege and responsibility. I know my sister is overwhelmed sometimes, and tired often.
A friend of mine e-mailed me today to explain that she wasn’t coming to our women’s group meeting tonight because she was in California. Her mother had a bad fall and had been having a rocky recuperation.
I'm flying back to Milwaukee Wednesday. My sister-in-law will be here for a couple of days. The big question then becomes whether or not Mom and William will accept the amount of home-health assistance Mom really requires for as long as she requires it.
Concerns about caregiving are everywhere, if you talk to people long enough. Without a “seamless” system of caregiving, everyone has to figure out how to patch together a net of help that eventually goes beyond family and friends.
The umbrella name for all that’s needed, I’ve recently learned, is longterm care. I used to think that meant nursing homes!
In Milwaukee County, we’re fortunate to have Connecting Caring Communities to help in “developing partnerships to improve long term care and supportive services systems to meet the current and future needs of older adults” and in getting the word out on longterm care.
And then there's Elderlink, a great centralized source of information and assistance. Calling 414-289-6874 opens the doors of information to the county's older people and those who are helping them.
Maybe later we can talk about the two elephants in the room when we're on the subject of caregivers this subject. The first is public policy for a national system of caregiving: there isn’t one.
The second is gender: caregiving is largely a woman’s issue. The white paper Caregiving in America, prepared in conjunction with the Caregiving Project for Older Americans and available online, found that 90% of unpaid caregivers are women. And most of the people they care for are women. Especially when you enter the domain of the old old, those over age 85.
Mom, if you're reading this: you don't look old old, though I know sometimes you feel it.
Oh boyhowdy, was Rosalynn Carter right about that!
There’s another group, though: those of us who should – or would like to - be caregivers but can’t and feel guilty about it.
I’m in that group. While Mom lives independently in senior apartments, she can’t drive anymore and needs help with transportation and other things. Because she lives in Oshkosh, and because I’m a sandwicher with kids still at home, my sister and niece share the privilege and responsibility. I know my sister is overwhelmed sometimes, and tired often.
A friend of mine e-mailed me today to explain that she wasn’t coming to our women’s group meeting tonight because she was in California. Her mother had a bad fall and had been having a rocky recuperation.
I'm flying back to Milwaukee Wednesday. My sister-in-law will be here for a couple of days. The big question then becomes whether or not Mom and William will accept the amount of home-health assistance Mom really requires for as long as she requires it.
Concerns about caregiving are everywhere, if you talk to people long enough. Without a “seamless” system of caregiving, everyone has to figure out how to patch together a net of help that eventually goes beyond family and friends.
The umbrella name for all that’s needed, I’ve recently learned, is longterm care. I used to think that meant nursing homes!
In Milwaukee County, we’re fortunate to have Connecting Caring Communities to help in “developing partnerships to improve long term care and supportive services systems to meet the current and future needs of older adults” and in getting the word out on longterm care.
And then there's Elderlink, a great centralized source of information and assistance. Calling 414-289-6874 opens the doors of information to the county's older people and those who are helping them.
Maybe later we can talk about the two elephants in the room when we're on the subject of caregivers this subject. The first is public policy for a national system of caregiving: there isn’t one.
The second is gender: caregiving is largely a woman’s issue. The white paper Caregiving in America, prepared in conjunction with the Caregiving Project for Older Americans and available online, found that 90% of unpaid caregivers are women. And most of the people they care for are women. Especially when you enter the domain of the old old, those over age 85.
Mom, if you're reading this: you don't look old old, though I know sometimes you feel it.
Monday, January 8, 2007
Why blog on aging for folks in "the business"?
One thing I’ve learned about life stages: you can understand the ones you’ve already been through. Sort of. But the ones that lie ahead of you, you can only imagine. Stories other people tell us about their experiences are one of the best ways to imagine ourselves into empathy and, maybe, brilliant acts.
A blog is a great place to share those stories.
Some of what goes on in our personal and work lives just doesn't fit into the usual categories--reports, analyses, news stories, instructional materials. It comes from the place where who we are intersects with what we do.
A blog is a great place to explore the intersections.
