Government Doesn't Solve Problems...

...they apply bandaids.

HMMM...

Aging population not driving health costs, report says

Can He Still Get Into Timmies....

92-year-old man banned from public library for sexually harassing librarian...

A Little Advice For The Star's Editorial Staff...

...do a computer search for "photo ops by politicians and retirement homes and seniors" and I will bet you will be inundated by the volume...including your candidate, Depends Snivelman, for mayor.

Retirement homes: Seniors need more protection Sun Oct 3 2010


The government has to turn its attention to the bigger challenge of providing safe, humane care for Ontario’s aging population.

Diary: Seven sad days



Video: Undercover at In Touch


Retirement home photos

When It Comes To Seniors Politicos See It As Media Photo Op...

Christie Blatchford


Verdict in seniors’ home fire a call to action – but will anyone listen?

Oct 02, 2010 6:37AM EDT

Ontario under increasing pressure to make sprinklers mandatory.

...and for examples just look back over the last 8 years and a prime example is Depends Snivelman.

Growing Old Fraught With Apathy...

...funding for the artsy fartsy crowd, funding for homeless condos, funding for hockey rinks and the list goes on and on and you have to wonder how much this crisis gets.

Globe editorial


Kick at the darkness to fight dementia

In the new world of fearless senior citizens, there is a largely hidden group that should not be forgotten. Those who have dementia will be a large and growing, and difficult-to-care-for, population.

Hiring A Caregiver Is Noble But Is It Caring...

Goar: Elderly caregivers desperately need help

September 08, 2010
Carol Goar

Two million Canadians live this slow-motion tragedy daily. Their families watch with a mixture of guilt, anguish and helplessness. The rest of society averts its eyes.
Informal caregivers — most of whom are seniors — are the beasts of burden of Canada’s health-care system. They provide $25 million a year in unpaid labour, but they often destroy themselves doing it.
Motivated by love, duty or compassion, they seldom complain. And those who try to speak out for them — relatives, neighbours, a few home care organizations and a handful of doctors — are ignored.
Now a major government-funded agency is sounding the alarm.
The Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) issued a report in late August called Supporting Informal Caregivers: The Heart of Home Care. It showed that one in six people caring for ailing seniors at home is in distress. The number shoots up to one in three if the senior has cognitive problems such as Alzheimer’s disease, one in two if the senior is aggressive or abusive.
These are the first authoritative figures on the problem. Up to now, advocates have relied on estimates or anecdotal evidence.
At a time when Ontario is encouraging seniors to stay in their homes for as a long as possible, it is important to know who is providing the support they need.
If a couple is married, the primary caregiver is the spouse. If not, it is typically an adult child. If neither is available, a relative, friend or neighbour takes on the role.
As the demands of caring for the senior increase, so does the toll on the caregiver, resulting in physical exhaustion, depression, anger and conflict with other relatives and friends. With more support, they could get out, meet friends, go shopping, see their grandchildren. But they aren’t getting it. Many don’t even know where to look.
When Dalton McGuinty became premier in 2003, he promised Ontarians, “If you require care, want it in your home and that care costs less than sending you to a hospital or nursing home, we will make sure you get it.”
That pledge must be kept. Other changes are needed as well.
 • Workplaces will have to allow employees the flexibility to help parents or friends experiencing health problems.
 • Ottawa’s compassionate care leave program will have to be modified. It allows a worker to claim up to six weeks of employment insurance when caring for a gravely ill relative or friend.
But it is seldom used because many Canadians find the idea of providing a doctor’s certificate, stating that the person they want to be with faces a “significant risk of death,” repugnant.
 • The Canada Pension Plan will have to be adjusted. It allows workers to take time off to care for young children without jeopardizing their retirement benefits. A similar provision is needed for workers who do the same for aging parents.
 • And the province will have to make it easier for seniors to navigate the health-care system so they know where to go for help.
Now is the time. We know that Canada’s population is aging. We know the incidence of dementia is increasing. And we know people want to remain independent for as long as possible.
That requires home care. It’s part of the health-care system now, as much as doctors, hospitals, drugs and therapy. It has to be funded properly, delivered when it is needed and include support for both the patient and caregiver.
Who will pay? All of us, either through our taxes or through lost earnings, family stress and caregiver burnout.

