Dr. Bill Thomas

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October 2008 Archives

October 1, 2008

Hannah Thomas

Hannah had a better night last night. Her breathing has improved and their is a chance that she will be moved to the step down unit today. Jude and I are frazzled but our family and friends have offered us the kindest and most hopeful expressions of love and support.

Cannot say thank you enough.

Here is a photo of Hannah and her big brother taken in happier times.

One last note. People who have read Learning from Hannah and In the Arms of Elders know that Hannah plays the role of teacher in those books. Well, in the ICU the professor asked if students could listen to her lung sounds because she had something called tubular breath sounds. We said sure. It was good to see Hannah teaching those medical students something important and useful.

One more last note. What is it with girls these days. They love to show the belly button--- Dad does not approve!!!!

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on October 1, 2008 9:07 AM |Permalink |Comments (11)

Gratitude

From Rick Moody's excellent e-mail magazine...

Brother David Steindl-Rast, who works in the tradition
of Thomas Merton, has said that "It is not happiness
that makes us grateful but gratefulness that makes us happy."

For more on his approach to the contemplative life visit:

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on October 1, 2008 12:25 PM |Permalink |Comments (0)

You say you want a revolution?

Finally, here's a video preview Bill and I put together last week for a look inside Aging 100:

Posted by Kavan Peterson on October 1, 2008 5:19 PM |Permalink |Comments (0)

October 2, 2008

Work and Rest

Boo Lunt passes along this wonderfully evocative poem by Bob Arnold

The Poet in Question

No Tool or Rope or Pail

It hardly mattered what time of year
We passed by their farmhouse,
They never waved,
This old farm couple
Usually bent over in the vegetable garden
Or walking the muddy dooryard
Between house and red-weathered barn.
They would look up, see who was passing,
Then look back down, ignorant to the event.
We would always wave nonetheless,
Before you dropped me off at work
Further up on the hill,
Toolbox rattling in the backseat,
And then again on the way home
Later in the day, the pale sunlight
High up in their pasture,
Our arms out the window,
Cooling ourselves.
And it was that one midsummer evening
We drove past and caught them sitting
Together on the front porch
At ease, chores done,
The tangle of cats and kittens
Cleaning themselves of fresh spilled milk
On the barn door ramp;
We drove by and they looked up--
The first time I've ever seen their
Hands free of any work,
No tool or rope or pail--
And they waved.

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on October 2, 2008 5:28 AM |Permalink |Comments (0)

Power-Up: Stress Brain Drain

This week, I’m following up on Sonia Lupien, the Montreal researcher chronicled by Christa in her 9/8/08 post. Christa sent me a fascinating study published in Psychoneuroendocrinology (2005: 30; 225-242).

Using cortisol levels as a biomarker for stress, Dr. Lupien found that some adults run chronically higher levels of cortisol than others. Over several years, this group had more memory loss and 14% shrinkage of the hippocampus, (a major brain memory center), compared with those with low or moderate levels.

This appears to support Christa’s theory that stressful environments (read “institutional care”) may actually accelerate memory loss over time.

But there’s an even bigger story…

Dr. Lupien looked at children and adolescents and found different cortisol patterns in those with a lower socioeconomic status (SES). Children with low SES and higher cortisol levels also appeared to process thoughts more negatively, which could also lead to more depression. Stressful living environments clearly seem to influence how children view the world.

But what about their cognition? It is well recognized that people with fewer years of education have a higher incidence of Alzheimer’s disease. Decreased “brain reserve” is theorized, but I never quite accepted this, because many people with high IQs do not pursue advanced degrees.

However, most people of low SES have fewer options for advanced education. Maybe the real cause of increased dementia in the less-educated group is poverty, and the day-to-day stress this group encounters. With a widening gulf between haves and have-nots in the world, what will happen as this population ages down the road?

Two weeks ago, I gave the U.S. low marks in the fundamentals of health, education and welfare. I thought I was digressing into politics, but maybe I was talking about dementia all along!

--Al Power

Posted by Kavan Peterson on October 2, 2008 12:12 PM |Permalink |Comments (7)

October 5, 2008

And Aging Too...

Witold Rybczynski makes the case for smaller homes:

Smaller houses on smaller lots are the logical solution to the problem of affordability, yet density— and less affluent neighbors— are precisely what most communities fear most. In the name of fighting sprawl, local zoning boards enact regulations that either require larger lots or restrict development, or both. These strategies decrease the supply— hence, increase the cost— of developable land. Since builders pass the cost of lots on to buyers, they justify the higher land prices by building larger and more expensive houses—McMansions. This produces more community resistance, and calls for yet more restrictive regulations. In the process, housing affordability becomes an even more distant chimera.

The post WWII suburban housing development is a sterile, social capital poor environment within which to strive for a vibrant old age.

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on October 5, 2008 4:15 PM |Permalink |Comments (2)

Aspens in the Autumn

It's funny how easily the change of seasons can slip past us.

This photo from Nancy Fox really hit me.

Wow.

Change is Life.

