PBS Airing Life (Part 2) Series on Aging in America

PBS is airing a series on issues affecting today's elderly as well as "baby boomers" who will be accessing services in far greater numbers than older adults today. Life (Part 2) is all about diving in and asking, exploring, and challenging. It's not your grandparents' show about getting old. It's about the new "old" age; it's about aging vitally and vibrantly, defying ageist stereotypes, and still having a clear-eyed view of the challenges that come with this new territory. To find out when Life (Part2) will air on your local PBS station click here.

The Journal of the American Geriatrics Society Features Periodic PPECC Stories
The March 2006 edition of the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society (JAGS) has published an article by PPECC member Erin Barrett titled, Fighting a System Biased Towards Nursing Home Placement. Click here to read the abstract. JAGS will publish additional stories in upcoming editions. Contact Dean Neumann at 612-624-7990 or dneumann@umn.edu if you would like to write a story for this influential journal.

A Geriatrician Making Senior Health Care Better
David Reuben, chief of geriatrics at UCLA and president of the American Geriatrics Society believes spending more time asking patients about their interests, family and even their emotional health is the best way to evaluate their overall health. Click here to read the recent National Public Radio profile on his interesting practice.

One Geriatrician’s Experience
Click here to read a poignant story from Fredrick T. Sherman, MD, MSc who describes his experience as “daunting, often overwhelming.

It Shouldn’t Be This Way Book Ordering Information
Bob Kane's new book, which was the inciting force behind creating Professionals with Personal Experience in Chronic Care, has been published by Vanderbilt University Press. The problems (and some solutions) to reform our badly broken health care system are captured in
It Shouldn't Be This Way, which recounts the difficulties he and his sister encountered when trying to arrange long-term care for their ailing mother. The book’s central message, which is the mantra of PPECC, is: If a long term-care expert could not make the system work, what chance does the average person have? It Shouldn't Be This Way combines elements of a memoir along with specific lessons and tips for families to help them navigate the confusing world of hospitals, clinics and long-term care. Each chapter ends with a set of formal lessons that are derived from their experience. These lessons are designed to prepare adult children and other family members for what they will likely face and to alert people to common challenges when seeking health care. Hardcover and paperback copies of the book are now available for purchase on Amazon.com. One way to call attention to our issues is to post short reviews of the book on this site.  Click here to place your book order.

Meeting the Challenge of Chronic Illness
Robert L. Kane, MD, Reinhard Priester, JD, and Annette Totten, PhD
Chronic conditions such as arthritis, heart disease, and Parkinson's disease are the principal cause of all sickness and death in the United States and account for the vast majority of health care expenditures. Although we now live in a world dominated by chronic conditions, health care is still organized around a commitment to treating acute illness.  Meeting the Challenge of Chronic Illness examines current deficiencies in chronic illness care and explores ways to improve it. Addressing the challenges of shifting from the primacy of acute illness to the predominance of chronic conditions, the authors identify the components necessary to reorganize and reform health care: properly prepared health care workers; involved patients and families; appropriate use of new technologies, especially information systems; an appropriate role for prevention; and the creation of funding approaches that will provide necessary incentives.
This book calls on policymakers, health care providers, and educators to address one of the greatest challenges facing the health care system.
Click here to view the flyer and print your 20% discount form

Caring for Seniors
Nashville Tennessee-based project asking families to share their experiences with government-based support programs. The collected stories will be shared with government decision makers to press for greater resources.

Doctors Share Their Woes Caring for Aging Parents
Group Hopes Personal Tales Will Help Change Flawed System
National Public Radio Broadcast with Robert Kane, MD

Medicare To Launch 10 Chronic Care Pilot Projects for Medicare Beneficiaries
United States Department of Health & Human Services