Carol Goar’s column appears Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

Finally A Study That Has Value...

It's on Mikey!

Time to stave off the effects of aging...

Put more sex in your life: It slows aging. A Scottish study found that thrice-weekly action stripped at least four years off participants' faces, and getting busy even boosts immunity and reduces heart disease. There are beauty bonuses, too — sex perks up your appearance instantaneously.

Jeepers!  On our schedule, I should look like a newborn by now ;)

Wonder Woman

I AM A Senior And Will Take Any Perks That Are Offered...

...but I don't want seniors to become another designated group that gets special consideration at the expense of others. 

James: Want a better city? Make sure it's age-friendly

August 09, 2010
Royson James

Is Toronto an age-friendly city?

If everyone from age 8 to 88 feels equally safe and welcome at the intersection of Yonge and Bloor, the answer is yes.
If older residents are warehoused in seniors buildings, separated, in fact, from residents of all ages, the answer might be no.
Special transit service gets you to first base. A discount transit pass gets you to second. A Calgary-type senior’s pass that charges $100 a year compared to the TTC’s $100 a month is a resounding triple. But safe, reliable, frequent, affordable and accessible transit service gets you home.
But consider this. In a superbly integrated city where older residents feel very comfortable navigating all the services and relations needed for full citizenship, transit assumes less importance; and walking a lot more.
That’s because transit is so often built on the premise of quick travel across distance — the commute — to access jobs and services. Walking suggests ultimate accessibility.
The Canadian Association of Retired People (CARP) wants us to re-image the city, to look at it through a different set of lenses, see it from a perspective that is “mindful” of older citizens. It’s a view that promises to help everyone.
CARP takes its position to the mayoral candidates Wednesday afternoon in a debate at Ryerson University that addresses issues important in building an age-friendly city.
All five front-line candidates have promised to appear. Moderator Susan Eng, the no-nonsense lawyer who is CARP’s vice-president for advocacy promises a “civilized debate that will consist of getting answers and ending the usual political name-calling and free-for-all that sees candidates talking over each other.
“We won’t tolerate all that histrionics,” Eng said Monday as CARP released a position paper calling on the city to act now in delivering this new city.
“An age-friendly Toronto will ensure that public spaces, neighbourhoods, and buildings . . . are safe and accessible and flow with the rhythm of all residents, young and old.”
It’s a neat image — one that portrays a movement of people en masse, old and young, not a slowpoke senior bringing up the rear, holding up traffic, and progress.
The mayoral candidates are deeply interested in Wednesday’s conversation because seniors vote in greater percentages than the general population (70 per cent of those over 65 vote regularly in all elections, compared to 39 per cent of the overall population in city elections).
Census figures show there were 353,455 seniors in Toronto in 2006, some 91,000 living alone. Two in three are immigrants. Their share of the population is growing, which means they are a significant force. It’s a demographic you want to address.
The CARP-sponsored debate is part of a wider movement for age-friendly cities worldwide. (They stopped spelling out their name, sticking with the acronym, because, they say, too many of their members can no longer afford to retire).
CARP makes several recommendations.
•  Help older people to retrofit their homes so they can stay there as long as they want, despite mobility or medical challenges.
•  Decentralize government, social, recreational and medical services to provide greater social integration for this population. School buildings and properties are an obvious delivery vehicle.
•  See transit as a second-order priority. Rather, design communities so people of all ages can walk to the places they need to go. “Start by locating recreational and social services within communities where people live rather than in commercial clusters accessible only by car or transit.”
It will be good to hear from the candidates how they might recast housing, social services, transit, the infrastructure, as well as services to foster social cohesion among residents of all ages.

Royson James usually appears Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Email: rjames@thestar.ca

And Survival Puts Them In A Higher Tax Bracket...

  Goar: New pool of cheap labour — seniors

By Carol Goar

Fri Jul 30 2010

 

Canada basks in its reputation as the nation that lifted seniors out of poverty. But increasing numbers need McJobs to survive.

The Really Important Things...