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on October 5, 2008 6:17 PM |Permalink |Comments (2)

October 6, 2008

Monkhouse Mondays: No more Nursing-Home Placements

Some European regions such as Switzerland have attracted considerable immigration of well-educated, cosmopolitan professionals and their families, often referred to as the "brain-gain“. It is routine for companies to hire relocation-specialists in order to help these individuals and families settle in, find local people to talk to, the right school for the children, a job for the spouse. They get the different culture explained and all in all, everyday life is made as easy and as stress-less as possible.

Relocation to a nursing home should be planned, the culture explained, prepared for and the daily stressors minimized until safely settled in and relationships formed. Following a pilot-project in an Eden-Home in Switzerland, this service has been regarded as essential, because people could choose, plan, were helped and advocated for and the word “placement” was eradicated from use. Shouldn’t this service become mainstream? Elders provide jobs as much as international companies do.

-- Christa Monkhouse

Posted by Kavan Peterson on October 6, 2008 10:10 AM |Permalink |Comments (2)

Privatizing Social Security

Strictly from a political point of view, these are dark days for any candidate with a history of supporting George W. Bush's plan to privatize Social Security.

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on October 6, 2008 12:47 PM |Permalink |Comments (0)

McCain Plans Federal Health Cuts

This should be popular...

John McCain would pay for his health plan with major reductions to Medicare and Medicaid, a top aide said, in a move that independent analysts estimate could result in cuts of $1.3 trillion over 10 years to the government programs.
The Republican presidential nominee has said little about the proposed cuts, but they are needed to keep his health-care plan "budget neutral," as he has promised. The McCain campaign hasn't given a specific figure for the cuts, but didn't dispute the analysts' estimate.

More details from the Wall Street Journal here

Honestly, the 60+ demographic was his the REpublican candidate's last firewall. Now this?

Stunning.

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on October 6, 2008 2:58 PM |Permalink |Comments (3)

October 7, 2008

Elderspeak Bigotry

The New York Times gets it...

Professionals call it elderspeak, the sweetly belittling form of address that has always rankled older people: the doctor who talks to their child rather than to them about their health; the store clerk who assumes that an older person does not know how to work a computer, or needs to be addressed slowly or in a loud voice. Then there are those who address any elderly person as “dear.”
“People think they’re being nice,” said Elvira Nagle, 83, of Dublin, Calif., “but when I hear it, it raises my hackles.”

Now studies are finding that the insults can have health consequences, especially if people mutely accept the attitudes behind them, said Becca Levy, an associate professor of epidemiology and psychology at Yale University, who studies the health effects of such messages on elderly people.

More Here

People sometimes ask me why I use such precise and careful language when I refer to older people. The answer is that ordinary everyday language is loaded with nasty and demeaning words and phrases...

ChangingAging blog readers.... Thoughts on this issue???

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on October 7, 2008 7:29 PM |Permalink |Comments (7)

October 8, 2008

Blanchard WinsDays: Honoring our Veterans

In Washington D.C., one of the big engines pulling out of the Administration on Aging (AoA) station is the “nursing home diversion program.” I saw that Bill blogged on the NYT article about Elderspeak and find it interesting that the program designed to help elders to remain in their homes, and stay out of institutional long term care, borrows a term (Diversion Programs) more commonly associated with the criminal justice system.

Last week, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced $36 million in new grant programs to 28 states to help older Americans and veterans remain independent and to support people with Alzheimer’s disease to remain in their homes and communities.

Sure it's a baby step, but it is step in the right direction.

The press release can be found here.

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on October 8, 2008 10:26 AM |Permalink |Comments (2)

Beautiful Website

Brett Marty has a posted a fascinating collection of campaign photographs, if you are interested in that sort of thing. It is American in a strangely moving way.

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on October 8, 2008 2:38 PM |Permalink |Comments (0)

October 9, 2008

Mash Ups

I am a big fan of the practice of combining existing media with new ideas and interpretations. These creations are called "mashups." It is actually a very old idea. Every generation of Old Timey and Folk artists puts its own stamp on existing works which they inherited from those who came before. It's worked this way for thousands of years.

This video is a reworking of a fun but silly 1980's song, "Take On Me."

You might or might not remember the song. It doesn't really matter. The point is that a group of artists took the images and reworked the lyrics making them a very literal and "kind of goofy" narration of what is being depicted in the images.

Play the video and read along with the new (on-screen) lyrics.

This is just the tip of the tip of the iceberg of mashups that are coming our way...

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on October 9, 2008 12:11 AM |Permalink |Comments (0)

Mrs. Teller On Mashups

The Ultimate How To!

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on October 9, 2008 3:13 PM |Permalink |Comments (1)

October 10, 2008

Power-Up Friday

Why I love the Eden Alternative:

At our recent Mentor meeting in South Padre, Texas, we met Rachel and Erik, an Oklahoma couple who were planning to get married on the beach that afternoon. They invited the group to stop by at 4:30, as they had no friends or family with them and were marrying alone.

A few of the Eden "ringleaders" went to work immediately, buying a cake and champagne. They used photos of the couple on the beach and the morning sunrise to create a card and a framed picture. Rachel and Erik were incredibly moved by the kindness of strangers, who had given a sacred gift by being witnesses and participants in their special ceremony.

Eden Alternative is more than another philosophy for changing aging - it is one that encourages everyone to internalize and become the change they wish to see.

