Welcome to Elliot Lake, Canada's most elderly community. Upsides: Bungalows under $100K, wheelchair accessibility, carpet bowling. Downsides: Doctor shortage, dwindling tax base, con artists. This is our future.
- Patrick White, July 30, Globe and Mail, Ontario, Canada
Elliot Lake is the oldest town in Canada. By that, I mean the town with the highest average age: 55. One in three people is over age 65. And it got that way on purpose.
After the mines that employed most of the citizens closed in 1990, the city council decided to pursue a new industry: senior citizens. They invested millions in making the town physically accessible—and senior friendly. Golf courses and condos proliferated. And mobility vehicles whir down the streets, defying laws that no one has the heart to enforce.
If this is the future, we might take heed of some lessons to see what it really means to age in community.
For one thing, we need to look beyond real estate. Planners failed to take services into consideration, and services cost money. The town is running out of doctors. At the same time, the hospital is now the biggest employer in town.
“There will come a point when the tax base on a municipal basis can’t take it any more,” said the town’s mayor, Rick Hamilton.
Elliot Lake is also overrun with scam artists selling unneeded or non-existent products and services to people.
Might be a good idea to make the elderly everybody’s concern, not just their “business.” At the same time, this in vivo "laboratory" suggests that a community needs balance in everything, including age.
Monday, July 30, 2007
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
On their shoulders
This Thursday, July 26, is the Milwaukee Aging Consortium’s annual Excellence Awards and recognition event at the Italian Community Center. It’s also our fifth anniversary. The governor will be there, along with the mayor. We hope to see you, too!
This year, so we can reflect on all the people and organizations that went before us—and in so many cases, are still part of our Consortium—we have fewer award categories than usual.
We’ll be giving Starr Krause the Distinguished Caregiver award. She’s been employed as a caregiver for about 30 years and is about to retire from her formal caregiving job at Aurora Day Care Center.
We’ll also be giving Daniel Bader and the Helen Bader Foundation the Leadership award for their role in helping start and sustaining the Milwaukee Aging Consortium. We are privileged to be one among many of the programs for aging and Alzheimer’s disease benefiting from that organization’s stewardship.
But first, we’ll recognize the members of the Older Adult Service Providers Consortium that went before us, our first board members, and the original founding members of the Milwaukee Aging Consortium. What an impressive group they are!
In getting ready for this event, I got to learn more about the history of not only the Consortium but aging professionals in this area. Not only are they a wonderful bunch, but they are still out there, in the work world or in private life, making life better for older people.
Thanks seems like such a small word to express our gratitude.
This year, so we can reflect on all the people and organizations that went before us—and in so many cases, are still part of our Consortium—we have fewer award categories than usual.
We’ll be giving Starr Krause the Distinguished Caregiver award. She’s been employed as a caregiver for about 30 years and is about to retire from her formal caregiving job at Aurora Day Care Center.
We’ll also be giving Daniel Bader and the Helen Bader Foundation the Leadership award for their role in helping start and sustaining the Milwaukee Aging Consortium. We are privileged to be one among many of the programs for aging and Alzheimer’s disease benefiting from that organization’s stewardship.
But first, we’ll recognize the members of the Older Adult Service Providers Consortium that went before us, our first board members, and the original founding members of the Milwaukee Aging Consortium. What an impressive group they are!
In getting ready for this event, I got to learn more about the history of not only the Consortium but aging professionals in this area. Not only are they a wonderful bunch, but they are still out there, in the work world or in private life, making life better for older people.
Thanks seems like such a small word to express our gratitude.
Friday, July 20, 2007
1. Sites for affordable housing; 2. The Wisconsin Quality Home Care Commission
Today's Milwaukee County issues day!
Affordable Housing
On Wednesday, July 18, the Committee on Health and Human Needs of the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors passed a resolution to “create a work group of County officials. . . to survey all county-owned land that potentially could be utilized for affordable, accessible, and supportive housing benefits for seniors and disabled citizens” and to prepare a list of appropriate sites.
The list will be sent to appropriate County Board committees and the Committee on Economic and Community Development. Authors of the resolution were Supervisors Holloway and DeBruin.
This may be an important step in locating affordable service-and-housing for those who need it most where they need it most—throughout the county.