Lucy Waverman

Where there’s smoke, there’s really good brisket

Elizabeth Renzetti

Get over it, kids – oldsters are cool, and occasionally hot

Being A Senior...

Bedridden Women Sexually Assaulted At Senior's Home 

Subway attack on senior sparks anger - thestar.com

Beaten 79-year-old lucky to be alive

Wait times for long-term care in Ontario triple since 2005: report

City life can be hostile terrain for the elderly

April Lindgren

04 June 2010 06:00

My 78-year-old neighbour Rosa holds court on her front porch every evening with a few of her equally aged friends. They yak in Italian, greet passersby and berate me for not watering my flowers. I think of them as the neighbourhood mayor and council.
When the evening “meeting” breaks up, Rosa goes inside, Theresa walks a block and a half home, Lucia goes to her house three doors down and Maria limps around the corner to her place.
These women live a good life in our downtown neighbourhood. None of them drive, but there are three drug stores, three butchers, myriad greengrocers, a shoemaker, a half-dozen hairdressers, dentists, lawyers, a doctor’s office, a church, a post office, a hardware store and a subway stop within a few short blocks of home.
Statistics Canada predicts there will soon be a lot more seniors like Rosa and her friends. The number of people 65 and older is expected to nearly double to between 9.9 million and 10.9 million by 2036, up from 4.7 million in 2009.
With 60 per cent of seniors living in communities of more than 100,000, the aging population poses a significant challenge for cities. Simply getting around, for instance, will be a growing problem for the surburban elderly who can no longer drive.
Research suggests that inadequate transit, the lack of nearby amenities and an environment hostile to pedestrians means seniors living in sprawling developments take fewer trips each week than those living in denser, downtown neighbourhoods. They are less likely to leave their homes on any given day. What’s more, traffic lights that change too quickly and streets that are too wide make walking a dangerous endeavour: In 2001, there were 3.7 pedestrian fatalities per 1,000 population among those 65 and older — the highest rate for any age group in Canada.
Cities are hostile places for the elderly in other ways. They lack public toilets. There are too few places to sit and rest. Rough sidewalks make it easy to trip.
Having said all that, there is hope. The first of the baby boomers turns 65 next year and by 2031, they will all be 65 or older. This is a demographic that gets what it wants and if boomers demand better transit, safer intersections, more public toilets and more places to sit — well it just might happen. And that means better cities for people of all ages.

What Is The Criteria To Receive CPP And OAS...

...if "prisoners" meet the criteria then, considering the multitude of other perks that they receive how can you justify them not getting CPP And OAS? I am sure many of them have families that are in dire straits and let's not forget that when governments bring in legislation dealing with the exceptions that little by little it impacts on many others.

 

Government to cut payments for elderly prisoners

CTV.ca News Staff
 
Updated: Mon. May. 31 2010 10:03 PM ET

The Conservative government will table legislation on Tuesday to scrap old-age pension and Guaranteed Income Supplement payments to inmates aged 65 and older, CTV News has learned.
It's believed the changes would affect 400 inmates in federal prisons, and 600 more in provincial institutions, CTV's Ottawa Bureau Chief Robert Fife reported Monday night.
If the legislation passes, Conservatives say it would save $10 million each year.
The issue was raised in late May when it was revealed that convicted murderer Clifford Olson was receiving more than $1,100 per month in old-age benefits.
Olson, 70, is serving 11 consecutive life sentences for the brutal killings of 11 children.
In late May, Human Resources Minister Diane Finley was presented with a petition from the Canadian Taxpayers Federation demanding that the government stop paying Old Age Security and Guaranteed Income Supplement payments to prisoners.
It also calls for the government to "retroactively revoke" all payments given to such prisoners.
According to the Canadian Taxpayers Federation website, more than 46,000 people signed the petition before it was handed to Finley.

Guilty As Charged With A Defense...

...five decades of contribution of blood, sweat and tears has to count for something and we shouldn't be held accountable for the leftist cradle to grave mantra of PET and his ilk.

Demographic tsunami? Let’s dance!

Seniors perform at the Seniors Jubilee at Roy Thompson Hall. Moses Znaimer says today's active and healthy Zoomers are doing more than just “staying alive.”

