The financial exploitation of older people
is a distressing and often overlooked problem, but in 2023 it’s one that
received significant legislative attention in the United States. More than 1 in 6
Americans were 65 or older just three years ago, and their numbers are
growing faster than those under age 65. With a graying population,
protecting these vulnerable members of society is more imperative than
ever.
During the past year, the number
of states passing legislation to address concerns about financial
exploitation of older adults reached 34, and 17 states enacted specific laws or adopted resolutions to combat financial abuse against seniors.
Older adult financial exploitation
involves the illegal or improper use of a person’s funds, property or
assets. This type of abuse often goes unnoticed and unreported; many
victims suffer in silence. Family members, unfortunately, are frequently
the perpetrators of such exploitation, taking advantage of the trust
and reliance their aging relatives placed in them.
Each year, older Americans lose an estimated $28.3 billion
because of financial exploitation, according to a report by AARP. In
addition, the report indicates that 87.5% of adults ages 60 and older
who are victimized by someone they know do not report these incidents to
authorities. This figure actually may be much higher because of
underreporting, however.
Financial
exploitation is particularly prevalent among individuals suffering from
dementia or other cognitive impairments. Often, family members justify
their actions on the basis that they are “helping” or managing the
finances of their relatives.
Several states took action in 2023 in
recognition of the severity of this issue. The new laws are designed to
improve protections for older adults, to clarify guidelines for legal
guardians and caregivers, and to establish stricter punishments for
those who violate them. Here are some of the areas these measures
address:
Enhanced reporting and monitoring:
Several laws were passed to improve the reporting mechanisms for
allegations of financial abuse. The regulations include mandatory
reporting requirements for professionals who work with older people,
such as bankers, health care providers and social workers.
Tougher penalties for perpetrators:
Several states have increased penalties for those who are found to have
exploited older individuals financially. The punishment could include
longer prison sentences and higher fines, particularly if the abuse
involves substantial sums of money or results in significant financial
harm to the victim.
Educational programs:
A number of states have implemented programs aimed at educating
potential victims and the general public about the problem. These
programs aim to raise awareness of the signs of financial exploitation
and emphasize the importance of safeguarding older people’s assets and
rights.
Legal and financial support services:
A substantial amount of funding and other resources were allocated in
2023 to provide legal and financial counseling to help older adults
protect their assets and seek justice if someone exploits them. New Hampshire,
for example, has increased the number of cases of financial crimes
against older adults that the state investigates and prosecutes.
Although these legislative efforts represent
significant progress, there are still challenges to overcome. Critics
argue that additional resources are needed to support victims and to
enforce these laws effectively. A more cohesive approach to addressing
the issue, these critics point out, requires better collaboration
between state agencies, financial institutions, and nonprofit
organizations.
Still, the legislative
actions taken in 2023 are positive steps toward curbing a serious risk
for older adults. It is imperative that we continue to raise awareness
about this issue and ensure that states effectively implement and
enforce laws to deal with the problem. Society must protect those who
are vulnerable and ensure that they can live with dignity and security.
It
is evident from the legislative achievements made this year that there
is growing recognition of what has been a somewhat silent epidemic. The
involvement of family members
in such crimes adds a layer of complexity and betrayal to the situation
for many victims. We must make sure that these laws are more than just
words on paper and are actively enforced.
As
the fight against financial exploitation continues, legislators,
professionals, community organizations and families must work together
to ensure that no one preys upon older adults. They deserve our respect
and protection.
Maintaining some level of physical activity as you age can help with strength, bone density, immune health, and warding off many chronic diseases. It’s also good for your mental health, as a mood booster. A new study finds that exercise helps maintain proteins that promote connectivity between neurons, as well, providing a protective benefit against cognitive decline.
Researchers from the University of California San Francisco looked at the brains of seniors who had varying levels of physical activity to see how that impacted this nerve connectivity. Their findings, published in Alzheimer’s & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer’s Association, show that seniors who were more active had higher levels of proteins that help neurons exchange information with each other. While similar results had been found in mouse models, researchers say this is a first for human studies.
Cher Files for Conservatorship of Son Elijah Blue Allman
Terry McGinnis/WireImage
Cher has filed for a conservatorship over her adult son due to a fear that he is not fit to manage his own finances, according to multiplereports.
The pop icon has requested to be the sole conservator over 47-year-old son Elijah Blue Allman, amid his alleged struggles with drug addiction.
According to court documents filed on Wednesday, the singer claims
that her son is "substantially unable to manage his own financial
resources due to severe mental health and substance abuse issues," TMZreports.
Cher is reportedly concerned that the money her son receives from a
trust set up by his late father -- music icon Gregg Allman -- will be
spent on drugs rather than things needed to sustain his living
conditions.
"Any funds distributed to Elijah will immediately be spent on drugs,"
Cher argues in the documents, "leaving Elijah with no assets to provide
for himself, and putting Elijah’s life at risk."
The 77-year-old songstress stated in the docs, per Page Six,
that she has been unable to "discuss Elijah’s preferences concerning
the appointment of a temporary conservator" because he has been "unable
to form or express a preference," allegedly due to his current mental
state.
The documents state that, as his mother, she feels she would be the
best person to manage his conservatorship. A hearing date of March 6,
2024, has been set by the court to evaluate the possible
conservatorship.
