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The Community in Senior Residential Living
I was just reminded of a very important aspect of senior residential options that can get overlooked in conversations...
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February 26, 2011
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Caregiving in this century is not just handholding; it combines the latest technologies with caring to allow virtually anyone to...
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February 22, 2011
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In the Caregiver's Words

Recent Client Praise

During this seemingly relentless pandemic, it may be difficult to think about longevity as the COVD virus has swept through all populations in all countries with some scary and mortal consequences. But let’s be aware of the miracle – seemingly overnight – that science emerged with not just one, but multiple vaccinations to protect us against the scourge. In similar fashion, science has been creating the opportunity to extend both quality and quantity of life for decades. There are some scientists who mathematically and medically argue that the first person who will live to 150 years old is already born and walking among us…some say the 200 year old is in the crowd also. Not all scientists agree…surprise, and they fall into two camps that are aptly named “pessimists” and “optimists.” It starts with the simple fact that in 1990 there were approximately 95,000 people in American who had hit their 100^th birthdays. By the year 2015 that number had climbed to 450,000 centenarians. The numbers of supercentenarians (110years+) have also increased dramatically across the globe – in Japan, for instance, they increased sevenfold from 2005 to 2015. The record presently is with a French woman who lived to 122 years of age before she died in 1997. Back to pessimists and optimists. Pessimists hold that risk of death increases exponentially with age so that the odds just require that a person hit a limit. Optimists talk about that exponential increase being true – up to a point. That point is 80 years old. Once people reach 80, the risk of mortality plateaus with the odds of survival being all of fifty percent each year starting with 80 and stretching to … who knows where. The argument between these two camps goes on, and the data are not entirely on one side or the other. But living to 80 gets you the ticket to the next level. Those who wish to live to 150 need to get to 80, of course, and then see which school is correct. How to make it to 80? Well, the French woman smoked a cigarette most every day, had a brandy and enjoyed chocolate, so maybe there is no one path that does not also include good genes and good medical care. But scientists suggest some simple recommendations to maximize everyone’s chance to reach the 80^th birthday:
- Eat fruits and vegetables as well as whole grains
- Consume lower fat yogurt and milk products
- Serve primarily skinless poultry or fish entrees
- Munch on a variety of nuts or beans
- Cook with olive, corn, safflower or peanut oils.
And exercise 30+ minutes at least three times a week; it’s important to keep an engine running periodically so that it doesn’t “rust out.” Oh, and the pessimists and optimists…one scientist from each camp wagered on this one. Each put $150 each into a growth fund in 2000 betting that whomever is right about a documented case of anyone living to 150 years old would claim the growing fund … in the year 2150. Recall I said that this future 150 year old may already be walking among us now…let’s be on the lookout. Charlotte Bishop is a Caregiver Coach, an Aging Life Care Advisor, a Geriatric Care Manager and founder of Creative Care Management, certified professionals who are geriatric advocates, resources, counselors and friends to older adults and their families in metropolitan Chicago. She also is the co-author of How Do I Know You? A Caregiver’s Lifesaver for Dealing with Dementia.
I think it is safe to say that most of us are really ready for this pandemic and quarantine to come to an end, and with two vaccines already approved we can see a light at the end of the proverbial tunnel. But can you see the silver lining in the quarantine that has isolated so many of us and our loved ones? Research published this past week tells us that it is this loneliness of 2020 that actually helps stimulate the brain to build greater creativity and imagination. All of us have read at least parts of Henry David Thoreau’s Walden, and a few may be aware of Admiral Richard Byrd’s chronicle of his isolation at then the farthest south pole habitation in a book called Alone. Thoreau spent over two years on his own outside Concord, and Byrd spent five months alone in the dark polar winter of Antarctica. Both spent a lot of inward time reflecting. The silver lining actually is gray…gray matter that is. The article based on this research was published in a journal called Nature Communications. The researchers had suspected that a network in the brain that is tied to memory and social cognition likely was changed among people who were isolated or lonely. Lonely people, they hypothesized were understandably more likely to reminisce and maybe even imagine or plan their futures. Through neural imaging, the scientists found that this creative part of the brain actually physically increased in size, significantly larger than study subjects who were not lonely. Maybe just a quirk among some small number of people studied you may say? Well, the scientists had a database of 500,000 people between ages 40 and 69 in UK on which to base their analysis. The data were collected because UK took loneliness seriously, even appointing a Minister for Loneliness. This building up of gray matter may be an outcome of our brain’s default to avoid the “use it or lose it” syndrome. It may seem at odds with what we have reported in the past about isolation giving rise to depression and possibly also fueling the onset of Alzheimer’s. The scientists are on those trails as well. Knowing that Alzheimer’s also is linked to the APOE-4 gene, they are following up with patients by genotype to see what they can discover. Their research has significance coming out of this pandemic year, and I am optimistic when scientists can report some good coming out of this long downtime we all have had. I will keep your apprised. In the meantime, please continue to do all that we are asked to do by the public health officials. Social distance and quarantine continue to be your friends, and they may even prove to be your inspiration. Charlotte Bishop is an Aging Life Care Advisor, Geriatric Care Manager and founder of Creative Care Management, certified professionals who are geriatric advocates, resources, counselors and friends to older adults and their families in metropolitan Chicago. She also is the co-author of How Do I Know You? A Caregiver’s Lifesaver for Dealing with Dementia.
I started in my last posting with a Q and A with John Wank, President of the Illinois Guardianship Association. He continues this second with his answers to our questions in this the second in a three-part series.