Rene Johnston/Toronto Star file photo

 

By Moses Znaimer

Sun May 30 2010

 

When it comes to issues of health and wellness for today’s seniors, there is a crisis that requires our immediate attention: the belief that an aging “tsunami” of Zoomers represents a financial catastrophe in the making. The supposed problems are the health-care and pension burdens we are about to impose on succeeding generations, as they struggle to pay for our huge, decaying demographic. Open any newspaper, walk into any bookstore, type “Boomer” and “crisis” into Google and you can’t avoid dire predictions. (0)

A lesson for Europe from Nate’s Deli

By National Post editorial board  May 29, 2010 – 9:00 am

 

This week, Nate’s Deli at 316 Rideau Street in Ottawa closed its doors after exactly 50 years in business — erasing from the Ottawa landscape a restaurant famous among locals and Parliamentarians alike. After 50 years of cutting smoked meat (1,500 pounds per week) and making chopped liver (24 pounds per day), founder Dave Smith, now 76, is ready to move on.
But Mr. Smith won’t be heading to the shuffleboard court at Del Boca Vista Phase III just yet. First, he is off to Haiti to create new housing for earthquake victims. Mr. Smith also has some local Canadian charities to manage. And in a few years time, he might even get back into the deli business, he tells reporters.
We mention all this in hopes that someone might get the word out to the folks in France. While Parisians may turn their noses up at knishes and latkes, they could learn a thing or two from Mr. Smith’s work ethic. Read More »

Posted in: Canada, Full Comment, Social Issues, World Politics  Tags: Europe, work ethic, retirement

 

In All Fairness Mr. Rubin...

...your comment; “I hate the parking guys,” is at best childish. They are doing their job and while it is true some might go to extremes overall if you does the crime you pay the price.

Senior eludes parking ticket, cop in hot pursuit

Retired businessman, 79, says officer was ‘livid’ after 20-foot car chase. May 28, 2010

Seniors Have Long Memories...

...and the time to support or destroy politicians and party platforms.

This Is Becoming The Rule Rather Than The Exception...

Goar: Glimpse into a lonely, hidden world

May 24, 2010

If you visit the Royal Ontario Museum any Wednesday between 4:30 and 5:30 p.m., you can get in free.
That would be a perfect opportunity to see House Calls, a powerful new exhibition that just opened.
The museum wants everyone to come, regardless of income, education or social status. And this is one show that cuts across every stratum.
It is a Toronto doctor's photo essay of elderly Canadians trapped in their homes and forsaken by the health-care system. They're too frail or disabled to get to a physician's office. And physicians are too busy to come to them.
Dr. Mark Nowaczynski is the exception. He makes house calls. When he began the practice, 12 years ago, he hoped to set an example other doctors would follow. But almost none budged from their offices, so he resorted to his non-medical skills, seeking to become an agent of change.
Today, he carries his black bag and his old-fashioned camera on his daily rounds. By day, he heals infirm bodies and relieves the ache of loneliness. In the evening, he advocates for his patients with poignant anecdotes, stark photos and a vision that puts people — especially those who have no voice — back at the centre of health care.
Every journalist who has met Nowaczynski — including me — has been moved to tell his story. But his photos speak far more cogently than our words. Thirty-six of them are on display in a small second-floor gallery of the Royal Ontario Museum until Oct. 11.
The opening of the exhibition was an understated affair. A couple of Nowaczynski's patients managed to get there. A contingent of friends, associates and supporters was on hand. So were a few of the journalists the personable 51-year-old doctor has met along the way.
By museum standards, it was a downscale crowd. But William Thorsell, the ROM's chief executive, hosted the event like a proud impresario. He talked about the genesis of the exhibition and the reason it mattered.
He learned about Nowaczynski from a friend who works at the National Film Board. Director Ian McLeod invited him to screen an award-winning documentary he had made. It showed the Toronto doctor visiting his patients and immortalizing the way they lived.
Thorsell had heard of the physician with a mission. But he didn't know Nowaczynski was an accomplished photographer. “I asked him to bring in his portfolio.”
As soon as he saw the portraits, he knew they were museum quality. They combined artistry and advocacy in a way that begged to be seen.
He invited Nowaczynski to mount a photo display. For the crusading doctor, it was an opportunity to reach thousands. “You are not looking at an exotic species in another world,” he told museum patrons. “You are looking at your future.”
Some medical professionals consider Nowaczynski's photos exploitative. They may not be pretty, but they're deeply respectful. They convey the quiet fortitude of a generation that grew up during the Great Depression, fought in World War II, worked doggedly and asked nothing in return.
Moreover, every portrait was taken with the willing consent of the patient.
The exhibition delivers multiple messages. It challenges young doctors to revive a tradition that never should have died. It forces health-care bureaucrats to acknowledge that the rush to schedule more high-volume procedures and produce more measurable results is leaving those who built this country behind. And it offers the public a rare glimpse into the keepsake-stuffed apartments and rundown homes where seniors live, fearing institutionalization as much as death.
Take an hour to see the display. Ask yourself if this could be your grandparent or parent — or someday you.
Carol Goar's column appears Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

