USA: Three US Senior Citizens Summit Mt. Everest

. NEW YORK, NY / About.com / Climbing / June 30, 2009 By Stewart M. Green This last May 23, 67-year-old Californian Bill Burke became the oldest American to reach the lofty summit of Mount Everest, the world’s highest mountain and one of the fourteen 8,000-meter peaks. Burke made it up on his third attempt on the peak. His first attempt in 2007 ended a mere 300 feet from the summit when he turned around, afraid he wouldn’t have the strength to climb down if he continued. Bill Burke and Mingma Sherpa atop Everest on May 23. Photograph courtesy Bill Burke. The day after reaching the summit, he called his wife Sharon and told her about a horrendous storm on Everest. “I’ve never been in a storm like that in the mountains,” he said. “Snow, freezing, freezing cold, high winds, it was quite a wild ride. It was really difficult, a very hard mountain. There is nothing about it that is easy. But, thank God, we made it and we made it back safely.” What’s ironic about Burke’s ascent is that on May 21, two days before Burke reached the summit, 66-year-old Dawes Eddy, a Spokane, Washington senior citizen, summitted the big boy and held the honor of oldest American to stand on the roof of the world for a scant 48 hours. Tough break for Dawes. Another Spokane senior, 60-year-old Kay LeClaire, became the second oldest American woman to reach Everest’s summit when she topped out on May 22. The ascent, coming on LeClaire’s fourth attempt in five years, was also the last of her Seven Summits. These three senior Americans were among the 300-plus people that climbed Mount Everest this spring. Unofficially there were five deaths on the mountain. Good for these three oldsters. Instead of sitting around playing cards, hanging at the shuffleboard court, or taking a brisk walk around the local mall, they're getting out there and breathing thin air and suffering and having a great time redefining old age in the mountains. [rc] Stewart M. Green, a native Coloradoan, lives in Colorado Springs at the foot of Pikes Peak and the Colorado Rockies and is a life-long climber. Stewart is also a photographer and a senior guide for Front Range Climbing Company ©2009 About.com, a part of The New York Times Company

USA: Canes, walkers--and pets--cause falls among older adults, shows study

. CHICAGO, Illinois / The Chicago Tribune / June 30, 2009 By Julie Deardorff Canes and walkers--the very things used to prevent falls--are associated with more than 47,000 serious injuries each year among older adults, according to this study in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. But there's another unexpected danger lurking at home: Pets. Each year, cats and dogs cause thousands of fall-related injuries among all ages, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says. Some people (11.7 percent of injuries) get hurt while chasing cats, the study said. (It did not say why people might be chasing a cat, though I have a few ideas.) People also trip while walking their dog. Other highlights from the study: * Nearly 88 percent of pet-related injuries involved man's best friend. Usually, this involved tripping over a dog (31.3 percent) or being pushed or pulled by a dog (21.2 percent.) Falling over a toy or a food bowl accounted for 8.8 percent of the injuries. * Women were 2.1 percent more likely to be tripped up by pets than men. Children under 14 and those between ages 35 and 54 were most frequently injured by pets. * The majority (66.4 percent) of cat-related incidents involved tripping over the feline. (Hardly a surprise; our maddening cat likes to lounge on the stairs at night or get underfoot while we're carrying a child.) In 2006, cats and dogs were accomplices in about 1 percent of the estimated 8 million fall injuries treated in the emergency department. This doesn't include injuries treated in a doctor's office or at home. [rc] Source: Chicago Tribune

USA: My Business: Patrons discover joy of finding FOUND in Ann Arbor

. ANN ARBOR, Michigan / Ann Arbor News / June 30, 2009 By Tina Reed, The Ann Arbor News Mary Cambruzzi describes herself as a finder. From vintage typewriter keys and buttons to useable artwork made of repurposed forks, Cambruzzi said she scours flea markets and antique vendors to fill her store, called FOUND, in Kerrytown Market & Shops in Ann Arbor. Cambruzzi worked as a teacher for a decade before taking some time to raise her kids and later, run a side business. She opened the store more than three years ago when, she said, she hit age 50 and started trying to answer the question "What am I going to do with the next phase?" Cambruzzi said she's fascinated with the connection between the past and the present and came up with the idea for a store that would offer vintage, repurposed and new items for the home or for art. "Almost every day, I hear from people that there's no other shop like this and I think that's kind of the essence of it," Cambruzzi said. "That with the combination of things we have, there is really no other place that's quite like FOUND." Residence: Ann Arbor. Age: 54. Family: She is married and has two children, John and Laura. The business in a sentence: "A funky little shop featuring artists who use found and recycled materials, fun candles and home accents, plus vintage (items) and treasures. How she got her start: "I grew up in a yellow house with art supplies and books and a creative mom." Her proudest accomplishment: "As a shop owner, having artists I respect shop here makes me happy." Why she likes this: "I like finding and arranging things - and I love the ideas my customers have for repurposing." What she'd be doing if she weren't doing this: "Planting flowers in my bicycle basket." Piece of advice she'd offer someone starting a business: "Have a clear vision - write it down - and have fun making it happen." [rc] Tina Reed E-Mail: treed@annarbornews.com Photographs: © 2009 - Found Gallery © 2009 Michigan Live.

