The community was predictably and justifiably outraged. Reading this story made me wonder: How often do we 'endanger the welfare of an elder', by using sedating medications to force them to fit our schedules and routines? When will we feel the same degree of outrage on their behalf?

Dr. G. Allen Power, Assistant Medical Director of St. John's Home, received certification as Eden Educator in August 2006. Dr. Power is one of two in New York State, four in the Northeast, and 50 worldwide, to achieve this designation by the Eden Alternative.

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on October 3, 2007 2:18 PM |Permalink |Comments (0)

October 4, 2007

Stayin' Alive

As he approached the century mark, entertainer Bob Hope was known to use this little joke...

"Who wants to live to be a hundred?!?" Pause for a beat. "A ninety-nine year-old man!" Ba Da Boom.

That's really the point isn't it. Except in the most extreme and distressing situations, people want, very much, to stay alive.

So it is in that spirit that I bring you this delightful and wonderfully subversive YouTube video clip:

I love the solo at 01:12.

Here is Barry Gibb today*

* Would also like that thank Mr. Gibb for his robust endorsement of the "aging is for everyone" philosophy.

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on October 4, 2007 1:19 PM |Permalink |Comments (0)

Welcome to Friends of Eden

This is just a quick note of welcome to all of my friends in the worldwide Eden Alternative network. Please feel free to send us any news clips, information, rants or insights you think might add to the blog.

Oh yeah, bookmark the site and come back often.

See you later...

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on October 4, 2007 2:15 PM |Permalink |Comments (3)

(Not So) Gray Hair

This is a nifty example of almost (but not really) getting it.

You begin with some pretty "far out" and "crazy" talk like this from an AP article on the to "Gray or Not to Gray" controversy...

"Kathy Kolbe, a Phoenix-based public speaker and consultant to corporations on human instincts, is one of the comparatively few gray-haired women in business. After alternating between dyed and not, she declares herself now “permanently gray” after concluding it is an advantage in more ways than one.

"She noticed she got lots of offers of help on her business travels when gray peeked through — from hoisting bags into overhead bins on airplanes to other assistance — and “pretty much nobody offered help” when it was hidden.

“So I let the whole head go gray and, voila, doors magically opened,” said Kolbe, 65.

She senses the “look of wisdom” also has a positive impact on both employees and clients."

Then you talk about what you do...

"Gray Hair Management currently provides professional coaching to managers and executives to help them win the race for a new opportunity using unique techniques and processes."

Then you go with the visuals because, after all, every picture tells a story don't it.

Umm. Nice photo. Where's the Gray Hair?

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on October 4, 2007 2:31 PM |Permalink |Comments (4)

October 5, 2007

Exhibit A: Why Oh Why is Health Care Reform so Hard to Do?

Let's say that Congress decided to get behind some incremental changes in one part of our medical industrial economy. It could even get all optimistic and cool and call its package of proposals the “CHAMP Act.” The bill might, for example, improve coverage and benefits for children, extend Transitional Medical Assistance for people enrolled in “Welfare to Work” programs and, make it easier for elders to continue using community-based Adult Day Service Programs. Well that's exactly what it did and the AMA , AARP and National Association of Children's Hospitals have all applauded this legislation. Nice huh?

Oh, there is one more thing, CHAMP also...

“Takes into account recommendations from the non-partisan Medicare
Payment Advisory Commission, the bill refines payments for a variety of
institutional providers including skilled nursing facilities, rehabilitation
facilities, long-term care hospitals, cancer hospitals and rural and small urban
hospitals.”

It turns out that the nation's for-profit nursing home chains (and their defenders in Washington) are just not that into the cancellation of multi-billion dollar funding increases in their future revenues.

"The CHAMP Act, as it now stands in the House Ways and Means Committee, is highly detrimental to the long term care needs of 'America's Greatest Generation' as well as future generations - contrary to the claims being made by its proponents," stated Bruce Yarwood, President and CEO of AHCA.

So what does a big-time Washington lobbyist do?

How about running attack ads directed specifically at freshman Representatives who dared voted against the perceived interests of the nursing home industry? Here is the ad being run against Tim Walz in Minnesota's First Congressional District.

Congressman's Walz's is pushing back against the nursing home industry's fearmongering.

“For too long, these private insurance companies and big nursing home chains have reaped the benefits of Medicare overpayments, and when I voted for the CHAMP Act, I voted for legislation that will help the most vulnerable of our community: our low-income children and seniors.

The people of the First District don’t have to buy expensive and deceptive ads. They don’t have to hire expensive lobbyists. People in southern Minnesota can be confident that I have and will continue to cast votes that are in the interest of our children and seniors, no matter how many full page, color ads costing thousands of dollars the special interest groups can buy.”

Read the full text of his statement here.

So what's new? Congress withdraws promised increases in the nursing home industry's funding stream. The industry's lobby lashes out at the CHAMP Act's Congressional supporters (especially freshmen). Little changes. Another battle is won, lost or drawn.

It is easy to see that the American medical industry is huge and exceptionally powerful. Each component of that industry holds a laser focus on its own needs first and foremost. Each component has its own individual war chest that it can you to attack elected officials who refuse to do its bidding.

It is also easy to see that the public supports fundamental change in our health care system. Hundreds of millions of people can see and are appalled by the waste, the injustice and the failure to produce the quality health care outcomes enjoyed by citizens of other industrial nations. Despite the urgent need for reform, nothing happens.

It turns out that attack ad is asking the right question: “Why?”

