Related:
The State Budget Swindle
Governor Guts State Services
Pigs at the State Trough
And WHOSE BACKS do they BALANCE the BUDGET ON?
"The lowest paid employees were mental health, social, and other human service workers, many of whom made $36,000 or less...."
You know, the ones SERVING the OLD PEOPLE!!!!!
"Mass. elder abuse on rise; Economy adds to family stresses; Budget cuts limit options for care" by Kay Lazar, Globe Staff | February 9, 2009
More of the state's elderly are being abused or neglected, as economic stresses push family caregivers to the breaking point and the social service programs that once helped them are cut back.
And you know where all this state's money is going, don't you, readers?
Confirmed cases of financial, physical, emotional, or sexual mistreatment of elders more than doubled in each of the first four months of this fiscal year, compared with monthly averages the previous year, according to a Globe analysis of state figures.
"Many of the issues we are dealing with are simply related to overload," said Dale Mitchell, executive director of Ethos, a Boston nonprofit agency that handles the city's protective services program under a state contract. Mounting job losses, shrinking investments, and unrelenting foreclosures have caused a new level of stress for families taking care of elders, say Mitchell and other officials on the front line of elder care.
I'm ashamed to be an American and a resident of Massachusetts. I do what I can for my own, but....
(Blog author can't describe the despite he feels for this state and its government right now; yeah, I AM FURIOUS, FOLKS!!!!!!)
At the same time, programs designed to help ease the burden - such as home care services and a training and stress management program for family caregivers - are being cut, they say....
While TAXPAYER MONEY is GIVEN to HOLLYWOOD, BIOTECH, RAYTHEON, etc, etc, etc. Hell, they even gave $5 million to IBM when they didn't even want, need, or expect it. Thank G-d we don't have Republicans running this place!
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In several areas, directors of protective services agencies say one of the most critical cuts has been in state-subsidized homecare services, which sends an aide to an elder's residence a couple of hours a week to help with bathing, dressing, grocery shopping, and other chores - providing a much-needed breather for family caregivers.
Yeah, SCREW FAMILIES and SCREW OLD PEOPLE so we can SEND TAXPAYER $$$ to JEWISH INTERESTS! I'm getting tired of typing it, folks!
Nearly $4 million was cut from the homecare program in October. The waiting list is now 675 people.
Yeah, CUT one of the GOOD PROGRAMS the STATE HAS (although I wouldn't be surprised to see fraud, abuse, and peversion discovered there either): one that ACTUALLY SERVES OLD PEOPLE!
"We can do a great job in doing an investigation, identify the underlying cause of abuse, and put together a great plan, and that plan can fall apart or not be as strong as it should be if we don't have those services," said Gregory Giuliano, who directed the state's protective services program from 1997 through 2007. Giuliano, who now runs Montachusett Home Care Corporation in northern Worcester County, said the number of abuse and neglect reports coming in to his agency recently hit a 34-year high.
Among those who know, first hand, the stress of caring for a parent is Janice Williams. Her mother Eleanor, a once-independent octogenarian, emerged from a hospitalization for pneumonia last spring frail, confused, unable to feed herself, and forgetful.
And they are going to MAKE CHANGE for the poor lady!!!
What an INSULT to our seniors!
Williams, who lives in Roslindale, hunted for affordable help through state-subsidized agencies for her mother, who lives in Milton. She finally found South Shore Elder Services, and then waited six weeks, she said, for someone to determine whether her mother's pension made them ineligible. Eventually, Williams hired a part-time personal care aide, but the stress of caring for her on nights and weekends was intense.
Williams joined a support group in December and realized she needed to ask for more help from other family members....
Yeah, the STATE DOESN'T GIVE a SHIT ABOUT YOU -- otherwise THEY WOULD BE THERE FOR YOU!!! No, this STINK STATE is just a gang of LYING, LOOTING SERVANTS of BANKS, CORPORATIONS and ISRAEL!! Sad to say, but TRUE!!!
And yet their DSS department will CRAWL UP YOUR ASS, parents, if just a FART BLEAT of abuse is alleged!
Not all family members are so caring. Abusive behavior by family caregivers toward elders with dementia is common, according to a new study by British researchers.
So the ABUSIVE FAMILY-DESTROYING STATE says!! Think I'm going to believe them after Texas persecuted innocent Mormons?
What can be MORE ABUSIVE than CUTTING OF HEALTH CARE for an AILING SENIOR?
Half of the 220 family caregivers surveyed acknowledged "lashing out and other similar acts," toward the elder, said Claudia Cooper, a psychiatrist at University College of London and lead author of the study. The vast majority of the admitted abuse, she said, was verbal.