UK: The Drugs Don't Work

. LONDON, England / The Guardian / Life & Style / Comment Is Free / June 30, 2009 The number of people on antidepressants is soaring – we may be more miserable, but let's swap the pills for support and care By Ed Halliwell It may have been the happiest day of the year on 19 June, but we are already into the hangover. Figures obtained by the Liberal Democrats reveal that antidepressant prescription numbers are going through the roof – 36m scripts were handed out to patients in England last year, a rise of 2.1m on 2007. That's almost one for every adult. Lib Dem health spokesman Norman Lamb is right to describe the figures as "deeply disturbing". Lamb has demanded improved help for people whose problems are recession-related. It's true that financial woes create more distress, but we shouldn't use the economy as a smokescreen for what is a longer-term malaise. Antidepressant use has been going up for years – prescriptions have more than tripled since the early 1990s. We have not become a Prozac nation overnight. So what is going on? Are we genuinely becoming more miserable? That's part of the story – according to official statistics, the percentage of people with a "common mental disorder (pdf)" increased from 15.5% in 1993 to 17.6% in 2007 (that's a million extra unhappy people across the UK). Some of these inevitably wind up at the GP surgery, seeking relief. But perhaps more instructive is what happens next. Most GPs respond to mental health problems by reaching for the prescription pad, even though guidelines from the National Institute For Clinical Excellence generally recommend psychological therapies. To some extent, doctors do this because they have little choice – more than three-quarters have prescribed medication despite thinking an alternative would be more appropriate. Most do so because there are no other options available – decent psychotherapy services are still few and far between, and often have long waiting lists. However, medics also prescribe drugs because that's what they are trained to do – pills have long been their (and our) default response to depression. The dominant view of psychiatric illness is that chemical imbalances in the brain are mostly to blame, and that they can be controlled with pharmaceuticals. This line has been peddled hard by drug companies, and for a long time it was accepted almost without question — the reception which greeted the arrival of Prozac and the other SSRI antidepressants (which were supposed to counter the "imbalances") was nothing short of hysterical. Reality has been more prosaic: a recent review found the SSRIs barely more effective than a placebo pill. Still, the NHS bill (pdf) for prescribing them runs into hundreds of millions of pounds a year. It's a crazy situation, and the tide may be turning. The dubious tricks used by drug companies to make their products seem more effective are becoming widely known (thanks in part to vocal critics from inside medicine, such as this paper's Ben Goldacre), while the government is beginning to invest in proven non-drug alternatives, such as psychotherapy. Research into the biological bases of mental ill-health is floundering – a study just released casts serious doubt on the existence of a previously heralded "depression risk gene". Meanwhile, there is a growing evidence base for simple, socially based steps everyone can take to improve their wellbeing. These include building good relationships, lifelong learning, being kind to others and exercise – not rocket science, but somehow we seem to have forgotten them. And this week, renowned clinical psychologist Richard Bentall publishes Doctoring The Mind: Why Psychiatric Treatments Fail. In meticulously referenced detail, Bentall documents the shocking failures of biological psychiatry and the drug-based mental health system it perpetuates, and calls for an evidence-based alternative that offers patients support, care and respect. The book effects a courageous, comprehensive demolition of the status quo, and offers a radical vision of a more humane future for services – it should be required reading for everyone with a hand in mental health policy. It won't be easy to make such radical changes in the way we approach wellbeing. It means giving up hope of medical "quick fixes", at least until they are as good as their makers claim, and turning instead towards methods that are far less financially profitable, and which require hard work on the part of professionals, patients, government and the rest of us. As well as an overhaul of services, it means tackling social fragmentation, greed-based economics and the stress created by a speedy, sensationalist culture. And it means starting a mature debate based on understanding rather than fear of the mind, promoting the ways we can look after our psychological as well as our physical health. That may sound like a tall order, but until we make a start, the queue of glum-looking folk at the chemist will just keep on getting longer. [rc] © Guardian News and Media Limited 2009

IRAQ: People celebrate in anticipation of the US handover

. BERLIN, Germany / Der Spiegel / June 30, 2009 An elderly Iraqi citizen blows the trumpet as people celebrate on the streets of Baghdad on June 29 in anticipation of the US handover. Festivities included a party in a Baghdad park with entertainment and fireworks. AP Photo Source: Der Spiegel

AUSTRALIA: Suit king Maurice Lubansky, 85, decides to hang up his tape

. MELBOURNE, Victoria / The Age / Executive Style / June 30, 2009 By Natalie Puchalski "If you didn't know what year you were born, you wouldn't know how old you are." So says 85-year-old Maurice Lubansky, head of Australia's largest manufacturer of men's apparel since 1946, and who first planned to retire 20 years ago. But after 63 years as the "well-suited" chief executive of Stafford Group, Mr Lubansky has finally decided to hang up the measuring tape. Every Prime Minister from Sir Robert Menzies to Kevin Rudd — except Paul Keating, who preferred Italian labels — has worn clothing by Stafford Group brand Anthony Squires. This was just one of Mr Lubansky's many "gratifying" achievements. Another was when he was appointed chairman of the International Fashion Council in 1976, and yet another in 1993, when Stafford became the first Australian clothing company to achieve the ISO9001 rating — the strictest level of quality accreditation in the world. But for a man who seems to thrive on having "new mountains to climb", Mr Lubansky said retiring as chief executive didn't mean he was going to "ease off now". Mr Lubansky will hand over the reigns to the eldest of his four children, Judy, and will remain on the board of the family-owned company. Two of Mr Lubansky's children, and their spouses, work for the Melbourne-based company, as well as Mr Lubansky's wife, Pearl. "She's my research officer … If it wasn't for me marrying her, she would've had a degree in engineering, which was quite unheard of for a girl in those days," he said. However, Mr Lubansky seems to be a man of many suits, with his sights already set on making "a new reputation for myself in a different world". "I feel I've got an opportunity to do a lot of things I couldn't do before," he said. "Law is a thing I'd be interested in. I don't believe we have a justice system in Australia — we have a legal system but it doesn't necessarily deliver justice. "So who knows, I might be able to get a few things changed, or certainly a lot more people thinking about it." [rc] Copyright © 2009. Fairfax Digital

