Elderly 'Fear Ageism More Than Crime' | CARDI : Centre for Ageing Research and Development in Ireland

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Older people are more worried about ageism and discrimination than they are of being the victim of crime, a new study shows.

Research among a group of people aged between 60 and 90 showed they felt the older generation were patronised or seen as a “burden” on society.

They also expressed a strong desire to remain active by working or volunteering, the report from thinktank Demos and Brunel University said.

One pensioner said: “I am sick of the portrayal of my age group by government reports and news.”

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National Volunteer Week Part 2 of 6: Frank J. Kormos, “The Outstanding Older Texan”

by Leah Scanlan AARP Driver Safety Program

Meet Frank.

 Frank has been volunteering in some way since he was 20 years old.

Today, at age 96, Frank is AARP Texas’ oldest volunteer and has 76 years of volunteer experience under his belt.

 Frank started volunteering for the AARP Driver Safety Program in September of 1989. Over the past 21 years, he has served as an Instructor, Assistant State Coordinator, Associate State Coordinator, and most recently a Marketing Specialist for the AARP Driver Safety Program. He has instructed over 150 classes during his volunteer career.

 In 1993, Frank received the “Outstanding Older Texan Award” from the management of the Richardson Senior Center where he taught courses.

As a Marketing Specialist, Frank devotes 20-45 hours a week to answering emails, writing advertisements, assisting other DSP volunteers, and researching new ways to get the word out about the AARP Driver Safety Program. More recently, Frank has embraced social media and has begun using Facebook to reach out to prospective students and volunteers.

 When asked what the most rewarding part about being an AARP Driver Safety Program is Frank replied, “The ability to persuade someone to attend a class that can potentially teach him or her things that will save his or her life.”

 He goes on to explain that the course is much more than just giving people discounts on car insurance. “This course is about saving lives.”

 Frank, the AARP DSP staff would like to thank you for your 21 years of dedication to the AARP Driver Safety Program. You have helped to promote safer driving and make a real difference in the lives of people in your Texas community.

 Do you have a volunteer that you would like to see profiled on our Facebook page? If so, please drive@aarp.org.

For more information on volunteer opportunities with the AARP Driver Safety Program visit: www.aarp.org/driversafetyvolunteers.

National Volunteer Week 2011

by Kathy Greenlee

During National Volunteer Week 2011 (April 10-16), we at the Administration on Aging (AoA) acknowledge and celebrate the contributions of the volunteers who serve older Americans all across this nation. Volunteers have always been the backbone of programs administered under the Older Americans Act.

From its beginning AoA and its state and local networks have counted on volunteer support. Each year about ten million older people use Older Americans Act services, whose delivery largely depends upon the efforts of half a million volunteers.

This year we are highlighting the work of one group of extraordinary and committed volunteers – the more than 11,000 volunteers who serve long-term care residents through their state’s Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program.

More than three-fourths of states use volunteers to support the Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program, ensuring the rights, safety, and well-being of residents of nursing facilities, assisted living communities, board and care homes and similar facilities. Last year, more than 8,800 of these volunteers were trained and certified as long-term care ombudsmen, resolving complaints with and on behalf of residents.

Volunteer ombudsmen visit and listen to residents' concerns as well as problem-solve. Many residents of long-term care facilities sometimes have little or no contact with the outside world and some have few visitors. An ombudsman volunteer who visits regularly can make a huge difference in the quality of life of a resident.

If you are interested in serving as an ombudsman volunteer, you can contact the Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program in your state for more information about volunteer opportunities and qualifications. A good way to locate contact information is through the National Ombudsman Resource Center at http://www.ltcombudsman.org/.

In addition to the Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program, volunteers help the aging network in many other ways, including: assisting at group meals sites and delivering meals to home-bound elders; escorting and transporting frail older persons to health care services and grocery shopping; weatherizing the homes of low-income and frail older persons; counseling older persons in a variety of areas including health promotion, nutrition, legal and financial concerns; detecting and preventing health care fraud; and helping during disasters.

For more information about the wide variety of rewarding volunteering opportunities to benefit older Americans, check out the Administration on Aging Civic Engagement section at http://www.aoa.gov/AoARoot/AoA_Programs/Special_Projects/Civic_Engagement/index.aspx#resources

A sincere thank you from me and all of us at the Administration on Aging to each one of you who contribute your time, experience, expertise and compassion to benefit the lives of older Americans.

