Elder abuse

I was supposed to go to two seminars yesterday but after the day, I was too tired to go to the evening one, one of my associations was doing at U of T. I had already turned down the meet and greet for my other association. Why does everyone pick the same day? This is how I decide which ones I go to. I will attend a full day event rather than a short one. I thought I could go to a day one and then later to a night one, but I was wrong, so I know for next time. I hate cancelling at the last minute, I really do, but when tired I have to come first. So I am fresh for today. The day was sponsored by the elder abuse organization which I have attended before. It was free which is always a bonus and a full day. I didn’t really learn anything new but I believe I was the only therapist in the room so my learning experience was the response from the audience. What I normally take for granted as common knowledge is not. I have to be mindful of that. The speaker talked to the group about self esteem as it applies to seniors. She spoke about depression which she said is common among seniors and she stressed that a big problem for seniors is how everyone wants their money. They have a “nest egg” and a monthly pension which is attractive. Her advice is to socialize and not isolate themselves so that this can be controlled. There was no handout with numbers listed that was shown on a slide, so I won’t be able to provide that for you, but I am sure that you can type out elder abuse and some numbers should pop up. Popular scams were talked about. It is unfortunate that there are so many scams, - the granny scam, the door to door scams, the banking scams, the holiday scams, the revenue Canada scam etc… There are so many scams out there that it makes one wonder why not more is done at the government level to stop this? Don’t even get me started. They will be decreasing about 450 police in Toronto within the next three years and closing police stations. And why not? There are more shootings than I can ever remember in my home town and in three areas, within a few miles of each other in my neighbourhood there has been separate shootings. Makes sense than to close down police stations and reduce police right? One of those police stations is my police station. Anyhow, back to seniors being scammed right and left from everyone - there was also a representative from Health Canada, talking about nutrition. This hasn’t changed except that margarine is no longer considered a healthier choice than butter. I love butter. My mom once told me that butter was what makes everything taste great. So, I am back to butter. Actually, I have butter in my fridge. At the end of the day there was a member of the fire department talking about fire prevention. One person asked him how high the ladders can reach. “Seven floors” he responded. “What?” I gasped. He continued how they rescue in high rises to appease me, I'm sure. I think I will stick to a condo under seven floors, if I ever decide to take that route. He asked us how many sleep with their bedroom door closed? He was the only one. He showed us slides of how fires are prevented from spreading by closing the door etc… He was very informative and his slides were very telling, and I learned something important. The carbon dioxide sensor should be in the same room as the furnace. Mine is between the living and dining room. I will be making modifications and buying new smoke alarms. So, though I did not learn much about my profession, I did learn about fire prevention because it was in-depth and I had not attended one of those in a long time. Since this is all free, I would encourage organizations in Toronto to contact the Fire department, elder abuse people and health Canada to speak to the various organizations or work places. The Senior population is a growing one. The baby boomers are babies no more. I often hear people (who are not therapists of course) acting as if seniors are stupid. Seniors are not stupid. They are not confused as part of aging. The person I enjoy the most is 96 years old, and will be celebrating his 97th birthday next month. He is also one of the happiest people I know which is probably why I like his company so much. He is always providing me with newspaper clippings of articles he thinks I might like. He sings, he dances, he socializes etc….He enjoys life. He is also a World War Two vet who does not receive a pension for those years. Now tell me how that has happened? Anyhow, my point is that yes more elderly men kill themselves in Canada than any other group. However, there are also happy people out there, who are much more intelligent and accomplished than the people labelling them as less than. So, if you are a senior and you are sad (what they talked about yesterday is true), do not isolate yourself. If you find that you are doing that, make an effort to get some help. There is help out there. Spend your money on yourself. You have earned it. If you are being abused, call the police or get advise from Senior organizations. You have earned your years and you have earned the right to be yourself and do what you want. If you are depressed please do something about it. What do you think?