A few years back, Jonathon Rauch wrote a brilliant book (Demosclerosis) that explained the paradox of popular support for change being stymied by gridlocked inaction.

Scott London captured the the crux of Rauch's argument nicely...

“In a stable, democratic society, pressure groups inevitably form to persuade government to redistribute resources their way... Taken one at a time, these benefits have practically no effect on society as a whole, so no countervailing group arises to stop the waste. But, taken as a whole, group demands gradually sap the effectiveness and flexibility of government to the point where no program can be cut and no subsidy eliminated without arousing vehement opposition from some group or another. As the number of interest- groups in a society increases, and as the benefits secured by groups accumulate, the economy rigidifies. By locking out competition and locking in subsidies, interest-groups capture resources that could be put to better use elsewhere.”

As a physician, I believe that this kind of insightful diagnosis is a starting point for action. I believe that our national health care policy is being held strangled by a powerful industrial complex. The only thing that can break its grip is a counter-force of educated citizens who can see past the spin, the self-serving distortion and the outright hypocrisy--- and are willing to stand together and fight.

When I was in medical school a fellow student started his third year (the most challenging phase of medical school) by posting a sign on his dorm room door. It read: “I must therefore I can.” Today I would amend that statement. “We must therefore we can.” In fact it's already happening. Take a look at VOTER Mel Strand's counter-attack on lobbyist-generated attack ads running in his hometown paper.

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on October 5, 2007 8:45 AM |Permalink |Comments (2)

EngAge... Baby

People often ask me what direction I believe the senior housing sector is going to take in the future. I always answer that two emerging trends are going to prove to be central.

1) The spirit of community and a shift from "independence" to "interdependence."
2) A developmental orientation toward aging, elders and elderhood. It's about growth not decline.

Here's a group that is bring both strands together in a really effective way...

A first-of-its-kind 141-unit senior apartment community, The Burbank Senior Artists Colony features a theater group, independent film company, fine arts collective, intergenerational arts program with the BUSD and the following amenities for artists in their second 50 years of creativity:

* 45-seat Theatre & Screening Room
* Arts Studios & Classrooms
* Computer Media Arts Center
* Digital Filmmaking Equipment
* Digital Video Editing Bay
* Read Aloud Library
* Outdoor Performance Areas
* Art Gallery & Sculpture Garden

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on October 5, 2007 12:58 PM |Permalink |Comments (0)

Sedated

ChangingAging reader/commenter Margie Buck writes:

Thanks for the update on the new blog site. I loved the youtube Ramones "sedated". Will share it with many. look forward to seeing you all in Columbus OHIO (The Eden Alternative International Conference will be held in Columbus in June of 2008-- WHT)

So without further ado, here is the thoroughly up-to-date remake of the Ramone's classic "I Wanna Be Sedated."

Enjoy.

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on October 5, 2007 1:11 PM |Permalink |Comments (0)

(Not) Bowling Alone

OK so it has been pointed out to me that there are things in life much more important than art. One thing mainly-- and that would be...

Sports

Namely

Bowling

In particular...

Wii Bowling Championship Fever

You can. Be. There. Now.

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on October 5, 2007 3:37 PM |Permalink |Comments (2)

October 8, 2007

And the Beat Goes On

The range and sophistication of non-institutional community-based alternatives to conventional long-term care continue to grow. Many people are glad. Some wish that the status quo would last forever.

David Harlow's Health Care Law Blog picks up the thread with a nice summary of the state of the art. I found the following to be especially interesting.

The latest entrant in this field of alternatives to traditional nursing facilities is the Going Home program in Massachusetts, highlighted in today's Boston Globe story about a four-resident home in West Peabody operated by North Shore Elder Services, which plans to add additional sites. The home provides a residence, a live-in aide, meals, and other services as needed. Per the Globe, services cost another $3,600 to $4,000 per person a month at West Peabody, covered through the Medicaid and Medicare programs, because the residents have medical and physical conditions that would otherwise qualify them for government-paid nursing home care. The total cost per day is less than the $187 average state payment for nursing home care, but more than the state pays for the least-ill nursing home residents.

The story continues:

Because the houses are not subject to state regulation like nursing homes, some question whether residents would be adequately protected. There have been occasional abuses in state-funded homes for the mentally ill.

Organizers say there are multiple checks and balances in the way the houses are run. One of the regular duties of the elder service agencies is to investigate abuse and neglect for the state. The agencies' staff monitors the care provided in the houses. And other professionals, obligated to report abuse, are regular visitors.

The market for these services is likely robust and it will be interesting to follow the growth of this initiative in Massachusetts and elsewhere.

This photo is titled "Going Home" and comes from a collection of images from Randy Putnam's tour of duty with the 174th AHC, circa 1967 -1968. Take a look. If you like what you see, drop a line to JimMcD (webmaster)

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on October 8, 2007 8:59 AM |Permalink |Comments (1)

Smack Down

The Gimp Parade lays a smack down on private, for-profit investors who are, increasingly speculating in the nursing home real estate market. Blogger Kay Olsen highlights the following from the recent New York Times article that covered this issue.

"The typical nursing home acquired by a large investment company before 2006 scored worse than national rates in 12 of 14 indicators that regulators use to track ailments of long-term residents. Those ailments include bedsores and easily preventable infections, as well as the need to be restrained. Before they were acquired by private investors, many of those homes scored at or above national averages in similar measurements."

What does she want to do about this?

"One of the demands of ADAPT at the recent sit-in at the Chicago headquarters of the American Medical Association [see the AMA's policy on the use of restraints in nursing homes here-- WHT] was that doctors divest themselves of financial interest in the nursing homes they recommend to their clients."