USA: Michelle Pfeiffer: ageless beauty

. SYDNEY, NSW / The Sydney Morning Herald / June 30, 2009 Still stunning ... Michelle Pfeiffer eschews plastic surgery in favour of ageing gracefully. At 51, Michelle Pfeiffer is fit, fabulous and plastic-surgery free, writes Helen Barlow. When Michelle Pfeiffer purred the words to Makin' Whoopee while sprawled across a grand piano in 1989's The Fabulous Baker Boys, the scene went down in history as one of cinema's sexiest moments. "Oh it was the cinematography of Michael Ballhaus," Pfeiffer defers, initially citing the camera's dizzy circling as the reason. She then reconsiders. "I guess it is one of my finest moments. I know it took a lot of courage to get up on that piano and sing." Now 20 years later, Pfeiffer at 51 is still stunning. Today wearing tight blue jeans, a V-neck top and little jewellery or make-up, she is doing nothing to accentuate her beauty, but it startles nevertheless. She seems to be just pushing 40, though to her credit she has embraced passing a half-century. "If you think hitting 40 is liberating, wait till you turn 50," she muses. "You dread it for years, then it happens and it's no big deal." Outspoken against the wide use of plastic surgery she prefers to work out in the gym to keep fit. She radiates health. "You know I'm fit when I'm working and maybe not so fit when I'm not filming," she says, flashing a megawatt smile. "It's just the older you get the less you can eat. Isn't that horrible? I figure that by the time I'm 70 I will just be a breatharian. I won't have to eat anything to keep going the way I am. "I remember my grandmother used to survive on the craziest thing. She would literally have the same thing every day half a piece of toast with something on it and she was very, very lean, strong and very fit. I used to think, 'how could she eat so little?' " She pauses, lowering her voice in that haunting way only Pfeiffer can. "I know now." Strong genes or not, the three-time Oscar nominee (for Love Field, Baker Boys and Dangerous Liaisons), whose 1992 version of Catwoman (in Batman Returns) left Halle Berry with impossible shoes to fill in the recent incarnation, possesses a rare show-stopping presence especially when it comes to period dramas. She was unforgettable as Madame de Tourvel in Stephen Frears's classic Dangerous Liaisons, she was impressive as Countess Olenska in Martin Scorsese's The Age Of Innocence, and now she reunites with Frears (and writer Christopher Hampton) for Cheri, playing Lea de Lonval, an ageing courtesan during the belle epoque, a decadent moment in early 20th century French history. The story is based on a 1920 novel by Colette, who chronicles the risque mores of her time. The film opens on July 23. "I didn't know about this period at all and I was really surprised when I read how Colette describes the character," Pfeiffer notes. "You sort of have your ideas about what a high-class prostitute or courtesan is, and what I love about Colette's writing is that there was nothing undignified about Lea. "The story's really about her feelings and about a woman making a choice to sell sex. Everyone's going to have different feelings about that, but Lea really has a lot of integrity, is very smart and thinks about other people. I hadn't seen that character before." Pfeiffer's comfort with her age made her one of just a handful of contenders for the role, Hampton has said. "You needed an actor who was about 50, who was clearly very beautiful, and was sufficiently relaxed in herself to give herself to the story and not be made anxious by it," he told Canada's The Globe And Mail. "It's a tough subject for a woman turning 50 ... and Michelle had absolutely no provisos about being shot in a way that made her look as if she was ageing." As she had done so convincingly in 2007's I Could Never Be Your Woman with Paul Rudd, Pfeiffer is again paired with an even younger man in Cheri. Initially she is meant to just keep the wayward youngster in line, yet, as she lolls around on satin sheets with up-and-coming British actor Rupert Friend (Keira Knightley's beau off-screen) it seems impossible to imagine they're not meant for each other. "It's really up to the individuals," Pfeiffer says of having a successful relationship with a younger man. "I know a couple with a 20-year age difference and they couldn't be more suited. In fact he's probably more mature. Colette herself had a relationship with a younger man. I think it was actually her stepson. She also appeared naked on stage. She was really scandalous and broke taboos." Pfeiffer is hardly interested in being scandalous, let alone in seeking attention. She stays away from prying eyes as much as possible, having moved her family from Los Angeles five years ago to a ranch in northern California to escape the paparazzi. In her own way, though, she has defied conventions. After a failed marriage to actor and director Peter Horton in her twenties and relationships with Fisher Stevens and John Malkovich (whose marriage to Glenne Headly broke up as the result of their Dangerous Liaisons affair) she adopted a baby on her own at the age of 35. Incredibly she met her current husband, lawyer-turned-television-producer David E. Kelley, two months into the adoption process of her baby daughter, Claudia Rose. They married eight months later in November 1993, had their own son, John Henry, the following year, and couldn't be happier. Pfeiffer's essential attributes in a man, she says, are humour and intelligence. "My husband has both of those in spades. But you can find plenty of men with humour and intelligence and if they're not the right personality type; it's not going to work out. Obviously, there's also the question of character and that you have similar goals in life. Those things get my attention, but I'm not saying that they are the things that may make it last." Kelley, who after their marriage went on to create and write Ally McBeal, The Practice and Boston Legal, is one of mainstream television's most wry social observers. The couple has appeared together at the Golden Globes ceremony, with Kelley looking adoringly at his wife. Does he tell her she's a great actress? "I mean he's supportive, but you know, you know," she hesitates, as if to say "we're an old married couple". "He likes me in this movie. He's so busy, we're both busy, and by the end of the day the last thing we want to talk about is work. If I can get his attention for long enough I can harangue him for some advice or run something by him, and certainly I'd like to work with him one day, because he writes great stuff for women. But for the moment it's healthy to keep it separate. I haven't had a lot of good experiences mixing work with relationships, and I really cherish my marriage. That's the most important thing." Pfeiffer in fact spent four years away from the cameras at one stage to concentrate on her family. "For a while there it seemed like I was working a lot," she says of the period when she delivered one of her best performances in White Oleander. "I decided I wanted to see my kids at night. At a certain point it just hits you that you have a finite amount of time left with them. I really just wanted to slow down, but I never thought about quitting." [rc] Copyright © 2009. Fairfax Digital

