Commun ty Matters Topeka Presbyterian Manor
March 2017
Fighting ageism and unfair treatment in health care By Terry Fulmer for Next Avenue
Everyone deserves equal treatment — in the broader society and in our health care system. Today, older people are often not treated fairly and do not get the care they deserve, simply because of their age. While one of our great success stories in the 20th century was the stunning gain in human longevity, recent research from The Frameworks Institute, funded by my group, The John A. Hartford Foundation, and others, has found that the majority of us still don’t recognize ageism or its deleterious effects. They call it a “cognitive hole,” a mental blind spot. As 10,000 of us turn 65 each day, it AGEISM, continued on page 3
Celebrating social workers March is National Social Work Month, an “opportunity for social workers across the country to turn the spotlight on the profession and highlight the important contributions they make to society. Our nation’s more than 600,000 social workers have amazing tenacity and talent.” (from naswmc.org) Tenacity and talent are indeed fantastic words to describe our very own social worker at Topeka Presbyterian Manor, Bonnie Snowden. She’s been providing social work expertise here for 11 years. Previously she held various positions in the medical field at other senior living communities SOCIAL WORKERS, continued on page 2