I agree with and support ADAPT's position on the divestment issue.

"While there is a movement by aging Boomers gaining steam to make nursing and assisted living institutions into communities where people can go to live happily instead of going there to wither of neglect and die, a key factor in the injustices visited upon the people who end up in these homes is that continued institutionalization with minimal service and minimal care financially benefits someone else."

When you get down to it, the paragraph above is the core of a moral argument against health care as a purely profit-driven "marketplace" and for the enlargement and preservation of human dignity and freedom of choice as a fundamental human right.

When the profits of corporations in the medical-industrial sector come to take precedence over the life and death needs of ordinary citizens we have a prescription for disaster.

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on October 8, 2007 2:40 PM |Permalink |Comments (0)

Running Out of Time

This is a very sad story from the 2007 Chicago Marathon.
The temperature hit 92 degrees on the UMBC/Erickson School campus today and the date is October 8! Strange, very strange.

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on October 8, 2007 4:27 PM |Permalink |Comments (0)

Drive to Vote

The Brad Blog reports on a speech by John Tanner, the Chief of the Voting Section of the Civil Rights Division, U.S. Department of Justice. The videotape was rolling when Chief Tanner cut loose with views on how new laws requiring voters to show a photo ID will impact elders.

He allows that its "a shame" that older voters may be disenfranchised by new Photo ID restrictions at the polls because many don't have driver's licenses, however, minorities don't have to worry quite as much.

Why?

Because "minorities don't become elderly the way white people do. They die first."

In Chief Tanner's world, old brown people don't even exist so I guess they can hardly be expected to vote.

Nice. Real nice.

In case you were wondering about John Tanner here is a quick sketch...

As a teenager growing up in Birmingham, Alabama, in the 1960s, John Tanner found himself in the middle of the battleground over civil rights in America. "That was what was happening in Birmingham, it was sort of the center of the world," said Tanner, who is now chief of the Voting Rights Section of the United States Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division, in a Nov. 9 speech in the Chesterfield Smith Ceremonial Classroom, sponsored by the American Constitution Society. "Civil rights in Birmingham, Alabama in the 1960s was everything. That's what everyone talked about all the time. You were pretty much on one side or the other. And I was on the other."

The full text of the Tanner profile quoted above can be found here.

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on October 8, 2007 9:39 PM |Permalink |Comments (0)

October 9, 2007

The Blue Screen of Death

I am not sure how I feel about the makers of Windows TM becoming the holders of America's health information.* Here is a quick summary. The company toots its own horn here.

* This blog is written on a Mac G5. I'm just sayin'.

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on October 9, 2007 6:45 AM |Permalink |Comments (0)

Age Does Not Discriminate

New York Times reporter Jane Gross fronts a fascinating look at "the plight of the gay elderly:"

"[A] generation of gay men and lesbians, concerned about their own futures, have begun a national drive to educate care providers about the social isolation, even outright discrimination, that lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender clients face."

[snip]

"In the Boston suburbs, the Chelsea Jewish Nursing Home will break ground in December for a complex that includes a unit for the gay and lesbian elderly. And Stonewall Communities in Boston has begun selling homes designed for older gay people with support services similar to assisted-living centers. There are also openly gay geriatric case managers who can guide clients to compassionate services."

Here is a nice article that explores the background of the issue.

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on October 9, 2007 9:09 AM |Permalink |Comments (0)

...Are Smarter

We are witnessing the emergence of a new old age. It is an undiscovered country whose broadest contours are only just beginning to come into view...

Here is a quick take on an article recently published in the

Senior moments notwithstanding, elderly people are smarter today than they were less than a generation ago, a new study suggests.

Researchers found that when it comes to mental acuity, 74 is the new 59.

They compared performances on a battery of intelligence tests between a group of contemporary 74-year-olds and another group of people who took the tests 16 years earlier, when they were also 74.

The latter-day septuagenarians performed better on the tests across the board.

In fact, the average performance of a contemporary 74-year-old was closer to someone 15 years younger in the earlier testing group, researcher Elizabeth M. Zelinski, PhD, tells WebMD.

Zelinski is a professor of gerontology and psychology at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles.

"These findings have very interesting implications for the future, especially in terms of employment," she says. "As a group, older people are more mentally able to keep working beyond retirement age today."

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on October 9, 2007 1:08 PM |Permalink |Comments (0)

October 10, 2007

You've Got Questions?

They've got answers.

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on October 10, 2007 8:06 AM |Permalink |Comments (0)

October 11, 2007

McArdle Care

Megan McArdle--currently blogging at the Atlantic-- continues to defend a post, which she initially posted at her previous bloggy home.

...as a class, the old and sick have some culpability in their ill health. They didn't eat right or excercise; they smoked; they didn't go to the doctor as often as they ought; they drank to much, or took drugs, or sped, or engaged in dangerous sports. Again, in individual cases this will not be true; but as a class, the old and sick bear some of the responsibility for their own ill health, while younger, healthier people have almost no causal role in the ill-health of others.

Perhaps they deserve it by virtue of suffering? But again, most of them are suffering because they have gotten old, often in high style. The young of today have two possible outcomes:

1) They will be old and sick too, in which case they are no less deserving of our concern than today's old and sick

2) They won't ever get to be old and sick, which is even worse than being old and sick.

As a class, the old and sick are already luckier than the young and healthy. Again, for individuals within that class--those with desperate congenital conditions, for example--this is not the case. But I'm not sure it's terribly compelling to argue that we should massively disadvantage a large group of people in order to massively advantage another, equally large group of people, all to help out the few who are needy, or deserving, or unlucky.