Sometimes, the stories around us fill us with despair. A blog is a great place to mark and honor the sadness--or to write new, happier endings.
More mundanely, this blog was created because it’s part of our communications plan to develop new ways to connect members of the Milwaukee Aging Consortium around common issues in the work we do, the people we care about and for.
Finally, in learning about this field—a new one for me, a career change--I’m turning up fascinating information, ideas, people, and programs that I want to share.
Here's a ferinstance: Milwaukee's Danceworks Gallery is opening a mixed media exhibition Walking in Someone Else's Shoes starting Friday, January 19, from 6 - 9. The exhibit is "envisioned stories and works (that) celebrate the lives of Milwaukee elders and youth. . ." It's part of the ongoing Intergenerational Multi-Arts Project (IMAP), and it will continue through April 11. The opening also takes place during the Third Ward's Gallery Night And Day.
“It took me four years to paint like Raphael, but a lifetime to paint like a child.”
--Pablo Picasso
A blog is a great place to share those stories.
Some of what goes on in our personal and work lives just doesn't fit into the usual categories--reports, analyses, news stories, instructional materials. It comes from the place where who we are intersects with what we do.
A blog is a great place to explore the intersections.
Sometimes, the stories around us fill us with despair. A blog is a great place to mark and honor the sadness--or to write new, happier endings.
More mundanely, this blog was created because it’s part of our communications plan to develop new ways to connect members of the Milwaukee Aging Consortium around common issues in the work we do, the people we care about and for.
Finally, in learning about this field—a new one for me, a career change--I’m turning up fascinating information, ideas, people, and programs that I want to share.
Here's a ferinstance: Milwaukee's Danceworks Gallery is opening a mixed media exhibition Walking in Someone Else's Shoes starting Friday, January 19, from 6 - 9. The exhibit is "envisioned stories and works (that) celebrate the lives of Milwaukee elders and youth. . ." It's part of the ongoing Intergenerational Multi-Arts Project (IMAP), and it will continue through April 11. The opening also takes place during the Third Ward's Gallery Night And Day.
“It took me four years to paint like Raphael, but a lifetime to paint like a child.”
--Pablo Picasso
Friday, January 5, 2007
What's a job worth?
Most prognosticators seem to agree that in the new year, the rich will get richer and the rest of us. . . won't.
Ex-CEO Bob Nardelli will be given $262 million to walk quietly out the door of Home Depot in one day. Meanwhile, most of us will earn the same amount we earned last year, more or less, even when the people we work for are delighted with our performance.
Flat wages and increasing costs of living are especially a problem for direct caregivers.
In Wisconsin, the average wage for nursing assistants, home health aides, and personal care aides is $10.37 an hour (National Clearinghouse on the Direct Care Workforce. That's $5.35 an hour less than the "self-sufficiency" hourly rate for a full-time worker with one child in Milwaukee County (The Self-Sufficiency Guide for Wisconsin).
Why does a home health aide make $9.68 an hour while a copy-machine repair technician makes $17 an hour as a trainee, $22 in the field afterward? Aren't our parents and our children as valuable as our office machines?
Of course they are. But we don't need copy machine technicians 24/7, and the ratio of technician to machine is much higher than the ratio of caregiver-to-care-needer.
Then there's the elephant in the room: caregiving is still largely a woman's job, whereas copy machine repair is. . . not. At least not traditionally. And in Wisconsin, even for the same job, women make 71 cents for a man's dollar.
I think every job should afford a person who works it full-time and does a good job the income to be self-sufficient--have enough food to eat, a roof over his or her head, health care. . .
But how do we accomplish that? Even non-profit organizations need to have enough money (margin) to do their job well. As the head of a Catholic hospital I once knew always said, "No margin, no mission."
It would be hard to dispute that reimbursement isn't high enough and costs keep rising. Institutions face problems with money-in versus money-out, too, but on a larger scale.
And it would be easy to get discouraged and overlook the accomplishments of so many astonishing people who dedicate their lives to this work. Then we remember programs like Wisconsin's admirable pilot Family Care to improve choice, access, quality, and cost-effectiveness in long-term care.