In court documents obtained by ET at the time, King requested that
the court compel Allman to attend the estranged couple's divorce
hearing, after he missed a trial conference to update the court on the
divorce case. King claimed she hasn't seen Allman in more than six
months, and she pointed the finger at Cher, who allegedly "continues to
interfere with his health management as well as his location and
accessibility."
That was just the latest in King and Allman's ongoing divorce battle. Back in September, Cher made headlines after King accused her of hiring four men to kidnap her son from
a New York hotel room in an effort to stop him from reconciling with
her. Those documents were filed back on Dec. 5, but they only made
headlines after the case was uncovered by the media.
Following King's claims, Cher denied the accusations in a statement to People and called "the rumor... not true."
Cher and late ex-husband Gregg Allman shared Allman, who was born on
July 10, 1976. She and late ex-husband Sonny Bono, who together
performed as Sonny & Cher, shared son Chaz Bono, born on March 4,
1969.
With
many people facing ongoing economic challenges, it is important to
recognize that the elderly population, who often rely on a fixed income,
are particularly vulnerable to financial, emotional, and physical
abuse. To shed light on this important issue, the personal finance
website WalletHub recently released its annual report on the States with
the Best Elder-Abuse Protections. To determine which states have the
best elder-abuse protections, WalletHub compared all 50 states and the
District of Columbia across three key dimensions: the prevalence of
elder abuse, resources for prevention and assistance, and the quality of
those elder-abuse protections.
Elder-Abuse Protections in California (1=Best; 25=Avg.):
*Per resident aged 65+
20th – Total Expenditures on Elder-Abuse Prevention*
19th – Number of Certified Volunteer Ombudsmen*
12th – Nursing-Homes Quality
17th – Total Expenditures on Legal Assistance Development per Residents aged 65+ years
1st – Presence of Financial Crimes against the Elderly Legislation
For the full report, visit: https://wallethub.com/edu/states-with-best-elder-abuse-protection/28754
“Wisconsin
has the best collection of elder-abuse protections overall because it
features a high number of eldercare organizations and services per
capita and invests three times more per elderly resident in elder-abuse
programs than the state average,” said Cassandra Happe, WalletHub
Analyst. “Plus, the Badger State promotes educational programs to inform
seniors, their families, and caregivers about the signs of abuse, the
rights of older adults, and the available resources for assistance.
Wisconsin even has mandatory reporting laws that require professionals
to report suspected elder abuse.”
Massachusetts ranked second in
the U.S. for its elder abuse protections. The state invests a
substantial amount in elder abuse prevention programs each year, yet the
Bay State’s investment in its long-term care ombudsman program is lower
than in many other states, including Wisconsin. Ohio secured the third
position due to the state’s remarkable investments in its ombudsman
program and a high number of certified volunteers in proportion to its
older population.
Wisconsin
did come in at number one, followed by Massachusetts, Ohio, Virginia,
Kentucky, Vermont, Wyoming, Iowa, West Virginia and, rounding out the
top 10, Louisiana.
Conversely, the bottom 10 in Elder-Abuse
Protection were Nebraska, Nevada, South Dakota, Tennessee, Delaware, New
Jersey, South Carolina, Montana, Utah and, at the bottom of the list,
California.
Tips for Spotting Signs of Elder Financial Abuse
Watch
for Unusual Bank or Credit Card Activity: Be alert to unexplained or
sudden changes in an older adult’s financial situation, such as
significant withdrawals, transfers, or expenditures. Keep an eye out for
any unusual ATM use or unfamiliar purchases.
Be Wary of New or
Unusual “Friends”: If the older person has a new acquaintance who seems
overly interested in that person’s finances or property, it may be a
sign that they have bad intentions. Scammers may capitalize on an older
adult’s good nature and friendliness to gain their trust so they can
exploit them financially.
Keep an Eye on Social Media and
Internet Use: Social media and other online platforms can open the door
for fraudsters to engage with vulnerable older adults. It is a good idea
to monitor an older adult’s social media profile for suspicious
connections and posts that may divulge personal information to others.
It’s also wise to monitor their email accounts for potential security
concerns.
Pay Attention to Changes in Legal Documents: Watch for any changes
in wills, trusts, powers of attorney, or other legal documents that
appear to benefit someone other than the older individual. These changes
could be the result of coercion or manipulation by family members,
caregivers, or others who may be pressuring the older adult to make
financial decisions against their will.
Be Mindful of Changes in
Behavior: Pay attention to changes in the older person’s behavior, such
as appearing fearful, anxious, or secretive about their finances.
Isolating vulnerable individuals from their friends and family is a
common tactic used by fraudsters to maintain control over their victims.
If the older adult is avoiding family and friends or is reluctant to
discuss their finances, it could be a red flag for elder financial
abuse.
Take Note of Any Decline in Personal Care Conditions: Poor
living conditions, lack of necessary medical care, or improper
nutrition may suggest that financial resources are not being used for
the person’s well-being. If the older person is seemingly denied access
to food, medication, or necessary care despite having the means to
afford it, it could indicate financial exploitation.
The EastIdahoNews.com team is busy helping a local Secret Santa give $1 million to deserving people in eastern Idaho this holiday season.