Emphasis added.

Translation: The old and sick are mostly to blame for their oldness and sickness so why should the young and healthy have to carry their burden when they are not to blame?

Left unasked (and unanswered) is the question, "Who helped the youth and healthy grow up young and healthy? Or did they simply spring from the Earth with no help from any other living beings?

Can anyone guess Ms. McArdle's age? Maybe this photo will help.

Will we still need her? Will we still feed her, when she's 64?

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on October 11, 2007 8:12 AM |Permalink |Comments (2)

October 12, 2007

Boundless Playgrounds

Re-careering is an important part of the the second half of life. So what about becoming the new CEO of Boundless Playgrounds?

Founding Executive Director of Boundless Playgrounds, Amy Jaffe Barzach writes...

With my encouragement and whole-hearted endorsement, Boundless Playgrounds' Board of Directors has contracted with a division of the National Executive Service Corps to begin a search for Boundless Playgrounds' first Chief Executive Officer. Once on board (ideally before February 2008), this person will provide leadership and direct oversight of the internal management of operations, staff and all fundraising and development activities that support the success and growth of Boundless Playgrounds. Your thoughts on this position and the search process are appreciated as are referrals related to specific people. Referrals will be forwarded to the search firm. Please send any you may have to Steve Shaw, a long time board trustee, chair/emcee of our 10th anniversary gala event featuring Bob Newhart and member of our search committee (sshaw@visualconceptsinc.com ).

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on October 12, 2007 7:37 AM |Permalink |Comments (0)

October 13, 2007

Pro-Aging: Bare Skin Edition

YOUTH=BEAUTY
AGE= UGLY

These are the equations that drive ALMOST all of our media, advertising and (too often) art.

Dove deserves kudos for challenging these assumptions and doing so with flair and style.

How AdFormula sees it...

Six, over-50 gorgeous women do their best 'calender girl' homage in this controversial campaign titled pro age campaign ,designed and executed by their time tested agency O&M,posing buck naked in the ad, which was banned from airing( see the tvc here) and landed Dove in all the mess,because it "showed too much skin". The positive side as I see it, is that it was the first time, that a brand, that took on skin care, was talking to women about aging in a positive tone...Dove, the global beauty brand, boldly challenged the “only young-is-beautiful” stereotype with this Campaign which aimed to sell pro aging (and not anti aging) products . Designed to expose what our anti-aging society has been hiding, proage celebrates women of 50+ by showing their honest, real beauty.

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on October 13, 2007 7:48 AM |Permalink |Comments (1)

October 15, 2007

Social (In)Security

So how have the financial whiz kids who were supposed to take over the operation of a new "privatized" Social Security been doing lately? Let's take a look at how Wall Street has been handling another sacred financial tradition-- the home mortgage. Ummm. I think we'll keep Social Security right where it is. It's the best kept promise America ever made.

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on October 15, 2007 8:20 AM |Permalink |Comments (0)

October 16, 2007

Number 5: Think Young

The following is from a nice blog called Mark's Daily Apple. Despite the legendary power of an apple a day to keep the doctor away, I was able to visit the site and found that it is committed to, "Serving up health and fitness insights (daily, of course) with a side of irreverence." I like this sort of thing and was interested in Mark's "Ten Rules of Aging Well." So here are my notes on Rule Number Five, "Think Young:"

"Your one life is a precious gift, but “thinking young” is about more than thinking positively or staying interested in current trends and world events."

Well I agree that life is precious and that people really do want to stay alive. I am not so sure what "thinking young" is but I am pretty sure that I agree with Mark that "thinking positively or staying interested in current trends and world events" is not solely the province of the young. I might point out that when it comes to reading a daily newspaper, older people beat the pants off younger people.

"Realize that even at 55, 65, 75 and beyond, you are “young”. As long as you are alive and taking every intelligent step to get the most from your body and your life, you are young. Living itself is the ultimate fountain of youth."

Umm. Mark is starting to lose me here. If you are "young" no matter what your age, then the concept of "youth" sort of loses its meaning. Mark's checklist for Youthfulness:

1) You are alive.
2) You are "taking every intelligent step to get the most from your body and your life."

The assumption being implied but not spoken is that "getting the most from your body" means achieving performance measures that are typically associated with the first half of life. I am more interested in helping people find wellness, where they are today, not wellness as it was defined in their youth.

Lastly, Betty Friedan said it best, the Fountain of Age is more real and more beneficial than any fountain of youth could ever hope to be.

An open, searching approach to life seems to serve people of all ages quite well. It is one of the flaws of our society that a vibrant, curious nature is seen not just as an attribute of the young but even seems limited to the very young (i.e. children). I can say, with confidence that older people have a far more confident grasp on "who they really are" than younger people. The fact is that it takes most people many decades of living to answer the question "Who am I?" fully and accurately.

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on October 16, 2007 10:33 AM |Permalink |Comments (0)

Brothers...

Life is short, and fragile. It is a good thing when art plucks the chord of our mortality..

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on October 16, 2007 3:46 PM |Permalink |Comments (1)

The Mythology... of Aging

Karen Farakas has written a nice summary of some remarks I made recently in Cleveland, Ohio.

WESTLAKE -- When Eos, the goddess of dawn, realized her Trojan lover had eternal life but not eternal youth, she took pity on him and turned him into a grasshopper.

That Greek myth summarizes how Americans view growing old - as something to pity, said Dr. William Thomas, an international authority on geriatrics.

