Alzheimer's Organizations in South Carolina Awarded Grant Funding for New Programs

Eight grants for educational and respite service programs were awarded to organizations around the state by the South Carolina Alzheimer's Resource Coordination Center on June 28.

Press releases detailing each grant award can be found in the LGOA press release archive.

According to research from the University of South Carolina's Arnold School of Public Health, there are approximately 50,000 individuals in South Carolina with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD), and that number is projected to grow to 90,000 by 2030.

The impact upon South Carolina's Medicaid program, families and businesses will be considerable. Since the average lifetime cost of care for an individual with Alzheimer's is $174,000, the cost to South Carolina families, individuals, insurance companies, businesses, Medicaid and Medicare would be $8.7 billion for the current 50,000 individuals diagnosed with ADRD. By 2030 that figure could increase to at least $15.7 billion.

Source: South Carolina Mature Adults Count 2006 Report - Opportunities, Challenges and Choices. Available online (scroll down to "Health" in the table of contents for a direct link to the Alzheimer's statistics.

Guidebooks and Fact Sheets on Extreme Heat Events Available from EPA & CDC

With the official start of summer comes temperatures soaring into the 90's or even triple digits. With that in mind, federal health and environmental agencies have collaborated on a new publication aimed at preparing local government agencies and emergency responders for extreme heat.

South Carolina Alzheimer's Resource Coordination Center Announces Startup Grants for 2006/07 Fiscal Year

The Alzheimer's Resource Coordination Center (ARCC) in the Lt. Governor’s Office on Aging was created to provide statewide coordination, service system development, information and referral, and caregiver support services to individuals with Alzheimer's disease and related disorders, their families and caregivers. Each year, the Center provides seed money through a competitive grants process tohelp local communities build self-sustaining programs that will provide education and support to individuals in South Carolina suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, their families and caregivers. The grant recipients for the 2006/2007 state fiscal year include:

St. Paul Adult Day Care

St. Paul Adult Day Care serves Union, Spartanburg, Cherokee, Laurens, Newberry and Chester counties. It is starting a respite program with separate activities and classes for persons with Early Stage and Moderate/Advanced Stage of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias. Participants will be separated by severity of the disease which will enable the staff to use dementia specific activities and objectives to promote optimal cognitive and physical health. The goal is to help the participants sustain a better quality of life.

Edgefield County Senior Citizens Council

Edgefield County Senior Citizens Council will start a new educational and respite program. The educational program will start first in an effort to help caregivers learn about Alzheimer’s disease and to establish trust between caregivers and staff. The new group respite program will start when the new senior center opens in February.

Lean On Me Home Care Services

Lean On Me Home Care Services, Inc. is starting an in-home respite program that will service Clarendon, Sumter, Lee, Kershaw, Williamsburg, Richland and Lexington counties. The goal is to keep the person with Alzheimer’s disease in their home with their loved ones for as long as possible while providing a much needed break for their caregivers.

Genesis I Adult Day Care Services

Genesis I Adult Day Care Services, Inc. is starting a new Enhanced Evening/Weekend Group Respite Program that will service Florence, Williamsburg, Sumter, Clarendon, Darlington, and Marion counties. It will provide a break for caregivers during the week as well as the weekend. It will benefit caregivers who work during the week and allow flexible working hours for the staff.

The ARK Educational Services

The ARK has developed the NOAH Project (Neighborhood Outreach Alzheimer’s Help). Grant funds will be dedicated to expanding Alzheimer’s support services into small towns and rural areas that have little access to care resources. The goal of the NOAH Project is to provide a basic infrastructure or framework of rural Alzheimer’s services for Berkeley, Colleton, Charleston, Dorchester, and Orangeburg counties in anticipation of a rapidly growing dementia population. This objective will be accomplished by identifying interested stakeholders in rural communities, offering training, and providing supportive services that will create a culture of caring in small town South Carolina.

Alzheimer’s Family Services of Greater Beaufort

Alzheimer’s Family Services of Greater Beaufort will develop an Alzheimer’s Disease Community Education Program targeting the Faith Community and Civic Groups. Presentations will be made to churches and civic groups as well as caregivers and the general public. A seminar for medical providers, nursing assistants and caregivers will be held in March, 2007.

Hopewell Senior Day Care Center 

Hopewell Senior Day Care is expanding its Alzheimer’s group respite program which serves Williamsburg, Georgetown and Florence Counties. Hopewell will serve 12 new participants with grant funds. Caregivers and participants are also offered other services such as: transportation, home repairs, heating and cooling, health care, weatherization, recreation, a nutritional program and a literacy program.

Reliant Healthcare, LLC

Reliant Healthcare, LLC will develop and manage Project CARE, an educational and support program that will help caregivers and clients make informed healthcare choices and decisions by providing tools to enhance well-being and feelings of support as they cope with the challenges of Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias. Reliant Healthcare, in partnership with area agencies and providers, hopes to expand the services available to the residents of York County to include better and more comprehensive caregiver services and education.

Final Report on Medicare Part D Plan Says 516,000 Beneficiaries In South Carolina Now Have Prescription Drug Coverage

(Columbia, S.C.) More than three-quarters of South Carolina’s 656,000 Medicare beneficiaries now have prescription drug coverage, according to the federal Department of Health and Human Services’ final report on enrollment in the new Medicare Part D program.
Those numbers include:
• 176,900 people who signed themselves up for one of the 46 different stand alone prescription drug plans that work with traditional Medicare coverage for hospital stays and doctor visits
• 29,723 who signed up for HMO-style Medicare “Advantage” plans that bundle medical services with prescription drug coverage
• 120,440 people who were previously covered under the state’s Medicaid program and were automatically enrolled in stand alone plans
• 112,774 who have employer-sponsored retiree plans that are now subsidized by Medicare
• 77,337 who have coverage under federal government retiree or military plans

[more]

County-by-county enrollment numbers for South Carolina and ther data can be found online.