Nick is a recovering addict who has been sober for early six years. He is raising his 11-month-old daughter on his own. It's been a challenging time for him because he doesn't have much family here to help and he's been working full-time while taking care of a newborn.
When Hailey was born, Nick was working a job where he had to wake up at 4 a.m. and ne to work by 5 a.m. Having a newborn and going without much sleep most nights made this work schedule very hard, so a few months ago he found a new job with better working hours. That job didn't work out because he didn't have enough experience, so for now he's working at Domino's delivering pizza.
Nick adores his baby girl and she loves him. Everything he does is for her. He's doing all he can, the best he can, to build their life together.
Secret Santa asked the East Idaho News elves to pay Nick a visit and we decided to have some fun with this surprise! Check out the video in the player above.
One of the greatest things about this country that we live in is the freedoms we enjoy.
Those freedoms were embedded in my
parents. They believed in them, serving the country that proclaimed them
after growing up in families that served as well. They believed in the
Declaration of Independence, which held “these truths to be
self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by
their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are
Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness”—otherwise known as the American dream.
Unfortunately, this phrase is not legally binding.
Sadly, I have watched as my father’s
pursuit of happiness was swept away by the court system in his senior
years. His liberty, including his freedom to live according to his
lifelong and clearly stated desires, was destroyed by a conservator and
attorneys fueled by greed.
The author’s parents, Lester Moore and Lou Dell Hart Moore
He and my mother, Lester Moore and
Lou Dell Hart Moore, were both survivors of the Great Depression. They
both grew up in the South, experiencing extreme poverty before climbing
out and crafting a life and a family together. Carefully and
responsibly, they built assets that grew over time and made plans for
the future. They could not have known—so few people do—that
a system of legalized theft exists that would toss aside their plans
and siphon off much of their money. Called conservatorship in some
states, guardianship in others, it has stripped away the rights and
assets of vulnerable people across the country, including the aged, the
disabled, and people labeled with psychiatric disorders.
Lester was born in Van Buren,
Arkansas, the first of nine children. He had one pair of pants and one
shirt that his mother would frequently wash so that he could attend
school. He wore a pair of hand-me-down shoes. His dream was never to be
poor again when he joined the US Navy at age 17 and traveled to
California for boot camp. Because he was so tiny, he had to gorge
himself on bananas to make the weight required to enlist.
During the next five years, covering
his time during the Korean War, he sent his paychecks home to his
parents to help with the expenses of his younger siblings. After
separating honorably from the Navy and going home on leave, he decided
to return to California to train to be an aircraft mechanic.
My Mother, Lou Dell, was also a
survivor of the Great Depression in Texas, and she also spent time in
the military. She joined the US Army during WWII, serving stateside.
My parents met while both working at Lockheed Aircraft in Burbank, Calif., and were married in 1952.
Lester was very serious-minded and,
like most Southerners, he loved his home state and the idea of owning
land there. In 1956, not even 30 years old, Lester bought his first 563
acres. The idea of eventually moving back to Arkansas was always on his
mind. He would frequently travel there, ranching and raising cattle on
his property with his younger brothers. My parents were frugal people,
working hard and saving their money.
My father eventually left Lockheed,
beginning his career at Flying Tiger Airline and later working with
Federal Express when they acquired it. My mother became a fulltime mom
when I was born, their only child, in 1957.
And they thrived.
In 1993, my parents created the Moore
Family Trust, which clearly stated their financial and medical wishes.
By then they had several million dollars in assets, including 600 acres
of property and four homes in Arkansas, plus $600,000 in FedEx stock, a
home in Thousand Oaks, Calif., and hundreds of thousands of dollars in
CDs, savings accounts, investment accounts, and oil and gas rights on
their property.
My mother passed away in 2001. When
my father was diagnosed with dementia in 2010, I assumed the role of
Successor Trustee, per the trust documents. My children, spouse, and I
live in Nevada, but I knew that my father’s plan was always to return to
Arkansas to live on his property. He had no relatives in California and
always wanted to “go home to Arkansas.” His siblings all lived there,
too.
But in 2010, a predator female and a
lawyer withdrew multiple thousands of dollars from his accounts and
attempted to change the trust, and I was advised by an attorney that the
only way to stop the harm to my father was to seek conservatorship for
him.
I became aware of his dementia when
my father reached out to me and asked for my help, as did his physicians
at Kaiser Permanente as well as his financial advisor. So I went to
California in 2009 to assist with paying his bills, and Dad introduced
me to his tax accountant. While going through his checkbooks, I became
aware that he was regularly giving large sums of money to Lilo Kruger,
his “lady friend.” Dad had met her at a grief group in February 2004.
Within three weeks, he had given her a check for $700.
That was just the beginning. He took her on many vacations—to
Alaska, Hawaii, Panama, and Germany. He also gave her cash every two or
three weeks. As I dug further, I began to suspect she was a predator
who specifically went to the grief group to meet men to exploit
financially.
Lester Moore, top left, and his brothers
At the same time, I learned that Lilo
only had specific days and times that my Dad could visit her: Tuesdays
and Thursdays, 7-9 pm. When Lilo realized that I was aware of what she
was doing, she had her friend’s son, attorney William Salzwedel, come on
board to change the Moore Family Trust. He removed me as the successor
trustee, placing himself as both successor trustee and my dad’s attorney
in 2010. This was done nine months after my father had been declared
incompetent by his longtime physicians.