"Our society teaches us that aging is falling apart - something gone wrong," Thomas said. "We now understand that aging is the most human thing about us and we are meant to grow old."

Full text here

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on October 16, 2007 4:31 PM |Permalink |Comments (1)

October 17, 2007

Child Free

The Child Free blog passes this along...

NY Times: Increasing Childlessness and the Backlash Against "Family Friendly" Workplaces.

The Revolt of the Childless

HR magazine recently published a cover story entitled “Are You Too Family Friendly?”

It’s an issue because of the changing nature of the population in the United States.

“Slightly more than one in four households, 26 percent, consisted of a person living alone in 2006, up from 17 percent in 1970,” Susan J. Wells writes. “Unmarried and single U.S. residents numbered 92 million in 2006, making up 42 percent of all people 18 and older.” That’s up from 89 million in 2005.
. . .

Above, the cover of a book that describes the no kids lifestyle Down Under...

Millions of people are going "child free" and that will, in time, change the landscape of aging. I'm not saying it is better or worse, just different. Not mentioned, but also a major factor, are those who have biological children but do not have a care-giving relationship with them and have no expectation of such a relationship ever forming. This functional childlessness in the context of late life.

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on October 17, 2007 3:17 AM |Permalink |Comments (1)

October 18, 2007

A Sermo(n) for Pfizer

The following article is a virtual Master's level course on the VERY dysfunctional relationship between the corporations that make drugs and the people who prescribe them. I am almost always an optimist but, in this case, it's a matter of "read it and weep."

By AVERY JOHNSON

A new Pfizer Inc. partnership with a doctors' Web site could attract fresh attention to how drug companies interact with physicians.

The New York pharmaceuticals maker will announce a partnership today with Sermo Inc., a social-networking site for licensed physicians. Facing financial pressures as some of its best-selling products lose patent protection, Pfizer is looking for more-efficient ways to reach the doctors who prescribe its medicines. Under the arrangement, Pfizer-affiliated doctors will be able to talk candidly with the site's 31,000 members, potentially giving the company insights into prescribing patterns and a way to show doctors data on its drugs.

It is risky territory for Pfizer, though. The drug industry's interactions with doctors are highly scrutinized by regulators and lawmakers for signs that they are offering financial incentives to drive sales or promoting their drugs for unapproved uses. Pfizer plans to discuss the partnership with the Food and Drug Administration.

Many doctors, too, are wary of undue industry influence on their profession. "Often it's looked badly upon by other physicians when you are perceived to have a close relationship with a drug company," says Sermo member Richard Thrasher, an ear-nose-and-throat specialist from McKinney, Texas, who generally welcomes Pfizer to the site.

Sermo, founded in September 2006 in Cambridge, Mass., provides a forum for doctors to seek diagnostic advice from peers. The site earns money by letting clients such as hedge funds monitor doctors' anonymous conversations and thus gain insight into, say, the popularity of certain treatments. Sermo rewards physicians whose input is highly ranked by other members and soon will offer to pay doctors for participating in its clients' surveys.
Avery Johnson discusses how Pfizer plans to reach more physicians through a social networking site, instead of sending sales reps to doctors' offices.

Pfizer has historically fielded the industry's most aggressive sales force, but laid off 20% of its U.S. sales force last year and more than 20% of its European sales team in January.

Pfizer doctors, who will be clearly identified, will be able to ask questions of the Sermo community or respond to posts. If Pfizer doctors were to offer comments others deem biased, the system provides for quick rebuttals.

Sermo chief executive Daniel Palestrant says he initially didn't want to involve drug companies, but changed his mind when physicians on the site started asking for the industry to communicate with them in a medium more convenient than sending sales people to their offices. "It takes a lot of courage for Pfizer to do this, because the response isn't going to be universally positive," Dr. Palestrant says. "Pharma is always in crisis, always under fire for something, and there have been trust issues with physicians."

Michael Berelowitz, Pfizer's senior vice president for global medical, says the company wants to communicate more openly, despite the risk. "We live in an environment where we're closely monitored all the time and have constraints around what we say and how we say it," he says. "Given that this kind of medium is the way forward...we have to learn how to behave in it."

Neither company would disclose financial terms of the agreement.

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on October 18, 2007 9:46 AM |Permalink |Comments (2)

Most popular blogs

Just signed-up to put my blog on Technorati.com. Check it out if you're interested in seeing what the most popular blogs in the world are. I'll be working on creating my profile here:
Technorati Profile

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on October 18, 2007 11:24 AM |Permalink |Comments (0)

Pop-culture Bonanza

So media mega-giant Viacom is allowing Comedy Central to launch a new web site for The Daily Show With Jon Stewart that will provide free access to video clips covering the entire output of the show since it began in 1999.

Our good friends at the UMBC ebiquity blog make some keen observations on this development, notably that this is a "response to the presence of many Stewart clips on Youtube and the related $1B copyright-infringement suit." Both the lawsuit and Viacom's bold move to provide this content free-of-charge (apparently confident they can support the web site through advertisements) are a testament to the impact "fake news" shows such as the Daily Show are having on our popular culture.

The LA Times reports:

“The database is searchable by both date and topic, making it a potential bonanza for students of American pop culture. If you want to see what host Jon Stewart has had to say about former First Lady Barbara Bush or ill-fated Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro, you can find the clips and put them in context by seeing what else was featured on the same day.

…

Going forward, however, Comedy Central plans to tap into the collective intelligence of its fans by allowing them to contribute to the process, a la Wikipedia, the user-created Internet encyclopedia.”

