Saturday, March 10, 2012
Judge Sets Bail in Alleged Death of Incapacitated Adult by Caregiver
Judge Thomas Keadle arraigned a Lewis County woman accused of one count of death of an incapacitated adult by a caregiver.
Judge Keadle set Burkhart's bail for $25,000.
Lewis County Prosecuting Attorney Gary Morris asked for a $50,000 bail but Burkhart's attorney disputed it because she has a child in middle school and said she couldn't afford $50,0000.
Angela Burkhart is the mother of Cory Burkhart, 19, who had Down syndrome and was killed a year ago.
Full Article and Source:
Judge Keadle Sets Bail for Angela Burkhart
Judge Keadle set Burkhart's bail for $25,000.
Lewis County Prosecuting Attorney Gary Morris asked for a $50,000 bail but Burkhart's attorney disputed it because she has a child in middle school and said she couldn't afford $50,0000.
Angela Burkhart is the mother of Cory Burkhart, 19, who had Down syndrome and was killed a year ago.
Full Article and Source:
Judge Keadle Sets Bail for Angela Burkhart
An Important Message Regarding Your Rights
This message and the story that goes with it is a cautionary tale about Health Care "rights" in general and the needs of our elderly kin in particular. It actually reads ""An Important Message Regarding Your Medicare Rights." The discovery of this message came when my father was admitted to the hospital with pneumonia over a year ago, (or rather, a few weeks later.) One would hope that importance would be attributed to the knowing an individual themselves upon a hospital admission, rather than having a systemic eye assessing them as another stereotypical elder.
However, if the person has the term "dementia" in their chart, you can't necessarily count on staff noticing or making differentiations regarding how confused the person actually is, or how oriented they are normally. They may just assume that disorientation in the hospital may be the way the person is, when it actually can be a sign of something more serious. This prejudice may especially be true if the person is coming from a nursing home, and has the aforementioned label in their paperwork.
If you are like me, you may be trying to be a caregiver from afar - helping your elderly relative from another state. And if you are also like me, in order to preserve your own life and job, there may come a time after repeated hospitalizations, that you may have to choose depending upon circumstances whether to come immediately each time your relative goes to the hospital.
The ideal situation would be that there would be someone there who could be a support, and yes be a watchdog, every step of the way, particularly if your relative has memory problems. (My father has short term memory problems but can become very confused with a hospitalization.)
Full Article and Source:
An Important Message Regarding Your Rights
However, if the person has the term "dementia" in their chart, you can't necessarily count on staff noticing or making differentiations regarding how confused the person actually is, or how oriented they are normally. They may just assume that disorientation in the hospital may be the way the person is, when it actually can be a sign of something more serious. This prejudice may especially be true if the person is coming from a nursing home, and has the aforementioned label in their paperwork.
If you are like me, you may be trying to be a caregiver from afar - helping your elderly relative from another state. And if you are also like me, in order to preserve your own life and job, there may come a time after repeated hospitalizations, that you may have to choose depending upon circumstances whether to come immediately each time your relative goes to the hospital.
The ideal situation would be that there would be someone there who could be a support, and yes be a watchdog, every step of the way, particularly if your relative has memory problems. (My father has short term memory problems but can become very confused with a hospitalization.)
Full Article and Source:
An Important Message Regarding Your Rights
Friday, March 9, 2012
The Forgotten Ones: Compassion for the Elderly
"Animals help patients keep their mind off their problems," says Jean S. Uehl, the director of nurses. "The love the patients get from the animals is unconditional."One particular stroke patient was withdrawn and rarely smiled, until she began to play with the resident cat. The patient and the cat became closely bonded to each other, and when the cat had kittens, "they became like the patient’s babies," according to Uehl. The kittens played and slept on a tray on the resident’s wheelchair and slept in a chair near her bed whenever they could. The kittens brought the resident out of her shell and she began to talk and smile.
"The kittens in particular get all the residents’ attention," says Uehl. "Everyone always wants to know where they’re at and what they’re doing." When there are kittens in the building, a number of residents stay busy all day, following them, playing with them, and keeping an eye on them. ~ From HealthyPet.com
Consider taking your pet to visit residents at a nursing home or an elderly neighbor. They do NOT have to be registered therapy animals. Call your local nursing homes and ask about their policies. Usually only updated shots are required for your pet.