Annual Media Event And Broken Promises..

...that is all McGoonty has done for seniors during his time in office. But I have almost forgot he has given one of his major misfits, George "Depends" Smitherman, a shot at becoming mayor of Toronto. 

Goar: Slow down and get retirement homes law right

May 17, 2010
Carol Goar

The legislative committee reviewing the Ontario government’s Retirement Homes Act is moving at top speed. Last week, it completed its public hearings in a single day. This week, it expects to wrap up its clause-by-clause review.
Gerry Phillips, the minister responsible for seniors, would like to see the bill become law before the House rises for the summer next month.
Everybody seems to agree with his pace. The opposition parties, the retirement home industry and the public all want the bill passed as soon as possible.
There is only one dissenting voice: that of seniors.
They want a serious debate about the substance of the bill.
“We support the idea of regulation, but this is not the way to do it,” said Gerda Kaegi of Canadian Pensioners Concerned. The former Ryerson professor wanted to speak to the committee, but couldn’t accommodate the 10-minute time slot she was assigned.
Only a handful of concerned groups — the Advocacy Centre for the Elderly, the Ontario Coalition of Senior Citizens’ Organizations, the Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario and the Canadian Union of Public Employees — got a spot on the roster.
The Advocacy Centre for the Elderly (ACE), a legal aid clinic specializing in seniors’ issues, made the strongest presentation. “While we support the spirit of the proposed legislation, we cannot support Bill 21 unless significant changes are made,” executive director Judith Wahl told the committee. “We submit that retirement home regulation is of such critical importance in the lives of Ontarians that it should be carried out by way of a government-administered scheme.”
That is not what Phillips is proposing. His legislation would create an arm’s-length regulatory authority to license and inspect retirement homes, investigate complaints and impose penalties on operators who neglected or mistreated residents.
This non-government agency would be governed by a board of directors made up of people with a background in the retirement home business or a competency in the field.
As a complement, the government would enact a bill of rights, which would require a facility to spell out the true cost of care, accommodation and other services and “promote zero tolerance of abuse.” It is unclear how it would be enforced.
“Although the government is trying to convince the public that the proposed legislation is creating a third-party regulatory model, the model as drafted is more similar to enhanced self-regulation,” Wahl said. “We urge the committee to use this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to get it right and provide proper protections to individuals living in retirement homes.”
She raised three principal concerns:
 • There is a high risk the new regulatory authority would reflect the interests of the multi-million-dollar retirement home industry, not those of consumers.
Although Phillips said he would look for board members “who understand the industry but are not there representing the industry,” ACE is skeptical. Third-party regulatory bodies almost always end up being industry-dominated.
 • Complaints would be investigated internally.
ACE points out that the Ontario Retirement Communities Association, the voluntary umbrella group that represents 70 per cent of the industry, already has a complaints hotline. Few residents know it exists. Those who do are reluctant to use it for fear of retaliation.
 • Bill 21 would set the stage for a two-tiered elder-care system.
Seniors who couldn’t get into a government-regulated nursing home (more than 25,000 are now waiting for beds) would face pressure to move into a privately run retirement home. For those with the money to buy extra health-care services, this would be a reasonable solution. But those with limited means would be unable to afford the care they need.
These are important issues. It wouldn’t hurt to slow down, address seniors’ concerns and ensure the Retirement Homes Act is a genuine step forward.