USA: Never too old to tweet

. SINGAPORE / The Straits Times / Tech & Science / June 30, 2009 CELEBRITIES and hip adults aren't the only people flocking to Twitter, the social-networking site, says a Reuters report from New York. Even centenarians have learned to tweet. Three per cent of US centenarians questioned in a new survey said they use the service that allows users to send short text messages, or tweets, of up to 140 characters at least once a week to keep in touch with their friends and family. Another 10 per cent sent emails to stay connected, 12 per cent shared photos on the Internet and 4 per cent downloaded music from the web. Three per cent of US centenarians questioned in a new survey said they use the service that allows users to send short text messages. "These centenarians are really inspiring because they are starting to embrace newer trends and newer technologies," said Sherri Snelling, senior director at Evercare, one of the nation's largest care coordination programmes, which commissioned the survey. "We know that technology has definitely given us new avenues to stay connected to family and friends, and that is one of the key themes we see in terms of living longer," Mr Snelling said in an interview. "People that are living to 100 and beyond and staying alert and vital are staying socially connected." The link to new technology is multigenerational with the centenarians' grandchildren and great-grandchildren introducing them to the latest gadgets. The results of the survey of 100 centenarians challenge the stereotypes of aging and show that getting older does not have to be a barrier to keeping up with the newest trends. Click here Forget passing the day in a rocking chair. Fifty per cent of centenarians keep fit by walking or hiking, 8 percent prefer cycling and 3 per cent break into a jog or run. One percent said they have tried Nintendo's Wii Fit. More than a quarter said they chatted on a cell phone at least once a week. To keep their minds as agile as their bodies, 19 per cent played a musical instrument or turned to a musical video game for entertainment or a mental workout. Nearly 65 per cent would dine with comedian Bill Cosby if given the opportunity to invite a celebrity to dinner. If stranded on a desert island, 2 per cent said they would want an iPod with them. [rc] Copyright © 2008 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. Co.