Don't have a pet? Go hold a residents hand instead. ♥
Source:
Facebook: The Forgotten Ones: Compassion for the Elderly
Oregon Bills Protecting Seniors From Abuse Approved by Senate
The Oregon Senate backed a bill this [3/1/12] that will make major changes to Oregon law with respect to elder abuse, creating critical new protections for Oregon’s most vulnerable seniors. House Bill 4084 integrates several recommendations from a work group on elder abuse created in 2011 including increasing the statute of limitation for crimes against the elderly, modifying records disclosure laws to make sure law enforcement can investigate allegations of abuse, and creating a council to review reporting of abuse to determine root causes of abuse and how abuse can be prevented.“In a time when criminals are creating new opportunities to prey on vulnerable victims, this legislation will arm law enforcement, financial institutions, medical providers, and the agencies charged with protecting Oregon’s elderly with the tools to prevent abuse,” said Senator Floyd Prozanski (D-Eugene), a member of the task force that developed HB 4084.
According to the Oregon Department of Human Services, state and local offices investigate more than 11,000 complaints of elder abuse or neglect each year. Oregon’s Elderly Persons and Persons with Disabilities Abuse Prevention Act defines an elderly person as any person 65 years of age or older.
“Our seniors deserve to be treated with dignity and we have an obligation to look out for those who are least able to care for themselves,” said Senator Elizabeth Steiner Hayward (D-NW Portland/Washington Co.), a practicing physician. “Many vulnerable seniors depend on assistance from others to take care of their basic needs. While the vast majority of these caretakers do admirable and compassionate work, there must be a system of accountability for those bad actors that take advantage of the most vulnerable.”
Full Article and Source:
Bills Protecting Vulnerable Seniors From Abuse Approved by Senate
Britney Spears' Beverly Park House Headed For Probate Sale
You probably best remember this house as the one that police helicopters circled and cops guarded when Britney Spears was carted off to rehab in a $25,000 taxpayer-sponsored rescue. If that wasn't enough to cause neighbors to drop their membership in the Britney Spears' fan club, news that the mansion that Britney paid $6.75 million for in 2007 has come back on the market -- at a lowly $2.995 million -- surely will. "Ouch" cry the area comps in pain.Source:
Britney Spears' Beverly Park House Headed For Probate Sale
Thursday, March 8, 2012
Law Student Pro Bono Award Winner
Salima Burke, a member of the class of 2012 at the University of Virginia School of Law, is the winner of the 2012 Oliver White Hill Law Student Pro Bono Award.
The award, named for a late Virginia civil rights litigator, recognizes a law student's commitment to uncompensated or minimally compensated pro bono work and other public service. It is bestowed by the VSB Committee on Access to Legal Services.
While a full-time law student, Ms. Burke still contributed more than 480 hours of pro bono work. She has volunteered with the Musawah Islamic Law Project, Piedmont Court Appointed Special Advocates, Catholic Charities Community Services' Department of Immigration Services, the Language Access Court Monitoring Project at the Legal Aid Justice Center, Wills for Seniors, and the Elder Advocacy and Housing Clinics at the Legal Aid Justice Center.
Full Article and Source:
Bedford Resident Named Law Student Pro Bono Award Winner
The award, named for a late Virginia civil rights litigator, recognizes a law student's commitment to uncompensated or minimally compensated pro bono work and other public service. It is bestowed by the VSB Committee on Access to Legal Services.
While a full-time law student, Ms. Burke still contributed more than 480 hours of pro bono work. She has volunteered with the Musawah Islamic Law Project, Piedmont Court Appointed Special Advocates, Catholic Charities Community Services' Department of Immigration Services, the Language Access Court Monitoring Project at the Legal Aid Justice Center, Wills for Seniors, and the Elder Advocacy and Housing Clinics at the Legal Aid Justice Center.
Full Article and Source:
Bedford Resident Named Law Student Pro Bono Award Winner
FL Woman Going to Prison for Cheating Man With Alzheimer's
The former caretaker for an 83-year-old man with Alzheimer’s disease was sentenced Wednesday to 8 1/2 years in prison after admitting she had duped him out of $10,000.Brenda Caillier, 40, used the man’s debit card for $10,000 in purchases for herself.
Caillier, who pleaded guilty before Circuit Judge Leo Zappa to financial exploitation of the elderly, has seven prostitution convictions dating back to 1992, as well as convictions for criminal trespass to state land, forgery and theft.
Full Article and Source:
Woman Going to Prison for Cheating Man With Alzheimer's
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