Kathy Greenlee

Working with Online Volunteers who have Disabilities |

from Service Leader.org

Online volunteering programs can allow for the greater participation of people who might find volunteering difficult or impossible because of a disability. This in turn allows organizations to benefit from the additional talent and resources of more volunteers, and allows agencies to further diversify their volunteer talent pool.

Just as building designs can help persons in wheelchairs to navigate doorways, there are ways to accommodate persons with disabilities to serve in virtual volunteering programs.

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National Council on Aging: Ask Congress to Protect Services for Vulnerable Seniors

Congress is currently proposing massive cuts in programs that provide jobs, affordable housing, and volunteer opportunities for older Americans.

Negotiations are now taking place on a historic budget-cutting bill that will likely be voted on the first week of April.

The House has already passed a bill that would:

• Cut the Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP) by 64%—eliminating jobs for more than 83,000 poor seniors in need of work and potentially shutting down the program in many communities across the nation.
• Eliminate funding for Senior Corps, “firing” more than 450,000 senior volunteers nationwide and denying vital services to vulnerable older adults, children, and their families in communities across the nation.
• Reduce by two-thirds Section 202 Supportive Housing for the Elderly at a time when 1.3 million seniors have worst-case housing needs and increasing numbers are homeless.

Tell your Senators and Representative to reject cuts in jobs, housing, and volunteer programs for seniors!
Please use the sample letter below, edit it to put it in your own words, or make it even more powerful by adding a personal story about how an older adult you know is struggling to get a job or affordable housing or would be denied help or volunteer opportunities under Senior Corps.
Let your elected officials know that their constituents need help!

Recipients

• Your Senators
• Your Representative

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Pen Pal Program Matches Special Ed. Students with Nursing Home Seniors

Written by JORDAN WOMPIERSKI
Even if they don’t realize it, the special education students in Janice Blaine’s sixth- and seventh-grade class at Fernwood Middle School are excited about learning. With the help of reading specialist Doris Whetstine, Blaine’s students have been exchanging letters with seniors at the Seacrest Village Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Little Egg Harbor and couldn’t be more enthusiastic about it.

“Being pen pals makes me really feel special and makes me happy,” said 11-year-old Tristian Carter with a smile on his face.

“Whether they know it or not, they’re learning,” Blaine said.

The partnership began in November when Whetstine was reading a story to the students about volunteering. The class started to talk about community service, and Whetstine mentioned that she routinely visited Seacrest Village with her therapy dog.

Once the students heard what Whetstine did, they started to get excited about volunteering or doing something to help brighten the lives of people like the residents at Seacrest. A few days later, the class started to learn letter writing skills.

“All of the sudden this light bulb went off in my head,” Whetstine said.

“We thought to make letter writing interesting for the kids and personalized to them, maybe we can write pen pal letters,” said Blaine.

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Ombudsman's Office snags Santa for awhile » Ventura County Star

Image via WikipediaBy Anne Kallas

Rika Vanriemsdijk, 88, was sitting alone in her room at Ventura Convalescent Hospital when Santa Claus stopped by Friday with some helpers from the Long Term Care Services of Ventura County Ombudsman’s Office.

They were handing out homemade crocheted blankets, little stuffed seals and singing Christmas carols. “They came just in time. I’m here all by myself. I’m not used to being alone. I used to be with my family. I need somebody to come in and just open a window, so I can see out,” Vanriemsdijk said, adding the visit from Santa was exactly what she needed. “If that’s not a blessing, I don’t know what is.”

Operation Senior Santa is a program of the Ombudsman’s Office, which is an “advocate for all seniors who live in nursing homes, board and care and assisted living facilities,” Executive Director Sylvia Taylor-Stein said. “Our mission is to ensure the highest level of care and investigate problems. We are a voice for the residents.”

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Now Grandma Can ‘Win a Trip’ Too - NYTimes.com

Image via CrunchBaseBy NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF

Each time I announce my annual “win-a-trip contest,” to take a university student with me on a reporting trip to the developing world, I get indignant letters.

“Why put such a confining restriction as ‘university students’?” asked Laura McNamara. “How about students of life?”