-- Al Power

Posted by Kavan Peterson on October 10, 2008 12:45 PM |Permalink |Comments (0)

October 12, 2008

Surplus Safety

Too many people and organizations fail to understand that too much safety damages human growth potential. Well, we seem to get it when it comes to young people and their "helicopter parents."

Not so much with older people.

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on October 12, 2008 8:00 PM |Permalink |Comments (7)

October 14, 2008

It is Good to Remember

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on October 14, 2008 6:00 AM |Permalink |Comments (3)

October 17, 2008

PowerUp Friday: Health Care Meltdown

With the recent economic crisis looming, one thing is fairly certain: the U.S. will not be doing anything to deal with our dismal system of health care coverage anytime soon. Just a quick listen to the two candidates spouting the same vague platitudes about tax credits or patchwork insurance solutions is one indication. Another is a recent poll here in Rochester that ranks health care issues very low on the list of voter concerns this fall.

The two parties continue to refuse to take on the insurance conglomerates which perpetuate our inequities, and fail to address government solutions, lest they fall prey to being tarred with the "s" word. Meanwhile the rolls of uninsured and underinsured continue to rise, and the Blues are predicting yet another double-digit rate increase for 2009.

A recent Medscape post from George Lundberg, MD reports that America ranked dead last of 17 developed countries in a recent assessment of overall health outcomes, a result felt to be due in part to our lack of universal coverage. Of course, universal coverage would require some adjustment in our culture of "a pill for every symptom", our tendency to avoid serious cost controls on diagnoses and drugs, and our refusal to embrace low cost and preventive alternatives to high tech intervention.

There continue to be "two Americas", and health care continues to be a privilege that millions cannot afford. This can't end well.

--Al Power

Posted by Kavan Peterson on October 17, 2008 10:22 AM |Permalink |Comments (4)

October 20, 2008

Monkhouse Mondays: Cloud 9 (Wolke 9)

“I was tired of the airbrushed, unreal sex scenes in movies, I wanted to tell the timeless story of love, attraction and lovemaking, which takes hold of our body, mind and spirit," said the director of the new German movie Cloud 9, Andreas Dresen, which won the Jury “Coup de Coeur” price at the Cannes film festival this year. And so he does. His protagonists however are Inge (67) and Karl (76). Inge, a seamstress, has been married to Werner for over 30 years, they love and respect each other, look after the grandchildren and their sex life is still happening. Inge meets Karl, when he comes as a customer to have his trousers shortened, she senses that he likes her and also finds him attractive. She decides to deliver the finished trousers to his house, and there she stays, they make love. Both are surprised that this is happening to them at their age.

The director: “We don’t know much about old age, we think old people go for cruises and bus rides and besides that are a burden to our pension-system. We do not realise that there is life, courage to do new things, passion, feelings and attraction which know no age, this is what I wanted to show, real bodies, real people, not some sepia-coloured scenes with trickling piano music."

Inge after much tormented deliberation, tells her husband and finally decides to leave him for Karl.

There is nothing voyeuristic in this film, which moves forward slowly, like a stage-play, no soundtrack, sparse dialogue, the camera focussed on faces to capture every expression of emotion and every little gesture indicating tremendous tenderness. When they lay in bed, talk or laugh, Karl is stroking Inge’s hand with this thumb. Inge and Karl realise that life is precious at any age, but especially at theirs, and their lovemaking is an expression of this.

Watch the trailer here.

-- Christa Monkhouse

Posted by Kavan Peterson on October 20, 2008 9:59 AM |Permalink |Comments (6)

October 21, 2008

Modern Slavery

America has major problems with the guardianship system. Check it out...

Do you think this person lacks "decision making capacity?"

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on October 21, 2008 5:41 AM |Permalink |Comments (4)

Grandfather/Grandson

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on October 21, 2008 9:27 PM |Permalink |Comments (1)

October 22, 2008

Blanchard WinsDays: An Aging in Community Hero

Imagine a Center that would provide a spiritual setting for older adults...an ElderSpirit Center, resonating with traditional associations of "elder" with wisdom, leadership, dignity, and ritual."
-- Drew Leder (1996) Spiritual Community in Later Life

Meet Dene Peterson—one of my aging in community heroes.

Undaunted by the challenges of becoming a real estate developer at the age of 71, Dene co-created the place of her dreams to retire – a community of mutual support and late-life spirituality. It took ten years, but Dene along with a core team of former nuns and other true believers raised over 3 million dollars to build the 29 unit, mixed-income elder cohousing community that sits along the beautiful 35 mile Virginia Creeper Trail on the outskirts of Abingdon, a small Appalachian mountain town in southwestern Virginia.

One of three elder cohousing communities in the country, Dene is a pioneer in re-imagining what elderhood can be – and the great places we can create to grow elder.

The past couple days I have spent with Dene and others in Virginia to discuss plans for a second Elderspirit Community in the Shenandoah Valley. Interested readers can go here to learn more about the values and mission of Elderspirit or contact Dene directly for more information dpetersonATelderspiritDOTnet.

Namaste’ – Janice Blanchard

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on October 22, 2008 10:32 AM |Permalink |Comments (0)

AARP Gets Cool

Click and this Link and Enter Your Name.