Disclaimer time: please remember that these are my personal ruminations, and while this blog is for issues near the heart of The Milwaukee Aging Consortium, they aren't the Consortium's notions. Our members are both caregivers and organizations that hire them. Everyone is committed to making the lives of older people better, but there will always be differences among us about how to do that. Let's talk about it here, in the interest of better understanding--and finding win-win-win solutions!
One thing that might help: taking some of the burden of health insurance off the employer's back. Governor Doyle wants to expand Badger Care to cover all children in the state. That's a noble goal, but what about covering all people in the state? I'm buying the evidence that a statewide plan for everyone could be much less expensive for both the employer and the employee.
What's your take on this? How can we help employers, employees, and the people we serve to thrive, not just survive?
Ex-CEO Bob Nardelli will be given $262 million to walk quietly out the door of Home Depot in one day. Meanwhile, most of us will earn the same amount we earned last year, more or less, even when the people we work for are delighted with our performance.
Flat wages and increasing costs of living are especially a problem for direct caregivers.
In Wisconsin, the average wage for nursing assistants, home health aides, and personal care aides is $10.37 an hour (National Clearinghouse on the Direct Care Workforce. That's $5.35 an hour less than the "self-sufficiency" hourly rate for a full-time worker with one child in Milwaukee County (The Self-Sufficiency Guide for Wisconsin).
Why does a home health aide make $9.68 an hour while a copy-machine repair technician makes $17 an hour as a trainee, $22 in the field afterward? Aren't our parents and our children as valuable as our office machines?
Of course they are. But we don't need copy machine technicians 24/7, and the ratio of technician to machine is much higher than the ratio of caregiver-to-care-needer.
Then there's the elephant in the room: caregiving is still largely a woman's job, whereas copy machine repair is. . . not. At least not traditionally. And in Wisconsin, even for the same job, women make 71 cents for a man's dollar.
I think every job should afford a person who works it full-time and does a good job the income to be self-sufficient--have enough food to eat, a roof over his or her head, health care. . .
But how do we accomplish that? Even non-profit organizations need to have enough money (margin) to do their job well. As the head of a Catholic hospital I once knew always said, "No margin, no mission."
It would be hard to dispute that reimbursement isn't high enough and costs keep rising. Institutions face problems with money-in versus money-out, too, but on a larger scale.
And it would be easy to get discouraged and overlook the accomplishments of so many astonishing people who dedicate their lives to this work. Then we remember programs like Wisconsin's admirable pilot Family Care to improve choice, access, quality, and cost-effectiveness in long-term care.
Disclaimer time: please remember that these are my personal ruminations, and while this blog is for issues near the heart of The Milwaukee Aging Consortium, they aren't the Consortium's notions. Our members are both caregivers and organizations that hire them. Everyone is committed to making the lives of older people better, but there will always be differences among us about how to do that. Let's talk about it here, in the interest of better understanding--and finding win-win-win solutions!
One thing that might help: taking some of the burden of health insurance off the employer's back. Governor Doyle wants to expand Badger Care to cover all children in the state. That's a noble goal, but what about covering all people in the state? I'm buying the evidence that a statewide plan for everyone could be much less expensive for both the employer and the employee.
What's your take on this? How can we help employers, employees, and the people we serve to thrive, not just survive?
Thursday, January 4, 2007
The legacy of stories: StoryCorps outpost comes to town
There's a lot of lore about my mother's side of the family, some of it on paper in the hands of the genealogists in the family. But my father's side of the family was less given to documentation, and since the last sibling died, their stories will be hard to retrieve.
Dad, who'd be nearly 100 if he were alive, was the second generation born here. Even so, he didn't learn English until he went to school, and his baptismal certificate is in German. His family's history is part of the history of Milwaukee.
I meant to ask my aunt, Anita, who was the family "telegraph," the one who keeps communications going, for the stories. But life got busy, and she was gone. I meant to ask Aunt Esther, the last of her generation. But life was even busier, and she was gone.
Milwaukeeans will have a special chance to record their stories when StoryCorps establishes its first outpost at the Milwaukee Public Library. From the launch on January 12 through July 25, StoryCorps will be recording 250 interviews. Who knows how many stories they'll capture in the process?