Check out the culture bonanza here: The Daily Show Videos 1999 to Now.

John Stewart explains Social (In)Security:

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on October 18, 2007 5:17 PM |Permalink |Comments (0)

October 19, 2007

Ouch... It Gets Worse

A coincidence? I think not...

Oct. 18, 2007 (Investor's Business Daily delivered by Newstex) --

Drug firms closely tied to schools

The majority of department chairs at U.S. medical schools have financial ties with the drug industry, according to a Harvard Univ. study. Health Day News said researchers found that 60% of department chairs said they are paid by drug makers as either consultants or officers. More than two-thirds of department chairs contended that such close relationships with medical companies had no effect on their professional activities. Another study found third-year medical students get, on average, one gift or attend one activity sponsored by a drug maker each week.

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on October 19, 2007 5:36 AM |Permalink |Comments (0)

October 22, 2007

Chipmunk Economics

I've been watching the SCHIP tragi-rama and, for me it least, it has all of the overtones of the recent Social Security brouhaha. Its the same story with Medicare, Medicaid, WIC, SSI...etc., etc. etc.

Here is that story:

"Despite all evidence to the contrary, there is no such thing as the common good. It turns out that we are all alone in this world, rich and poor alike--- well not exactly alike. Anyway, again despite all evidence to the contrary, it is best if we learn not to rely on each other. We are, it seems, a race of chipmunks each of us racing alone to toward the creation of our own, individual, pile of nuts. If your stash is big and well-hidden, then congratulations, you deserve to make it through the winter. If your stash is small or not so well hidden, or stolen or ruined, well then that's just too bad. You can't expect any other chipmunks to give a damn about you.

"It's every chipmunk for himself and the devil take the hindmost."
---- Richard Dawkins

Interestingly, the story told above collides with everything we know about morality, ethics, theology and, especially, human nature. We are not chipmunks, and never have been.

It is said, by those who know, that before the invention of the freezer, the best place to store surplus meat was in a neighbor's stomach. In other words, sharing the surplus in good times with the expectation that we will be helped by others in hard times is woven into the fabric of our species. Social insurance programs (like Social Security) take this principle one step further and create a situation where members of a nation make a promise to each other and then work to keep that promise, generation after generation.

Efforts to lead us away from the promises that, we, as a people, have made are, when you get down to it --- inhuman.

We are not chipmunks, never have been, never will be.

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on October 22, 2007 5:27 AM |Permalink |Comments (0)

October 23, 2007

It Aint Charity

Everybody's favorite moral philosopher, Megan McArdle, let's us in on a little secret...

After all, we've* already internalized the notion that advocating taxing other people in order to give their money to someone else is somehow morally akin to charity.

She. Is. Wrong.

Taxing people to fund government run social insurance plans is actually the very opposite of charity.

A) Social Insurance redistributes wealth (this is the notion that I think she finds distasteful) so that risk can be transferred from the individual to taxpayers as a class. At its best, social insurance is universal, uniform and operates without the slightest hint of charity.

B) True charity, in contrast, is most often personal, highly idiosyncratic and usually proclaims both the beneficence of the donor and the deserving-ness (moral or otherwise) of the recipient.

On a morality pop quiz, I would choose (c) A and B

Each is important and each has value but failing to distinguish between them represents a glaring, and perhaps willful misunderstanding of the nature to these virtues.

* Just by the way, who is this "we" she is referring to?

Update: First Rule: When you find yourself in a hole, stop digging. Violation of First Rule...

I'm certainly not eager to raze our current raft of poverty programs on the odds that private groups might keep children from starving.

She said it best...

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on October 23, 2007 8:32 AM |Permalink |Comments (1)

October 24, 2007

Main Street versus Wall Street

What Is...

Merrill Lynch & Co. on Wednesday took a $7.9 billion write down because of the summer's credit crisis, a bigger-than-expected amount that raised the specter of more trouble ahead from risky home loans.

The world's largest brokerage was caught off guard by its bad bets, leading to its first loss in six years. Merrill Lynch's quarterly performance was the worst by far of the Wall Street firms.

The shortfall calls into question how one of the biggest names in finance could be so off the mark, just three weeks after telling Wall Street its losses would be significantly less.

"I'm not going to talk around the fact that there were some mistakes that were made," Chairman and Chief Executive Stan O'Neal told analysts during a conference call.

AND

What Will Never Be...

The Social Security Administration on Wednesday took a $7.9 billion write down because of the summer's credit crisis, a bigger-than-expected amount that raised the specter of more trouble ahead from risky home loans.

America's legendary safety net for older people was caught off guard by its bad bets, leading to its first loss in six years. Social Security's quarterly performance was just as bad as that of the Wall Street firms.

The shortfall calls into question how one of the Social Security could be so off the mark, just three weeks after telling Wall Street its losses would be significantly less.

"I'm not going to talk around the fact that there were some mistakes that were made," Social Security Chief Executive Stan Shunpike told analysts during a conference call. " I mean come on, it's not like we are playing around with people's financial security or anything like that." Shunpike added.

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on October 24, 2007 12:42 PM |Permalink |Comments (1)

October 25, 2007

Bye By White Coat and Tie

The British always seem to be ahead of the curve on things like this...

LONDON (AP) - British hospitals are banning neckties, long sleeves and jewelry for doctors _ and their traditional white coats _ in an effort to stop the spread of deadly hospital-borne infections, according to new rules published Monday.