Very cool use of video technology.

Love it!

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on October 22, 2008 3:39 PM |Permalink |Comments (0)

Talking Head--- BT

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on October 22, 2008 10:12 PM |Permalink |Comments (0)

October 23, 2008

More on Elderspeak

The New York Times recently ran a story on "Elderspeak." I agreed with the report's conclusion which showed that "being talked down to" damaged the self image of older people exposed to such language. The trouble is that I am also keen on rescuing the word "Elder" contamination by negative images of aging.

So... I am not too happy with the term being used in this way. After all, the Elders are not using this speech. It is employed by younger people.

* Using a singsong voice, changing pitch and tone, exaggerating words.
* Simplifying the length and complexity of sentences.
* Speaking more slowly.
* Using limited vocabulary.
* Repeating or paraphrasing what has just been said.
* Using terms like "honey" or "dear."
* Using statements that sound like questions.

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on October 23, 2008 6:10 AM |Permalink |Comments (0)

Attempted Live Blogging

The Aging 100 class starts in about ten minutes. I am going to recruit a student to "liveblog" the lecture.

The topic is "Lamaze, Childbirth and the Boomers..."

Hope it works...

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on October 23, 2008 2:19 PM |Permalink |Comments (0)

Sarah Live Blogs!

Dr. Thomas has asked me to write on this live blog about his lecture today on childbirth, nudity, and blood.

Chimpanzees and humans are very similar in their birthing patterns, but a human newborn is more helpless than the newborn chimpanzee.

edc = due date for the baby = est. date of confinement = after baby pushed out, you're not going anywhere for awhile (not even going to climb trees or work in fields)

Dr. Thomas states that he has never delivered a baby; he attends the birth. Meaning, mostly, that only women can technically deliver babies (give birth to babies).

Ew... newborn babies look like aliens.

The newborn baby that is getting checked out on the screen now has apparently come out healthy... i.e. "his p.p. is normal"...

Midwives v. the Church -- Your face will change with age: your bone structure changes, the fat in your face is redistributed, and while your eyes don't move, they do appear to move back in your forehead. This looks personifies the appearance of a witch. Doubt it? Check it out on Halloween. Wise women (= midwives and healers) were demonized in order to set up a social hierarchy. The Church was successful in making these women out to be evil.

Our second commercial is a video of a woman giving birth... Even though a woman, and childbirth is natural, I am very happy to hear that there is no sound. I don't believe I have ever seen the birth of a child. Maybe I am a sheltered person? I could use a rush of oxytocin right about now!!

Listen up, ladies and gentlemen: Babies are very inconsiderate in terms of timing.

Dr. Thomas is the father of 5 children and helped these children get out of the birth canal. Two of his children were born in a hospital. Interesting story about his 2nd oldest son who was born in their living room. He was the first child born in a particular part of town in 33 years.

On to the Boomers -- as baby makers, they wanted new ways of being able to have medical technologies as well as the possibility of having babies at home. They wanted it all. Are we surprised? Nope. But, they did set the way for us today. And now we too want and expect it all (except for the gross parts).

Dr. Lamaze - educated couple on how to get through the birthing process in a much less medicalized way than the past. Concentration was put on the mother's breathing techniques in order to reduce pain. This philosophy of childbirth is now known as natural childbirth.

I thought the videos couldn't get any grosser. I was wrong. Our third commercial of the day is that of a c-section. Boy, is it great that there is sound for this video. The crying newborn sounds like it is drowning. At least I was able to blog here and not have to watch the entire video. (Sorry for my weak stomach).

Those who want to be in the aging field: Have a vision of a person's past value. Who has a person been? Just as you would imagine what a child can be and you give them value because of their potential, being about to locate value that isn't tied to performance that makes us see the value of lives.

And as class wraps up, the final video: That of an underwater birth. Finally!! Something that seems peaceful for everyone involved, especially the AGNG 100 viewer!!

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on October 23, 2008 2:31 PM |Permalink |Comments (4)

October 24, 2008

LEGO Movies

Caleb Thomas is a LEGO Maniac, he loves to watch LEGO movies. Here is a LEGO movie Love Story that we think the readers of the ChangingAging blog will enjoy.

Art is Art.

Love is Love.

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on October 24, 2008 6:28 AM |Permalink |Comments (1)

Power up Sedona

Al Power is doing medical education in Sedona, more to come.

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on October 24, 2008 9:00 AM |Permalink |Comments (0)

October 26, 2008

Elias Cohen: My Last Election? My Grandchildren’s First.

Elias S. Cohen is a legendary figure in the history of our culture's struggle to understand the importance of self-determination for all people.

He reflects on the past the, the present and our shared future and offers us the insights of a true Elder.

In November two of my four grandchildren will vote for President of the U.S. and members of Congress for the first time. And I, and some of my friends and relatives may cast our votes for the last time. As Dr. Samuel Johnson said, “Depend on it, Sir, when a man knows he is to be hanged in a fortnight, it concentrates his mind wonderfully.”

Voting in what Ithink may well be my last election certainly concentrates my mind. It feels. like making out a will---what is the bounty I leave to my grandchildren? For me, my vote will shape my legacy, the kind of country I want to leave to my grandchildren.