* * *
Wisconsin Quality Home Care Commission
The second agenda item, a discussion of a report about the benefits and potential problems that might result from instituting the Wisconsin Quality Home Care Commission resolution (QHCC), was more controversial.
And trying to figure out what it all means has been an education! This is really long, but I wanted to share the fruits of my sometimes frustrating search for information. I'm counting on you to help me out if I'm off-base!
The Wisconsin Quality Home Care Commission is an intergovernmental entity, separate from the state or county, established in 2006 to provide services to consumers and providers of home care and personal care services. It promises to develop a provider registry, offer assistance for consumers in selecting providers from the registry, and serve in some capacities as the employer of record for private providers (those who aren’t affiliated with an agency) who want to be in the registry. Dane was the first county to sign the agreement, and the Commission is looking to Milwaukee County to sign on.
The Milwaukee County committee voted 5-1 endorsing the principle of the Commission. That’s different from actually signing an intergovernmental cooperation agreement, as Dane County and the Wisconsin Department of Health and Family Services (DHFS) have.
Presently, the Commission is only in the developmental stage. It has no continuing funding source, and it’s intended to “improve the quality and accessibility of supportive home care and personal care services” for clients with disabilities who receive medical assistance waiver services, not elderly people.
So why write about it here?
One of the reasons for looking at this proposal, according to Paper #436 (May 2, 2007), Health and Family Service—Disability and Elder Services, is the need to grow the pool of personal care workers in light of the expansion of Family Care, the nursing home diversion initiative, and other long-term care community program options. So it seems reasonable to follow carefully what unfolds here. It may be something in the future for home care providers for the elderly, too.
Who’s your boss?
If you are an independent personal care worker in a participating county, the Wisconsin QHCC could be a sort of Professional Employer Organization (PEO) for you.
With a PEO, you really have two employers--the person or organization that hires you and supervises you, and another entity that “assumes much of the responsibility and liability for the business of employment, such as risk management, human resource management, payroll, and employee tax compliance.” Training and orientation can also be PEO roles.
Because of the role of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) in establishing the Commission, it would be a very new thing indeed—a union PEO. Traditionally, PEOs are “white collar” entities.
About the registry
A prototype registry already exists, and it’s expected that the provider registry of the Wisconsin Regional Training Partnership and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) will be folded or developed into the QHCC registry.
Here’s what the provider registry form for Dane County looks like. Presently, it seems to be a list of skills and preferences, without a way to evaluate quality.
Back to the meeting
Corey Hoze, director of the Milwaukee County Department of Administrative Services, expressed reservations related to potential costs and limitations on consumer choice. Apparently, he’d expressed support for the objectives of the Commission but the same reservations at the previous meeting.
But the room was packed to overflowing with supporters, mainly from the Wisconsin Home Caregivers United for Quality Care, who spoke eloquently to the pressing need for quality home care--and support for the people who provide it.
I spoke to an organizer for Local 150 of the SEIU, who confirmed that the Wisconsin United people were from his organization.
Wherever you sit on the question of unions, there’s no question about the value of some of the points made by the supporters, especially about the need for better training and quality of care.
Ann Kruschke spoke to the lack of any but basic training for home care workers, compared with hospital employees who can upgrade their skills. “People are coming home in much more serious condition, with tracheostomies for example, and there’s no training for the people who take care of them. There should be at least one place they can go to learn more.”
Another woman, new to home care, talked about a gap she found in caring for older people. Formerly a childcare worker, she pointed out that part of the caring job with children was to provide cognitive, emotional, physical, and social stimulation. But there is nothing like that in the task list she receives from the agencies for which she works. “I’m afraid if I start a puzzle, sit down for coffee with my client, or take them for a walk, I’m stealing from the agency’s time. But I know how important those things are.”
A place for training for some
Important points, and we’d love to hear your comments on them. But there’s one place direct care workers who work with the elderly can go for free education and professional development.
The Milwaukee Aging Consortium's Caregiver Retention Project has been providing ongoing caregiver enrichment education since 2004. The next resource event, Thursday August 9, 5-7 pm at the Milwaukee Center for Independence, is providing skills and knowledge in dealing with people with disabilities and seated exercises home care workers can use with their clients.