One Great Lady...

Betty White's age a running gag in 'Saturday Night Live', but she proves she's no average senior

Betty White, the oddest comet in our crowded celebrity sky, did nothing to diminish her stature last night as she hosted "Saturday Night Live."

Getting Shafted But Their Day Is Coming...

Death and taxes: A vision For Toronto's seniors

Is what they say about death and taxes true? Until recently, I accepted both as the predetermined irrevocable course of life and never thought to question it. That is until I thought about my grandmother.
Nothing beats my grandma’s cooking. You name it, she can cook it. In fact, every time I’m at her house being fed, yet another helping of chicken, macaroni pie or rice and peas I ask her how she does it. Her response is always the same, “I’ve been doing it all my life”. The truth is my grandma cooks like her life depends on it because there was a time when it did. Today it’s the kind of reality show that would have made networks millions; think Survivor meets Iron Chef, but instead of losing your chance at millions, you get deported or lose your work permit.
As a young mother in her 20s, my grandma left Jamaica to build a better life for her children. She left her tiny island and her tiny tots in the care of her siblings and prepared for a new life in Canada. Her first job was as a domestic in Nova Scotia where her cooking talents eventually led to a stable job in Toronto. During that time she would send money back home, working towards the day when her kids (my dad and aunt)would be by her side. Then in 1976, with her stable employment and understanding of the Canadian way of life, my dad and aunt arrived to Canada.
My grandma worked hard to make sure her kids did well. And what repayment will she get for her years of service? Death and taxes. In the spirit of non-discrimination, this seems to be the “gift” every senior receives, even the ones who don’t have the adequate means to live a dignified life. It’s too bad you can’t regift bad government decisions. Or maybe you can.
Could Toronto introduce a revised taxation system that uses property taxes to make life better for low income seniors? Wait, we do that through the Ontario Fair Assessment System, but let’s take that step further. Almost 10 per cent of Toronto’s population lives in social housing. And that number will double in the next few years. Municipalities like ours need to take a leadership role and design a plan that ensures that seniors who weren’t able to afford a house in our expensive city can still have a chance at a life of dignity.
The statistics are alarming. More than 20 per cent of Toronto’s seniors live in poverty and the number continues to grow in this city. Many impoverished seniors live alone, without many social networks. Family and supports are sporadic at best, and with the unstable funding of many non-profit organizations, community programs are only in “just visiting” status; long enough to say hello, but just as quick to say goodbye (Aside: is this what they mean by “socially liberal and fiscally conservative?”).
Currently Toronto’s poverty rate for seniors is 50 per cent higher than the national average. If the predictions are right and this population increases by 50 per cent by time 2031 rolls around, what does that mean for us?
If we do nothing, then it means nothing. Life will remain as is. Seniors will continue to suffer in silence, living in social and economic exile, confirming their existence through up-to-date tax records. Meanwhile, the cost of living (especially food, shelter, transportation) will continue skyrocket to stratospheric levels at the same time that quality of life plummets to embarrassingly, no, shamefully substandard levels.
By revising our taxation system for low income seniors, Toronto would be making a bold statement: that seniors deserve a life of dignity.
Currently the income supports for impoverished seniors are a guarantee that they will die poor and forgotten; Poor because of their struggle to pay for taxes on a very limited income and forgotten because living in poverty often is a life of isolation for seniors. When you’re a poor senior, there’s no afternoon brunch and social clubs to frequent. That’s a luxury afforded to the affluent.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m not suggesting that social clubs open their doors to destitute seniors. What I’m suggesting is that our government take a leadership role in recognizing that as Toronto becomes home to more and more seniors and the poverty becomes an inevitable reality, we should look at the taxing impact of the taxation system on impoverished seniors.
This also raises a bigger questions: Do we have an equitable vision for aging in Toronto? Yes, the old adage about death and taxes is true. They are inevitable, but they should not be related.
About Tonika Morgan