The Holiday season can be a particularly difficult time for seniors. If you see or know of a senior in need of help, please reach out and, if necessary, contact the authorities. Here are some sites offering valuable information regarding seniors.
Green House Effect: Homes for the #Elderly to Thrive (NYT article)
The Guide to Overcoming Holiday Depression for the Elderly and their Caretakers
American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry
22 Senior Health Risk Calculators for Healthy Aging
I’m on the board of the Artists and Athletes Alliance, which helps artists and athletes interact with and understand the politicalprocess. Recently, they offered to shoot PSA’s for causes we support. I shot mine for the National Center on Elder Abuse, and the PSA is now online.
Sadly, it’s not a subject that gets much media attention this time of year, but no one should allow elder abuse to drop off their radar during the Holidays. In fact, in some areas the abuse even increases during the Holiday season. So please keep an eye out for any signs of elder abuse in any form: physical, financial, emotional or sexual. If you have reason to believe that abuse has or will occur, please contact law enforcement.
The NY Times had an article last week by Patrick Egan, whose elderly father was the victim of theft at his assisted care living facility.
Here are some helpful links regarding the elderly:
Guide to Senior Living: State-by-State Options
Prevent Medicare Fraud: How To Avoid Abuse and Medical Billing Fraud
Hopeline: Donate Used Cellphones to Benefit Domestic Violence Orgs
World Elder Abuse Awareness Day is held annually on June 15. As part of the events surrounding this call-to-action, the National Center on Elder Abuse is once again running my PSA on the issue in movie theatres around the country. (A short article on that is here.) The PSA on YouTube is here, and my post last year on the PSA is here.
A couple articles on World Elder Abuse Awareness Day are here and here.
(Apparently, I have to get this out of my system today, so: herehearhierheerhareherehearheearheeeeerrrrreee. Whew.)
And some FAQs on Elder Abuse are here. Here’s perhaps the most important one, a general definition of elder abuse. If you see elder abuse, or evidence of it, please report it to the authorities immediately.
