Alumnae Spotlight: Strengthening the Dementia Care Triad
MSG Alumnae Jenny Inker and Christy Jensen
Congratulations to Christy Jensen, PhD and Jenny Inker, MBA, MSG whose manuscript
"Strengthening the Dementia Care Triad: Identifying Knowledge Gaps and Linking to
Resources" will shortly be published by the American Journal of Alzheimer's Disease
& Other Dementias.  Dr. Jensen is the Director of Health Services Research at the
Riverside Center for Excellence in Aging and Lifelong Health (CEALH) and an adjunct
faculty member in the VCU Department of Gerontology and Ms. Inker is an Instructor
in the VCU Department of Gerontology.
The manuscript was a collaboration between the two based on research completed by
Dr Jensen through a research grant from the Alzheimer's and Related Diseases Research
Fund.  The findings highlighted the need for doctors and other healthcare professionals
to have access to information about community resources and supports for people 
with dementia, and the importance of their role in enabling patients and their caregivers
to access these resources in order to receive support with the day-to-day management
of the disease.

I recently had the opportunity to attend the public screening of the film Griefwalker held at the Byrd Theater.  Present to discuss the film following its conclusion was Stephen Jenkinson, who is portrayed in this documentary in his work with dying people. The following day, Mr. Jenkinson conducted a day of teaching entitled Grief, then Gratitude.

His thoughts are most provocative, causing each of us to test our culturally prescribed and mandated beliefs surrounding death.  For example, to get us to embrace the understanding that death is not a problem to be solved he stated "dying is to life what a feast is to your stomach".  In other words, you know what to do with it.  You have known your whole life, and the life you are living must be reflective of this. Therefore, it is wrong to pretend the dying person can be told of their impending death only once all other medically prescribed and palliative measures have been met.  Through the act of grieving we gain strength to proceed, and a gratitude for being alive.

More information about Stephen Jenkinson, a teacher, author, storyteller, spiritual activist, ceremonialist and founder of the Orphan Wisdom School, can be found at http://orphanwisdom.com.

How to Respond to an Ageist Joke/Cartoon

by:  Jenny Inker (MS '11)

So one day recently I found myself reflexively doing just this when an email blast arrived in my inbox at work.  It was a mass email and I would normally just delete such things, but it was eye catching and it was a morning when I could have used some humor to get my day started right.  So I started reading with enjoyment which quickly turned to horror, then anger, then a determination to educate the sender as I took in the blatantly ageist content.  You can read the email, my response and the response of the sender below (it has been made anonymous for obvious reasons).  I encourage all of you to follow suit.  If you see ageism, name it and offer a different worldview to the author.  Educate them with compassion.  But educate them.  Everyone's dignity (for we will all hopefully be older adults one day) depends on it.

Good morning. 

I would normally just delete emails like this but I truly thought it might be helpful for me to reply and bring something to your attention.  It looks like the amusing lesson in how not to email has been borrowed from someone else, rather than you being the author, but I still thought it important to point out that the blatant ageism contained in the first ‘funny’ example is very offensive.   Linking crass behavior on email to being an older adult, and with the assumption which is implied that older adults are stupid and do not know what they are doing, hence have to be ‘picked up and taken to a nursing home’, is offensive beyond belief and I regret that such prejudiced behavior is being freely circulated under the guise of humor. 

Being the executive director of a senior living community where we value each older adult as an individual, despite the misguided and ageist beliefs circulating in our society, I cannot let this pass without comment.  In our society today we would not dream of making or circulating racist or sexist comments as it would be generally understood that this is lacking in integrity and is wrong.  However, we have not yet reached this realization with regard to older adults who seem to be fair game as the butt of mindless humor.  The negative stereotyping of older adults that is so unfortunately common fails to capture the great individuality of each person and does not give any credence to view that older adulthood can be a time of joy and celebration, purposefulness and meaning, values which I see the older adults around me living daily.

I am sure you can see that this has touched a nerve.  I hope you will consider what I say in the spirit in which it is meant which is a desire to educate and inform people about the perils of ageism.  You and I will one day be older adults, with some luck at least, and I wonder how we will feel about being the butt of jokes about our assumed ineptitude.  Once everyone ‘wakes up’ to ageism and recognizes it for what it is, it will follow in the footsteps of racism and sexism as taboo behaviors.

Thanks for listening and have a great day.

VCU Alumni Voices:  Camille Browne

 Unemployment, Underemployment, and Economic Security

Unemployment and underemployment are of concern to employees and the economy. On one hand, the August 2013 7.3% unemployment rate (as reported in September) may seem hopeful to some people. On the other hand, one wonders about the underemployed and those who have removed themselves from the job search process due job hunting fatigue and never ending disappointments. Being unemployed or underemployed may make it difficult to find the silver lining in the lower unemployment rate. This group worries not only about paying current bills but is also concerned about preparing for life after retirement. Without economic security, older adults cannot pay for adequate housing, health care, or healthy foods; take care of themselves and their families; save; or plan for the future.  Wider Opportunities for Women's (WOW) Elder Economic Security Initiative (EESI) focuses on retired elders while the Family Economic Security (FES) project provides the tools and data necessary to shape public policy and programs that help the underemployed and unemployed achieve economic security.