Hospital dress codes typically urge doctors to look professional, which, for male practitioners, has usually meant wearing a tie. But as concern over hospital-borne infections has intensified, doctors are taking a closer look at their clothing.

"Ties are rarely laundered but worn daily," the Department of Health said in a statement. "They perform no beneficial function in patient care and have been shown to be colonized by pathogens."

The new regulations taking effect next year mean an end to doctors' traditional long-sleeved white coats, Health Secretary Alan Johnson said. Fake nails, jewelry and watches, which the department warned could harbor germs, are also out.

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on October 25, 2007 3:10 AM |Permalink |Comments (5)

Surprise!

Well folks, notice anything different? I hope my nascent readership was not too stunned by our bold new look. Thanks much to the creative services studio at UMBC who designed the new header. And thanks also to the folks in the New Media Studio who have been tweaking and twinging this blog into existence.

Of course, this will always be a work in progress. And your feedback is coveted -- what do YOU, the reader, think?

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on October 25, 2007 3:00 PM |Permalink |Comments (8)

October 26, 2007

Endless Tales of Woe

Those who know me and my work know I'm an insufferable optimist and am whole-heartedly dedicated to reversing the most intractably pessimistic aspect of our culture -- how we feel about AGING.

But, even my cheerful demeanor blanches every morning when I open my Google-New-Alerts for the two most unfortunate words in the LTC lexicon -- "Nursing Home."

Here is a sample of today's news:

Man Dies Trying To Escape Nursing Home CHICAGO -- A 66-year-old man died after falling from a second-story window at a Northwest Side nursing home Wednesday morning.

Kiril Kirilov, who may have suffered from mental disabilities, attempted to exit Harmony Nursing and Rehabilitation Center from a second floor window via bedsheets he tied together, according to an Albany Park District police officer.

ARE YOU KIDDING ME?

But wait -- it gets worse:

Seniors Fear Losing Independence, Moving Into Nursing Home More Than DEATH

Senior citizens fear moving into a nursing home and losing their independence more than death, according to a new research study, “Aging in Place in America,” commissioned by Clarity and The EAR Foundation.

Tragic, and painfully true. I will write more about this terrible reality soon. Click here to read the full study posted at MyHearingHealth.com.

However, there was one gem out of more than a dozen articles today on abuse, neglect and fraud:

'Home Again' will aid seniors who wish to move out of nursing home

TERRE HAUTE — A new program called “Home Again” will provide rental assistance to seniors on Medicaid who desire to move from a nursing home back into a more independent and affordable community setting.

If you're looking for another ray of hope, go to www.edenalt.org

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on October 26, 2007 10:24 AM |Permalink |Comments (6)

October 29, 2007

Ask Dr. Bill

Many of my readers (I hope) are students at the Erickson School at UMBC, where I recently joined as a faculty member to teach in the first-of-its kind undergraduate and graduate degree programs in the Management of Aging Services, or MAgS. I know by experience the passion and enthusiasm found among those who have dedicated their lives to working with elders, but I have been truly impressed by the dedication of my students. Because my travel schedule takes me away from campus often, I'm not always available to answer all of the probing questions they raise. In fact, there is rarely enough time during many of my lectures and speeches to answer all the important questions that folks bring up, such as "Just What are Old People For Anyway?" Well let me tell you... Starting now I'm launching a new feature on my blog called "Ask Dr. Bill." I'd like to invite all my readers to post their questions about aging, longevity, elderhood, old people, geriatrics or whatever else, in the comments section below by email to changingaging AT gmail DOT com.

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on October 29, 2007 11:00 AM |Permalink |Comments (11)

Ancient Mariners Feel the Heat

Sometimes we humans like to think that we have a stone cold lock on this aging thing. In fact, we've got bupkus compared with sea turtles.

The Christian Science Monitor also as a great slide show on the topic.

Consider the case of Adwaita the tortoise, who once belonged to the British colonial general Clive of India in the 18th century. One Wednesday last month, Adwaita was found dead in his enclosure in Alipore Zoo. His death was not unexpected - his shell had cracked some months before and a wound had developed, and he was, after all, somewhat advanced in life: West Bengal officials said records showed Adwaita was at least 150 years old, but other evidence suggested he was more like 255. It will take carbon-dating of his shell to determine his true age. At 255, Adwaita would beat Harriet the Galápagos tortoise, who was reportedly collected by Charles Darwin, and died aged 175 in 2006, and Tu'i Malila, the radiated tortoise given to the royal family of Tonga by Captain James Cook, and who passed over aged 188 in 1965.

Here is a great rundown on how climate change is likely to impact the ancient mariners.

Even the New York Times has a take on the issue.

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on October 29, 2007 8:51 PM |Permalink |Comments (1)

October 30, 2007

The Power of Influence

Ummm, Naomi Dagen Bloom wrecks house.

I bumped this up from the comments.

your responses today at TGB particularly resonated for me, "let go of youth...embrace..." old age. many of my peers are emotionally challenged by that important notion. sometimes, as an active elder among younger people, i have to remind myself about that also.

could i suggest an area of investigation for your blog? it would be the role of social action in the lives of those beyond retirement. in the current focus on volunteering as an important activity for elders--and it is--i believe it has great value to ourselves as well as our society. for some it means risk-taking that was desired but avoided due to employment constraints.

NDB,

A key transformation wrought by our longevity involves the purposeful surrender of POWER.

(By power I mean the ability to force or coerce others to take or refrain from actions they would otherwise prefer.)

In its place, INFLUENCE becomes a most useful instrument which can, when grasped firmly, be wielded with great skill.