Betty Michelozzi wrote that she got her first passport at age 63 to go to Guatemala on a Habitat for Humanity team and spent the next 15 years leading such groups. And Peggy from Oregon asked tartly what I was going to do for “us old folks, who aren’t dead yet?”

Point well taken. So for this fifth anniversary trip, I’m going to take not only a university student but also someone over 60. Seniors, dig out your anti-malaria mosquito netting now.
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Launch Pad Contest Seeks Five People With Great Ideas for Improving Their Communities

Five winners age 45 and over will receive $5,000 and Encore.org resources to get their ideas for social good off the ground

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – November 16, 2010 – Today Civic Ventures announced its new Launch Pad contest (http://launchpad.encore.org/), which is designed to discover five inspiring people 45 and over with ideas to improve their communities. Each winner will receive $5,000 and resources and support from the Encore.org community to put his or her idea into action. 

Launch Pad is a project of Civic Ventures, a think tank on boomers, work and social purpose.  Civic Ventures runs The Purpose Prize to invest in social innovators over 60; works in a variety of ways to promote encore careers combining purpose, passion and a paycheck; and offers advice and resources for people seeking encore careers on Encore.org. 

Launch Pad contenders from around the country can submit their ideas on how they want to make a difference in their communities at http://launchpad.encore.org/ starting today through December 20.

On January 17, 2011, Civic Ventures will name 25 Launch Pad semifinalists. From January 17 through February 14, people will be invited to vote online for the idea they’d like to see realized.

Contestants can submit ideas in the following Launch Pad categories: education, social services, environment, health care and helping others engage in encore careers.

The announcement of the Launch Pad contest follows last week's news of the 2010 Purpose Prize winners, 10 people over age 60 who are making extraordinary contributions in their encore careers. The Purpose Prize, an award of up to $100,000, is given annually to individuals who are using their experience and passion to tackle society’s biggest challenges.

For more information on the Launch Pad contest, visit http://launchpad.encore.org/.

Launch Pad and The Purpose Prize are supported by grants from The Atlantic Philanthropies and the John Templeton Foundation.

The Caregiver Next Door - The New Old Age Blog - NYTimes.com

By PAULA SPAN

We heard a tap at the door and then a voice: “Murray?”

My father rarely troubles to lock his apartment when he’s at home. His friends drift in and out, looking for a card game, checking to make sure he’s up and about, or bearing the latest gossip. Or, in the case of Jo Ann, who walked into the living room juggling several containers, bearing food.

Jo Ann (she’s asked me not to identify her further) lives two floors up from my dad in a N.O.R.C. — a naturally occurring retirement community — in Vineland, N.J. She and her husband Fred, who are both 68, moved in eight years ago. She was operating a deli at the time, and Fred was in construction, so at first they were too busy to pay much attention to the cluster of people in their 80s who gathered in the lobby every afternoon, awaiting the mail.

But then Jo Ann retired, and the folks in the lobby started asking her to sit and chat a bit. She listened as they compared utility bills, shared news of sales at the local ShopRite, bragged about their grandkids. She realized most were widows or widowers whose children lived far away: “I thought, ‘My God, they need help.’ ”

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The Older Volunteers Enrich America Awards Program Celebrates and Promotes Volunteering Among Adults Over the Age of 50

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the National Association of Area Agencies on Aging (n4a) announced recipients of the 2010 MetLife Foundation Older Volunteers Enrich America Awards. The program, now in its eighth year, honors the exemplary contributions of older volunteers and promotes volunteering among older adults nationwide. The award-winning volunteers, who range in age from 59 to 95 years, were in Washington today to attend a ceremony in their honor.

“Every town -- no matter how small or large – can use the time and talent of volunteers to strengthen communities,” said Dennis White, president and CEO, MetLife Foundation. “We are pleased to join n4a in honoring 26 older volunteers who are making a positive difference in the lives of individuals and families and improving the overall quality of community life. They are an inspiration to people of all ages.”