JAPAN: Hard work, honesty, ability to adapt seen as fundament of success

. TOKYO, Japan / The Japan Times / Life in Japan / June 30, 2009 Decades of service: Moti restaurant president Satbhag "Paul" Warraich sits before the large wall mural in the Roppongi branch of his Moti restaurant. Hard work and honesty, Warraich believes, are the key elements of his success in Japan. SATOKO KAWSAKI PHOTOS WHO'S WHO Restaurant owner looks back on nearly three decades of life in Japan By Barbara Bayer, Staff Writer Satbhag "Paul" Warraich, president of the Moti chain, is, like his restaurants, somewhat of a Tokyo icon. A long-term veteran of Japan, Paul Warraich has spent nearly 30 years taking care of the restaurant chain his brother, Sunny, began in 1978 with the Moti Akasaka branch. The chain currently boasts four Tokyo branches and two in Yokohama, all serving Punjabi North Indian food. Warraich is in charge of all operations, including marketing, purchases, accounts, and policies on food and service. Warraich joined his brother in 1980 and, though he only officially took over as president some 20 years later, had largely overseen operations from the beginning. Satbhag "Paul" Warraich The 52-year-old father of three, who hails from New Delhi, admits that his early days in Japan were hard. "The cultural differences were enormous," he says, "the first difficulty I felt was the language barrier." Secondly, there was a huge culture gap, Warraich remembers. "The language and the culture were big shocks." At the time Warraich arrived in Japan, "India," he says, "was still quite behind and Japan was quite modern." Warraich does remember being impressed by the honesty and work ethic he encountered in Japan. He still is. "These are the things I tell people who come to Japan. You need to work hard, be honest, and be honest to yourself. You need to be decent to your coworkers and your bosses. If you do that you can be successful." Warraich also advises people "to learn the Japanese system." "If you don't change you will have to struggle more. You need to adjust to the environments of the Japanese." Warraich has seen a lot of change over his years here. The Japanese people themselves are different, he believes. He finds them much more open to change and others' ideas, much more so than when he first came to Japan. "Now the people coming from India aren't feeling such a big difference between Japan and India." Surprisingly, Warraich explains that despite the influx of foreigners into Japan, the number coming to restaurants has dropped. "Earlier, the working community was here. The restaurant had about 40 percent foreign customers as compared to 60 percent Japanese." Today, Warraich says, the percentage of foreign customers has dropped to 20 percent. In addition to the decrease in workers being sent to Japan, he also sees a change in the Japanese youth as contributing to an increase on the part of Japanese customers. "Japanese are more open to other cuisines and are being offered a far larger variety of foreign cuisines in Tokyo. When Moti started, Warraich says, the ethnic cuisine offering in Tokyo was "very limited." Unfortunately, he says, the large increase in Indian natives coming to Japan has not contributed to his business. "In Indian families, the custom is to eat at home, not out." Looking back over his 28 years in Japan, Warraich remembers the bubble years as a standout. "The bubble was the best experience one could have had in Japan," he says with fondness. "Everything was going so well, everything was looking easy. Everyone was enjoying himself. People were happy." "After the bubble, I saw a big change in people. During the bubble, everyone was spending money lavishly. They had confidence in themselves. They were never going to have a challenge in their lives or hard days. But, after the bubble burst they became scared, much like what is happening in the world right now." Getting through the hard times and being successful, he says, comes back to the basics. "One has to be positive but you can be positive only if you have good fundamentals, the fundamentals of your thinking," he says. "You have to have good vision. Positive thinking is needed too, but it must be coupled with experience. "You need to have experience and you need to base your vision on experience," he explains. "With personal philosophy, it's the same thing, if you're working hard and you're honest and your vision is good you can be successful. "There is always someone making money. When someone is making money, someone is losing money. It all depends where you focus." Warraich also says he feels risk is important but, personally, is not one to take great risks. Repeatedly, he stresses hard work as the key element of success. "When we see people such as entertainers, we see them when they're on top of the world, but no one sees how hard they work and how honest they are to themselves. "When they shine, everyone says, 'Look at them!' but when they are struggling nobody sees their struggles. I think the same applies in every field." Though Warraich has come to enjoy the restaurant business, he admits it was not always so. "Frankly speaking, I never had the dream of going into the restaurant business," he says. "I was in refrigeration and air conditioning. In the beginning, it was very different, but, gradually I started liking it. "It's good fun. You meet so many people and you can exchange views with so many and learn so much from the people who come to the restaurants. "You're also exposed to the international community. It's a very good business for human relations. It's hard, but I think it's good. I like it." The hardest part of the business? "It's very sensitive," Warraich says. "You can't just become friends with everyone. You have to read people, read their moods, watch and only strike up conversations if its feels comfortable. We learn from the customers. They will tell you what they want." [rc] (C) The Japan Times

JAPAN: Older, smaller population to impact Japan's choices

. TOKYO, Japan / The Japan Times / June 30, 2009 Today's edition of The Japan Times carries a review of Japan's security and defense policies, in the context of current situation in China, North Korea and United States. Published here is an extract of the report by By Brad Glossserman and Tomoko Tsunoda HONOLULU: Japan's demographic transformation: The country's population has started to decline and is projected to shrink nearly 30 percent by 2055. By then, Japan will have 89 million people, ranking it 18th among nations (it is No. 10 today). Blame a plunging fertility rate as the population lives longer. The portion of elderly people (age 65 and above) in Japan's population is 21.5 percent and is projected to reach 38.9 percent by 2050, making Japan the grayest nation in the world. These changes have profound implications for Japan's future. The number of working-age citizens is shrinking. This limits economic growth, cuts tax revenues, squeezes government budgets and reduces financial options: All will have a powerful impact on foreign and defense policy. A demographic transformation will also influence values and preferences, affecting priorities and transforming national goals. Make no mistake, Japan will continue to be wealthy, but rather than generating new capital, it will be living off that wealth. It's estimated that Japan's real gross domestic product could fall 20 percent over the next century compared to what it would be if population size remained the same. Household wealth will stop growing and enter an absolute decline over the next two decades. By 2024, household wealth will have returned to 1997 levels. It's hard to sustain economic competitiveness with a population in decline. Markets shrink and innovation is hampered. The cost of doing business rises and foreign investment is diverted to more dynamic markets. As GDP contracts, tax revenues and savings will diminish. Tokyo will face increasingly difficult choices about priorities and the provision of services [rc] Brad Glosserman (bradgpf@hawaii.rr.com) is executive director of Pacific Forum CSIS. Tomoko Tsunoda was a Vasey Fellow at Pacific Forum (tomoko.tsunoda@gmail.com). This article originally appeared in PacNet Newsletter and is drawn from their study, "The Guillotine: Japan's Demographic Transition and its Security Implications," available at www.pacforum.org (C) The Japan Times

INDIA: Mysore gets a day care centre for senior citizens

. MYSORE, Karnataka / The Times of India / June 29, 2009 India's oldest man Pandit Sudhakar Chaturvedi, 112, swears by Vedas and meditation. "I have seen four generations of my family and am a content man," he claimed recently. But not all senior citizens are as lucky as him. Deprived of love and care, all that they crave for is a decent living. Helping in realise their dream is the Dignity Mysore Satellite Centre, a day care centre for senior citizens, launched in the city on Sunday. A unit of the NGO Dignity Foundation, the centre works towards providing social support to the elderly. The foundation aims to provide them with opportunities for a productive living, help during medical emergency, financial aid, and companionship. The veteran citizens looked at it as a unit that would offer them the much needed moral support. Veeraswamy Krishna told The Times of India: "I am happy that such a unit is launched. The elderly are often sidelined by their own kith and kin. We need centres and senior citizen groups of legal advisors and doctors. We are often too lonely. Even government should come forward to notice us." Another senior citizen Sathyavathamma said, "such centres would be of great help. I live alone as my children have sidelined me. For people like me, such centres might prove to be of some help." The state chief minister's parliamentary secretary S A Ramadass observed that the elderly crave for love and affection. "They are our pride. We need to look after them and their needs. We should use their knowledge and experience. There are several knowledgeable engineers and government officials among the elderly living around us. People may age but their valuable personalities never change. Let us not neglect them," he added. [rc] Copyright © 2009 Bennett Coleman & Co. Ltd