Salzwedel proceeded to change the
ownership of my father’s accounts that were originally in my name as the
successor trustee of the Moore Family Trust.
But no longer.
The Absolute Power of Judge and Conservator
For the record: Lilo Kruger died
about a year ago. Court documents show her involvement with William
Salzwedel and the changing of the trust, and I have complained to the
California State Bar about everything he did, so they are well aware of
the havoc he has caused to my family.
My entire purpose, as both my
father’s successor trustee and his daughter, was to protect him and to
help him move to Arkansas to be with his siblings on his property—which
had been his dream since the 1950s. I wanted things to be made right. I
wanted the exploitation of my father by these two predators to be
stopped. At the time, I believed it would be.
That’s when I sought out legal
counsel by obtaining my own attorney, John Barlow. He said that the only
way to fight Kruger and Salzwedel was to pursue conservatorship of my
dad, even though there was a family trust from 1993, and my father had
dementia that was attested to by his two physicians. Per the trust
documents, I had already assumed the role of successor trustee. That
should have been enough to help him.
If only I knew back then what I know
now, that instituting conservatorship would make the situation so much
worse. It literally opened my dad’s estate up to the looting by
attorneys and conservators, blessed by a probate judge—all
because of the advice of an attorney who, I realized too late, was
complicit in the probate abuse in that court. In 2012 the probate judge,
after delaying for 18 months, ignored the Moore Family Trust document
and placed not me but an outsider, Angelique Friend, as his conservator
and trustee.
Lester Moore never again saw his
beloved state of Arkansas, not even to attend the funeral of his younger
brother Bill in 2016. After the conservator was appointed in 2012, she
never allowed my father to leave the state of California, even for a
visit. My lawyer repeatedly told me that “we will get things turned
around, and you will be put in charge.” It never happened. (As I did
with Salzwedel, I have also made complaints against Angelique Friend to
the Fiduciary Commission in California. The attorneys that I have
supposedly had on my side are very much aware of my complaints against
these people.)
None of this was in my dad’s best
interest. There were many options for him to live out his life the way
he intended. The only people served by keeping him in California were
the conservator and the multitude of attorneys involved, all of them
billing their hours to his estate.
The Arkansas property was disposed of
by the conservator in 2016. Keep in mind that to a Southerner, property
is everything. I remember the quote in the movie Gone With The Wind,
when Scarlett’s father told her: “Why, land is the only thing in the
world worth workin’ for, worth fightin’ for, worth dyin’ for. Because
it’s the only thing that lasts.” My father’s land was meant to stay in
the family forever. There was never an inventory of the ranching
equipment, vehicles, antique cars, guns, and houses full of family
mementoes that were sold off. All of the excessive fees for the
conservator and lawyers were rubber-stamped by the probate judge, who
eventually retired, but it all continued with the judge who took over.
The conservator prevented my father
from living in the Nevada State Veterans Home, where I am director of
nursing, because she would not allow him to leave California. As my
Dad’s dementia progressed, I believed that he would be happy near his
family. But that suggestion was disregarded. In 2020, the home in
Thousand Oaks was sold over my objections, and my dad was placed in a
group home. From February of that year onward, I was not allowed to see
my father—with
the Covid-19 pandemic cited as an excuse. But the Center for
Medicare/Medicaid Services (CMS) never had such a restriction. Families
were allowed to see their elderly loved ones.
Within 11 months, Lester Moore was
dead of sepsis, caused by bowel obstruction from a fecal impaction, all
resulting from caregiver negligence. This was substantiated by the State
of California licensing agency for group homes.
I was notified—by email!—of my father’s death.
Over a year later, the judge ruled to
hold back $250,000 from the Moore Family Trust assets, in case of
further legal costs. Now my father has been dead for two and a half
years, and they still have not released that money to me, the heir. Poppy Helgren with her father, Les Moore.
Poppy Helgren with her father, Les Moore.
Just how long can this go on? The
absolute power of the probate judge and conservator altered my dad’s
last years and all that my parents planned for their assets. There
appears to be no accountability for the predators that exploit the
vulnerable elderly and their families. Conservatorships redistribute the
victim’s wealth into the pockets of the conservators, the lawyers, and
the judges.
Horrific stories of the corrupt
conservatorship/guardianship racket need to be told. The dirty little
secret of what happens so often in probate court must not be hidden from
the public any longer. We need justice for victims. We need a movement
to educate people about the harms. It needs to happen.
Vultures Lining Up To Pick Off The Bones
How has all this affected me? How do I
feel about what has occurred to my father at the hands of those whose
primary mission was to gain access to his assets? It is surprising to
me, all the many emotions that have surged over the unnecessary
suffering brought upon my family by the perpetrators of our misery and
the root cause, greed.Over the
years, I have felt angry, powerless, shattered, disappointed, and
disillusioned. I am heartbroken for what was planned for and supposed to
be—but was destroyed by the probate court system.
Initially, I had confidence in the
justice system. I unshakably believed that the theft by Lilo Kruger and
William Salzwedel would be stopped by someone: the police, adult
protective services, Thousand Oaks Senior Concerns, the district
attorney, or the probate judge. I had confidence that someone would see
the big picture.
