‘You keep loving each other’: A window into dementia at the end of a lifelong partnership, by Alissa Ambrose, STAT, December 9, 2019
"Poul and Else were married for 57 years. For the last four, their granddaughter, photographer Sofie Mathiassen, documented their life together while Poul progressed through the stages of Parkinson’s disease and dementia. Else stayed by Poul’s side until his death, first in their home in Skanderborg, Denmark, and later in a nursing home when it became too hard to care for him at home. She visited every day.

Mathiassen’s photographs are an intimate window into the end of a life, and a lifelong partnership. They are testament to a specific love story, but they will also be familiar to anyone who has cared for a loved one with dementia. “Else and Poul’s story is very universal,” Mathiassen told STAT, “because it deals with themes and emotions recognizable for many people whether you have dementia or not.”

The project was recently recognized by The Bob and Diane Fund photography grant, which supports visual storytelling about Alzheimer’s and dementia."

Go here -> https://www.statnews.com/2019/12/09/window-into-dementia-at-the-end-of-a-life/

And here -> http://www.bobanddianefund.org/

"When they said their wedding vows, many of them promised to stand by one another in sickness and in health.

But a new study suggests that as married couples age and develop chronic conditions, the daily demands of coping with their own health demands and those of their spouse may take a mental toll.

Depression symptoms increased over time among married men and women who themselves had two or more chronic conditions that need different types of self-care - such as a special diet and medications for heart disease or diabetes along with pain-reducing therapy for arthritis."

Go here -> https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2019-12/mm-u-isa120319.php

"Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia can hamper balance, coordination and motivation, making it difficult for people to participate in physical activities that can make them feel more alert and improve their quality of life.

Now, a national research team led by the University of Waterloo is working to make it easier for people with dementia to stay active by training community-fitness providers and personal trainers on how to provide dementia-inclusive exercise. This involves providing fitness environments and activities that still give people a challenging physical workout, but can be adapted to their cognitive abilities."

Go here -> https://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/health-and-fitness/article-making-it-easier-for-people-with-dementia-to-stay-physically-active/

"This photograph, one among many, was taken by Paul Graham for his recent book, Mother.

The photo and some others of Graham's mother are included in a Washington Post story written by Keith Dickerman who had recently visited his own mother:

”From my newfound perspective,” writes Dickerman, “Graham’s book looks like a loving meditation on his own mom. The photos are soft, delicate, quiet and, ultimately, reflective. Paging through the book, I felt an affinity for how Graham seems to feel about his mother.”
More portrait than photograph, they led me with each viewing to wonder about her life, the lives of all people who reach a great age and the stillness that seems to accompany many of the oldest old.

Perhaps I have been spoiled by TGB's brilliant comment section, but I hardly ever read comments elsewhere on the internet – so many are stupid, vulgar, mean and therefore time-wasters."

Go here-> https://www.timegoesby.net/weblog/2019/12/attitudes-toward-old-age.html

And here-> https://www.washingtonpost.com/photography/2019/11/27/this-book-is-deeply-emotional-meditation-one-photographers-mother-mortality-slow-unraveling-late-old-age/

"With a system as complex as Social Security, it’s inevitable that misinformation (or simply a misunderstanding of the facts) will spread. It’s hard to understand what’s true and what’s not, and often, our brains prefer the version of events that feel intuitively more simple to understand. And of course, Social Security is anything but simple to understand.

People tend to repeat some of these not-quite-true tidbits and downright falsehoods so often that they’ve reached mythical status and are often accepted without question. In fact, that’s exactly how these myths seem so plausible and continue to live on. It’s called the illusory truth effect: people are more likely to believe something is true after hearing it said over and over again.

Separating fact from fiction is critical. Believing these myths can prove dangerous to your financial well being — and even your ability to afford your retirement — because they can screw up the way you plan and prepare for the future.

But it’s time that we cleared these muddy waters. Today, I want to break down seven Social Security myths that you might hear and believe but that just aren’t true… no matter how many times you’ve heard them repeated before."

Go here -> https://www.marketwatch.com/story/social-security-is-a-great-economic-equalizer-2019-12-03
And here -> https://mrdrc.isr.umich.edu/publications/conference/pdf/2019RDRC%20P5%20Sanzenbacher.pdf

"How the rich get an undeserved windfall from Social Security," Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, December 3, 2019
"In a world where the rich always seem to get richer whatever the game, Social Security always seemed to be one program that was truly “progressive” — it benefited the working class more than the moneyed class. Right? Sadly, no.

In reality, despite painstaking efforts to ensure that Social Security benefits are distributed fairly, the wealthy are receiving disproportionately large payouts after all. That’s the finding of a new study by Alicia H. Munnell and Anqi Chen of the authoritative Center for Retirement Research at Boston College."

Go here -> https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2019-12-03/social-security-wealthy-benefits

And here -> https://crr.bc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/IB_19-18.pdf

"Jobs play a central role in the lives of most adults. As forces like globalization and automation reshape the labor market, it is clear that some people and places are positioned to do well while others risk becoming collateral damage. The well-educated and technically savvy find ample employment opportunities, while those with lower levels of education face a labor market that is decidedly less welcoming, with lower wages and less potential for career growth. Meanwhile, some regions dramatically outpace others in job growth, incomes, and productivity, raising disquieting questions about how best to promote broad-based economic growth."

Go here -> https://www.brookings.edu/research/meet-the-low-wage-workforce/

"Turning gray and into the red: The true cost of growing old in America," Jan Mutchler, The Conversation, December 5, 2019
"The U.S. population is aging at such a rate that within a few years, older Americans will outnumber the country’s children for the first time, according to census projections. But rising rents, health care, and other living costs mean that for many entering their retirement years, balancing the household budget can be a struggle.

