Pandemic flu planning

“Although no one knows how the virus would affect various age groups, the CDC assumes that children would be twice as vulnerable to the disease as adults. Hedberg said the theory is that a pandemic form of flu might resemble the 1918 pandemic that disproportionately hit young healthy people. Seasonal flu, by contrast, is hardest on the elderly.”

http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/

If the bird or avian H5N1 flu becomes human H5N1, it will be especially important for older people to have updated their preparedness plans (we all did prepare revised plans since last August, didn’t we?) There will be differences from the 1918 pandemic, as indicated in the news article. But, also a lot of similarities. It will be important for those who have lived through previous disasters or epidemics to share what they learned about what worked and what didn’t work.

Katrina was no Girl Scout.

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Brookdale Foundation RFP National Group Respite Program

from

http://fdncenter.org/newsletters/

12) Brookdale Foundation Invites Applications for National Group Respite Program
Deadline: July 6, 2006

The Brookdale Foundation’s

http://www.brookdalefoundation.org/

National Group Respite Program awards seed grants to organizations to develop and implement social model group respite programs. These day programs serve elders with Alzheimer’s disease or related dementia and their family caregivers.

The goals of the program are to offer opportunities for persons with Alzheimer’s disease or a related dementia to engage in a program of meaningful social and recreational activities in a secure and supportive setting in order to maximize their cognitive and social abilities; and to provide relief and support to family members and other primary caregivers of individuals with Alzheimer’s disease or a related dementia. In addition to providing respite care and enjoyable group activities, the programs offer family caregivers access to services such as counseling, support groups, information and referral, and training and education.

The program supports local community organizations through small seed grants, along with training and technical assistance, to develop dementia-specific social model day service programs. The program’s goal is to foster the development of high-quality, cost-effective programs to complement existing community based services for people with dementia, and to encourage and promote grantees to become self-sustaining.

Funding will be available beginning November 2006 for up to fifteen programs. Funds may be requested by private nonprofit 501(c)(3) or public agencies to develop a new dementia-specific social model group respite program.

Selected organizations will receive grant support of $7,500 in year one, renewable for $3,000 in year two; all-expense-paid participation for one staff member at the Group Respite Program Orientation and Training Conference; and ongoing technical assistance and support. The sponsoring organization must provide a 100 percent match of hard dollars and/or substantive in-kind support.

Visit the Brookdale Foundation Web site for complete program information and application materials.

RFP Link:
http://fconline.fdncenter.org/pnd/10001596/brookdale

For additional RFPs in Human Services, visit:
http://fdncenter.org/pnd/rfp/cat_human_services.jhtml

Elder Wisdom Circle

http://elderwisdomcircle.org/

The orginal news story comes from “Have a problem? These seniors are online to help
Thursday, March 9, 2006, By LESLIE BRODY

The Circle of Elders is a Nationwide Network comprised of volunteer Seniors aged 60-97. Elders participate individually from their home computers or collectively at a senior community. Our Elders represent a richly diverse patchwork of life experience and wisdom.

ABOUT US: A FREE service providing practical advice and guidance from empathetic volunteer seniors. Please think of us as grandparents to the cyber-world….

Need personalized advice on most any topic? You may request personal advice on any issue, however the circle is unable to offer medical, tax, investment or legal advice….

Elder Wisdom Circle is organized as a IRS 501(c)3 non-profit association comprised of the Elders (volunteer seniors) who offer advice and our support staff. We are based in the San Francisco Bay Area with Elders all over North America. We are one of the largest providers of personal advice anywhere. The mission of our association is to promote and share elder know-how and accumulated wisdom. We also have a goal of elevating the perceived value and worth of our senior community.
FREE Advice: Our Elders can help with most any problem providing a personalized reply to each request. Our service is totally confidential and easy to use. …

To become an Elder one must be at least 60 years of age, complete an application and screening process. Elders participate individually from their home computers or as part of a collective group at locations such as an assisted living community….

http://elderwisdomcircle.org/

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Technorati Tags: elders, blogosphere, senior citizens

Lead (Pb) and older adults

Lead and Older Adults
ScienceNOW Daily News, “Getting the Lead In” By Erik Stokstad
As if living in the inner city wasn’t bad enough. New research shows that the stresses of urban life–a fear of crime, for example–can exacerbate the cognitive problems associated with exposure to lead in older adults. New findings come from a study of 1140 adults aged 50 to 70 years, who were randomly selected from 65 neighborhoods in Baltimore, Maryland.
To read more see the article on the ScienceNow website. http://sciencenow.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/2006/307/2.

Elder Blogosphere

Live Blog: BlogHer @ SXSW: Respect Your ElderBloggers

Notes on Ronni Bennett‘s session.