The first court proceeding I attended
in probate court, I was shocked at all the attorneys present who
received assignments from the judge, such as the one in charge of my
dad’s assets. As we all walked out of the court into the parking lot, I
watched the attorneys in their expensive custom suits and Italian
leather shoes, getting into their Mercedes Benzes, Land Rovers, and
Jaguars—and
it hit me in a way that has stuck with me for years. They were vultures
lining up to pick off the bones. It was like a premonition of what was
to come.
All of this was exactly what my father had tried to avoid by having a family trust created in 1993.
As a result, after the judge placed my father into a private, for-profit conservatorship—instead of adhering to the trust that named me, the only child, the successor trustee—I
felt not just disappointed but sickened. I asked myself: how could this
happen? No one did what they should have done. They did what they could do.
There was no protection of a vulnerable man with dementia; instead, it
was done to gain access to his $3-plus million estate. This has become
clearer to me as the years have passed, and I have met so many other
victims of the same racket in this country.
Poppy Helgren
I have reached out to governors,
senators, congressmen, district attorneys, and the state attorney
general, only to be told it was a civil matter—or
to have it ignored altogether. This is the country that my family has
served in the military for generations, from my great grandparents to my
parents, uncles, cousins, sons, husband, and myself (as a U.S. Army
nurse).
As Winston Churchill once said,“Never
give in, never, never, never, never.” I believe that. But I have fought
this monster for 14 years. Where do I go from here? Sometimes, things
happen that are so out of our control that there is nothing we can do to
alter the results.
My father’s conservatorship did not protect my father, it devastated him and his family.
Scientists are studying how a decline in our olfactory abilities can signal conditions such as Alzheimer’s
Whether it is the waft of clove-studded oranges
or the crisp fragrance of a fir tree, the festive season is filled with
aromas that conjure Christmases past. Now researchers say our sense of
smell, and its connection to our memory, could be used to help fight
dementia.
Our senses can worsen as a result of
disease and old age. But while impairment to hearing or vision is
quickly apparent, a decline in our sense of smell can be insidious, with
months or even years passing before it becomes obvious.
“Although
it can have other causes, losing your sense of smell can be an early
sign of dementia,” said Dr Leah Mursaleen, the head of research at
Alzheimer’s Research UK, adding it was a potential indicator of damage
in the olfactory region of the brain – that is, the part of the brain
responsible for smell.
“Olfaction
is intimately involved in many brain processes, and especially the
emotional processing of stimuli,” said Prof Thomas Hummel, of Technische
Universität Dresden. Indeed, smells, memories and emotions are often
tightly bound, with research revealing recollections triggered by scent tend to be rooted in our childhood.
“If olfactory function fails, stimuli lose salience, which may affect general cognitive functions,” said Hummel.
Neurons
involved in the olfactory system are also involved in other systems in
the brain. Indeed, as Hummel and others note, some areas of the brain
play a key role in cognitive and olfactory processes. As a result, if
the sense of smell becomes dysfunctional, cognitive processing might
also be affected.
A coloured transmission electron micrograph of
a section through smell receptors (cilia) projecting from an olfactory
neurone (blue). This nerve cell is responsible for detecting smell. Photograph: Science Photo Library/Steve Schmeissner/Getty Images
A number of studies
have found that exposure to certain odours can either boost or hinder
cognition, while work by Hummel and colleagues has suggested smell
training in older people can improve their verbal function and subjective wellbeing.
More pertinent still, a small study published last year,
by researchers in Korea, revealed that intensive smell training led to
improvements in depression, attention, memory and language functions in
34 patients with dementia compared with 31 participants with dementia
who did not retrieve such training.
“We’ve
already seen some early studies suggesting that ‘training’ our sense of
smell, through repeated exposure to strong-smelling substances, could
have benefits in improving cognitive performance in certain tasks,” said
Mursaleen.
“However, much more research is
needed to understand whether things like olfactory training could help
prevent or slow down the onset and progression of mild cognitive
impairment and dementia.”
Among other
problems, intensive scent training takes time and effort. In an attempt
to solve this problem, Dr Michael Leon, professor emeritus at the
University of California, Irvine, and his team have come up with a
device called “Memory Air that emits 40 different smells twice a night,
while people are sleeping – an approach Leon says allows “universal
compliance”. The hope is that exposing people to more smells, even when
they are asleep, could strengthen their olfactory abilities.
In another small study,
Dr Alex Bahar-Fuchs, a clinical neuropsychologist at Deakin University,
Australia, is looking at whether training cognitively healthy older
adults to distinguish smells using a scent-matching memory game can help
improve wider aspects of memory and cognition, compared with using a
similar game based on matching pictures. The approach, he said, goes
further than passive exposure to odours by setting cognitive tasks for
participants.
“We
believe that the neuroplastic properties of the olfactory centres in
the brain might make it more likely that improved performance on
olfactory memory will generalise, or transfer, to memory functions more
broadly,” he said.
Meanwhile, Prof Victoria
Tischler, at the University of Surrey, is working to learn more about
how our olfactory function changes as we age normally.
As
part of their work, the team hopes to produce olfactory training kits
suitable for healthy older people, those with mild cognitive impairment,
and those living with dementia in care homes.
