Featured - Part 2

Aging gracefully, Most seniors not sure exactly what it means

Seniors and their advocates all are in agreement that an exercise regimen is crucial to aging gracefully; Aging gracefully; Most seniors not sure exactly what it means. We'd all love to age grace-fully, but it might be easier if we knew what the heck that meant. Does aging gracefully mean cheerfully accepting grey hair and other physical changes the way Barbara Bush (age 87) seemingly does? Or, on the other hand, does it require staying eternally gorgeous as the years slide by like Sophia Loren (77)? Is it keeping a busy schedule of work or public service like Jimmy Carter (87) or Betty White (90)? Or being super fit, like 68-year-old champion long-jumper Carl Etter of Duluth, Minn.? Or maybe it's gradually slowing down, relaxing, spending time in the garden, enjoying the grandchildren. It depends on your perspective. A few years ago, Ecumen, a senior housing and services company, compiled a list of graceful aging suggestions from customers and staff. They included suc…

Ontario tightens deadline for sprinklers in retirement homes

Local firefighters say it's about time the installation of sprinklers in Ontario's retirement and long-term care homes becomes mandatory. This comes as the McGuinty government announced on Wednesday that it has ordered a technical advisory committee looking at the issue to deliver its findings by the fall, instead of early next year. The committee was charged with recommending that more retirement and long-term care homes across the province become equipped with sprinklers. Under current legislation, retirement and long-term care homes may operate without sprinklers, so long as the properties compensate by containing stronger than required fire separation barriers between rooms or floors, or more than required numbers of smoke detectors on the site. Captain Mark Yantha, of the Cambridge Fire Department, said there is no doubt making sprinkler systems mandatory in assistive living homes, as most in the industry expect the government will legislate soon, would help fi…

Send condoms, not flowers – SEX AND THE SENIOR Nursing homes are racing to accommodate sexually active boomers

Get ready for the 1960s sexual revolution to reach its ultimate climax. The trend-setting baby boomers are starting to move into retirement homes and long-term care facilities. But is the retirement industry ready for a generation that came of age during the summer of love? As boomers age -- the oldest are 67, making them 22 during the so-called summer of love -- and move into retirement and long-term care facilities, health care providers are increasingly having to accommodate sexually active seniors. "I think it's been a secret up until now, and as more people are moving into care we are making it an issue," said Susan Eng, vice-president of advocacy for the Canadian Association of Retired People. "There's no reason why that part of their lives should stop. People start with the assumption that at a certain age you stop being sexual, and that's not true." Nursing homes are ill-equipped to accommodate seniors' sexual needs, Eng said. "We need more private rooms.…

Seniors in some care facilities will foot bill for Ontario provincial regulator

Seniors living in some retirement homes across the region have already been asked to pay exorbitant fees for basic services. Now, retirement homes will be free to ask seniors to pay part of the costs of running an agency devoted to protecting them from abuse, fraud and maltreatment. The government-sponsored, self-financing Ontario Retirement Homes Regulatory Authority is asking retirement homes to pay it $9 plus HST per month ($10.17) for every room they operate. This fee will cover the costs of inspecting facilities and enforcing rules in the Retirement Homes Act of 2010. There is nothing to stop retirement home operators from turning to residents to cover those additional costs, said Mary Beth Valentine, the registrar and chief executive of the Ontario Retirement Homes Regulatory Authority. "We don't have any authority to tell them they can or they cannot pass it on (to seniors)." Emmanuel Village Retirement Home, onWeber Streetin Kitchener, will begin charg…

Families in disbelief over new Retirement Home fees

Families in disbelief over new retirement home fees; Walking help, night checks, eye drops among 50 services now being charged. Staring at bills and letters scattered across a small coffee table, two women anxiously wonder how they can help their mother afford to live in the modest room they're sitting in. Marlene and Janet Kawalez are one of many families with elderly parents living inFergus Placeretirement home who recently learned about changes to service fees. For the Kawalez sisters, the changes mean an increase of more than $900 every month for their 82-year-old mother Anna's care. They are already paying nearly $2,500 a month for basic rent, meals and services such as weekly housekeeping and recreation programs. "How can you do this, how can you put this much stress on seniors and the people like myself who are already stressing taking care of my parents who are both sick?" Marlene Kawalez said. The family decided to move Anna intoFergus Placetwo years ago…