The award winners, selected by a blue ribbon panel, are recognized in three categories: Community Champion, which honors those who use their time and talent to make their community a better place to live; Mentor, which recognizes older volunteers who are devoted to working with young people and their families; and Team Spirit, which pays tribute to older volunteers who assist older adults.
And the Winners Are

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Pilot for Volunteer Management ROI Measurement System. OMB Number: None

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The Corporation is seeking approval of a pilot version of a tool designed to measure the return on investment for recruiting and managing community volunteers. The Corporation has entered into a cooperative agreement with the National Council on Aging (NCOA) to adapt its SMART (Strategic Metrics and Results Tracking) system for use by Corporation grantees and subgrantees. The goal is to develop and pilot a system that all Corporation projects can use to calculate the return on investment for the time and resources they devote to recruiting and managing volunteers.

Comments may be submitted, identified by the title of the information collection activity, to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Attn: Ms. Sharon Mar, OMB Desk Officer for the Corporation for National and Community Service, by any of the following two methods within 30 days from the date of publication in this Federal Register:
(1) By fax to: (202) 395-6974, Attention: Ms. Sharon Mar, OMB Desk Officer for the Corporation for National and Community Service; and
(2) Electronically by e-mail to: smar@omb.eop.gov.

It's win-win for elderly tutors, grade-school kids - washingtonpost.com

By DAVID CRARY

For 73-year-old Rosetta Handy, and the second-graders who dote on her, it's a 50/50 proposition, with winners all around.

"They help me as much as I help them," said Handy of her volunteer work as a tutor at Belmont Elementary School in a low-income West Baltimore neighborhood. "They give you energy. You learn psychology all over again."

Recent research indicates that Handy knows of what she speaks - documenting significant health benefits for the tutors.

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For Senior Care, Sometimes It Does Take A Village - Kaiser Health News

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By Howard Gleckman

Nearly three years ago, Harry Rosenberg and his wife, Barbara Filner, met with nine of their neighbors about starting an aging-in-place "village" in the Burning Tree community of Bethesda, Maryland. The idea: If neighbors could help one another with basic services such as transportation and simple home maintenance and with friendly visits, people could stay in their homes longer as they aged. It took 19 months of planning and organizing, but Burning Tree Village accepted its first request for assistance in November of 2008: helping an 81-year-old widow take out her trash and driving her to the doctor.

The group is still suffering growing pains. It receives only a handful of requests for help. Like some similar organizations, it charges no dues and it has about 65 "friends": people who volunteer, people who receive help, people who just want to be associated. It operates on a shoestring $4,000 budget raised from donations, but it has held a series of well-attended community events, including neighborhood walks and restaurant outings. "We are," says Rosenberg, 73, "a viable presence in the neighborhood."

The Washington D.C. area has become a hotbed for these villages. There are six in the city itself, at least two in the Virginia suburbs and eight in various stages of development in the Maryland suburbs. "The idea has spread like wildfire," says Naomi Kaminsky, president of one, Chevy Chase at Home.

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Medicare Patrol volunteers help seniors avert scams

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from Sioux City Journal

Connie Malloy may not look like a vigilante, but when it comes to Medicare fraud, that's exactly what the 83-year-old Sioux City woman has become.

A member of the Senior Medicare Patrol since its 1997 inception, Malloy is one of more than 4,700 volunteers, nationwide, educating seniors on how not to be scammed when it comes to health care.

Senior citizen volunteers like Malloy serve as the government's eyes and ears when it comes to eliminating such fraud, saving taxpayers more than $100 million in the process, according to Iowa Senior Medicare Patrol's website.

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Volunteering May Prevent The Elderly From Becoming Frail

Frailty is a geriatric condition marked by weight loss, low energy and strength, and low physical activity. UCLA researchers followed 1,072 healthy adults aged 70 to 79 between 1988 and 1991 to determine if productive activities specifically volunteering, paid work and child care prevent the onset of frailty.

At the beginning of the study, 28 percent of participants volunteered, 25 percent performed child care duties and 19 percent worked for pay. After three years, participants in all three activities were found to be less likely to become frail. After accounting for levels of physical and cognitive function, however, only volunteering was associated with lower rates of frailty.


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Medical News: Volunteering Keeps Older Minds Sharp - in Primary Care, Geriatrics from MedPage Today

By Chris Emery, Contributing Writer, MedPage Today

Tutoring children as part of a volunteer service program helped older women delay or reverse declining brain function, according to a new study that suggests aging brains benefit from mentally stimulating social activities.