Tischler
said it was important to cherish our most enigmatic sense. “I would
advise the public to look after their sense of smell, much like they
look after other aspects of their sensory health” such as their
eyesight, she said.
Community Medical Center's CareLink Mobile Outreach Team leaves water and snacks at an empty encampment in Stockton hoping their patient returns to find the supplies on Nov. 9, 2023. Vivienne Aguilar/CVJC
Historic changes to California’s
conservatorship law, which will expand who can be placed in involuntary
care and treatment in an attempt to address the state’s ongoing
homelessness crisis, will have to wait in the Central Valley.
The
board of supervisors in San Joaquin and Stanislaus counties have opted
to defer the new law, which otherwise would have gone into effect in
January. Officials in both counties will now have an additional two
years to comply with the changes.
The
bill from Sen. Susan Eggman, D-Stockton, signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom
this October, represents the first major changes to the state’s landmark
1967 Lanterman-Petris-Short Act. Signed by then Gov. Ronald Reagan, the
legislation upended how California dealt with the “gravely disabled”
and ended the state’s previous practice of warehousing those with mental
illnesses in state hospitals or psychiatric facilities.
Stanislaus and San Joaquin
counties are joined by other Central Valley counties, including Kings,
Merced, Fresno, Sacramento and Kern, as with much of the state in
postponing implementation. Once enacted, the law will give officials
greater leeway in who can be placed in involuntary short-term
psychiatric holds, longer detention and treatment programs.
Currently,
only those deemed “gravely disabled” can be placed in involuntary
mental health care or conservatorship, including 5150 holds initiated by
law enforcement or health providers that detain people in psychiatric
facilities for 72-hours.
The
new law expands that definition to include “severe substance use
disorder” without any accompanying mental illness. It also broadens the
criteria for those with existing mental health disorders to include
those who cannot provide for their “personal safety or necessary medical
care.” Previously only those who could not provide for their own food,
clothing and shelter could be eligible for involuntary care.
While
groups like the NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) California
and California State Association of Psychiatrists have supported the
bill, its signing was not without controversy. Disability Rights
California, Human Rights Watch and other disability and mental health
organizations have argued it would infringe on the civil rights of an
already vulnerable population, and could lead to more mass involuntary
conservatorships.
The
behavioral health services directors for both Stanislaus and San Joaquin
counties successfully asked their supervisors for more time to
implement the changes. They cited worries of insufficient capacities at
county behavioral health facilities, area emergency rooms and drug
treatment facilities among the reasons for the additional two-year
window.
Stanislaus County Behavioral
Health and Recovery Services Director Tony Vartan told the board last
week that the changes would have an impact beyond his department. Law
enforcement, courts, hospitals and other mental health providers in the
region will also have to grapple with the new expanded definition of
“gravely disabled.”
He
said without sufficient existing treatment programs or care facilities,
it would force “hospitals to be stuck with a lot of patients in an
involuntary hold,” which could mean less beds for other sick or injured
patients.
The
California Hospitals Association has reached out to county
administrators across the state, including in Stanislaus and San Joaquin
counties, urging them to delay implementation.
In
San Joaquin County, Behavioral Health Director Genevieve Valentine said
the extra time is needed to build-out infrastructure and staffing.
While statewide it is predicted the changes will result in an about 10%
conservatorship increase, Valentine said in San Joaquin County they
expect an increase of 20% to 25% because of the need in the region.
“I
would hate to rush something when someone’s life is at risk — when
their civil rights are at risk,” Valentine said. “I want to make sure in
San Joaquin County we are very strategic in how we put this into
place.”
She called the
law another “tool” in their toolkit to help deal with the state’s
mental health challenges, particularly among its homeless population.
The passage of SB 43 follows the state’s implementation of the CARE Act,
which established specialized courts (called CARE Courts) in each
county. County mental health providers, first responders, family members
and others can petition the court to give individuals with mental
illness voluntary services and treatment.
New psychiatric facility planned
Stanislaus
County is part of a seven-country pilot program that launched its CARE
Court this October. The rest of the state has until December 2024 to
finalize the new courts.
While
the two laws are not related, they both represent significant changes
to how the state handles those with severe mental health disorders in an
effort to address California’s ongoing homeless crisis.
To
implement SB 43, San Joaquin County officials plan to build a new
from-the-ground-up psychiatric facility across from the existing county
general hospital. If approved and funded, the up to 90-bed facility
would begin construction this coming summer.
In
Stanislaus County, supervisors have asked Vartan to return to the board
in January to give a more detailed timeline, and possibly earlier
deadline, for SB 43’s implementation.
“I
look at this as a godsend,” said Supervisor Terry Withrow during last
week’s board meeting. “We’re talking about saving lives…I can’t think of
a better way for us to spend our time and resources than to try to get
this thing up and running as quickly as possible.”
The
governor has also been vocal in his displeasure in what he called the
“slow-walking” of the new conservatorship criteria. Most counties have
opted to delay implementation, which was allowed in the act, with San
Francisco and San Luis Obispo counties the only ones so far indicating
they’d be ready for the changes by Jan. 1.
“We
can’t afford to wait,” Newsom told reporters last week. “The state has
done its job; it’s time for the counties to do their job. … They have to
understand people are dying on their watch.”
