Watch the video after the commercial.....
& look at the pics....your only as old as you want to be

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/world/2008/12/07/lah.vs.okinawa.secret.cnn?iref=videosearch

http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/12/02/okinawa.aging/index.html

You know your getting older when Happy Hour is a nap.

Happy Hour for me is playing my Yamaha S900 at a 1 hr Nursing home gig!

Yes,I understand Donny...I usually donate several hours of my time playing at nursing homes over the holiday period.

It's a win-win situation to be sure, don't you agree?

Ian

Yes Ian.....
I pepper in between my regular 4 hr dance shows with NH shows all the time....
It's very rewarding especially on the Bigger Holidays like Thanks Giving, Mothers Day Christmas, NYE, etc, ...

Christmas time and Mother's Day are my favorites.

What I'm about to say won't be popular . . .
BUT, if you want to donate your time, go to a hospital ward, take soup to someone, go play on the street corner in front of Goodwill, or at a Church activity or a true charity.
Nursing Homes, at least around here, are NOT charities. Rather they are for-profit businesses governed by state and federal regulations and they are required by law to provide entertainment for their residents, and they have budgets for that.
If we play for free, they will either keep the money in the budget or spend it for something else.
They are notorious for pinching funds even though they are paid to care for every person in there, either individually, by insurance or by the government (us!).
Although I don't make my living playing for Nursing Home residents, I really enjoy it. However, many of us here DO play them for a living and those that play them for free MAY be depriving one of our friends of a paid job.
I've recently heard of more than one instance of an Activities Director being fired for requiring live "auditions". They had no intention of ever hiring the performers; they were keeping the money for themselves and finding someone else to "audition" next month. Not that's COLD.
The Church groups that play for Nursing Homes are a different story. Their mission is part of their Ministry, and is religious in nature.
However when we provide our services for a party, or event, we should be paid just like every other vendor the Nursing Home pays.
Fire away!
DonM

DonM

In absolute aggrement with you.
Good post.

The places I play for are those who don't have the budget for entertainment.

All this charity stuff is nice, but.......what does this have to do with getting OLD like the people in the original Video?

On growing very old....

1. Time flies. And as we grow older, time contracts exponentially. If you're in your 60s or better, you know. By that age, Einstein‘s theory of time relativity ceases to be theory. Which means that any years over age 100 will flee so quickly they'll hardly be noticed. So why bother?

2. Noses and ears grow. And grow. As we age, while all our other body parts tend to shrink a bit, our noses and ears never stop growing. Never.

My question: Do you want the nose of a 120-year-old? Could you even see around it?

"And in the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years."

-Abraham Lincoln


"Old age, believe me, is a good and pleasant thing. It is true you are gently shouldered off the stage, but then you are given such a comfortable front stall as a spectator."

-Confusious



[This message has been edited by Dnj (edited 12-13-2008).]

Time's fun when you're having flies.
- Kermit the Frog

None are so old as those who have outlived enthusiasm.~Henry David Thoreau




[This message has been edited by ianmcnll (edited 12-13-2008).]

I don't mind getting 'older' ... in fact I look forward to it ... I just don't want to get 'old'!!!
t.

The only problem with getting older is our body parts begin to fail, often just one at a time. In some instances, medical science manages to make minor repairs to the worn out parts, but eventually those parts fail to the point where they are no longer functional. And, this usually happens at an exponential rate. A good friend put all this in perspective when he said "Life is like a roll of toilet paper--the closer you get to the end of the roll, the faster it comes off."

As to the performer that plays NHs for free--YOU JUST PICKED MY POCKET! They all have activity budgets, and while some have been reduced to a minor degree during the past year, most are still intact. When you perform any function you quickly develop the reputation as "The guy who plays for free!" I would much rather be "The guy who puts on a great show!" be in high demand and command the highest fees.

Cheer up folks, you're all on the same, fast-moving train.

Gary

Don, I couldn't agree more.

Gary, your words are true, but depressing. Guess we're all aboard, tho.

Glenn

Wow 90 years old and doing that kind of work
Amazing...thanks for the video link.

Her advise "Don't get married"
ahhh...forget it I'm not going there....

------------------
Larry
The NEW SynthZone Map

[This message has been edited by lahawk (edited 12-14-2008).]

Finally someone gets it!!

Don, you hit the nail on the head. Nursing homes really bother me. I have been a primary caretaker for in-laws for over 15 years and what I see is sickening. I will not perform in a "for profit" facility under any circumstance.

