Each week the Office of the Secretary of Pennsylvania’s Department of Aging releases a Friday newsletter with information relevant to activities, issues and events for older Pennsylvanians and persons with disabilities across the Commonwealth..
Click here download the newsletter as a .pdf file.
“A doctor at the University of Chicago Medical Center performs a robotic prostatectomy.” M. SPENCER GREEN/AP
by Karen Weintraub
“Nearly 30 years after it began, a study of prostate cancer patients shows both that the disease will not cause harm to the majority of men who have it, and that aggressive treatment is warranted for men with an intermediate risk of spread.
“The nuanced results come from a new update to a landmark study, published Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine, that has followed 695 Swedish men since they were diagnosed with localized prostate cancer between October 1989 and February 1999.
“The study’s duration and insights into one of the most common forms of cancer make it ‘arguably one of the most important publications of the year,’ said Dr. Adam Kibel, a professor of surgery at Harvard Medical School and chief of urology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, who is not involved in the research.”
“The Annual Enrollment Period for Medicare Parts C & D is over, but persons with Medicare Advantage soon get another chance to switch coverage. Learn about the new MA Open Enrollment Period in this fact sheet developed by the Medicare Rights Center.” (SOURCE: National Council on Aging email)
“Beginning in 2019, there will be a Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period (MA
OEP) from January 1 through March 31 each year. During this time, MA-eligible
beneficiaries will be able to change their MA Plan or elect Original Medicare and
coverage under Part D. Changes are effective the first of the following month.” Read more here.
The Pennsylvania Developmental Disabilities Council has released its NEW 2018 Request for Proposals (RFP) book. Several funding objectives are featured including the promotion of cross disability efforts, employment, and technology. The Council invites interested groups and organizations to review our RFP and requirements, and to attend one or more of our preproposal conferences (available live or via webinar) to ask questions and learn more about our ideas.
Download the RFP Book, additional forms, and access more information through this link: http://www.paddc.org/grant-funding-opportunities/rfp-book/.
by Ed Carter
PHOTO: Courtesy of Pixabay.com.
Fewer than 5 percent of all homes in the United States are accessible to individuals with disabilities; less than 1 percent are wheelchair accessible; and just one-third are capable of being modified to accommodate a disabled owner. That’s according to no less an authority than the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
It’s a distressing situation for disabled homeowners, because it means that many have to settle for properties that aren’t suitable for them from the standpoint of safety. Depending on the size of the market, that could mean having to try to modify a home that doesn’t meet the minimum standard of disabled accessibility: a stairless entry, and a bathroom and bedroom on the first floor.
That’s a sobering situation for a disabled person entering the housing market. So, where can you turn for help, and what resources are available to a handicapped individual? In most cases, your real estate agent is your best asset, even though many lack experience working with disabled buyers. Consequently, there’s a knowledge gap among realtors when it comes to knowing where and how to look for suitable housing.
Nevertheless, your agent will know the area well and have familiarity with what’s available, valuable knowledge for someone needing to find a property that can be adapted to their needs (such as a single-story house, a home with widened hallways, and specific safety features). With many disabled individuals having to modify houses, it’s important to know where to look for alternate sources of funding, such as through the VA, Red Cross, Americorps, the US Office of Housing, and HUD.
Search aids
Real estate search engines are generally fairly limited in terms of search options. Terms like “handicapped accessible” and “universal design” may yield some results, but there are few other filters available that can produce the kind of results you need. General real estate search engines may prove disappointing, but there are a couple of national websites that are worth keeping an eye on as you work through your search.
Better sites
Fortunately, it’s not all bad news for disabled homebuyers looking for online assistance. Barrier Free Home is virtually unique in its focus on barrier-free, wheelchair-accessible, universally-designed, ADA-compliant homes and apartments. Theirs is the most extensive database catering to disabled homebuyers. Barrier Free Home’s property entries contain an exhaustive amount of information, including number of bedrooms and baths, as well as handicapped-specific features, like roll-in shower or tub, roll-under sink, level entry and whether the property is VA approved.
Easy Living Homes falls into much the same category. It’s America’s first voluntary program encouraging the inclusion of features that make a property more accessible and efficient. An exhaustive list of features includes the type of lighting available, the kinds of material used in construction, and disability-accessible features. AMS Vans is a useful online resource for wheelchair-bound individuals seeking accessible housing.