You are General Counsel and Director of Program with the Illinois Guardianship and Advocacy Commission.

What does the Commission do?

As the largest public guardian in the United States, the Office of State Guardian (OSG) handles personal or financial decisions for more than 5,000 disabled adults. Nearly all OSG wards are indigent persons, with costs of care paid by public entitlements. Nearly all OSG front-line staff are Registered Certified Guardians (RCG) under the program administered by the Center for Guardianship Certification.

Legal Advocacy Service (LAS), is the statewide public agency that provides court-appointed legal counsel and representation to vulnerable children and adults with mental illness or developmental disabilities in judicial proceedings involving their commitment to, retention in, enforced treatment in, and release from mental health care facilities.

The Human Rights Authority (HRA) ensures rights protections for persons with disabilities by conducting investigations of alleged rights violations committed against persons with disabilities by agencies that serve them.

How are our laws different?

Illinois has two kinds of public guardians. In addition to the Office of State Guardian, every Illinois county has a county-based public guardian's office. The county guardians serve in cases where the ward has more than $25,000 in assets. The Office of the Cook County Public Guardian is especially notable in advocating for its wards. See their website: Public Guardianship.

What challenges would out of state children of an older parent in Illinois for whom they seek a guardian face?

Guardianship is instituted by the filing of a petition in which the petitioner requests the appointment of a named party as guardian. Section 11a-8. If the suggested guardian is an out of state child, the court may wish to know how the child would execute an active and suitable program of guardianship, as described in Section 11a-5(a). Consequently, conducting a guardianship petition and then, serving as guardian, on a long-distance basis, may be complicated. Securing local assistance could be a desirable alternative.

What is the benefit of a private guardian vs. a professional guardian?

There are no particular benefits. Most guardianship involves family, with one family member caring for another, often with fees waived. In these cases, a family membership may be desirable, particularly where there is a long-established caring relationship and no suggestion of financial or emotional misconduct on the part of the family member. In cases where the family is unavailable or unwilling to serve, public guardians are available. Private, for-profit guardianship also exists in Illinois. In both public guardianship cases and for-profit guardianship cases, fees are generally paid from the estates of the ward, if there are any.

Charlotte Bishop is a Geriatric Care Manager and founder of Creative Case Management, certified professionals who are geriatric advocates, resources, counselors and friends to older adults and their families throughout metropolitan Chicago. Please email your questions to Charlotte Bishop.