You may remember the StoryCorps mobile facility rolling into town some time back. This more permanent outpost, the first in the country, is being brought here through a collaboration of the UWM Center on Age and Community (a Consortium member) http://www.uwm.edu/Dept/ageandcommunity/, the Milwaukee Public Library, WUWM, and by sponsors the Argosy Foundation, Forest County Potawatomi Foundation, George and Julie Mosher Family Foundation, Brico Fund LLC.
Here's how it works: StoryCorps facilitators help people figure out what to ask and how to record the memories. At the end, they receive a CD--and a copy is filed with the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress (with permission, of course). A donation of $10 is suggested.
Of course, you don't have to be old (or interview an elder). But if you know someone whose stories should be part of our national historic treasury, think about this!
You can read more about StoryCorps at http://www.storycorps.net/.
The library and the UWM Center on Age and Community are hosting a kick-off event January 25th, 2007, in the Media Room at the Milwaukee Public Library, 814 Wisconsin Ave.
Dad, who'd be nearly 100 if he were alive, was the second generation born here. Even so, he didn't learn English until he went to school, and his baptismal certificate is in German. His family's history is part of the history of Milwaukee.
I meant to ask my aunt, Anita, who was the family "telegraph," the one who keeps communications going, for the stories. But life got busy, and she was gone. I meant to ask Aunt Esther, the last of her generation. But life was even busier, and she was gone.
Milwaukeeans will have a special chance to record their stories when StoryCorps establishes its first outpost at the Milwaukee Public Library. From the launch on January 12 through July 25, StoryCorps will be recording 250 interviews. Who knows how many stories they'll capture in the process?
You may remember the StoryCorps mobile facility rolling into town some time back. This more permanent outpost, the first in the country, is being brought here through a collaboration of the UWM Center on Age and Community (a Consortium member) http://www.uwm.edu/Dept/ageandcommunity/, the Milwaukee Public Library, WUWM, and by sponsors the Argosy Foundation, Forest County Potawatomi Foundation, George and Julie Mosher Family Foundation, Brico Fund LLC.
Here's how it works: StoryCorps facilitators help people figure out what to ask and how to record the memories. At the end, they receive a CD--and a copy is filed with the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress (with permission, of course). A donation of $10 is suggested.
Of course, you don't have to be old (or interview an elder). But if you know someone whose stories should be part of our national historic treasury, think about this!
You can read more about StoryCorps at http://www.storycorps.net/.
The library and the UWM Center on Age and Community are hosting a kick-off event January 25th, 2007, in the Media Room at the Milwaukee Public Library, 814 Wisconsin Ave.
Ready, fire, aim
For a long time, we've been talking about better ways to tell the stories of the people who work to improve the lives and circumstances of people as they age.
"We" are the folks at The Milwaukee Aging Consortium, a membership organization for those people, who range from direct care workers to housing developers.
And everyone in between.
If you're passionate about making the lives of older people in Milwaukee (or anywhere) better, here's your chance to weigh in, personally and professionally. Remember that this is a public forum, and while it's appropriate to talk about "difficult" problems, it's not the intention of this blog to be a gripe fest or a tool for bashing!
Tell us your stories about aging.
What's going on that others should know about?
Who's doing a great job?
What's being done to fill in gaps?
In February, we're holding an Issues in Aging Summit: Expanding Housing Options. What do you think needs to be done to help people stay in their homes, their communities, or better places as they age?
"We" are the folks at The Milwaukee Aging Consortium, a membership organization for those people, who range from direct care workers to housing developers.
And everyone in between.
If you're passionate about making the lives of older people in Milwaukee (or anywhere) better, here's your chance to weigh in, personally and professionally. Remember that this is a public forum, and while it's appropriate to talk about "difficult" problems, it's not the intention of this blog to be a gripe fest or a tool for bashing!
Tell us your stories about aging.
What's going on that others should know about?
Who's doing a great job?
What's being done to fill in gaps?
In February, we're holding an Issues in Aging Summit: Expanding Housing Options. What do you think needs to be done to help people stay in their homes, their communities, or better places as they age?
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