USA: Managing Diabetes with a Phone Call

. SAN FRANCISCO, California / New America Media.org / June 29, 2009 A new tool that can be used in the home could make controlling diabetes, which disproportionately affects under-served and ethnically diverse populations, a lot easier, reports NAM health editor Viji Sundaram. By Viji Sundaram, Health Editor Luis de Jesus, a Spanish-speaking factory worker, says he enjoys a better quality of life now than when he was first diagnosed with diabetes 10 years ago, thanks to having better control over the disease. De Jesus enrolled in a program at San Francisco General Hospital’s (SFGH) Center for Vulnerable Population. The program is specifically tailored for “vulnerable” people like him with poor control of their diabetes and with low incomes. Although DeJesus works two jobs to support himself and his family, he has no health insurance. “I had zero knowledge about how to control or manage diabetes prior to my participation in the project,” the 54-year-old Jesus said through an interpreter. “[The program] was so practical.” Called Improving Diabetes Efforts Across Language and Literacy (IDEALL), the hospital's approach uses simple communication technology to help people manage their diabetes without having to make frequent hospital visits. The IDEALL project team developed an automated telephone support system (ATSM) for diabetes management. The system provides weekly calls in the patient’s native language--English, Spanish or Cantonese--regarding issues ranging from symptoms and taking prescribed medications, to diet, physical activity and self-monitoring of blood sugar. The calls also offer advice about psychological issues and referrals for preventive services. Depending on their automated responses during the call, the patient then receives automated health education messages and a “live” telephone call back from a bilingual nurse care manager. The IDEALL team found that the program could reduce diabetes-related health disparities in vulnerable populations. [rc] Click here to read further Copyright © Pacific News Service

MIDDLE EAST: Elderly Receiving Better Care

DOHA, Qatar / Inter Press Service / June 29, 2009

By N. Janardhan

In a region where indigenous human resources are scarce, the oil-rich Gulf countries are not only mindful of population growth, but are quickly learning to address the concerns of the elderly.

Ageing population has been cited as one of the major driving factors that has dramatically increased healthcare demand in the region.

Improvements in life expectancy mean more elderly people require care in the six countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). It is estimated that the population of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will double by 2025.

Saudi Arabia - the biggest and the most populous GCC country - is tipped to experience a seven-fold increase in the number of those over 65 years of age during the next 25 years.

According to the UAE Ministry of Health, the number of nationals over the age of 60 years is nearly 13 percent of the total indigenous population of about 850,000. Regional governments are developing various socio-economic measures related to ageing - treating it as a human rights issue and even urging redefinition of what constitutes old age. With life expectancy in the UAE rising to 81 years for women and 76 years for men, the UAE Ministry of Social Affairs has called for revising senility and old age categories to include only those over 80 years as opposed to 60. In a region bound by religion, culture and tradition, it is rare for families to resort to institutional care for the elderly. As a result, the governments have had to take into account the importance of retaining the family environment while devising population ageing policies.

About 29,000 elderly people receive good care and support from their families, society, and government in Qatar, Yusuf Al-Muftah, Director of the Qatar Foundation for Elderly Care, said. "Though the proportion of the elderly people compared to the population is low at present, Qatar’s efforts are targeted towards 2050, when 27 percent of the population would be over 60," he added. "Despite Qatar witnessing a social transformation to nuclear families, the tradition of family bonds continues to be very strong. As a result, only a negligible section of the elderly population is seeking shelter in the Foundation," Al-Muftah said.

Qatar’s emphasis on the elderly, according to Al-Muftah, has resulted in the government spending three times more on the healthcare of senior citizens compared to the youth. This includes a unique project announced in May to create exclusive meeting places for senior citizens modeled on the traditional Qatari 'majlis' (talking shops). "The idea behind the project is to provide them more avenues to meet each other and share their thoughts, while leading a secluded life," Al-Muftah said, explaining that this is part of "Qatar’s national strategy for the welfare and rehabilitation of the elderly population." Mobile health units, which include a nurse, physician and social worker provide health, social and psychological care to the elderly at their residences - this trend has become both popular and effective.

In the UAE, 11,000 elderly people receive social assistance and take advantage of the shelters and day clubs that have been established to ensure continuity in family ties. The first geriatric hospital opened in the UAE in May. Built at a cost of 6.5 million dollars, the state-of-the-art Obaid Allah Geriatric Hospital in Ras Al- Khaimah - one of the seven emirates that make up the UAE - can accommodate 126 patients and is equipped with an intensive care unit and recreation facilities.