Copyright ©2011 Charlotte Bishop
April showers are supposed to bring May flowers, but what does May bring? It brings Mental Health Awareness Month…among other things. If you are a caregiver to an older loved one, this is particularly important. Mental illness – particularly depression – is a high risk for individuals as they age. One out of every four older adults has some form of diagnosable mental illness in any given year. About six percent of older adults manifest some form of clinical depression, but older adults can also respond to talk therapy and medication for their mental health issues at rates comparable to younger adults. Yet, older adults more often go undiagnosed and therefore untreated. Some people have a lifelong battle with a mental illness like depression, but for many more it may be precipitated by a condition like stroke, Parkinson’s disease, diabetes, cancer or arthritis. But older adults also have a life that has accumulated losses, most specifically they have lost friends, family, loved ones. We all probably know that the average life expectancy in the U.S. is just under 79 years…that means that the typical 79 year old has lost half of their friends and family by that time. The rate of suicide for 75+ year olds in the U.S. also is higher than any other younger cohort, in part because those over 65 have a “success rate” in their suicide attempts that is five times more lethal than those who are younger. This is not to depress you; it is a wake-up call. It will be up to those of you who are caregivers to older loved ones to look for the signs, because only half of depressed patients are diagnosed by their primary care physicians and only half of patients who discuss any depressive symptoms with their physicians will get any treatment. So, what should you look for?
- Any signs of a sad or “blue” phase that lasts more than a couple weeks
- Difficulty remembering things or confusion in even familiar settings
- Self-medicating with pain medications or alcohol
- Perpetual worries around money or health or loved ones
- Sustained challenges sleeping or concentrating
- Intense caregiving for a loved one that is not allowing them to “get a break”
If you see any of these signs, bring them to your loved one’s physician’s attention…and be persistent if the signs and symptoms persist. Sadness or depression are not “just part of getting older.” Eighty percent of older adults who are diagnosed and get treatment recover from their depression. Your “mental health awareness” can be their mental health cure! Charlotte Bishop is an Aging Life Care Advisor, Geriatric Care Manager and founder of Creative Care Management, certified professionals who are geriatric advocates, resources, counselors and friends to older adults and their families in metropolitan Chicago. She also is the co-author of How Do I Know You? A Caregiver’s Lifesaver for Dealing with Dementia.
Some have called it an epidemic. And it’s particularly virulent within the senior population. The epidemic leads to even more serious conditions. But the cure is simple, and it distills down to three words: “Never Cry Alone!” I’ve written many times about the isolation that so many older adults in America face as they age. And then comes the COVID pandemic and all the rest of us who are not yet of an age got the chance to experience isolation first hand, and social media assaults, and out political climate, and out climate climate…the list goes on. It’s a feeling of loss that sets in and in many cases becomes full blown depression so much so that mental health tops the list of the health care issues threatening our society. It’s Simon Sinek that offered the simple message based on years as an inspirational author and speaker: Never Cry Alone! Ironically, Sinek doesn’t talk about loneliness or depression as something to deny or from which to create as much distance as possible. It’s part of being normal, he says. Resilience is the goal, not just happiness. Surround yourself with friends … or at least a friend … whom you can call when you just need to say, “This is not just a bad day; can we talk?” What does that good friend do, because remember friendship is a two way street? A truly good friend is not there to “fix things” for you, and a truly good friend is not there to “cheer you up.” A truly good friend is there to listen. That may sound simple enough, but extremely few of us are “good listeners” without some training. In fact, a psychologist named Kenneth Haugk, Ph.D., started an entire movement called Stephen Ministry in 1975, based on this simple premise of “active listening” to others with a problem, a tough situation or just in need of a sensitive ear. So, it’s just listening? Well, it’s all about active listening. I have a go-to phrase with my family when they come to me with problems: “Do you want me to problem solve or just listen?” With listening in motion, the active piece comes into play with additional questions that may sound like:
- I’m sorry to hear that; how are you feeling now?
- How is that working for you?
- You mentioned ____; talk to me about that.
- You’ve given this some thought; what do you think?
And maybe based on Mr. Sinek’s advice, you learn to allow your friend to cry and simply provide the tissue. And keep listening. Charlotte Bishop is an Aging Life Care Advisor, Geriatric Care Manager and founder of, certified professionals who are geriatric advocates, resources, counselors and friends to older adults and their families in metropolitan Chicago. She also is the co-author of How Do I Know You? A Caregiver’s Lifesaver for Dealing with Dementia.
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