(By influence I mean the ability to lead others to new and unique conclusions about the course of action they choose for themselves. Influence is, by definition, free from coercion.)

I went out onto the World Wide Web looking for an example of what I mean and I found this.

One final note. Any person who can not see the deep relationships that unite "peace, politics and yarnlife after 60"--- doesn't understand life. (smile)

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on October 30, 2007 9:58 AM |Permalink |Comments (1)

Flow

I went out for a run late in the day. The sun went down while I was out. When I turned for home I experienced a sensation I have not felt for maybe twenty years. Night was falling and it felt like I was being carried by the wind. The world rolled past and it was beautiful. I was running fast but my breathing was not labored. Then, unexpectedly, I was home.

I'm just saying.

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on October 30, 2007 9:34 PM |Permalink |Comments (3)

October 31, 2007

Turtle Lodge

Picking up on the theme of "elder influence" it si good to remember that there is nothing new under the sun. The idea that elders form a kind of human bridge that spans both time and the human generations is well known to the people of many cultures.

The Turtle Lodge represents this bridge of influence in action, it's worth a look. Excerpts below.

The protocol of elder influence was reflected in the gathering, as it had been in the old days. As the elders led the gathering, we felt at ease, knowing and feeling that things would run the way they were meant to be. To the elders, the beginning of the day was always most important and that was giving thanks and gratitude to the Great Spirit and the Grandfathers.

During the four days, little baby turtles kept appearing; this would happen on each day. Each day they would be taken to the river, and released. This one day, a little turtle was found and it seemed that it was not alive, so it was decided it would be taken back to the shore of the river. This was when the evening healing ceremony was about to begin. As the little turtle was about to be laid on the shore, the sound of the drums beating began in the Elder's Lodge. Suddenly, one eye of the turtle opened. It was alive, but it seemed barely alive. As it was laid on the ground, and the drums were beating in the lodge, the baby turtle immediately came alive and ran towards the sound of the drums. This again offered a sign to the people. The little turtle represented the child, and we were all being shown that somehow we are destroying the spirit of our children. When the little turtle came alive and went towards the sound of the drum, what this meant, the elders said, was that the drum represented the awakening to a way of life that could nurture and help build the spirit of the children. The drum was calling for everyone to return to the sacred lodges, and sacred sites of our people.

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on October 31, 2007 6:19 AM |Permalink |Comments (0)

Happy? Halloween

Wow, another deep, thoughtful comment that really gets at the key issues. I am humbled.

Does everyone eventually reach gerotranscendence?

The answer is no. There are three points to be made here.

1) Many people die too young to have experienced this kind of mental development.

2) Many people live to an advanced age but never to learn go of the fevered pre-occupations of youth and adulthood. In a sense, they are developmentally disabled, stuck in adulthood, they are unable to break the grip that the memory of youth holds on their minds.

3) Many people live in societies that pave the way into elderhood and the transition from adult to elder is well understood and well trod. They may experience many of the changes associated with the fullness of elderhood but do not feel the change because it was always normal and expected.

At about what age? I'll be 66 next month and I definitely am not gerotransendent.

You are young and that may be part of the problem. Do you look forward to growing older? The automatic answer to that question in our society is, "Heavens No!" Could you look forward to outgrowing the stage of life you find yourself in today? Yes you could, if you chose to do so. This is what makes the jump into elderhood to difficult in American society. Their is no clear path, no clear leader, and few role models.

To the contrary, I'm feeling very vulnerable at this age, especially when former classmates have either recently died or have cancer. It's kind of like I suddenly came to the tack-sharp realization that, yes, I, too, am going to die.

Yes you are going to die. I am going to die. Everyone I love is going to die. Nothing can change that fact. The "sharp-tack" feeling is a nudge from your "inner elder" to come to grips with this morality and move ahead.

And I'm scared. Not of being dead. But of the vast unknown that surrounds the dying process itself. And the possibility of intractable pain, or dying in some other horrible way. My grandmother died in her sleep; that's a good death. My mother is 91; she doesn't seem scared of what is to come.

If your mother can do it, so can you! Embrace the truth of your own mortality. Obtain or update your health care proxy or durable power of attorney. Doing so will improve your quality of life by reducing your fear.

My husband, 20 years older than I, is in the severe stage of Alzheimer's. Sometimes he'll look at me and tell me I'm dead, which is creepy. He often says he's dead. Maybe these are reasons why death is scaring me right now.

Your experience reminds us that most of the suffering associated with Alzheimer's Disease is borne by loved ones. You are losing your mate, you feel him slipping away from you and he probably feels something similar. Your distress is 100% understandable. It is also true that there is nothing you can do to cure him.

So, what I am about to suggest is difficult but potentially rewarding. It is possible to put your husband's comments into a new, more philosophical context. When he tells you that you are dead you can be reminded that life is precious and tenuous at best. He is a sage, helping you remember to value each and every moment. When he says that he is dead. You can remember that everyone around you is only minutes from death every day and act to repair and strengthen relationships with the people you love.

This is not easy to do but it yields deep and lasting benefits.

Well, it IS Halloween today, so I guess Death is saying BOO and scaring the spooks right of me.

In this case, the joke's on--- Death. Hah!

BTW, congratulations on your blog. I think it's going to be a big help to those of us who are - gasp - rapidly heading toward elderhood and wondering how the heck we got here so dang fast.

You are my elder and I am glad you are out there exploring this undiscovered country we call elderhood.

I love this artist.

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on October 31, 2007 4:50 PM |Permalink |Comments (7)