"One-Ring" Phone Scam Taking a Toll on Seniors

I shouldn't be surprised. I know better. This sort of thing shouldn't make me mad. Alas...

The "One-Ring Scam," as it has become known, is being perpetrated all over the country and seniors are increasingly finding themselves prime targets. In this newest deviant scheme, a cell phone number is called and allowed to ring once so that it appears as a missed call. When the curious owner of the phone calls the number back, he or she is connected a line which automatically charges a $19.95 international call fee and as much as $9.00 a minute after that.

Most of the numbers being reported seem to originate in the Caribbean Islands- Grenada, British Virgin Islands, Antigua, Jamaica. In places like those it is difficult if not impossible for local authorities to do anything to stop the scammers.

I don't answer my phone if I don't know the number. In truth, sometimes I don't answer the phone if I know the number. Seniors, however, are more likely to return a missed call. The charges are significant enough to have an impact on a monthly bill but in many instances the criminals are intentionally billing small enough amounts so that they will be less likely to arouse suspicion.

If you have a senior in your life who is relatively new to the wonderful world of cell phones and might be inclined to call back an unknown number please reach out to them about this. As is the case in many scams like this, seniors who find themselves victimized are unlikely to speak up. Our responsibility as loved ones is to be proactive in dealing with things of this nature. Let your senior know that they are not alone and give them the knowledge they need to protect themselves.

Bundle Up Folks!

Two weeks ago, I spent the entire Sunday in shorts and a t-shirt playing basketball with my oldest three sons. This past Sunday, the clothing ensemble looked more appropriate to a typical January day but the weather was still remarkably warm coming on the heels of a snowy Friday morning which caused the cancellation and delay of  hundreds of schools and businesses across the Triangle. This morning's forecast warns of an extreme cold front moving through our area during the next few days. Tonight's temperatures are expected to dip into the low twenties and tomorrow night will reach into the teens. Daytime temps will offer very little respite from the cold. High temperatures are expected to be in the low 40's with wind chills that should keep most of us inside for the next 7-10 days. Brrrrr!

In light of the approaching winter weather, allow me to ask a question. What are you doing to make sure that the senior in your life survives? Pardon the Draconian language but extreme bouts of cold weather are potentially lethal for seniors.

Part of the normal aging process is a natural thinning of the skin. Gone are the days of being regarded as 'thick-skinned.' This change makes it more difficult for a senior to regulate the temperature of their own body. By itself, thin skin isn't particularly dangerous and is easy problem for which to compensate. The complications arise when you factor in some of the other changes and realities of the normal aging process. A senior nervous system doesn't process information as quickly as it did during younger years. As a result, a senior likely will not realize he is cold until the early effects of hypothermia have already set in. Furthermore, one of the early signs of hypothermia is muscle stiffness particularly in the neck, arms and legs. Have you ever met a senior who complains of being a little stiff? Ironically, the chronic aches and pains that most seniors have grown accustomed to ignoring are the very ones that should alert them of danger within their own bodies.

For a moment, we should consider the possibility that the seniors in our lives might also be taking prescription medications. Seniors account for 25% of all prescription medications taken in this country so it seems only reasonable that we consider this as a possibility. Many of the medications that seniors take can further inhibit the body's natural alarm systems placing seniors at an even greater risk.

Here are a few things you can do if you are a senior to protect yourself:

• If you live alone, arrange for a daily check-in call with a friend, neighbor, relative, etc.
• Wear warm clothing. Instead of tight clothing, wear several loose, warm layers. Wear a hat and scarf to avoid significant heat loss through your head and neck. Stay dry. Moisture from perspiration, rain, or melting snow can seriously reduce or destroy the insulating value of clothing because water conducts body heat over 25 times faster than air.
• Use extra blankets because hypothermia can develop during sleep.
• Eat nutritious foods and exercise moderately; proper diet and physical conditioning help protect you against abnormal heat and cold.
• Get proper rest; fatigue makes you more vulnerable to subnormal heat and cold.
• Drink adequate amounts of liquids, such as water. Limit your alcohol intake because alcohol speeds up body heat loss.

