An
old expression is "April showers bring May flowers"
so any time now we will start to see gardens in full
bloom.
Due
to printing times, some items in this message may
have occurred in the past.
One
thing I must mention early is visits to clubs and/or
zones by members of the U S C O executive. If you
would like a member of the executive to visit and
speak at a meeting, please put your request in writing
to our office. Included may be a request for a particular
person to speak and in those instances every effort
will be made to accommodate your request.
In
March at a meeting with the Senior Secretariat, the
Alzheimers Society made a presentation on the impact
of dementia on Canadian society. Dementia refers to
disorders of the brain that slowly destroy memory
and reasoning, erodes independence and eventually
takes life. There are other irreversible dementias,
however Alzheimers disease accounts for 64% of all
cases. Two years ago (2008) the projected incidence
of new cases was 103,700 per year and is expected
to be 2.5 times that by 2038.
At
the same meeting Kathy Kastner was a speaker. She
is the president and founder of a website Ability
(4) Life.com It deals with questions and answers among
other things about adult children caring for aging
parents or maybe we should say seniors caring for
seniors.
On
March 31 the regulation for retirement homes was entered
into provincial parliament and was then made available
to the public. A special meeting with the Senior Secretariat
was called which I attended. The regulation has changed
my thoughts dramatically of what a retirement home
was. As I read the regulation it seemed to me that
they have become another level of Long Term Care Home
where you contract for the care you believe you need.
However I must caution you, don't take my word for
it. If you are thinking about a retirement home ask
or read for yourself. I guess we will just have to
wait and see.
So
much for my travels for now. Until next time - so
long and look after yourselves and look out for each
other.
