Recently in Media Category

KCET's SoCal Connected has a new episode this Friday that takes a look at the effect Medi-Cal cuts has on senior citizens, specifically, those in adult day care.

"Taking Care of Dad" is the show's second segment, following a report on how noninsured Angelenos cope without access to medical services. In the first piece of an on-going initiative about taking care of the elderly, SoCal Connected looks at the possible closures of adult day care health centers as a result of the proposed cuts in Medi-Cal in the 2011/2012 state budget. Dealing with Medi-Cal admission regulations was a nightmare for my parents during my father's final illness. I can't imagine how hard it must be for those struggling with the idea of losing these benefits in the wake of the state's financial retrenchment. Catch a preview of Friday's episode here. The first airing occurs at 8:30 PM on KCET.

Watch and weep.

Sly Stone has always been a trendsetter. Perhaps his choice to live in his Winnebago in the Crenshaw District is the right idea.

He's not alone. Trendwatchers are spreading the news about the nation's first assisted-living RV park. As reported in the August 29, 2011 issue of the New York Times, nomadic seniors reluctant to sell their RVs can pull into Escapees Care in Livingston, TX, the country's first RV park with assisted living. For $824 a month, or $1,236 a couple, residents get access to the Care Center, where registered nurses are on call to help with routine care and schedule doctors' appointments.

My friends and I have cobbled together a plan for our own semi-golden years. We are going to keep our jobs but all move into one SRO and fill up all the vacancies on one floor. That way, we can be a unit together and order food in bulk from Vons.com delivery and coordinate social services and nurse-visits.

But this RV-idea intrigues me so perhaps we should crowd-source the purchase of a big-ass RV.

How are you going to spend your golden years?

From the New York Times Economix blog entry, "Medicare to Empty Sooner as Longer Life Spans for Elderly Are Predicted : "As Dean Baker notes, last year's report forecast that men who turned age 65 in 2010 would live, on average, and additional 18.1 years. But the new forecast gives this group an extra six months, to 18.6 years. Life expectancy for women at age 65 in 2010 has likewise been lengthened, to 20.7 years from 20.4 years, an extension of about three months and 18 days.

Predicted lifetimes were also extended for future old people, although the extension that today's old people get was bigger."

Whoa. This is sobering news that I have to plan for now since Medicare accounts may be depleted by then, but I'm glad that men over the age of 65 will be living longer... a whole 6 months. That should stimulate my future senior dating pool a bit.

This New York Times article about the children of elder hoarders really resonated with me. Here's a killer quotation: "Randy O. Frost, a psychology professor at Smith College, has been studying hoarders for two decades and is an author of "Stuff: Compulsive Hoarding and the Meaning of Things." Children of hoarders, he noted, often display a tortured ambivalence toward their parents, perhaps because unlike spouses or friends of hoarders, they had little choice but to live amid the junk.

"They grew up in this difficult environment and naturally came to resent it," Dr. Frost said. "But at the same time, these are your parents and you have to not only respect and love but take care of them. What happens when they get old?""

Congratulations to local food blog, Bon Appétempt. The site received a nomination for "Best Culinary Essay" in Saveur.com's Best Food Blog Awards! Readers really responded to blogger Amelia's hilarious story, with photos, about cooking with her 92 year old grandmother.