HHS Secretary Leavitt's final report on Medicare Part D can be found online.

Summer School of Gerontology 2006 Brochure Available Online

This year marks the 30th anniversary of the Office on Aging’s Summer School of Gerontology. The course catalog and registration materials are [no longer] available online.Senior Day at Summer School this year is Wednesday, August 23. Courses of interest will be offered for seniors on Senior Day. Seniors may visit the exhibit hall free of charge. Many courses of interest to seniors will also be offered during the week. (Scholarships are available to the first 20 seniors to register who are 60 and over, retired, not employed, and have an income of less than $1,350 per month.)

Charleston Business Journal Looks at ElderCare Issues and the Coming Senior Boom

The Charleston business journal's Kathleen Dayton recently explored some of the issues in eldercare that are expected to have a major impact on retiring baby boomers. The article highlights an important aspect of the major demographic shift that is ocurring in South Carolina: the need for both government and business to prepare now for the needs of a much older workforce over the next two decades.

From the article:

'Sandwiched'

Those still working are often faced with caring for aging parents, which adds another dynamic to the workplace. Middle-aged workers who are caring not only for their children but for their parents have been labeled the “sandwich generation.”

“Many times you have a worker who wants to work, but the emotional and time demands of the relative is enough that they throw their hands up and quit work to take care of that person,” Adams [Lt. Governor's Office on Aging Deputy Director for Public Information, Frank Adams] said. “Then they’re off-track to provide their own health insurance and to provide for their own retirement. I think it is an emerging issue and I think it is almost going to be what childcare was in the 1960s and ’70s.”

The news isn’t all bad, however. While baby boomers may leave their careers to become full-time caregivers for their parents, many want to work part-time or find new careers that better fit their needs.

“Our senior population is going to go back to work,” Adams said. “But the other thing is, these workers who are sandwiched will approach their employer and say I need more time off. The whole issue of the senior boom is going to be a business opportunity for some businesses, and for others it will be a caregiving issue and dilemma.

“I think you will see a lot of business people creatively solving it so they can retain workers. We know we can’t possibly pay for all the long-term care that’s on the horizon.”

The complete article can be found at the Business Journal online (free registration required).

South Carolina Pharmacy Association Recognizes Lt. Governor Bauer and the State's SHIP Program for Medicare-Part D Education Efforts

Lt. Governor André Bauer will be honored as the South Carolina Pharmacy Association's (SCPhA's) legislator of the year for 2006, the organization announced on Thursday.

The announcement was made through the SCPhA newsletter, "Small Doses." The award will be presented on June 25th during the Association's annual meeting and convention.

According to the newsletter article, " The Lt. Governor allocated his staff to work with Tracy Russell, CPN Executive Director on the Medicare Education efforts since August of 2005. Crystal Kelly of the Lt. Governor's Office traveled with Russell to educate more than 450 seniors and more than 800 pharmacists in the state."

Boomer Spending Power Driving Corporate Decision-Making

Marketing and product design decisions are being increasingly driven by the spending power of the soon-to-retire baby-boomers, according to this press release from Ford Motor Company that was recently reprinted on the web site theMatureMarket.com, a website focusing on trends in marketing to "mature" customers.

According to the release:

"Boomers have set the market stage ever since they've been in existence," said Michael Bernacchi, a professor at the University of Detroit Mercy who studies automotive marketing. "But now that they are older, marketers are putting on the brakes and asking, 'How are we going to market to them?' "

And there's a lot at stake. At 77 million strong in the U.S. alone, boomers are a consumer force to be reckoned with.

Consider these facts:

• Boomers represent $2.1 trillion in annual spending power.
• Boomers ages 50 to 60 have double the spending power of those 60 to 70 years old.
• 80 percent of boomers say they will work past 60.
• Their life expectancy is an all-time high of 77.4 years.

"They by far are the most affluent and spend-worthy generation in the history of mankind," said Bernacchi.

In South Carolina, research has also shown that affluent retirees moving into the state are an increasingly potent ecomomic driver.

• The Center for Carolina Living has conducted significant research on individuals and families in the relocation process. Of those inquiring for information on relocation, 43% are 50 and older based upon their surveys. According to the Center on Carolina Living these new in-migrants should bring an average of $800,000 to $1,000,000 in net worth prior to moving for retirement.
  
• Based upon a study conducted by Clemson University in 1998 (Consequences and Benefits Study) actual movers of all ages have annual household incomes of $110,000 per year. Recent surveys conducted by the Center for Carolina Living of pre-move households have annual incomes of $119,000 (2005 survey of 8,000 plus households).

Sign Up for Healthy Aging Briefings Offered by the National Council on Aging
Safe Steps: A falls prevention program for Seniors scheduled for June 15

The National Council on Aging offers online/audio Briefings on topics related to healthy aging throughout the year to assist aging advocates and professionals in designing programmming for their clients.

In each briefing, national experts help you develop senior health promotion and community education programs.

These interactive briefings are audio and Web conferences. You can call in toll-free to hear the audio portion and connect online to view and download documents. Presentation materials are available the morning of each briefing, below.

Caresource Healthcare Communications, a nationally known publisher of health and wellness materials, co-sponsors the series with NCOA. All first-time participants receive a free copy of Aging In Stride, which includes the new supplement Just in Case: Emergency Readiness for Older Adults and Caregivers, a 12-page fact sheet and checklist on emergency preparation.

To register, e-mail briefings@ncoa.org at least two days before each briefing. Please include the session name and date, and your name, title, organization, address and e-mail.

More information about this and other briefings scheduled for 2006 can be found on the NCOA website here.