I want to leave them a country that is not governed by ideologues and theologically based ideas, but rather by those who believe in civil rights, self-determination, respect for the widest range of belief systems, ethical principles, and evolving Constitutional law in this nation of immigrants and native born, drawn from the races and ethnic groups from around the world.

I want my vote to re-establish credible and even inspiring leadership from the Office of the President as a hallmark of the most powerful position in the world. I want my grandchildren to look to the President with pride in his commitment to science and knowledge, ethical precepts, and the spirit of the law that has served us so well in the past.

I want my grandchildren to live in a country whose national treasure and national conscience is devoted to preserving our countryside, our environment, and our rich variety of communities, services, and utilities. I want them to live in a country that does not squander our natural and economic resources and our unique American spirit on destructive wars, present and future.

I want to leave my grandchildren a country whose government is at its best when it strikes poverty, disease, homelessness, unemployment and despair rater than a government that believes it should get out of the way of rampant and wanton economic exploitation of our markets, our environment, and the consuming public---an irrational belief in the magical hand of a free and unfettered market.

And I want my grandchildren, when they to travel the world to know that they are representatives of a country viewed as a champion of human rights, equality, and opportunity rather than a country whose government’s blunders devastate countries, killing tens of thousands of civilians and causing the emigration of thousands from their homes.

I want them to inherit a country whose leaders eschew “wars of choice” based upon unfounded speculations and blind strategies---a leaders who will spare them from other wars in which they and their children will be called upon to fight and pay for.
Let them live in a country where they can afford to send their children to a post-high school education demanded by a technologically advanced society. Let them live in a country in which they can achieve a decent income, acquire sufficient resources capable of protecting them from unanticipated economic failure or erosion of monetary value, and protection from the economic assault of disease, disability, or chronic ailments.

I want to leave them a country that will assure them a country better protected from assaults on civil liberties than the one I will die in.

Next year more than five and half million of my age peers---those 75 and over will die. And over the following three years most of the rest of them will leave the voter registration rolls. For us, for them, this is the last opportunity to shape the legacy we would leave our grandchildren.

This may well be my last vote for a President and Vice President of this remarkable country. In casting it, I will have my children and their children in the forefront of my thought and prayers.

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on October 26, 2008 5:55 AM |Permalink |Comments (2)

Power up Friday from Sedona

This week I'm attending a medical conference in Sedona, Arizona,
and hiking the beautiful Red Rock country. But I'll take a
moment to comment on the film they showed during the flight out
west. "Diminished Capacity" stars Matthew Broderick as a Chicago
journalist suffering from a post-concussion syndrome, who takes
time off to visit his mother, and winds up in an adventure with
his Uncle Rollie, (Alan Alda), who has Alzheimer's disease.

It sounded like a nice premise to contrast the cognitive issues
both men are facing. However, this is little more than backdrop
for what becomes a comic caper to sell a valuable baseball card
(to keep Uncle Rollie out of the dreaded "Assisted Living"!),
and a romance with the lovely Virginia Madsen.

I didn't expect much more from Hollywood, but one thing bugged
me. Alan Alda's acting was good enough, but they insisted on
portraying him as very eccentric, and left him very unkempt,
with a scraggly beard and hair that never got washed or combed.
Is this our view of Alzheimer's disease? Sounds like we have a
little work to do!

Next time, a review of John Barth's new treatise on what it
means to age in a gated American community...

Al Power

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on October 26, 2008 5:00 PM |Permalink |Comments (1)

October 27, 2008

"Toots"

Senator Obama refers to his grandmother as "Toots." This is a slang version of the Hawaiian word "tutu" which means grandmother.

Tutu and Me is a wonderful community based service organization that seeks to "spread the wealth" of wise elders.

More Here

Tūtū and Me provides learning opportunities for children's social, linguistic, cognitive, physical and emotional development, and meets the needs of anyone directly involved with them and their development. The program emphasizes activities that promote growth in the following areas:
* Cognitive: to assure/develop average intelligence as measured by standard tests
* Social: to develop social temperaments that bring positive responses from others
* Language/literacy skills: to give children a strong start to assure that effective reading skills will be attained by fourth grade

The Tūtū and Me program is free, is conducted in public places and provide entry points into needed health or social services for families who otherwise might not know where or how to get help. The program will also be a point of identification for children with special learning needs.

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on October 27, 2008 6:26 AM |Permalink |Comments (0)

Monkhouse Monday

Elderspeak – continued

I would like to supplement some of the ideas about “elderspeak” already discussed on this blog.
Last weekend I had the privilege to be at a seminar presented by a eminent founder and researcher of gender inequalities in everyday language, Senta Trömel-Plötz (she had to emigrate to the United States three decades ago because German universities closed the doors in her face, she now lives and works in Lancaster, Pennsylvania). A group of fifteen women worked on everyday examples and we analysed a videotape of a talk show on Swiss television from 1983 where the status of the participating women (she was the most accomplished among them professionally and academically) was already constructed as “low” by the introduction alone by omitting her title, her publications and her positions. We were left to judge if things have changed since then. The intention behind this “status construction” became clear very quickly once pointed out and thus “readable”.