Older women who participated in a volunteer service program called Experience Corps saw significant increases after six months in brain activity in regions important to cognitive function, including the the anterior cingulate cortex (P<0.003), left dorsal prefrontal cortex (P<0.04), and left ventral prefrontal cortex (P<0.01), researchers reported in the December Journals of Gerontology: Medical Sciences.

"Individuals exhibited use-dependent neural plasticity by exercising and reactivating skills that may have been relatively unused for years or even decades," Michelle C. Carlson, of Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and colleagues wrote.

"This finding is best captured by a personal observation from one of the volunteers, who stated that 'it [Experience Corps] removed the cobwebs from my brain.'"
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Mr. Fix-its help disabled stay on path to independence - washingtonpost.com

Retired engineers come in handy when students' assistive technology gadgets need repair
By Michael Alison Chandler, Washington Post Staff Writer

Many students enrolled at Fairfax County's schools for the disabled cannot talk. But they greet their teachers every day, pressing a finger or a toe to a switch that prompts a recorded voice to say "Hello!" or "Good morning."

The switches are part of a breathtaking array of technology that helps students communicate or turn on music or choose what they want for lunch. Other devices help them move around the building and play sports. With so many gadgets, it helps to have someone handy around to fix them when they break.

That's where Lee Jost and Bill Porter come in. Both retired engineers in their 70s, they spent their careers working on satellites or elaborate circuits for the railroads. Now they are tightening loose wires and adjusting wheelchairs.
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Recommended reading: Guide to a Successful Volunteer Driver Program

NCST’s Jed Johnson and CTAA’s Jane Hardin recently participated in a panel presentation of the American Assn. of Homes and Services for the Aging conference along with Hank Braaksma of the Seniors’ Resource Center, who highlighted a valuable resource titled “Guide to a Successful Volunteer Driver Program." The document was funded through a project with the Rose Foundation, Denver, Colo.

Download Guide

National Planning Grants and Indian Tribes Planning Grants

National Planning Grants Public or private nonprofit organizations, including labor organizations; faith-based and other community organizations; institutions of higher education; government entities within states or territories (e.g., cities, counties); Indian Tribes; or partnerships or consortia operating in more than one state are eligible. Community-based organizations, including faith-based organizations and intermediary organizations operating in more than one state are encouraged to apply for planning grants. Indian Tribes Planning Grants Indian Tribes are eligible to apply. Indian Tribe is defined as a federally recognized Indian Tribe, band, nation, or other organized group or community, including any Native village, Regional Corporation, or Village Corporation, as defined under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. § 1602), that the United States Government determines is eligible for special programs and services provided under federal law to Indians because of their status as Indians. Indian Tribes also include tribal organizations controlled, sanctioned, or chartered by one of the entities described above.

The purpose of planning grants is to support the development of AmeriCorps programs so applicants are better prepared to compete for a multi-state AmeriCorps grant in the following grant cycle. These grants are awarded for 12 months. They may not be used to support AmeriCorps members. National Planning Grant applicants must not have previously received a multi-state AmeriCorps grant and must be interested in applying for AmeriCorps funding for a program that will operate in two or more states. Indian Tribes Planning Grant applicants must not have received an AmeriCorps grant in the past and must be an Indian Tribe.

Link to Full Announcement

Eligibility
State governments
County governments
City or township governments
Special district governments
Independent school districts
Public and State controlled institutions of higher education
Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized)
Public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities
Native American tribal organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments)
Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education
Nonprofits that do not have a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education
Private institutions of higher education
Individuals

Additional Information on Eligibility:

National Planning Grants Public or private nonprofit organizations, including labor organizations; faith-based and other community organizations; institutions of higher education; government entities within states or territories (e.g., cities, counties); Indian Tribes; or partnerships or consortia operating in more than one state are eligible. Community-based organizations, including faith-based organizations and intermediary organizations operating in more than one state are encouraged to apply for planning grants. Indian Tribes Planning Grants Indian Tribes are eligible to apply. Indian Tribe is defined as a federally recognized Indian Tribe, band, nation, or other organized group or community, including any Native village, Regional Corporation, or Village Corporation, as defined under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. § 1602), that the United States Government determines is eligible for special programs and services provided under federal law to Indians because of their status as Indians. Indian Tribes also include tribal organizations controlled, sanctioned, or chartered by one of the entities described above.