I'm not condoning it, mind you, but you never yelled at anyone in your whole life?
Obstinate stubborness mixed with immaturity -- I'm getting there, and it happens to older folk; it's like we regress a bit emotionally as we get older: petty things matter more, probably because of the receding lack of control of life, huh? -- never piss you off?
More baby boomers are opting to care for their frail parents at home instead of placing them in a nursing facility because it is less expensive and is often preferred by the elder.
And THERE YOU GO!!! That should be the FIRST QUESTION: WHAT is going to make that ELDER the MOST COMFORTABLE because THEY HAVE EARNED IT!!! It's called RESPECTING THEM!!!!
But with that comes an increase in families seeking help from community-based programs, said Leslie Ahern, who runs support groups for family caregivers at Ethos in Boston.
Ahern notes that dementia among the elderly is increasingly common, making care even more challenging. She works to defuse potentially volatile situations by teaching caregivers how to manage seemingly "stubborn" behavior.
I'm starting to wonder about all the drugs.
Said Cooper, author of the London study: "Anybody who needs lots of personal care and support is inherently more vulnerable to abuse."
Yeah, like KIDS, too!
Or a POPULATION of a superpower nation that has been abused as well.
And here is a thought: maybe state care is WORSE!
"Man charged with molesting stroke victim
A former worker at a Sudbury nursing home has been charged with sexually molesting a patient while another patient slept in the same room. Prosecutors said at Thursday's arraignment in Framingham District Court that 46-year-old Kofi Agana sexually assaulted the 62-year-old woman who had recently suffered a stroke at Sudbury Pines Extended Care last week. Agana, who has since been fired, had worked there as an aide since August. The assault was discovered when another aide noticed the victim acting strangely toward Agana. Agana was held on $500 bail after pleading not guilty. His lawyer, Robert Canty, said police asked the alleged victim leading questions and her ability to communicate has been limited by her stroke (AP)."
I am SICKENED and APPALLED!! DEATH PENALTY TIME!!!!!!!
Of course, you don't have to be sick to be NEGLECTED here in LIBERAL MASSACHUSETTS!
"Elderly husband, wife killed in house fire in Plymouth" by Emily Sweeney and Michele Richinick, Globe Correspondent | February 13, 2009
PLYMOUTH - To keep warm on cold winter nights, Eduardo and Maria Rosa Tavares slept on a sofa in their living room, next to their beloved wood stove. The elderly couple had come to rely on the stove, because their regular oil heating system was broken, their niece said.
We have TRILLIONS for WARS and BANKS, but OLD PEOPLE FREEZE?
Fire officials are trying to determine whether that stove caused a fire that engulfed the couple's house in North Plymouth early yesterday, taking both their lives and making them the second and third elderly town residents to die in fires this week....
The couple, who had trouble seeing and walking, had been using the wood stove because the regular oil heating system had broken a few years ago, Barbosa said, adding that the pair "lived on a very limited income."
This is HEART-BREAKING and COMPLETELY UNNECESSARY!! I guess the one "good" thing is they will meet each other in heaven at the same time.
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It was the second fatal fire to occur in Plymouth this week. On Tuesday, firefighters found Delia Sutclisse, 77, unconscious in her home on South Meadow Road. She was rushed to Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, where she died yesterday.
Jennifer Mieth, a spokeswoman for the state fire marshal's office, encouraged elderly residents who have trouble paying for heating system repairs or fuel to contact their local senior center or council on aging for information on fuel aid programs.
WHY should they have to DO THAT?
Why should ELDERS have to GET ACTIVE to KEEP WARM?
What the hell kind of nation are we when we PISS AWAY TRILLIONS on BANKS, WARS, CORPORATIONS, and ISRAEL and give NOTHING to our RESPECTED ELDERS?
And about that other woman:
"Fire victim, 77, succumbs to her injuries
An elderly woman has died because of injuries suffered in a house fire, becoming the third town resident to die because of a fire this week. A spokeswoman at Brigham and Women's Hospital said 77-year-old Delia Sutcliffe died Thursday. She was pulled this week from her burning home and airlifted to a Boston hospital with severe injuries. Her death came the same day 77-year-old Edward Tavares and 69-year-old Maria Rosa Tavares died in another Plymouth house fire. Authorities believe the fire at Sutcliffe's home likely was sparked by an electrical malfunction (AP)."
I'd say we love our mothers and grandmothers here in Massachusetts, but apparently we do not.
