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    Holiday Elder Blues, Depression or Dementia?

    The holiday season is quickly coming upon us. If you are a caregiver for an elderly loved one, you may notice a change in your loved one’s mood as the holidays approach. Perhaps you are one of many who visits elderly parents and family during the holidays who live a distance away. When you visit, you may notice that loved ones are not as physically active, or they show symptoms of fatigue or sadness and have no interest in the holiday or in their surroundings.

    How do you know if it is depression or dementia?
    Depression and dementia share similar symptoms. A recent article on Helpguide.org gives some specific differences:

    In depression, there is a rapid mental decline, but the memory of time, date and awareness of the environment remains. Motor skills are slow, but normal in depression. Concern with concentrating and worry about impaired memory may occur.

    On the other hand, dementia symptoms reveal a slow mental decline with confusion and loss of recognizing familiar locations. Writing, speaking and motor skills are impaired, and memory loss is not acknowledged as a being problem by the person suffering dementia.

    Whether it is depression or dementia, prompt treatment is recommended. A physical exam will help determine if there is a medical cause for depression. A geriatric medical practitioner is skilled in diagnosing depression and illnesses in the elderly. If you are a caretaker of an elderly person it may be beneficial for you to seek out a geriatric healthcare specialist. For more information on senior health services go to National Care Planning Council.

    Treating depression in older people.
    Once the cause of depression is identified, a treatment program can be implemented. Treatment may be as simple as relieving loneliness through visitations, outings and involvement in family activities. In more severe cases, antidepressant drugs have been known to improve the quality of life in depressed elderly people. Cognitive therapy sessions with a counselor may also be effective.

    As a caregiver or family member of a depressed older person, make it your responsibility to get involved. The elder person generally denies any problems or may fear being mentally ill. You can make the difference in his/her life and remove the holiday blues from seniors suffering from depression.

    HelpGuide.org offers an informative article, Depression in Older Adults: Recognizing the Signs and Getting the Right Treatment, to help you distinguish between depression, grief, and dementia.

    To find Senior Health Care Services in your area, visit the National Care Planning Council.

    The National Care Planning Council supports the work of geriatric practitioners and their services to the growing senior population. If you are a geriatric practitioner and would like to list your services with the NCPC please call (800) 989-8137.

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    Reprinted from Bob Mauterstock’s The Gift of Communication Blog. Subscribe at http://www.GiftofCommunication.com  and receive Bob’s Family Meeting Checklist Guide.

    Long Distance Caregivers Get Help

    According to a report by the Alzheimer’s Association of Los Angeles & Riverside, California*, there are approximately 3.3 million long-distance caregivers in this country with an average distance of 480 miles from the people they care for. The report also states that 15 million days are missed from work each year because of long-distance caregiving. Seven million Americans provide 80% of the care to ailing family members and the number of long-distance caregivers will DOUBLE over the next 15 years.

    The long-distance caregiver is a new role that is thrust upon children and younger family members. Families used to live closer together, with children residing and working near their parents. But nowadays family members are more distant from each other. Society, today, is recognizing this. Some caregiver services have tweaked their programs to work as liaisons between long-distance caregivers, senior loved ones and local medical professionals.

    Professional care managers, also known as Geriatric Care Managers, Elder Care Managers, Aging Life Care professional or Aging Care Managers,  represent a growing trend to help full-time, employed family caregivers provide care for loved ones. Care managers are expert in assisting caregivers, friends or family members find government-paid and private resources to help with long-term care decisions.

    They are professionals, trained to evaluate and recommend care for the aged. A care manager might be a nurse, social worker, psychologist, or gerontologist who specializes in assessing the abilities and needs of the elderly. Care manager professionals are also becoming extremely popular as the caretaker liaison between long-distance family members and their aging elder loved ones. Caregivers can find a professional care manager by visiting the site https://www.aginglifecare.org.