I actively support an organization called Kentuckians for Nursing Home REform. This group lobbies for changes to laws governing staffing, training, etc. When you dig into the realities of the situation, care levels (or lack thereof) are appauling. Industry lobby groups are well financed and organized.
And most have no conscience at all.

For 15 years, I have made this the top priority on my list of social concerns. "Doc" and his wife, who passed away years ago have the assets to get superior care. It just doesn't happen unless you personally check feeding schedules, meds, potential abuse, every aspect of the care process, etc. I have seen it all happen to dear family members, at the most expensive facilities in the area. I hear folks talk about the great care they see at places they play. Look deeper. Examine state inspection records. You'll be shocked when you get beyond the exterior "fluff". And, nationally, this is the norm, rather than the exception.

It's a national tragedy, and one I'm going to fight to fix as long as I can.

Russ



[This message has been edited by captain Russ (edited 12-15-2008).]

Russ, the vast majority of nursing homes here are clean and well-staffed. Some are older, but many are sparkling new. I've been playing in them around the state for the past seven years, and have seen very little in the way of bad treatment or neglect. And I have yet to see a dirty floor in one.
Louisiana falls short in many categories, such as honest politicians, but they have a strong department when it comes to inspecting nursing homes.
I know it's not that way everywhere though.
What you are doing is a great and admirable thing. Keep up the good work!
DonM

Same here Russ. A decade ago the majority of the nursing homes were deplorable at best. Two things changed this dramatically--unannounced state inspections and competition.

I have a nephew who is part of the state inspection team, and so is his ex wife. They carefully inspect about three facilities a week, and no inspection is announced. They'll show up after dinner, before breakfast, times when no one is expecting them, and in some instances they've shut down sections of a facility until the problem is solved. That can be real expensive to the owners.

Also during the past decade, huge, new facilities have opened everywhere you look. Each is competing for the almighty dollar, and the competition is keen. I personally know people that have been in some of the NHs and rehab centers near where I live and they all raved about the care they received and how quickly they were being rehabilitated.

I don't know about Kentucky, but things have really taken a turn for the better in Maryland's extended care facilities.

Gary

Don and Gary...I'm so glad that facilities in your areas are adequate. That's extremely rare. I'm talking about the national situation as a whole, which is deplorable. I thought that the upscale places in Kentucky were OK, too. The first one that Doc and his wife were in was beautiful...$7500.00 a month. Even had a guy in a tux playing a grand piano for every lunch and dinner...great looking food...great servers...friendly AD's. It didn't take long to see that all was not what it appeared to be. Diet restrictions not adheared to. Diabetics eating desserts off of other residents' plates. Rampant dehydration issues. Med errors. Untrained staff, inadequate staffing issues at night, blatant neglect and much more. As Doc's condition worsened, the places he was shuffled off to got successively worse. Once a resident does not meet minimum requirements...the ability to transport himself to the dining area, for instance...he/they are "out of there". That's when I got into a pretty in-depth study of the national situation, including a review of all state standards and records from across the country. I teach research statistics and methods. I used these skills to analyse performance in all 50 states. None come close to meeting the standards set for them by their own regulatory/administrative agencies.

Believe me, I quit a 30 year corporate job with a Fortune 500 company in 1995 to be a primary caregiver, and have devoted my life to fighting for accountability and adequate care, and it just "ain't happening". I have been to Washington to testify at hearings...correspond with lawmakers weekly concerning minimum care standards and visit nursing homes once a week as far away as Michigan and Georgia. Universally, what I find is a national embarrasment. The field is so lucrative that more facilities are being built, but most of the fees go to enriching the stockholders/owners, not to improving the level of care.

Sorry that I got on my soapbox, but this has been the defining issue/cause in my life for the last 14 years. Everything else...my company, music, instruments, all the other "toys"...everything else but my family is secondary.

Doc is a nationally recognized psychiatrist...former state commissioner of mental health, retired state mental hospital administrator, retired VA physician who ran a major Alzheimer's/dementia ward, and no amount of money can buy adequate late stage Alzheimer's care. I've explored ALL the options. Luckily, we secured a place for him at a VA as a "private-full-pay" resident (contrary to some beliefs, VA patients who did not suffer major injuries in a war pay fees based on income and financial need). Care was the best we could find, but sadly, recent State budget cuts have resulted in a degeneration of care which is bordering on being unacceptable. I check on him every day, and it's rare that I don't see "glitches" that make me mad as HELL! Here is a person of considerable wealth. Think of what's happening with very needy people relying on Medicaid for their care.

It is a national trajedy, and it just makes me SICK!


Russ