OWL's 2012 Mother's Day Report, "Women and the Workforce, Challenges and Opportunities Facing Women as they Age" stated that WOW's Elder Economic Security StandardTM Index (Elder Index) "illustrates how the cost of living for older households varies geographically." Looking across geographic lines is important because although $30,000 may be economically viable in Alabama, it is woefully inadequate if living in New York. Therefore, public policy decisions based on household income must be area-specific.  Geography is not the only factor affecting the Elder Index. Sex, race, and ethnicity also contribute to whether or not someone lives above or below the Index.

Although anecdotal, I have a friend who happened to be 55 years old, single, female, and could not find work to improve her economic situation. WOW's Economic Security Scorecard can help legislators understand that current policies may not be particularly helpful to people such as my friend. She visited her state's One-Stop Career Center and applied for funding to assist with paying for a professional development and retraining class. The application request was denied because her $20,000 annual income cobbled together from multiple part-time jobs was too much money for her to qualify.

Because employment is such an issue and so many people are economically insecure, the country's safety net (Medicaid, Medicare, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, etc.) might be stretched beyond its limits as people begin to age.  Without access to retraining programs at local community colleges and universities, middle skilled jobs, and on-the-job training, the unemployment/underemployment situation will continue improve only at a "snail's pace."

A recently aired 60 Minutes program discussed the replacement of human middle-skilled jobs by robots. New technology has always caused the loss of human jobs. However, today's technology is replacing human jobs at a faster pace than employers, entrepreneurs, legislators, and workers can figure out how to effectively address the change. According to the program, "Apple, Amazon, Google, and Facebook, hire a total of 150,000 people which is fewer than the number of people entering the American workforce each month." Although new jobs, companies, and technologies are being created, unemployment remains high partly because companies no longer need large numbers of people to perform work.  If these issues are not addressed, the unemployment, underemployment, and economic insecurity problems will persist.

WOW's Economic Security Index and Scorecard along with WOW's Basic Economic Security Tables™ (BEST) Index can help guide our legislators and provide them with the information needed to make decisions which will help return people to work, improve economic security, and alleviate pressures on America's social safety nets. In addition, making the Elder Index available on websites of nonprofits such as SeniorNavigator in Virginia would educate the public including elders, their family, friends, and caretakers about the actual costs of making ends meet in retirement.   A more educated population would be more apt to place pressure on their Congressional Representatives and effect change. Gerontology departments at Universities may also find the Elder Index useful when training future aging, social work, and medical professionals. To learn more about WOW's EESI and the Elder Index, visithttp://www.wowonline.org/economic-security-institute/ andhttp://www.basiceconomicsecurity.org/EI/.

 More about Camille!

Camille J. Browne is a versatile professional who draws experience from both the nonprofit and private sectors. She has hands-on skills in improving the quality of life for our aging population through effective advocacy and education, and a background in administration and accounting. Previously, Camille had a successful career in accounting. Because of a passion for working to enhance the lives of our elderly neighbors, she has transitioned those skills into her new area of expertise, Gerontology.

In 2009, Camille graduated with a M.S. from Virginia Commonwealth University's School of Allied Health Professions Department of Gerontology.

Camille began her professional career in aging by volunteering with AARP VA in Richmond, and afterward at OWL's national office in Washington, D.C. Later, she was hired as OWL's Program Manager. There, she was instrumental in helping manage and launch OWL's 2012 and 2013 annual Mother's Day Campaigns and Reports.

Camille starts a new position as Associate Director, Elder Economic Security Initiative at Wider Opportunities for Women on October 7, 2013.

After graduation, my plans will be to remain at Peachford Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia, where I currently work with older adults with various mental and behavioral disorders. At the same time, I am continuing to investigate doctoral education.  From there, I will continue to seek out other career opportunities working with older adults in the aging fields of assisted living facilities, nursing homes or adult day centers.

As I am currently a part of the Alzheimer's Support Group at my church, I would also like to advocate for older adults at the local or national level relative to policies and laws to ensure that older adults are provided quality healthcare, job opportunities and fairness and other resources to better enhance their quality of life and well-being. This will allow me to become more familiar with state and national laws concerning our older adults and what we can do to help change and improve the inequality. I am exploring the Ombudsman organization which is true vehicle for advocating for quality care and treatment for older adults in residential and LTC facilities.

In the near future, my hope is to one day own a state of the art adult day center consisting of aquatic therapy, land aerobics, computer training, arts and crafts, music therapy, catered meals, etc. I am also strongly considering including a childcare component into the development.  As I have learned, "intergenerational relationships" promote optimal aging through love, feeling valued and relational reciprocity (caring for children.) I am also thinking about even creating a potential respite component (more of a medical model) for individuals with special needs (i.e. cerebral palsy, mental retardation, etc.)  Studying gerontology has really opened my eyes to the numerous opportunities available to me as a gerontologist.