Professor Trömel-Plötz (1) drew our attention to speech-act theory (2), explaining illocutionary force. This is the “very act of speaking (or writing) which rhetorically presupposes an intention.....”. If the recipient understands our intention….we can say we have communicated”. And as any action, this can have a profound impact on the recipient. So what are the intentions behind speech act such as:

* Using a singsong voice, changing pitch and tone, exaggerating words.
* Simplifying the length and complexity of sentences.
* Speaking more slowly.
* Using limited vocabulary.
* Repeating or paraphrasing what has just been said.
* Using terms like "honey" or "dear."
* Using statements that sound like questions.

…and others committed by “Elderspeak”?
And shouldn’t we rename “Elderspeak” into “Ageist Jargon?”

Christa Monkhouse

1). Find a small excerpt of her work in English here:

2) Speech Acts, 1969: An Essay in the Philosophy of Language
Searle, J
Cambridge University Press
212 pages

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on October 27, 2008 5:12 PM |Permalink |Comments (1)

October 28, 2008

Aboriginal Elders

Story teller is memory brought to life....

The stories laid down by the ancestors set both the framework and the laws for the contemporary community. The practice of ‘remembering’ in the daily lives of Aboriginal peoples reaffirms their place in the social and physical world. For example, it confirms who they are, what they are to do, and, more importantly, what their relationship is to other beings and objects: animate and inanimate. Social remembrance retains both the ceremonial acts that we would call spirituality and the norms that we would call law. The result is circular. Oral history is the crucial element in the ongoing transmission of identity but it also stems from that identity.

Oral history can be a way of showing the consequences of certain acts that are or would be extremely unlikely to occur, and by doing so set standards for the good, in tune and in balance with the ‘natural’ order. Should the teaching be broken, the result will have a tremendous consequence, usually of the kind we would associate with the supernatural. This kind of "teaching" component sets Aboriginal law apart from other ways of presenting law. Oral history provides access to the unusual for everyone who hears such stories. These special cases of encountering reality are not regarded as extraordinary—they are merely experiences accorded to the gifted; however, everyone potentially can experience them in dreams or in other culturally-acceptable ways.

Though many of these stories and story types are found almost everywhere in the world, what is so significant for Native North Americans is that their stories indicate who and what they are. Storytelling is not just the act of retelling a favourite tale with passive listeners. To say that it is a group sitting around the fire while an Elder or the societal authority relates a story of the ancestors is, in effect, stereotypical and narrow. Oral history is a re-connection to the unimaginable act that occurred in the ancestral past. The language within the stories told is laden with meanings. By extension, language is a creative arena within human life that can be directly linked to oral traditions.

More here

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on October 28, 2008 5:17 AM |Permalink |Comments (1)

Baby Boomers Beware

Attention Baby Boomers! Your children are growing up, and they want their future back:

The movement begins here.

Hat-tip to Andrew Sullivan.

Posted by Kavan Peterson on October 28, 2008 9:57 PM |Permalink |Comments (5)

October 29, 2008

Dining In

The world is moving faster than it did fifty years ago.

I blame for Boomers for this.

Who, I would like to know, decided that fast food wasn't fast enough unless is was eaten behind the steering wheel of an automobile?

Americans eat out inside fast food outlets and restaurants less than we did twenty years ago — but only because we’re too lazy to get out of the car. Compared to twenty years ago, we’re more likely to order from our car and even to eat inside the car, according to market research results announced by NPD Group.

What’s more, we’re less likely to be cooking or preparing our own food, because, over the same period, we have been buying more and more take-out food to bring home, or to bring into the workplace in place of a homemade sack lunch.

mcdonalds_diet_hmed3p.hmedium.jpg

More Here

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on October 29, 2008 5:25 AM |Permalink |Comments (0)

October 30, 2008

Did Eskimos put Elders on ice floes to die?

Get the straight dope from the Straight Dope...

...it bugs me when questions about strange Eskimo customs are phrased in the present tense, as if nothing could have changed since the eighteenth century. But yes, in the past some Eskimos did kill old people when circumstances were sufficiently desperate. Pressure from missionaries and national authorities, improving economic conditions, and no doubt evolving notions of acceptable behavior among native peoples eventually brought an end to the practice. The last reported case was in 1939, but the custom was a rarity long before that. In any case, the common perception of taking Granny out to the nearest ice floe and setting her adrift is wrong. I can't prove it never happened, but it wasn't the usual method.

Senilicide (the killing of old people) was never universal among Eskimos. It was common in some parts of their range but more so among the Inuit (Greenland to Northern Alaska) than the Yuit (western and southwestern Alaska). Even among the Inuit, some groups found the custom repugnant.

Where it was practiced, senilicide was rare except during famines. As long as there was enough food to go around, everyone got their share, including the relatively unproductive. Given that the usual diet consisted of fairly dependable catches of caribou, fish, and sea mammals, many years could pass between episodes of scarcity. Considering the dangers of hunting, the old and infirm who weren't expected to hunt could outlive a hunter in his prime.