Just what the Wisconsin United folks are looking for. Is this another place to develop partnerships?
Affordable Housing
On Wednesday, July 18, the Committee on Health and Human Needs of the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors passed a resolution to “create a work group of County officials. . . to survey all county-owned land that potentially could be utilized for affordable, accessible, and supportive housing benefits for seniors and disabled citizens” and to prepare a list of appropriate sites.
The list will be sent to appropriate County Board committees and the Committee on Economic and Community Development. Authors of the resolution were Supervisors Holloway and DeBruin.
This may be an important step in locating affordable service-and-housing for those who need it most where they need it most—throughout the county.
* * *
Wisconsin Quality Home Care Commission
The second agenda item, a discussion of a report about the benefits and potential problems that might result from instituting the Wisconsin Quality Home Care Commission resolution (QHCC), was more controversial.
And trying to figure out what it all means has been an education! This is really long, but I wanted to share the fruits of my sometimes frustrating search for information. I'm counting on you to help me out if I'm off-base!
The Wisconsin Quality Home Care Commission is an intergovernmental entity, separate from the state or county, established in 2006 to provide services to consumers and providers of home care and personal care services. It promises to develop a provider registry, offer assistance for consumers in selecting providers from the registry, and serve in some capacities as the employer of record for private providers (those who aren’t affiliated with an agency) who want to be in the registry. Dane was the first county to sign the agreement, and the Commission is looking to Milwaukee County to sign on.
The Milwaukee County committee voted 5-1 endorsing the principle of the Commission. That’s different from actually signing an intergovernmental cooperation agreement, as Dane County and the Wisconsin Department of Health and Family Services (DHFS) have.
Presently, the Commission is only in the developmental stage. It has no continuing funding source, and it’s intended to “improve the quality and accessibility of supportive home care and personal care services” for clients with disabilities who receive medical assistance waiver services, not elderly people.
So why write about it here?
One of the reasons for looking at this proposal, according to Paper #436 (May 2, 2007), Health and Family Service—Disability and Elder Services, is the need to grow the pool of personal care workers in light of the expansion of Family Care, the nursing home diversion initiative, and other long-term care community program options. So it seems reasonable to follow carefully what unfolds here. It may be something in the future for home care providers for the elderly, too.
Who’s your boss?
If you are an independent personal care worker in a participating county, the Wisconsin QHCC could be a sort of Professional Employer Organization (PEO) for you.
With a PEO, you really have two employers--the person or organization that hires you and supervises you, and another entity that “assumes much of the responsibility and liability for the business of employment, such as risk management, human resource management, payroll, and employee tax compliance.” Training and orientation can also be PEO roles.
Because of the role of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) in establishing the Commission, it would be a very new thing indeed—a union PEO. Traditionally, PEOs are “white collar” entities.
About the registry
A prototype registry already exists, and it’s expected that the provider registry of the Wisconsin Regional Training Partnership and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) will be folded or developed into the QHCC registry.
Here’s what the provider registry form for Dane County looks like. Presently, it seems to be a list of skills and preferences, without a way to evaluate quality.
Back to the meeting
Corey Hoze, director of the Milwaukee County Department of Administrative Services, expressed reservations related to potential costs and limitations on consumer choice. Apparently, he’d expressed support for the objectives of the Commission but the same reservations at the previous meeting.
But the room was packed to overflowing with supporters, mainly from the Wisconsin Home Caregivers United for Quality Care, who spoke eloquently to the pressing need for quality home care--and support for the people who provide it.
I spoke to an organizer for Local 150 of the SEIU, who confirmed that the Wisconsin United people were from his organization.
Wherever you sit on the question of unions, there’s no question about the value of some of the points made by the supporters, especially about the need for better training and quality of care.
Ann Kruschke spoke to the lack of any but basic training for home care workers, compared with hospital employees who can upgrade their skills. “People are coming home in much more serious condition, with tracheostomies for example, and there’s no training for the people who take care of them. There should be at least one place they can go to learn more.”
Another woman, new to home care, talked about a gap she found in caring for older people. Formerly a childcare worker, she pointed out that part of the caring job with children was to provide cognitive, emotional, physical, and social stimulation. But there is nothing like that in the task list she receives from the agencies for which she works. “I’m afraid if I start a puzzle, sit down for coffee with my client, or take them for a walk, I’m stealing from the agency’s time. But I know how important those things are.”
