If you are looking for help for your elderly loved one, remember, You Don’t Have To Go It Alone! Call Central Massachusetts Agency on Aging at (800) 244-3032 (VTDD), or email Cmaaging@SeniorConnection.org. We are here to help!

Fewer Beds for Men Entering Nursing Homes

The New Old Age; The New York Times

Searching for a nursing home for his hospitalized father in semirural Massachusetts, a friend of mine recently came up against an unexpected barrier. It's harder to find a bed for a man than for a woman.

File this under: Stuff That Makes Sense When You Think About It, But You Usually Don't.

Nursing homes are heavily female, like the elderly population itself. A report by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services in 2010 found that about two-thirds of residents were women. In some homes I've visited, it looks closer to 80 percent.

And most rooms in nursing homes are "semiprivate," one of the great euphemisms of modern health care. Medicaid, which pays for most nursing home care, will cover only a semiprivate room.

So since a man entering a facility can't bunk with a woman, an available bed in a room assigned to a woman will require another woman. The man goes on a waiting list until there's a bed in a room with another man.

To read the entire article, Click Here!

Advanced Style

An author/photographer's unique look at the New York fashion scene

Ari Seth Cohen is the creator of Advanced Style, a blog that focus's on the fashion style of older adults, primarily, older women. He roams the streets of New York looking for the most stylish and creative older folks. "Respect your elders and let these ladies and gents teach you a thing or two about living life to the fullest." Advanced Style offers proof from the wise and silver-haired set that personal style advances with age.

After three years, the blog has grown to include a bevy of writings and videos. He and his videographer, Lina Plioplyte, a New York-based freelance, hope to release a documentary of their work, some time this year.

He and his "ladies" just finished a performance on the Today Show, where the "The Ladies did an incredible job!!!", says Ari.

To view the documentary trailer, Click Here! You won't be disappointed.