Only those patients who need special care that cannot be offered at home - or do not receive adequate family care - find themselves in such hospitals or other medical facilities like the Abu Dhabi Rehabilitation Centre, which also provides psychological counselling to ensure a "holistic healing" process for elderly patients. In order to raise awareness regarding the needs of this segment of the population, the UAE hosted the Abu Dhabi International Ageing Conference last year to discuss mechanisms for providing better social and psychological services to the elderly. Underlining the need for special care for the less-fortunate elderly and encouraging inter-generational dialogue, the Health Authority of Abu Dhabi in the UAE’s capital has developed a student volunteer programme. This includes educating the community on health-related issues of the elderly and providing valuable services such as wheel-chair assistance, as well as office and administrative assistance. In another trend of the state-driven efforts, organisations like the Doha International Institute for Family Studies and Development - a member of the Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development - are becoming active.

Illustrative picture of elderly lady in hospital. © Zoriah/www.zoriah.com

In cooperation with U.N. agencies, governmental bodies, academic institutions and non-governmental organisations, the institute promotes family policies, initiatives and programmes at national, regional and international levels. It also helps develop a regional and international network of experts dealing with family issues, sponsors research projects, hosts workshops and disseminates information.

Qatar is working hard to "draft policies for the vulnerable sections of the society, especially elderly women, and encourages partnerships between state and civil society organisations to chalk out sustainable development programmes," said Noor Al-Malki of the Supreme Council of Family Affairs. With ageing being "a great challenge of the 21st century," Al-Malki feels that the state will become more active in fulfilling the responsibilities of protecting the elders in future. [rc]

Source: IPSNews.net

USA: Retirement - The Burdens of Old Age

. LONDON, England / The Economist.com / June 29, 2009 Retirement in rich countries is becoming unaffordable Click here for multimedia IN 1935, when America first introduced state pensions to relieve poverty in old age, the average life expectancy was 62. The official pension age was 65. That meant the cost of the pension system was very modest. These days people live a lot longer. America’s official pension age is now 66, but people on average retire at 64 and can then expect to draw their pension for 16 years. Over the next few decades things will get a lot worse because rich countries’ populations are ageing fast. At present, the developed countries on average have about four people of working age for every person over 65. But by 2050 this will have come down to only two workers for every pensioner. America will come off best, with a ratio of about two-and-a-half, because its population will remain relatively youthful. Britain will also do better than average, and France only slightly worse. But in Japan and Italy there will be only one-and-a-half workers for every pensioner. That will impose an unbearable burden. Pensions will have to become less generous, and most people will have to keep on working well beyond 65. [rc] Copyright © The Economist Newspaper Limited 2009.

USA: Great-grandmother donates 200th pint of blood

. BAKERSFIELD, California / CNN Radio / Living / June 29, 2009 Great-grandmother donates 200th pint of blood * Margaret Delfino, 90, began donating blood in 1954 in Bakersfield, California * Delfino was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2001, but has since recovered * Delfino: "It can mean the difference between life and death for some people" By Ninette Sosa, CNN Radio Margaret Delfino donated her 200th pint of blood last week, bringing her total to to more than 25 gallons. Delfino, a 90-year-old great-grandmother in Bakersfield, California, began giving blood in 1954. She donated regularly until 2001, when she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. After five years of treatment, her doctors declared her cancer-free and she then continued donating. Now she brings several family members with her when she donates at the Houchin Blood Bank in Bakersfield, hoping they'll donate, too. Delfino says only a small percentage of people in her area donate blood. "To think in Kern County that there are only 3 percent who give blood when there are so many who are able to donate," she said. Delfino wants to get the message out for more people to donate. "It can mean the difference between life and death for some people," she said. She said she believes that donating blood is one reason she may have survived her cancer. "Because I donated all that blood, and the doctors were changing my blood, is why I came through the cancer the way I did," she said. Delfino has plenty of family support, too, and she would like to see her family members follow in her footsteps. "She's just an inspiration to all of us," said Jennifer Parks, Delfino's granddaughter. "She's been a huge part of my children's lives, who are now 9, 8 and 5. My children know where her interest lies and that is in donating blood." Jennifer does not donate, but her sister Natalie does. "Natalie and my grandmother coordinate their days so they donate together," said Parks. "My grandmother drives herself to the blood bank, which is about six miles, and it's a date they have every eight weeks." All three of Delfino's children, two grand-children and four of eight great-grand-children live in Bakersfield. Delfino says it is the children who keep her motivated. The great-grandmother still lives in her own home on slightly more than an acre of property and enjoys gardening, planting flowers and time with family. [rc] CNN's Rick Vincent contributed to this report. © 2009 Cable News Network

