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NAIPC News June 2, 2016
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Support, Prevent, Advocate! World Elder Abuse Awareness Day
Training High School Students to Fill the Caregiving Gap
Person-centered care: Guiding healthcare into the future
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Also In This Week's Issue
- Member Spotlight- New Hampshire, Mark Sullivan
- "I Brought 1" List
- NAIPC in the News
- Survey: Retirees Want to Age in Place But are Hesitant to Tap Home Equity
- Upcoming Events
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Support, Prevent, Advocate! World Elder Abuse Awareness Day |
Each year an estimated five million, or one-in-ten, older Americans are victims of elder abuse, neglect, or exploitation. According to the Administration for Community Living, for every case of elder abuse or neglect reported, as many as 23.5 cases go unreported.
As professionals who work closely with older adults, we have a responsibility to be able to recognize the signs of elder abuse, especially of financial exploitation, and to provide victims with resources to find the help they need.
As part of World Elder Abuse Awareness Day (WEAAD) on June 15, NAIPC and the National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association (NRMLA) will host a free online tutorial to teach professionals how to identify elder abuse.
Register for the webinar
WEAAD was launched on June 15, 2006 by the International Network for the Prevention of Elder Abuse and the World Health Organization at the United Nations. The purpose of WEAAD is to provide an opportunity for communities around the world to promote a better understanding of abuse and neglect of older persons by raising awareness of the cultural, social, economic and demographic processes affecting elder abuse and neglect. In addition, WEAAD is in support of the United Nations International Plan of Action acknowledging the significance of elder abuse as a public health and human rights issue. WEAAD serves as a call-to-action for individuals, organizations, and communities to raise awareness about elder abuse, neglect, and exploitation. |
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Training High School Students to Fill the Caregiving Gap |
"The combination of a caregiver shortage and a rapidly aging population has left senior living providers scrambling to figure out how to effectively recruit and retain staff. At the same time, many high school and college-aged students are unaware of the career possibilities in the industry, leaving a gap needing to be bridged," says Kourtney Liepelt of Senior Housing News.
So Dr. William Leahy, a semi-retired neurologist in Greenbelt, Maryland, devised a two-fold generational plan that will offer career opportunities to high school students not attending college, as well as ensuring elderly Americans receive the care they require at senior care facilities or while aging in place.
Leahy's program provides hands-on experience and trains high school students in caregiving while preparing them for the exams necessary to become Certified Nursing assistants (CNAs) or geriatric nursing assistants. While learning the students provide extra assistance and in turn make connections for potential hires.
We now have a shortage of 3.5 million caregivers in this country. And a shortage of jobs, especially for the young. Dr. Leahy’s program can be a game changer.
Read full article |
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Person-centered care: Guiding healthcare into the Future |
We have all read reports stating that more than 80% of the aging population wants to age in their own homes. However, not everyone has the financial, emotional, or physical support they need to age in place, or at least age in place without assistance. Once facilities become involved, aging Americans' daily routines and patient care often become based on standard company practice. Who wants to be roused every morning at 6 AM only to wait for an hour to receive the same cold breakfast as everyone else? Who wants to have their medical treatments and healthcare options decided for them? Through a novel concept known as “person-centered care,” now considered to be the gold standard of care by medical and aging professionals, the quality of healthcare services improve.
The underlying philosophy of patient-centered care is that the individual’s values and preferences guide each aspect of their personal health and care. It is a dynamic process as wants and needs may change over time. This little known idea is gaining traction and needs to be the focus of a larger organizational culture-change conversation.
Instead of doing what is easiest or routine for the institution or staff, care should be about what is best for the individual. Person-centered care requires working collaboratively with patients to respond to their unique needs. If someone prefers to sleep in each morning and choose their own breakfast let them. By having the patients work alongside professionals, health and social services are seen as equal partners in planning, developing, and monitoring care, while person-centered care becomes a health system supporting patients to make their own informed decisions about how to successfully manage their health and care and when to invite others to act on their behalf. It’s about giving some control back to the aging.
Most people incorrectly assume that personalized care is costly or prohibitive due to regulations. In fact the opposite is true: person-centered care actually saves money because things are done correctly the first time, says St. Camillus Administrator Bill Graves. (St. Camillus Health Center in Massachusetts began instituting person-centered care a decade ago.) Research shows that, in healthcare facilities utilizing person-centered care there is less food waste (each patient receives warm meals to their liking and at a time suitable to their needs), lower staff turnover and less absenteeism (staff become comfortable working with the same patients daily).
The Four Principles of Person-centered care are:
- Regarding people with dignity, compassion, and respect.
- Offering coordinated care, support, or treatment.
- Offering personalized care, support, or treatment.
- Supporting people to recognize and develop their own strengths and abilities that will enable them to live an independent and fulfilling life.