An investigation by special agents
with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation Medicaid Fraud Control
Division has resulted in the arrest of a McMinnville woman, charged with
theft and financial exploitation of a vulnerable adult.
As
the result of a referral from Adult Protective Services, TBI agents,
working with the Murfreesboro Police Department, began investigating an
allegation of theft from a home care patient by a paid caregiver in
Murfreesboro. During the course of the investigation, agents developed
information that Tashius Pleasant, who was employed by a home healthcare
company, used the victim’s funds to make personal purchases totaling
more than $20,000 during a period from 2022 to 2023.
On Nov. 9, the Rutherford
County Grand Jury returned indictments charging Tashius Tarese Pleasant
(DOB 02/11/1975) with one count of Financial Exploitation of an Elderly/
Vulnerable Adult and one count of Theft over $10,000. Pleasant was
booked at the Rutherford County Jail, on a bond of $52,000.
NOTE:
The TBI’s Medicaid Fraud Control Division receives 75 percent of its
funding from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services under a
grant award totaling $7,051,938.75 for federal Fiscal Year 2022-2023.
The remaining 25 percent, totaling $2,350,646.25 for Fiscal Year
2022-2023, is funded by the State of Tennessee.
Pennsylvania has recently enacted a significant update to its
guardianship laws, aimed at strengthening the protection of the state’s
most vulnerable residents. The new legislation, known as Senate Bill
506, was signed into law on December 14th.
This updated law marks a notable shift in Pennsylvania’s approach to
guardianship proceedings. Previously, Pennsylvania was among a minority
of states that did not mandate the appointment of counsel in these
cases. The revision of the law introduces mandatory legal representation
for individuals deemed incapacitated, ensuring they have adequate legal
support during guardianship proceedings.
The primary objective of Senate Bill 506 is to safeguard individuals
who are unable to make decisions for themselves. It aims to prevent
unnecessary guardianships and to address potential abuses within the
guardianship system. This is a response to concerns about cases where
guardians, lacking proper training or oversight, have committed fraud or
not acted in the best interests of the individuals they were appointed
to protect.
Senator Lisa Baker, the bill’s sponsor, emphasized the importance of
guardianship as a means to assist individuals who are no longer capable
of managing their own financial, legal, and health-related matters.
However, she acknowledged the reported instances of victimization by
guardians and stressed that such fraud is intolerable.
One of the significant changes brought by the new law is the
requirement for courts to consider alternatives to full guardianship.
This approach is intended to allow for lesser degrees of control to be
surrendered when appropriate, tailored to the specific needs of the
individual.
Under the updated law, when a person is deemed incapacitated, a
guardian may be appointed to make decisions on their behalf,
encompassing financial, medical, and personal matters. The legislation
also includes provisions for the certification of professional guardians
to ensure a higher standard of care and accountability.
Furthermore, the law introduces a process for reviewing cases where
the incapacity might be temporary. In such scenarios, a hearing will be
conducted to assess if continued guardianship is necessary. This
assessment will consider various factors, such as the potential for
managing the incapacity through medication, rehabilitation, or other
means, the possibility of the individual regaining capacity, and expert
opinions.
Senator Baker highlighted the personal nature of guardianship reform,
citing communications received from family members and friends of those
under guardianship. For these individuals, the reform represents a
deeply personal and significant issue.
A Louisiana grandmother who went to the hospital with a headache
claimed she cannot remember her memories from the past 30 years,
believing she was a teenager in the 1980s when she woke up in a wild
extensive amnesia case.
Kim Denicola was 56 years old when she developed an intense headache
and blurry vision while at a bible study group in Baton Rogue, La. in
Oct. 2018.
When she awoke in the hospital emergency room, Denicola had no recollection that she was married and had two children.
“It’s unbelievable to me as it probably is to other people,” Denicola added.
“Never in my wildest dreams did I get up and go to bible study and
think I’m going to wake up in the hospital and I’m going to be 60 years
old.”
Denicola was unaware that computers existed and that the country’s leaders had changed hands several times when she woke up.
“‘Do you know what today is, what year are you in?” Denicola recalled a nurse asking.
“I said, ‘Yeah, 1980.’ And she said, ‘Can you tell me who the president is?’ I said, ‘Yes, Ronald Regan.’ And she stopped.”
“TVs are now smart. The TV I remember was a box that sat against a
wall that we had to get up and go change the channel,” she told the
outlet two months after her medical scare.
Denicola was diagnosed with extensive amnesia, officially transient
global amnesia or TGA, but doctors still can not determine the exact
cause even after extensive tests and scans, according to the outlet.
Denicola sits besides her husband as they look through old family photos, two months after she lost her memory in 2018. WAFB/YouTube
Five years after she suffered the migraine that changed her life, the
nearly 60-year-old grandmother has still not recovered memories.
Doctors are afraid she will never get her memory back.
“They told me, if by now I haven’t gotten it, then I probably won’t,” she told outlet.
TGA is a “temporary, anterograde amnesia with an acute onset” that
mostly affects individuals middle-aged and older, according to the National Library of Medicine, with 5.2-10 people of 10,000 suffering annually with the number rising to 23.5-32/100,000 individuals over the age of 50.