    *Source: Long Distance Caregiver Project – Alzheimer’s Association LA & Riverside, Los Angeles, CA (May 15, 2002, National Web Seminar by Judith Delaney, MFT, Clinical Coordinator)

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    Financial Advisors may reprint any articles from The Gift of Communication Blog in your own print or electronic newsletter. But please include the following paragraph:

    Reprinted from Bob Mauterstock’s The Gift of Communication Blog. Subscribe at http://www.GiftofCommunication.com  and receive Bob’s Family Meeting Checklist Guide.

    Senior Investment Fraud

    There have been an increasing number of financial advisors who call themselves “Senior Specialists.” Often these titles don’t require any specific study or experience. Seniors are a very attractive audience for these “specialists.” They often have a large portion of their investment assets in cash and CDs. As rates have continued to come down, seniors are looking for attractive alternatives with higher yields. Many financial advisors have used “free meal” seminars to attract seniors and sell them a number of CD alternative products. The Securities and Exchange Commission did a study in 2007 noting the deceptive practices used in these seminars.

    If you or your parents attend one of these investment seminars, be very careful. Do not sign an application at the seminar. Be critical of the promises made at the meeting regarding guaranteed returns and safety of principal. Often if statements sound too good to be true, they often are. If your parents have attended one of these seminars or have signed an application and given the specialist a check, do some research on the product they purchased. There is usually a grace period allowed to return your parents’ funds if they change their mind.

    The SEC provides important information for senior investors including explanations of different products, asset allocation, and risk. You can also get information on affinity fraud, “senior specialists” and investment advisers and what to look for to identify and steer clear of potential frauds on their Senior Investors page.

    FINRA provides important information for senior investors. Its website has such items as Broker Check that gives you the ability to look up the history of your investment professional to see if they have prior complaints or problems. Their website also includes including Investor Alerts that provide timely information on steering clear of investment scams and problems instead of just dealing with their aftermath. Subjects of recent alerts include Look Before You Leave: Don’t Be Misled By Early Retirement Investment Pitches That Promise Too Much; Annuities and Senior Citizens: Senior Citizens Should Be Aware of Deceptive Sales Practices When Purchasing Annuities,” and Seniors Beware: What You Should Know About Life Settlements.

    The North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA) also has helpful information available for seniors on its website, ServeOurSeniors.org, developed this to provide resources for senior investors, family caregivers, the securities industry, and policy makers. Resources include: a quick checklist of questions to ask before you invest, 10 tips to protect your nest egg and guidance on where to turn for help.

    Regulators have warned that seniors may be confused by designations that imply some expertise in helping seniors. Information regarding professional designations is available through NASAA’s Investor Alerts. There is also SEC information on professional designations and FINR’s Professional Designation Database.

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    Financial Advisors may reprint any articles from The Gift of Communication Blog in your own print or electronic newsletter. But please include the following paragraph:

    Reprinted from Bob Mauterstock’s The Gift of Communication Blog. Subscribe at http://www.GiftofCommunication.com  and receive Bob’s Family Meeting Checklist Guide.

    95 Year Old Investor Beats Elder Fraud!

    We are finally seeing action taken to protect elderly investors from sharks in the financial services business who prey on them.

    A Financial Industry Regulatory Authority panel awarded an elderly investor, David Wolfson, $1.6 million in a case involving StockCross Financial Services Inc. of Beverly Hills, CA. Mr. Wolfson accused StockCross, along with two of its brokers, of misconduct and self-dealing. He claimed the brokers recommended and solicited unsuitable and overly risky investments that were actively traded on margin.

    The claim also alleged that StockCross and the two brokers, Thomas B. Cooper and Peter L. Boorn, put Mr. Wolfson’s home at risk. According to the complaint, they “encouraged and invited Mr. Wolfson to leverage the equity in his home with a reverse-mortgage transaction to utilize as investment capital.”

    According to the complaint, Mr. Wolfson was a client of Mr. Cooper for almost 20 years, when Mr. Cooper dropped the account in 2008.

    A footnote to the lawsuit alleged that Mr. Cooper “quit because he had bilked nearly all of Mr. Wolfson’s assets—including the equity in his home, all his cash reserves, all his emergency/medical cash reserves and even the insurance money Mr. Wolfson received to replace his automobile—and there was nothing left to churn.”