Check out this article from the SC Office on Aging about warning signs and dangers of hypothermia in senior citizens.  http://aging.sc.gov/seniors/HealthAndSafety/Pages/ColdWeatherTips.aspx

The Wonderful Wizard of Hos-pice

Last week I found myself visiting with the daughter of an aging parent. After reviewing their situation, I mentioned that it might not be a bad idea to contact a hospice organization. As soon as the word "hospice" escaped my lips, I found myself face to face with a hysterical daughter who sobbed uncontrollably at the imminent passing of her father. That wasn't what I said!

At Home Instead Senior Care, we often partner with hospice organizations. Home Instead is dedicated to the mission of helping people live life on their own terms. So is hospice. Home Instead recognizes that there are certain realities that are naturally associated with the aging process that cannot be avoided. So does hospice.

Many people think about hospice as a place but in actuality it is a philosophy of care. Hospice can help patients and their families begin to deal with whatever is happening to them on their own terms and in their own time frame. If life is a journey, think of hospice as a travel agent. Hospice helps coordinate community resources and helps you to know where to go in order to get the very best of everything. While most of us try to cheat death at every turn, there has only ever been one man who has managed to defeat death. That makes the human mortality rate pretty close to 100%. If you are the child of an aging parent and are approaching the point where care is more important than cure then I would highly suggest getting in touch with a hospice organization. They are truly wonderful people and have been a tremendous comfort to to the clients we have partnered with them to serve.

A Turn For the Worse

If I had a nickel for every time I heard the phrase "Since she has been at the hospital, Mother's dementia has taken a turn for the worse," I would be a very wealthy man. The idea that hospitals cause dementia is an amazing phenomenon to me that way too many people accept at face value as a universal truth of aging. Hospitals do not cause dementia. Granted, with the size and confusing layout of most hospitals even I forget how to get back to the parking garage from time to time. The fact that so many seniors never have the opportunity to return home from a hospital stay due to the mysterious "dementia monster" attacking them upon admission is troubling. The fact that this absurd logic is never even challenged is downright maddening.

What causes dementia is, in fact, a mystery. Scientists know that the greatest risk factor is advancing age but beyond that the entirety of medical knowledge on the subject resorts to what can be most aptly described as a "best guess scenario."The sudden, rapid progression of dementia is a far less complicated matter to investigate than actual dementia. So allow me.

In the normal aging process, senior's bodies begin to function differently than they did  in younger years. Kidneys do not function as efficiently as they once did. This particular facet of aging, I believe is responsible for a huge percentage of the post hospital rehab admissions today. Imagine this scenario:

A woman, age 94, has lived independently since her husband's death two decades ago. She continues to be fairly engaged in the community and has a caregiver who comes in twice a week to keep her company and assist her with errands and chores around the house. At times, she has troubling recalling certain things but the things she forgets will generally come back to her and do not interfere with her daily life. She is a model for aging with independence. One day she slips and falls while retrieving the mail. Due to the brittle nature of her bones, she fractures her left hip requiring surgery. The surgery goes extremely well, especially considering her age, and the doctors all say that after some quick rehab she should be fine to return home with limited assistance as before. Not so strangely, she begins to show confusion following surgery. It is gradual at first and then increases rapidly. The doctor's offer a simple explanation. Sometimes in a hospital situation, a senior's dementia takes a turn for the worse. AAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!! With respect to the kind hearted medical professionals, allow me to postulate another theory. This particular 94 year old has avoided medications for most of her life wherever possible. She takes a baby aspirin every morning and a multivitamin because an episode of Donahue told her that doing so might reduce her risk of certain cancers. Suddenly, due to her hip fracture, she is being given an anesthetic for the actual surgery, a sedative to help her sleep at night, a medication to prevent constipation, and Oxycodone to ease the pain. When you combine that cocktail with the knowledge that her kidneys are not filtering these drugs effectively, another possible diagnosis presents itself. She isn't suddenly demented. SHE IS HIGH!!

I wish I could tell you that this woman eventually stabilized and was able to return home. I wish I could tell you that she wasn't discharged to a skilled nursing facility where she was administered a daily dose of instant-dementia for the rest of her days. Most of all, I wish I could tell you that her's was a unique story. But alas, I am unable to make any of these statements and instead sit here at the keyboard typing, collecting a nickel for every time that I hear that someone's dementia has taken a turn for the worse.

Am I Going To Get Alzheimer's?

