Tagged: elderly

It should be that every senior citizen in Michigan is safe and secure with no threat of abuse.

But that is not the case.

Elder abuse is real, whether that abuse is physical, emotional or even financial. It is one of the most underreported crimes in our state and across the country.

One guess is that 100,000 seniors in Michigan will be victimized by someone looking to take advantage of them.

This morning, Cynthia Canty was given the privilege to emcee the unveiling of a new campaign called "No Excuse for Elder Abuse".

She introduced a panel of high-ranking judges and prosecutors representing seven counties in Southeast Michigan.

Each of the judges and prosecutors at the event this morning have agreed to serve as the "champion" for the No Excuse for Elder Abuse campaign in his or her county.

Among those members was Macomb County Prosecutor Eric Smith.

Smith joined us on Stateside today, to give us his experiences on elder abuse and to give us a breakdown on the patterns of what is happening, who is taking advantage of Michigan's senior citizens and what he hopes the campaign will achieve. 

There will be Public Service Announcements hitting the airwaves promoting the confidential hotline for reporting abuse. That number is 855-444-3911.

Listen to the full interview above.

Governor Snyder is scheduled to sign a law tomorrow that will transform Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan into a customer-owned non-profit insurance company.

Supporters say the change will make Michigan’s health insurance market more competitive.

But the AARP and other opponents complain the change will eventually cost nearly 200 thousand Michigan senior citizens the Medi-gap coverage they need.

Michigan’s Department of Human Services has introduced a more streamlined process for reporting child and elder abuse in the state.

It’s one of a series of child welfare improvements the state agreed to make when it settled a lawsuit with New York-based Children’s Rights group in 2008.

The agreement required DHS to create a statewide, 24-hour hotline that anyone in Michigan can call to report possible child or elder abuse.

A new University of Michigan study finds a particular type of liver disease is becoming increasingly common among the elderly.  

Cirrhosis is a chronic condition that slowly deteriorates the liver. Long associated with alcoholism and Hepatitis C,  obesity now  is linked to a growing percentage of Cirrhosis patients.   

A community near Akron, Ohio opened a new playground last week - one specially designed for senior citizens.
    

The Akron Beacon Journal reports that the playground consists of eight pieces of low-impact athletic equipment designed for older adults.
    

A 78-year-old woman says a 6-mile canoe trip down a river in northeast Ohio was a dream come true. That’s despite the fact that she’s afraid of water.

Kay Riffle took her first canoe ride thanks partly to the Second Wind Dreams group. The nonprofit organization works to help grant dreams for seniors.

A proposal to encourage more reporting of senior abuse and strengthen penalties against people convicted of the abuse will be unveiled tomorrow at the state Capitol.

The measure will deal with physical and financial abuse of elderly people.

Republican state Senator Tanya Schuitmaker has worked on the issue for a couple years.

“You hear all too often about many cases that—where seniors are getting defrauded and certainly there are vulnerable adults out there that need to be protected.”

“I think [the proposal] strengthens and tightens the regulations that are also there. It also adds some assistance in terms of when someone with Alzheimer’s walks away that there’s a system of alert similar to the Amber Alert.”

Schuitmaker will introduce the bills during “Older Michiganians Day” at the Capitol. She expects the Legislature to vote on the measure this fall.