As part of a large-scale national effort to advance person-centered care the American Geriatrics Society, with support from The SCAN Foundation, convened an expert panel and published an article that defines the concept in, Person-Centered Care: A Definition and Essential Elements.
You can learn more about person-centered care by reading:
Health Innovation Network’s What is person-centered care and why is it important?
The Health Foundation’s Person-centered care made simple: What everyone should know about person-centered care
The Health Foundation’s Helping measure person-centered care: A review of evidence about commonly used approaches and tools used to help measure person-centered care |
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Member Spotlight- New Hampshire, Mark Sullivan |
When Mark Sullivan’s beloved Uncle Buddy retired from a company in Boston and decided to entrust his entire life savings to a friendly “financial advisor” from a major Wall Street firm, Mark, then an accountant, became curious. After researching his uncle’s portfolio, Mark’s worst suspicions were confirmed. Its value had dwindled drastically while his uncle, who couldn’t interpret a typically confusing account statement, was completely unaware. Many of Buddy’s former colleagues had the same experience. It was then that Mark recognized an unmet need for honest, hard-working people to have someone they could trust to see through the smoke and mirrors and confusing jargon of Wall Street firms and boil everything down to terms any layperson could understand.
Armed with his beliefs and a desire to provide others with better advice, Mark entered the securities industry and, over two decades later, founded Seacoast Asset Management, an independent financial services firm which provides fiduciary advice and guidance to executives and families. “Most investors are completely unaware of the profound impact that is made by the fiduciary standard—the highest legal standard of care in the financial services industry”, says Mark. “It can really make a huge difference. My favorite moment is when I can tell a client that they’ve accumulated a nest egg sufficient enough to allow them to begin the next phase of their lives. They can now retire without worrying about ‘longevity risk’, which is the very real threat of running out of money before they run out of time.” Sullivan adds, “Estate planning is also a very important process to undergo in order to protect assets from creditors and ensure they transfer according to one’s wishes in the most efficient manner possible. Due to look-back periods, accidents and health factors often beyond our control, one should work with an estate planning team sooner rather than later. Preparing for one’s own demise is never fun but once completed, it always results in an astonishing sense of relief.”
As a Registered Investment Adviser with 32 years of experience, Mark derives a great deal of satisfaction using his skill-set to help others, exemplified by his board service to Leadership Seacoast, NHSPCA, Seacoast Repertory Theatre, UMass, Seacoast Local, Portsmouth Rotary, Green Alliance, Project Search, NAIPC-NH and Veterans Count.
Mark is acutely aware of the sacrifices and contributions of previous generations and believes that the wonderful life he leads with Loree, his wife of 28 years, and their four children, is due in large measure to them. It is with heartfelt appreciation that he urges seniors to visit the federal regulatory website, www.finra.org, and use the Brokercheck tab to review the credentials, track records, and complaint history, if any, of anyone they are presently working with or considering to engage in managing their finances. Today, with financial fraud being the fastest growing form of elder abuse, Mark urges seniors and their trusted caregivers: “educate thyself!” |
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“I Brought 1” List:
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NAIPC in the News: |
In her May 31st article in Reverse Mortgage Daily, How Networking Helps Reverse Mortgage Pros Boost Referrals, Alana Stramowski touted the importance of networking and affiliations and how they are vital to a successful business.
Soon to be Chair of the San Diego chapter of NAIPC, and interviewee, Monte Howard said, "For all professionals working in the reverse mortgage industry, The National Aging in Place Council is very important. It's a wonderful place to meet and educate so many people who are committed to the aging in place solution."
Our Director, Marty Bell, always says that NAIPC's purpose is to build relationships and connections. By doing so the organization can/will grow and succeed in educating as many aging American's and their families as possible. |
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Survey: Retirees Want To Age In Place but are Hesitant to tap Home Equity |
While 83% of Americans nearing or in retirement want to remain in their current home for as long as possible, less than half – 44% – considered using home equity in its various forms as a retirement income tool, only 25% felt comfortable doing so, and only 14% had considered a reverse mortgage, according to a survey published by The American College of Financial Services.
The Home Equity and Retirement Income Planning Survey polled more than 1,000 people between the ages of 55 and 75 with at least $100,000 in investable assets and $100,000 in home equity.
Jamie Hopkins, a professor of Retirement Income Planning at the American College who authored the survey, wrote in a recent Forbes column that retirees should at least consider home equity as a retirement income source and financial advisors should be doing more to educate their clients about using it strategically.
"Hopefully that's the biggest takeaway from this survey," said Hopkins. "Advisors and consumers need to start thinking about home equity, including reverse mortgages, as part of the retirement income planning process."
The survey also revealed a lack of knowledge about reverse mortgages. When asked 10 questions about the product, 30% of respondents earned a passing grade and 10% answered every question incorrectly. |
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