    The arbitrators awarded Mr. Wolfson $320,000 in compensatory damages and $960,000 in damages for elder abuse. They also awarded the 95-year-old $234,000 in legal fees, expert witness fees of $62,000, various costs of $21,000 and $10,000 as sanctions for failing to follow discovery orders.

    Sweet justice! Unfortunately too rare in the financial services industry.

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    Financial Advisors may reprint any articles from The Gift of Communication Blog in your own print or electronic newsletter. But please include the following paragraph:

    Reprinted from Bob Mauterstock’s The Gift of Communication Blog. Subscribe at http://www.GiftofCommunication.com  and receive Bob’s Family Meeting Checklist Guide.

    Communicating with an Alzheimer’s Patient

    I’ve discovered a very valuable resource recently, available from the National Institute on Aging through ADEAR, The Alzheimer’s Disease and Referral Center. It’s a guide called Caring for a Person with Alzheimer’s Disease. It is written in a style we can all understand.

    One of the most helpful sections of the guide relates to the communication problems we have with Alzheimer’s patients. When my mom was in the early stage of Alzheimer’s Disease, I could communicate with her reasonably well. Our conversations would usually revolve around the same basic issues, her need for an eye examination, her desire for a phone to call her friends and an explanation of how my father died. She would readily admit that she had forgotten a lot and was often frustrated by not being able to remember things like her mother’s funeral or my Dad’s illness.

    One of the important things I learned during this process was to never use the phrase “Do you remember…..” The guide was helpful in improving my ability to communicate with my mother and reduce her frustration when talking to me.

    The ADEAR guide has recommended these tips to improve communication with an AD patient:

    • Make eye contact to get his or her attention, and call the person by name.
    • Be aware of your tone and how loud your voice is, how you look at the person, and your “body language.” Body language is the message you send just by the way you hold your body. For example, if you stand with your arms folded very tightly, you may send a message that you are tense or angry.
    • Be open to the person’s concerns, even if he or she is hard to understand. This helps the person with AD feel better about himself or herself.
    • Use other methods besides speaking to help the person, such as gentle touching to guide him or her.
    • Try distracting someone with AD if communication creates problems. For example, offer a fun activity such as a snack or a walk around the neighborhood.

    To encourage the person with AD to communicate with you:

    • Show a warm, loving, matter-of-fact manner.
    • Hold the person’s hand while you talk.
    • Be open to the person’s concerns, even if they are hard to understand.
    • Let him or her make some decisions and stay involved.
    • Be patient with angry outbursts. Remember, it’s the illness “talking.”
    • If you become frustrated, take a “timeout” for yourself.

    To speak effectively with a person who has AD:

    • Offer simple, step-by-step instructions.
    • Repeat instructions and allow more time for a response. Try not to interrupt.
    • Don’t talk about the person as if he or she isn’t there.
    • Don’t talk to the person using “baby talk” or a “baby voice.”

    Here are some examples of what you can say:

    • “Let’s try this way,” instead of pointing out mistakes.
    • “Please do this,” instead of “Don’t do this.”
    • “Thanks for helping,” even if the results aren’t perfect.

    You can also:

    • Ask questions that require a yes or no answer. For example, you could say, “Are you tired?” instead of  “How do you feel?”
    • Limit the number of choices. For example, you could say, “Would you like a hamburger or chicken for dinner?” instead of “What would you like for dinner?”
    • Use different words if he or she doesn’t understand what you say the first time. For example, if you ask the person whether he or she is hungry and you don’t get a response, you could say, “Dinner is ready now. Let’s eat.”
    • Try not to say “Don’t you remember?” or “I told you.”

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    PERMISSION TO REPRINT:
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    Financial Advisors may reprint any articles from The Gift of Communication Blog in your own print or electronic newsletter. But please include the following paragraph:

    Reprinted from Bob Mauterstock’s The Gift of Communication Blog. Subscribe at http://www.GiftofCommunication.com  and receive Bob’s Family Meeting Checklist Guide.