On October 29th, Rebecca J. Benson and Patricia C. D'Agostino were panel experts in the break out session called Optimizing the Interdisciplinary Team: An Advanced Case Study Workshop  at the ALCA 2018 New England Chapter conference. Led by the Moderator, Jennifer Pilcher, founder and owner of Clear Guidance, the panel included experts in estate planning, care management, home care, psychiatry and special care units in assisted living facilities.  The goal of the session was to learn creative care planning techniques and strategies to maximize how one collaborates with elder care colleagues.

By Harry S. Margolis

In recent years, home care for disabled seniors has grown tremendously with absolutely no regulation. For the most part, this has been good with millions of seniors being able to stay in their own homes as they age. But a recent series of articles in The Boston Globe highlights the risks inherent to the system both to those receiving care and those providing it.

There has been a proliferation of individuals and companies, small and large, either providing in-home care or connecting families with caregivers. Two of the biggest are Home Instead Senior Care, which franchises home care agencies, and Care.com, which has expanded its child care referral services to include senior care as well.

By Harry S. Margolis

A relatively new grassroots organization, Caring Across Generations, is working to change public policy to support people caring for people with disabilities of all ages. It is a coalition of over 200 other organizations. Its co-directors are Sarita Gupta, executive director of Jobs with Justice, and Ai-jen Poo, executive director of the National Domestic Workers Alliance and a MacArthur Award winner.

The organization's goal is "to bring our caregiving infrastructure into the 21st century, so everyone can age and care with dignity." It focuses its work in three areas: access to care, support for families and better care jobs. It argues without these changes we will not be able to meet the care needs of our aging population except through increased institutionalization.

By Harry S. Margolis

John Oliver on his HBO show, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, Sunday night provided a scary and funny explanation of how guardianship works, ending with a public service announcement by William Shatner, Lily Tomlin and others explaining steps you can take to avoid the guardianship.