On the other hand, when food did run short, the old and sick were looked upon as drains on the community's resources. Sometimes they were killed - thrown into the sea, buried alive, locked out in the cold, or starved to death. Far more commonly they were simply abandoned to die. The victim might be taken out in the wilderness and left there, or the whole village might pick up and move away while the old person slept. If the villagers were unexpectedly restored to prosperity, they might go back to rescue those left behind. An abandoned person would also be welcomed back as a full member of the community if he could manage to make his way back to the village on his own. But usually he couldn't.

More Here

Now for another pressing question...

Do Europeans cause rat-borne plagues by killing cats? After all, everyone knows that cats are demon spawn!

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on October 30, 2008 5:19 AM |Permalink |Comments (0)

Tabassum Live Blogs!

Today, Dr. Thomas is speaking about King Lear and asked me to live blog - I thought the reading was very literature-based, so we'll see how this lecture relates to aging!

[2:35]
Of course, Dr. Thomas introduces more vocabulary that means two different kinds of conflict, like Intergenerational - conflict across time, between generations and intragenerational - conflict across the same generation (between siblings)

King Lear has weird Shakespearean clothes on... who says he can rule a kingdom? His conflict in dividing his kingdom up amongst his daughters parallels the conflict with another character with a weird name and his sons.

Aging is a universal phenomenon... it even goes back to Shakespeare's time!
Apparently, sociological imagination is everywhere, making private problems public issues even in a strangely clothed old King Lear....

I love British accents, we are watching a puppet show of King Lear, it's cute! :)

[2:50]
Identity conflict - a sensitive issue in the play because King Lear is trying to be monarch and elder together, it didn't work out!

I love when we get bits and pieces of advice in class that we can use in our daily lives.

Today we'll get three main topics:

First, we define dementia - gradual process that includes a loss of previously attained cognitive function, leads to irreversible damage

Telling someone about Alzheimer's and dementia is like telling someone about cancer.
A chronic condition with two deaths:
diagnosis lasts forever & psychosocial death (everyone forgets you exist)
A nursing home and cemetery are not the same thing - you are alive in a nursing home, don't write them off!! In a cemetery is when you are dead. Remember that.

Now we are traveling to India and learning about a guy who changed his identity to Ram Das, talking about living in the present - because it is important. So true!

In Native Alaskan culture, Alzheimer's Disease is a gift - because an elder then has one foot in the spiritual world and one in the physical world... I've never thought about it that way, that's really cool - wish I knew that when I was caring for grandma!

We are re-diagnosing King Lear - he wasn't living in the moment, he was occupied with the past and future all the time... that seems pretty normal to me...

[3:05]
King Lear was experiencing delerium, topic number 2.
delirium - usually has sudden onset, diminishes people's ability to process sensory function normally

We are always getting suggestions for books to add to our book list on aging...
Fact: The band The Doors were named after a collection of poems by Huxley!
You really do learn something new everyday. In this class, though, it's every minute.

In the 1960's, lots of drugs were being used to mess with sensory processing... what a naughty and rebellious generation... they even had a group called the pranksters!

Back to understanding delerium, which is usually reversible, and messes with our points of reference. There are weird sounds behind Dr. Thomas that are messing with my points of reference...spooky.

1950's were full of conformity and 1960's did not have trouble experimenting and being non-conformist... total opposites.

Was King Lear depressed? Apparently not... anhedonia means without pleasure, which does not describe him well, although Dr. House recognized it! Anyhow, King Lear in the play had plans and very noticeable feelings, he was delirious, which is NOT dementia!

Often, these two are mixed up - depression and dementia are NOT the same.
Dementia can mimic depression, delirium is not the same either - too many D-words!

Uh oh, here comes a prediction: The boomer generation as they age may rediscover an appetite for mind-altering substances; oh man, here comes the marijuana...
Except we need to make sure that we can be here now, because being is more important than doing - what a phrase - full of trait transformation for the boomers!

[3:20]
King Lear on one hand and Star Wars on the other - intergenerational conflict!
Both films portray generations fighting against each other... father, son, brother...
Now these scenes make me sad...

And now I'm confused - a voice over with King Lear and a musical?!
Okay, back to the movie with King Lear now he's screaming lots and lots because his daughter is dead. He doesn't seem insane to me, just heartbroken. :(

King Lear dies; soon after, his banished daughter comes back because she had hoped to save him before he died.... creepy but very pretty flute music plays...
Music IS connective tissue, THAT is for sure, it doesn't matter what the occasion!

I think we had some Halloween undertones today, full of delirium... but neat!

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on October 30, 2008 2:30 PM |Permalink |Comments (1)

October 31, 2008

Non Witch Stories

I don't like Halloween. Mostly I don't like how the holiday is used to rehearse the ancient grudge held by the powerful against wise women.

Witch hunt anyone?

This is better...

Amazon has it here.

Troubled by the scarcity of female protagonists of any kind in children's books, let alone strong, smart, and resourceful heroines, Ragan transformed her search for good stories to read to her young daughter into a full-scale research project, reviewing some 30,000 folk and fairy tales from all around the world. The 100 she selected to create this jewel of an anthology feature "courageous mothers, clever young girls, and warrior women," heroines that save lives and bring peace to their communities not through brute strength, although endurance is a frequent feat, but through creativity, intelligence, eloquence, wisdom, kindness, perseverance, and loyalty. Ragan is to be commended for her diligence and good taste: she has found captivating stories about wonderfully shrewd and fearless heroines from all across Europe, including Iceland, Scotland, Greece, and Yugoslavia, as well as Africa, Asia, the Middle East, the Americas, and the Pacific. Ragan's concise yet discerning commentary follows each tale, making this affirming and long overdue collection as edifying as it is entertaining.