To get a better understanding of how much of a struggle, a team at the University of Massachusetts Boston established a benchmark against which to measure the financial security of Americans aged 65 and over. Jan Mutchler is Professor of Gerontology and Director of the Center for Social and Demographic Research on Aging in the Gerontology Institute at UMass."

Go here-> https://theconversation.com/turning-gray-and-into-the-red-the-true-cost-of-growing-old-in-america-127162

And here -> https://elderindex.org

"Forty percent of all working-age Americans sometimes struggle to pay their monthly bills.

There is no place in the country where a family supported by one minimum-wage worker with a full-time job can live and afford a 2-bedroom apartment at the average fair-market rent.

Given the pressure to earn enough to make ends meet, you would think that low-paid workers would be clamoring for raises. But this is not always the case. Because so many American jobs don’t earn enough to pay for food, housing and other basic needs, many low-wage workers rely on public benefits that are only available to people in need, such as housing vouchers and Medicaid, to pay their bills.

Earning a little more money may not automatically increase their standard of living if it boosts their income to the point where they lose access to some or all of those benefits. That’s because the value of those lost benefits may outweigh their income gains."

Go here -> https://www.salon.com/2019/06/09/getting-poorer-while-working-harder-the-cliff-effect_partner/

"Conservative Arguments For the Latest Food Stamp Cut Are Bogus. Here’s Why," S.E. Smith, TalkPoverty, December 6, 2019 
"On Wednesday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced that it had finalized a pending rule on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, or food stamps) that will affect nearly 700,000 able-bodied adults without dependents (ABAWDs). Areas with insufficient jobs will no longer be able to receive waivers for SNAP’s three-month time limit; ABAWDs will need to work, volunteer, or participate in job training for at least 80 hours a month to maintain eligibility, though the USDA is not providing supportive resources to help people get and keep jobs. In essence, this is a plan cruelly designed to terminate nutrition benefits.

This was the first of three SNAP-related rules introduced by the administration this year. If all three are finalized, they will have a cumulative effect of taking critical nutrition assistance from more than 3 million people.

The Trump administration’s attack on SNAP is nothing new; for decades, presidential administrations, as well as members of Congress, have been attempting to push people off SNAP, as seen under the Reagan administration, in 1990s welfare reform, and 2018’s farm bill. Selecting ABAWDs as a target was no coincidence; the policy is complicated and confusing, and though it has extremely high stakes for those affected, their voices are rarely heard."

Go here -> https://talkpoverty.org/2019/12/06/food-stamp-cut-bogus/

And here -> https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2019-12-09/trumps-christmas-gift-to-millions-of-poor-americans-a-cut-to-their-small-food-stipend

"On Wednesday, the Trump administration finalized a rule change that will make it more difficult for people to get food stamps — a change based around a model created by former Gov. Scott Walker and Wisconsin Republicans.

The changes, which will take effect next April, will reduce benefits people can receive food via the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). And while Walker’s cuts four years ago already hit food-stamp recipients hard, this rule stands to take the food benefits away from another 25,000- 27,000 people, according to estimates from the state Department of Human Services.

The 2015 state Republican cuts took food stamps away from roughly 100,000 Wisconsinites, adding work requirements and other hurdles to the program known also known here as FoodShare."

Go here -> https://wisconsinexaminer.com/2019/12/06/poor-wisconsinites-hit-again-by-food-stamp-cuts/

"Getting older means you now have special nutritional needs. This can make it more difficult to eat the right balance of nutritious foods. For example, your body shape may have changed, you may be less physically active, or you may have less interest in food than you did before.  These changes can occur so gradually that you may not notice them while they are happening. The changes can result from illnesses or accidents, genetic patterns, or social, psychological, and economic factors.

Because of these changes, it may be necessary to change how you eat. If you do not take your new needs into consideration when you eat, you may be at risk for malnutrition (nutrient imbalance)."

Go here -> https://www.healthinaging.org/a-z-topic/nutrition

"This report is part of a project exploring strategies for addressing food insecurity at its roots by identifying the interconnected factors that contribute to it. We first examined the levels of food insecurity among adults and children in counties across the country, as well as measures of physical health, housing, income, and other contributing factors. Then, using a research approach called a Data Walk, we brought those data to residents and stakeholders in six communities to hear what they found useful and whether and how these data resonated with their experiences. These insights helped paint a more complete picture of the contributors to food insecurity in communities, and that picture can help policymakers, service providers, and community leaders understand where to intervene.

The report details community insights and provides recommendations for building on existing programming to tackle food insecurity. These opportunities for action and investment are using data to build evidence of community challenges, including more voices at the table, and fostering collaborative efforts."

Go here -> https://www.urban.org/research/publication/tackling-food-insecurity-bringing-data-communities

"Two recent news stories give even more evidence of what a disastrous deal Republican Gov. Scott Walker made with Foxconn. A new study by the Mercatus Center at George Mason University uses Foxconn as a case study of state subsidies gone wrong, concluding it will have a very negative impact, causing an overall loss of up to $6 billion for Wisconsin’s economy. And Foxconn’s revised plans for its Green Bay satellite center show it is scrapping the idea of an innovation center, yet another step backward for the ever-shrinking project.

The study was not by some liberal opponents of business, but by a research center that bills itself as “the world’s premier university source for market-oriented ideas.” Of course, given that free-market orientation, you might expect that researchers Matthew Mitchell, Michael Farren, Jeremy Horpedahl and Olivia Gonzalez would have problems with state subsidies, and they do, arguing that a “targeted approach to economic development is ineffective at best and counterproductive at worst.” 

Go here -> https://urbanmilwaukee.com/2019/12/05/murphys-law-foxconn-may-cut-state-gdp-by-6-billion/