HUD lists an online inventory of housing for elderly and disabled persons seeking multi-family homes. HUD’s subsidized apartment search offers disabled persons a robust listing of qualified units with information concerning suitability and accessibility for individuals with mobility restrictions and other special needs. A state-by-state search function provides an extensive listing of units in your area with physical features, contact information and whether each unit is specific to the needs of the disabled or elderly.
Finding a property that’s accessible to disabled buyers isn’t as easy as it is for people conducting searches on standard real estate websites. It takes some patience, flexibility, and knowing where to look. In the long run, your own persistence and the assistance of your real estate agent are your most valuable assets. As you search, bear in mind that some properties can be modified to meet your needs, which may help widen the parameters of your search.
SOURCE: news release
“When Phyllis Funke hit bottom, the court appointed a guardian to prop her up. The remedy is like prison, she said. But ‘at least in prison you have rights.’”
For Ms. Funke, every item in her apartment has a purpose or a story. But when the building called it hoarding, it started her on the road to guardianship. Now she can’t get out. – CreditCredit: Lily Landes for The New York Times
By John Leland
“The last weeks that Phyllis Funke could legally make decisions for herself, she climbed into bed, planning to stay there for a while. It was the end of 2016 and she felt disillusioned with the election and wounded by her brother’s recent move to Texas.
“She wasn’t considering suicide, she said. She just needed to go under the covers until she could figure out how to deal with the rest of her life, so totally alone.
“She had credit cards, a car, friends and financial advisers in Maine and New York.
“When a caseworker from Adult Protective Services and a city psychiatrist entered her apartment on March 3, 2017, clipping the security chain because she did not answer the door, she was unraveling emotionally and physically, at risk of becoming homeless or worse. She had no idea what price she would pay for the intervention.”
Click here to continue reading this article in its entirety at The New York Times.
Each week the Office of the Secretary of Pennsylvania’s Department of Aging releases a Friday newsletter with information relevant to activities, issues and events for older Pennsylvanians and persons with disabilities across the Commonwealth..
Click here download the newsletter as a .pdf file.
Click on the graphic above to read the Presidential Proclamation.
ombudsman | [om-buh dz-muh n, -man, -boo dz-, awm-, om-boo dz-muh n, -man, awm-] noun, plural om·buds·men [om-buh dz-muh n, -men, -boo dz-, awm-, om-boo dz-muh n, -men, awm-] /ˈɒm bədz mən, -ˌmɛn, -bʊdz-, ˈɔm-, ɒmˈbʊdz mən, -ˌmɛn, ɔm-/.
- A government official who hears and investigates complaints by private citizens against other officials or government agencies.
- A person who investigates and attempts to resolve complaints and problems, as between employees and an employer or between students and a university.
It has been 40 years since the 1978 Amendments to the Older Americans Act required every state to have an Ombudsman Program and specifically defined Ombudsman functions and responsibilities.
In 1972, the Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program started out as a public health service demonstration project to meet the needs of residents facing problems in nursing homes. Today, the Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program consists of 53 state programs and their statewide networks of over 500 local Ombudsman entities.
Read more here: 40th anniversary of the Long Term Care Ombudsman Program
Berks County Ombudsman program information
Lancaster County Ombudsman program information
Lebanon County Ombudsman program information | Lebanon County’s local Ombudsman contact is:
Judy Weimer
Long Term Care Ombudsman
MidPenn Legal
513 Chestnut Street
Lebanon, PA 17042
(717) 274-2834 x. 3105, (800) 299-6599
x. 3105 or
(800) 326-9177 x. 3105
www.midpenn.org
“Health workers prepare to retrieve victims of the 1918 influenza epidemic in St. Louis. – LIBRARY OF CONGRESS VIA AP
by Helen Branswell
“Late one night Michael Worobey began poking around on the internet, looking for descendants of a World War I British military doctor named William Rolland.
“Rolland, a pathologist, had written a report in 1917, the year before the start of the Spanish flu. It described cases of British soldiers in France who had contracted an unusually fatal respiratory illness. Worobey, an evolutionary biology professor with a particular interest in the 1918 pandemic, wanted to know whether any of Rolland’s samples might still be lying about a century later.
“Within a few hours, he had found a possible contact and fired off an email. Across the Atlantic, 5,000 miles away, a retired family physician in England’s picturesque Lake District received it. He replied immediately.
“When Worobey read it, he was thunderstruck. “I almost fell out of my chair, for real,” he recalled. ‘I actually did cry real tears.’”