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on October 31, 2008 5:35 AM |Permalink |Comments (0)

Power Up Friday

As promised, I’m back to report on John Barth’s newest book, The Development. The 78-year old author has turned his attention to a slice of America, by constructing and deconstructing life in an upscale gated community in the Maryland coastal region.

Barth is known as a writer of humor, but his books cover the gamut from comedy to tragedy, albeit with a certain sense of playfulness in the use of language, autobiographical insertions, stories within stories, and a conscious manner of toying with the reader. His little-known book, The Last Voyage of Somebody the Sailor is one of my all-time favorite novels.

The Development is a collection of short stories with several common characters and the events that tie them together. Life in the development is full of mundane activities, planned social engagements, and people grappling with life issues large and small. The overall tone is remarkably restrained and one might conclude it’s rather lightweight in sections. But looks can be deceiving.

The overall feeling I get from the book is one of happy, smiling people leading lives of quiet desperation. There is great love within couples and families, but when those lives are disrupted by loss, the greater community provides little true support or solace. They are more concerned with whom is let in or let out of their world. It is clear that “aging in gated-community” is not the same as “aging in community”.

As one who works on transforming nursing homes, it fascinates me how many of the institutional features -- superficial relationships, programmed generic activities and lack of true reciprocity -- have been incorporated into our community living areas as well. It is not just nursing homes that need to be reformed. The frailty of this social structure is laid bare, meteorologically and metaphorically, by the destructive storm that strikes toward the end of the book.

This book is an important commentary on how we age in America. Like most of Barth’s works, it is funny, sad and challenging.

PS – Don’t forget to vote next week. Democracy is very much a “use it or lose it” deal.

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October 2008 Archives

October 1, 2008

Hannah Thomas

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on October 1, 2008 9:07 AM |Permalink |Comments (11)

Gratitude

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on October 1, 2008 12:25 PM |Permalink |Comments (0)

You say you want a revolution?

Posted by Kavan Peterson on October 1, 2008 5:19 PM |Permalink |Comments (0)

October 2, 2008

Work and Rest

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on October 2, 2008 5:28 AM |Permalink |Comments (0)

Power-Up: Stress Brain Drain

Posted by Kavan Peterson on October 2, 2008 12:12 PM |Permalink |Comments (7)

October 5, 2008

And Aging Too...

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on October 5, 2008 4:15 PM |Permalink |Comments (2)

Aspens in the Autumn

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on October 5, 2008 6:17 PM |Permalink |Comments (2)

October 6, 2008

Monkhouse Mondays: No more Nursing-Home Placements

Posted by Kavan Peterson on October 6, 2008 10:10 AM |Permalink |Comments (2)

Privatizing Social Security

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on October 6, 2008 12:47 PM |Permalink |Comments (0)

McCain Plans Federal Health Cuts

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on October 6, 2008 2:58 PM |Permalink |Comments (3)

October 7, 2008

Elderspeak Bigotry

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on October 7, 2008 7:29 PM |Permalink |Comments (7)

October 8, 2008

Blanchard WinsDays: Honoring our Veterans

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on October 8, 2008 10:26 AM |Permalink |Comments (2)

Beautiful Website

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on October 8, 2008 2:38 PM |Permalink |Comments (0)

October 9, 2008

Mash Ups

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on October 9, 2008 12:11 AM |Permalink |Comments (0)

Mrs. Teller On Mashups

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on October 9, 2008 3:13 PM |Permalink |Comments (1)

October 10, 2008

Power-Up Friday

Posted by Kavan Peterson on October 10, 2008 12:45 PM |Permalink |Comments (0)

October 12, 2008

Surplus Safety

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on October 12, 2008 8:00 PM |Permalink |Comments (7)

October 14, 2008

It is Good to Remember

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on October 14, 2008 6:00 AM |Permalink |Comments (3)

October 17, 2008

PowerUp Friday: Health Care Meltdown

Posted by Kavan Peterson on October 17, 2008 10:22 AM |Permalink |Comments (4)

October 20, 2008

Monkhouse Mondays: Cloud 9 (Wolke 9)

Posted by Kavan Peterson on October 20, 2008 9:59 AM |Permalink |Comments (6)

October 21, 2008

Modern Slavery

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on October 21, 2008 5:41 AM |Permalink |Comments (4)

Grandfather/Grandson

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on October 21, 2008 9:27 PM |Permalink |Comments (1)

October 22, 2008

Blanchard WinsDays: An Aging in Community Hero

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on October 22, 2008 10:32 AM |Permalink |Comments (0)

AARP Gets Cool

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on October 22, 2008 3:39 PM |Permalink |Comments (0)

Talking Head--- BT

Posted by Dr. Bill Thomas on October 22, 2008 10:12 PM |Permalink |Comments (0)

October 23, 2008

More on Elderspeak