This is the 137th blog and we have explored many issues affecting older people, especially those in rural areas. The topics have been very diverse and I wonder if we have covered all the essential areas? I want to ask y’all out there to help in identifying the BIG areas where getting older presents us with challenges.
On March 15th, Tony DiNuzzo, Rebecca Galloway, Bronia Michejenko and myself will present a panel discussion on issues in aging for our HomeTown Science 3D Seminar Series (http://www.utmb.edu/hometownscience). The discussion is called Aging and Wellness: Ways Science Can Help and we will spend time talking about five questions. To me these five questions embody the BIG issues that face everyone who moves into and beyond their seventh decade.
Each question is below with a brief expansion of the issues involved.
- Who wants to live forever? – The question of quality of life – When does quality of life trump healthcare interventions?
- Why does everyone seem to die from a broken hip? – Strength, balance and rehabilitation – What can elders and their families do to reduce the consequences of loss of strength and balance?
- Nobody is taking my car keys away! – Mobility, access and depending on others – What are the options for getting around when driving one’s self is no longer an option?
I don’t want to die in a nursing home. – Where and how to live throughout ones lifespan – What are the options for aging in place?- Why do I have to repeat this every time? – Coordination of care and teamwork – Why can’t health providers share information and test results so it does not have to be repeated over and over.
I did leave off particular diseases even though aging does make us more prone to a number of conditions. In a way disease is unpredictable but I think everyone has to face the issues above, illness or no. Finally, one’s particular illness will probably make some of the issues more challenging.
So, here’s my question for today. Are these five item an exhaustive list of the issues around aging? Can you suggest another? Comment below or come to the Weekly Discussion on Aging and we’ll brainstorm the question.
Join us for a real-time discussion about the questions raised by this essay on Tuesday at from 12:00 p.m. CST to 12:45 p.m. CST (10 a.m. PST/SLT). See Discussion and SL tabs above for details. Link to the virtual meeting room: http://tinyurl.com/cjfx9ag.
Rodger Marion 
March 7, 2014 at 11:07 pm
Hey Rodger … I can tell you, that since moving to PA, I’ve been amazed at the healthcare they offer everyone, which I think is key to folks staying healthy enough not to be at a point of needing critical help by the time they retired. And it makes business sense too. By supporting and growing a strong medical network its created 100’s of thousands of jobs and made it possible for working folks to avoid losing their jobs due to medical problems. Let me explain.
In Jan 2013, after moving from Dallas to the east cost to be closer to family, I experienced a heart scare. I knew I couldn’t pay and hated to go to the hospital, but was too scared not to. The local hospital immediate evaluated me and within 10 minutes I was in an emergency room being monitored and given meds and oxygen. They knew I didn’t have healthcare insurance and frankly, they didn’t care! They were there to make sure I didn’t die.
In all my 30 years of living in the south and particularly in Dallas, TX I’d never experience healthcare like this. Everyone was genuine and sincere and so helpful that I actually cried with gratitude. I’d expected a much different experience based upon my two hospital visits in Dallas.
The first was a pinched nerve in my neck I’d tried to tend to for 1.5 months on my own till I could not deal with it any longer. I spent almost 2 hours in the emergency waiting room then another 1.5 hours in an examine room waiting to get meds and xrays. Diagnose was simply put to me that i had arthritis of the neck and sent home with muscle relaxers that ended up making me suicidal – something that I found out runs on my mother’s side. No offers to link me up to possible rehabilitation. I had to hunt that down myself.
The surgeon who was suppose to do a simple procedure to correct my neck issue, repeatedly pressured me to have carpel tunnel surgery on my left hand as well, even though I’d never had any problems in that area. I was given pills and told I’d have to wait till I was approved for surgery, which was dependent on this doctor’s reports and suggested surgical solutions. After three visits and still pressure to get carpel tunnel it was pretty clear he wasn’t going to send his report in until I “changed” my mind after the carpel surgery. When i called, having throwing up all night from taking the different muscle relaxers he’d prescribed, I was accused of wanting different meds so that I could sell them. My caseworker at DARS stopped returning my calls, so I gave up after that and took a mountain of pain pills to try and heal.
The next was for a gallbladder attack. I didn’t know I had gallstones and was throwing up so much I couldn’t stop. When I got to the emergency room of a different hospital they medicated me to prep for a sonogram and then left me a lone int he exam room waiting for the sonogram personnel to come in. I could hear them laughing and making comments about how some people come in expecting to get free medical care, as i continued to throw up calling out for help between heaves. I was terrified I’d aspirate and they’d not get back to me in time. I passed out and thankfully was ok. All I can think is that I didn’t have anything else in my stomach.
This is what’s wrong with healthcare in the south. There is a decidedly predisposition to assume the worst of people who have no healthcare. I’m hoping those that can afford Obama care can finally have access to human care in the medical community of Dallas and beyond, because it was very clear to me from the comments of the nurses that they felt someone without insurance didn’t have a right to equal care as someone insured. I was not treated as a human being. I felt I was treated as a boil on society that should be given the bare minimum and escorted off the premises.
Here in PA, they have a safety net for those who can’t pay. The state pays the bills to the hospitals for those patients who can’t and are in need of medical care. This means patients get treated the same and the nurses approach you with compassion, because their job is not to judge whether you are worthy of healthcare or not. They are there to make you better.
How does this pay for itself? By increased taxes through jobs and hospital earnings and homestead taxes. Everyone wins and everyone is treated like a human being. And they don’t stop there. They provide on going health coverage in partnership with leading insurers, like United Healthcare, to provide up to a year of recover medical assistance in an effort to make you truly WELL – not just patched up. Because of this I will be getting surgery on my neck and probably my back as well, so I can return to work, as I so want to do.
To me this is amazing and something I could not have known without moving. To the medical community here, seeing me with my many untreated medical conditions is unheard of and shocking. They shake their heads and just wonder where why.
This is how it should be, and if a tiny state like PA can do this, why can’t the great state of Texas? Maybe the legislation should consider talking to folks up north about how they make this work, how many jobs it creates and how many people are able to go back to work, or better yet, totally avoid being out of work due to undiagnosed medical problems that as they age only makes matters worse and more expensive when it comes time to tap into medicare and other social security benefits. If we do not want the heavy expense of the aged baring down on our children, and their children’s children, then we need to provide real healthcare for people throughout their lives without the fear of being treated like they are not worthy. Only then can we reach retirement and still be healthy and strong enough to not burden future generations.
Ok . sorry for it being so long. Probably should start my own blog, huh? 😛