Ontario jacks prices on nursing homes, and burials fees

Ontario jacks prices on nursing homes, and burials fees. It's going to cost more to stay in a nursing home, visit the Ontario Science Centre or bury a loved one thanks to a number of fee hikes being imposed by the provincial government on July 1. The new regulations also allow nurse practitioners to admit patients to hospitals, alter the Building Code Act to deal with falling glass from building balconies and usher in mandatory licensing of retirement homes in response to concerns raised about the abuse of residents. "Ontario is moving forward with changes to regulations and fees that will protect services, keep Ontarians safe and help the province stay on track to balance the budget," a government release issued Friday says. In a move that could impact social assistance recipients, the province is capping its contribution to health and non-health related discretionary benefits at $10 a case. Previously, there was an $8.75 per case cap on non-health discretionary be…

Provincial aging-at-home strategy fails many seniors

Provincial aging-at-home strategy fails many seniors; Much vaunted $1.1-billion plan has left thousands of Ontario seniors without adequate home care. A 90-year-old Scarborough woman with dementia is told she does not qualify for home care. A daughter in Stouffville , north of Toronto, begs to keep a few home care hours for her 86-year-old father who is paralyzed by a stroke. In Aurora, a woman who cares for her chronically ill husband, was refused home care after she broke her back. These are some of the faces of Ontario's Aging at Home strategy, a four-year program that began in 2008 with great promise. A Toronto Star investigation has found the $1.1-billion strategy is failing many seniors by not providing the care they need to continue living at home. Most of the money has been diverted to a provincial plan that provides home care for seniors discharged from hospital beds where the cost of a day's care is more than three times what it costs for a day's home c…

Demand for Long Term Care LTC set to explode

The coming decades will be marked by an explosion in the number of Alzheimer's diagnoses, reinforcing the need for clients to invest in long-term care insurance products, according to re-insurer Munich Re, which hosted its second congress on long-term care insurance in Montreal last week. Citing a recent survey commissioned by the Canadian Medical Association, Munich Re said that four in five Canadians believe pressures exerted by the aging population will negatively impact the quality of healthcare services for seniors. Seventy two percent of respondents indicated they did not believe they have sufficient resources to maintain good health in the event of such a reduction in state-run healthcare, and consequently, 40% said they were ready to buy private insurance to compensate. And Alzheimer's is just the tip of the iceberg: several aging-related disorders can push your clients into long-term care (LTC). Virtually any condition that causes them to lose the ability to p…

An opinion on long-term care insurance

Maybe this is a good time to remind everyone that long-term care truly is 'a family affair'. In our country, 90% of care is undertaken by family in one's own home and 1 in 5 caregivers still provide care to their loved ones even when in a care facility. As well, 80% of Alzheimer's-dementia persons are cared for at home, usually by a spouse. "It upsets me!" "It upsets my family!" These are the two major barriers recently identified for not having a conversation about our future long-term care! Shockingly, the majority of couples have not talked with their spouses yet about the three key aspects pertaining to their future care: - - Their options when they need some care and related costs - - What they expect of their family members - - How their future care is to be paid for Many people ask me about long-term care insurance (LTCI) as a method of financing some of the costs of our potential future care. I'm not a planner, insurance agent or broker, nor do I work …

Active aging key to seniors’ independence

Active aging key to seniors' independence; Living at home just part of being independent; seniors must keep active, engaged to stay healthy Eric Steven wants to learn how to use a computer so that he can talk over the webcam with his grandkids. "My wife will see our grandchildren on Skype and I don't have the faintest idea how she does it," he says. "I'm embarrassed by my ignorance." Steven, 75, is a member of the Tantramar Seniors College and is at People's Park Towers for a computer class taught by Dennis Damsell, who is 84. "When grandchildren try to teach they go too fast," explains Damsell. Computer class at Tantramar is certainly not fast. But it is a chance for seniors to get out of the house, socialize, and learn something new. "Everybody thinks I'm crazy because I'm 85 and I want to do this," says Ortha Matthews. "Most people at 85, they don't do these things." Matthews is also learning French. Tantramar offers courses in pottery, poker, quilting,…