A place for training for some
Important points, and we’d love to hear your comments on them. But there’s one place direct care workers who work with the elderly can go for free education and professional development.
The Milwaukee Aging Consortium's Caregiver Retention Project has been providing ongoing caregiver enrichment education since 2004. The next resource event, Thursday August 9, 5-7 pm at the Milwaukee Center for Independence, is providing skills and knowledge in dealing with people with disabilities and seated exercises home care workers can use with their clients.
Just what the Wisconsin United folks are looking for. Is this another place to develop partnerships?
Tuesday, July 3, 2007
Medicare: Universal health care for everyone?
With a genuine universal health care plan headed for the state assembly, Wisconsin’s abuzz with debate over the best ways to improve health care access and cut costs.
Some see salvation in the plan, which opens to all the system state employees use. Others see socialism and disaster. Business groups are divided, with many trade groups opposing the plan but some independent operators supporting it. Republicans have vowed to administer a swift death to the plan.
Wisconsin Democrats aren’t the only supporters of universal health insurance. The National Older Women’s League, OWL, is, too. In their Mother’s Day report for 2007, Give ‘em Health Revisited: Medicare for All, authors Joan Brodshaug Bernstein and Merton C. Bernstein say we’ve already got a system that works, so why not use it for everyone?
The Oregon Alliance for Retired Americans writes of the report:
Give 'Em Health, Revisited: Medicare-for-All illustrates the ways midlife and older women are especially at risk for lack of health care coverage. The report provides a scathing overview of what is wrong with the current health system including the one-third of total health care expenditures that go to pay for administration, the tripling of profits over five years of the top seven U.S. health care insurers, and the exorbitant salaries of pharmaceutical company CEOs. Yet 47 million Americans have no health insurance, including 15 percent of women age 60-64. OWL concludes the report by endorsing a Medicare-for-All plan that would provide health care insurance coverage to all Americans without requiring new taxes or fees.
Here’s one Tennessee woman’s response:
I am a registered nurse and health care administrator (recently retired). I spent a huge part of my 37-year career finding ways to get coverage for the medical needs of patients. If health care providers were freed from this laborious concern, there is no telling how much talent and skill would be freed up to care for patients—the impact would be wonderful and dramatic!
What do you think? Does dealing with insurance take your time away from more important tasks? Is universal health care important? Viable? Could Medicare be a good system for all? Who would benefit--and who would not?
Some see salvation in the plan, which opens to all the system state employees use. Others see socialism and disaster. Business groups are divided, with many trade groups opposing the plan but some independent operators supporting it. Republicans have vowed to administer a swift death to the plan.
Wisconsin Democrats aren’t the only supporters of universal health insurance. The National Older Women’s League, OWL, is, too. In their Mother’s Day report for 2007, Give ‘em Health Revisited: Medicare for All, authors Joan Brodshaug Bernstein and Merton C. Bernstein say we’ve already got a system that works, so why not use it for everyone?
The Oregon Alliance for Retired Americans writes of the report:
Give 'Em Health, Revisited: Medicare-for-All illustrates the ways midlife and older women are especially at risk for lack of health care coverage. The report provides a scathing overview of what is wrong with the current health system including the one-third of total health care expenditures that go to pay for administration, the tripling of profits over five years of the top seven U.S. health care insurers, and the exorbitant salaries of pharmaceutical company CEOs. Yet 47 million Americans have no health insurance, including 15 percent of women age 60-64. OWL concludes the report by endorsing a Medicare-for-All plan that would provide health care insurance coverage to all Americans without requiring new taxes or fees.
Here’s one Tennessee woman’s response:
I am a registered nurse and health care administrator (recently retired). I spent a huge part of my 37-year career finding ways to get coverage for the medical needs of patients. If health care providers were freed from this laborious concern, there is no telling how much talent and skill would be freed up to care for patients—the impact would be wonderful and dramatic!
What do you think? Does dealing with insurance take your time away from more important tasks? Is universal health care important? Viable? Could Medicare be a good system for all? Who would benefit--and who would not?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