Alzheimer's disease is one of the most tragic things to potentially happen to a senior. But so many people suffer from the fear of Alzheimer's for years unnecessarily. While there are a multitude of theories and speculations regarding this disease, the disappointing reality is that we still don't know much about it. Sure we can tell you what it does, what it looks like, and how it generally progresses but we still can't tell you who is going to get it. We can't tell you who is most at risk. We can't tell you how to slow it down. We can't tell you how to stop it. After a hundred years of research, we can't tell you how to cure Alzheimer's disease.
The lack of concrete answers hasn't stopped us from inventing our own realities. I grew up watching my grandfather work the crossword every morning and adopted a 'use it or lose' mentality regarding Alzheimer's. Many others take fish oil supplements or avoid certain foods or chemicals. These may all be great habits to form but there is relatively little scientific evidence which suggests that they are anything more than wishful thinking.
For anyone with a genetic connection to it, the fear of inheriting Alzheimer's disease can become an all consuming force. Everything you forget somehow translates into a sure sign that you have the disease. Studies have shown that there are relatively few cases of Alzheimer's which can be attributed to genetics. Some studies put the number at less than 1%! Early onset Alzheimer's can be cause for alarm. These are situations where someone will develop Alzheimer's prior to turning 65. In those instances, there is a stronger probability that someone in their family might develop Alzheimer's as well. Those cases represent less 5% of all documented diagnoses and therefore shouldn't strike premature fear in our hearts. If someone in your family develops Alzheimer's well after their 65th birthday there is no significant cause for alarm as the biggest cause of the disease is increasing age. In fact, by the time someone reaches the age of 85, the odds of them developing Alzheimer's disease is around 47%.
So the simple answer to the question 'Am I going to get Alzheimer's?' is that we just don't know. If you live a long time you run a greater risk.
As a father of five young children, I have become increasingly forgetful in the last few years. At times it has caused me to ask the same question. Am I going to get Alzheimer's? But then I think about what Jesus said. ""Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?  And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?  And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?  Therefore do not be anxious, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' 32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. 34 "Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. Matthew 6:25-34

Wheelchairs at the Gym

Several years ago, my family took a trip to Disney World. My wife was eight months pregnant with our fourth child. Our three other boys were old enough to enjoy it but young enough to still be a handful. My mother-in-law and her significant other were with us as well. Initially, I was a bit dismayed by the last addition because her significant other was still recovering from a recent hip surgery and I was certain would slow us down dramatically. What I didn't realize was that anyone on a wheelchair or motorized scooter goes immediately to the front of every line- WITH THEIR ENTIRE ENTOURAGE! I am not proud of the way that we exploited his physical malady that day but I can say that with three kids and a pregnant wife we set a land speed record for most rides and parks in a single visit that still stands.

In the video clip below, Mary Maxwell talks about some of the disadvantages of this type of posturing in places other than Disney. Happy Friday!

http://www.caregiverstress.com/2012/08/seniors-at-the-gym/

Three Crimes to Watch For

Home Instead Senior Care franchises across the country are in the middle of a public education campaign to protect seniors from fraud. According to a recent Metlife study, the annual financial loss incurred by seniors as a result of fraud is $2.9 billion. The Metlife study group the fraud perpetrated against seniors into three categories: crimes of occasion, crimes of desperation and crimes of predation.

Crimes of Predation-
This is what most people think of when they think about seniors being defrauded. Crimes of predation are crimes that spring out of relationships which were formed for the sole purpose of stealing from a senior. The fake charity that calls for a donation, the bogus repairman who "fixes" the shaky porch railing, the fraudulent termite inspector that treats for an infestation.

Crimes of Desperation-
These are the crimes that are rarely discussed. Crimes of desperation are typically committed by family or close friends. Usually, the person committing the crime is dependent upon the senior in some way financially. In my experience, I have seen children drain their parents finances or deprive their parents of the type of care they need because they don't want to spend what they already view as their inheritance. In these instances, the children don't believe that there is anything wrong with taking from their parents because they feel that they have somehow earned it.

Crimes of Occasion-
This type of fraud is usually committed just because the opportunity presented itself. The senior had money or something of value, the opportunity presented itself and the person took it.

For more resources on how to prevent crime against seniors visit www.protectseniorsfromfraud.com