Even though she lost her years of memories, Denicola looks forward to each Christmas so she can make new ones with her family. WAFB/YouTube
It often occurs during periods of “particularly strenuous activity,
high-stress events, or coitus, but it can be seen with migraines.”
The memory condition is often a temporary event and can reoccur, but death is very rare.
Denicola has been reading journal entries in a bid to remember her life but says it feels like reading about someone else.
Denicola has rekindled her love for her husband and watched her children grow up through her stories and pictures.
Denicola has been reading journal entries in a bid to remember her life but says it feels like reading about someone else. WAFB/YouTube
While it seems she lost 30 years of her life, Denicola is still living each year the best she could.
“I may have lost my memories, but guess what? We can make new ones,” she told WAFB.
The Maine Monitor spent a year reporting about the state’s probate court system. Here’s why and how we did so.
Photo by Fred J. Field.
We spent a year reporting and writing “Maine’s Part-Time Court” to
understand the lives and death of residents in probate court.
Maine’s
16 independent, county-run probate courts are not a part of the state
judicial branch. The probate courts are run by part-time, elected judges
responsible for monitoring the well-being and financial futures of adults and children under guardianship and conservatorship, as well as the estates of the deceased.
Our interest in the probate courts stemmed from two observations.
One, Maine voters passed a constitutional amendment 56 years ago
that would make probate judges full time, but in the five decades since
then, the legislature has not completed the steps necessary to
implement the will of the voters.
Two, we uncovered systemic
problems with other aspects of the state’s courts and justice system,
including the lack of a statewide public defenders office and the
recording of nearly 1,000 confidential attorney-client phone calls in
county jails.
The probate courts are a corner of the state’s
judicial system that has been long overlooked despite serving thousands
of Mainers.
In April, we sent a survey with 18 questions
about staffing levels, the number of guardianships being overseen by
the probate court, and financial reviews of conservators to each probate
court. The Maine Monitor received responses from 10 probate courts,
including Androscoggin, Cumberland, Kennebec, Knox, Lincoln,
Piscataquis, Sagadahoc, Waldo, Washington and York counties.
The survey revealed that many probate courts do not know how many adults are under guardianship, or if those people are alive or dead. And many probate courts do not audit conservators or have a method to detect attempted theft.
We
observed proceedings at the Cumberland County Probate Court in Portland
and Kennebec County Probate Court in Augusta. We also traveled to
Bangor and Brunswick to spend the day with
two women who shared their stories about being under guardianship, and
how the mandate for probate courts to consider a less restrictive
alternative to guardianship known as “supported decision-making”
affected their lives.
Our observations were supplemented with
interviews with 60 people, including probate judges, registers of
probate, guardians, adults under guardianship, lawyers, disability
advocates, family members, state officials, legislators and a former
state Supreme Court associate justice. We also spoke with fraud detection experts
in Florida and Minnesota court systems. We made multiple requests to
interview the leaders of Adult Protective Services in Maine and were
denied each time.
The
Maine Monitor’s reporting showed that the challenges facing those who
require the services of Maine’s probate system are only getting worse,
one advocate said. Photo by Fred J. Field.
To
broaden our understanding of the probate courts, we reviewed hundreds of
pages of online probate court records and dozens of attorney discipline
decisions where the probate court was mentioned. We also read state
studies about financial exploitation of adults, demographics and characteristics of adults who get exploited, and seven decades of government research on ways to overhaul the state’s probate court system.
The
Monitor also made public records requests to the Office of the Chief
Medical Examiner for data about the causes and circumstances of all adults who died under the state’s care of a public guardian between 2018 and May 2023.
We
received an anonymized dataset of more than 200 people. The vast
majority of deaths were deemed natural or accidental. The data revealed,
however, that medical examiners had rarely done examinations of the
deaths of people under public guardianship prior to 2021.
The
attorney general’s office also inadvertently sent the Monitor a
spreadsheet that contained the names of seven people the medical
examiner’s office deemed to have died in “undetermined” ways and one
death medical examiners labeled as a “homicide.”
We read 300 pages of probate court records about the eight individuals;
tracked down living relatives for interviews; contacted assisted living
facilities, veterans homes and private adult foster homes where the
eight had died; asked police about their investigations of the deaths —
often to be told there was none; and interviewed the leader of the
attorney general’s Healthcare Crimes Unit.
Unlike many states,
death certificates are confidential in Maine and can only be accessed by
family members. The attorney general’s office asked the Monitor not to
publish the eight names, but the Monitor decided to publish their full names and details about their deaths
to bring public attention to the state’s secretive system responsible
for the well-being of some of the state’s most vulnerable people.
In response to the Monitor’s reporting, state lawmakers held a
3½-hour public hearing on Oct. 25 about how the state’s guardianship
system operates.
Officials from the probate courts, Maine
Department of Health and Human Services, medical examiner’s office,
attorney general’s office and Disability Rights Maine were asked to come
and speak. The hearing concluded with calls from legislators for more oversight of guardians.
This series “Maine’s Part-Time Court” was supported by a grant from the Fund for Investigative Journalism. The investigation was also made possible by support from Report For America and the Investigative Editing Corps,
which allowed Alan Miller and Mike Wagner to join as project
editors. Samantha Hogan has been a reporter with The Maine Monitor since
June 2019.