USA: A doctor's office that puts patients at ease

. LOS ANGELES, California / The Los Angeles Times / June 29, 2009 IN PRACTICE A doctor's office that puts patients at ease By Francis V. Adams I played my violin today. It's an old but not a rare or expensive instrument that I keep in my office. I don't have to play it; my violin plays itself. Just the sight of the violin brings the music to my mind. Mrs. Goldstein heard it. She sat wide-eyed across my desk, her daughter at her side, glancing constantly at the surroundings. She was 101 and frail, but refused to allow any gray hair on her head to date her -- and she loved my office. She told me that she had seen a lot of doctors but had never seen an office "like this one." She had been sent to me by her geriatrician for an evaluation of shortness of breath. She stopped as she entered my consultation room and saw the violin resting against the wall, then asked if I played. I told her that I did not, but that I loved to listen, that just looking at the violin made me feel as if I were attending a concert of my favorite concerto. She told me that she loved classical music. "I'll try to imagine I am listening to Mozart," she said as the consultation began. In my office, I also have a mandolin, several pieces of American folk art and a number of prints on the walls. I keep bestselling books that I have read and enjoyed on my shelves, instead of the huge medical tomes you find in most doctors' offices. These things are there for a reason. The doctor's office is a stressful place. Patients often approach a medical appointment fearing the worst and believing that they have cancer or another terminal illness. This high level of stress preoccupies the individual so that information and instructions that are given are often not retained. If I can get my patients to relax, they will hear and learn more about their health. One time, a book editor with emphysema and lung cancer who had been sent to me by his internist had one eye on my bookshelf the whole time we talked. I had several works there by Philip Roth, one of my favorite authors, including "Everyman," which had just been released. In the middle of the interview, my patient stopped and asked me if I recommended the books I displayed. We spent the next few minutes talking about Roth and whether he would win the Nobel Prize. I had the sense, when we finished, that the editor now approved his physician's choice of consultant, and that he felt more relaxed about finding out more about his condition. After my interview with Mrs. Goldstein, I took her into my examination room and told her I was going to start by checking her blood pressure. She told me that her pressure would be high because she had "white coat syndrome." This form of anxiety reaction is quite common in physician offices, but Mrs. Goldstein's pressure was normal for her age. We speculated that the reduction in blood pressure from her usual doctor's office reading was due to relaxation brought on by the sight of the violin and her thoughts of Mozart's concerto. A number of my patients tell me that I always get a lower blood pressure reading than their other physicians. These stress relievers aren't just for patients: Physicians also experience stress. I needed to tell the book editor with lung cancer that his emphysema was so severe that it prevented him from undergoing surgery to remove the tumors and that it also made him a poor candidate for radiation or chemotherapy. There would be no treatment, in other words. He asked me how long he had to live. This is not an uncommon question in my office, and I tried to answer honestly. Each time I do, I worry that I will give incorrect information and falsely raise or lower hope. My patient seemed to accept what I told him calmly. Not long ago I came across his obituary and realized that my projection of the time he had left had been correct. As I read, I also learned that he had been the editor of a favorite book of mine, one that had provided me with enjoyment as well as an escape from the pressures of medicine. Back in my office, Mrs. Goldstein had spied photographs of my dogs and my family and asked me about them. I spent a few minutes telling her about the individuals in the photos -- my wife, stepchildren and my two playful Havanese -- before discussing her medical condition. Her shortness of breath turned out to be due to emphysema, essentially an aging process that had occurred within her lungs. I told her that I could not reverse the damage done but that I would prescribe a medication to relieve her symptoms. I asked her to let me know in a month if it was helpful. As she was leaving, she quickly glanced around the office and told me that she was happy that she had come. "This is very unusual," she said. "I don't want to leave." I walked her to the receptionist's desk and as I did, I am sure I heard my violin playing. [rc] Adams is a pulmonologist in New York City and the author of "The Asthma Sourcebook" and "Healing Through Empathy." Copyright 2009 Los Angeles Times

CHINA: Youth feel pressure of looking after aging parents

. BEIJING, China / China Daily / Life / June 29, 2009 By Tan Yingzi, China Daily Zhang Ying has decided to return to China from the United States next year, not because of the financial crisis, but to better care for his parents. The 30-year-old associate professor at the University of Texas-Austin has been away from home for eight years. But as an only child, he felt he had to fulfill his duty and look after his aging parents. "My father will turn 60 next year and I must be around when they need me," he said yesterday. I have to give up my career in the US and find a job in China." Zhang is one of millions of young Chinese people who feel pressured to take care of their parents. These young people were born into only-child families in the late 70s and early 80s under the national family planning policy and they now face the task of looking after two parents due to traditional filial piety as well as inadequate public services for aging people. A recent survey published by China Youth Daily found that nearly 70 percent of these young people feel incapable of taking good care of their parents because of pressures they face at work. The poll of 3,144 people born after the late 70s and early 80s found that 51.3 percent felt it was a big burden as an only child to care for two parents. The China National Committee on Aging found that in 2007, there were about 100 million people older than 65 - 8.1 percent of the population. Estimates show that the number of older Chinese will rise from 109.6 million last year to about 349 million by 2050. But the current pension system is poorly established and over 70 percent of the citizens are not covered, the Report on Strategy of Social Security System Reform in China found. There also is a lack of public services for the elderly. About 33 million elderly people are unable to care for themselves but there are only 40,000 social welfare institutes, with about 2.8 million beds, said Yang Tuan, researcher at the Center of Social Policy of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. What this all means is that it is falling to the younger generation to provide the financial support and physical and emotional care for their elders. But many young people work far away from their hometowns in big cities and do not have much spare money or time to look after their parents. "My son works in Fuzhou and he can only visit me once in a year," Liu Shifang, a retired worker in Chongqing, said yesterday. "He is facing huge financial burden to buy a flat there, so we do not expect him to give us money." On the contrary, the parents have been saving money for their son for years to help him settle down in the coastal city. The research also found that more than half planned to live with their parents to provide the best possible care. "I do feel the pressure to care for my parents in the future but I am not going to send them to a nursing home for elderly people," said Shu Wu, a 30-year-old director of business development in Beijing. More than 90 percent of nursing homes in the country are privately owned and some sociologists have said the government should encourage more private investment in nursing-home projects. "The government should give subsidies to the nursing homes according to the number of the elderly people and the service quality," said Du Peng, director of the Research Institute of Gerontics from Renmin University of China. [rc] Copyright 1995 - 2009 China Daily Information Co (CDIC).

USA: Few see themselves as 'old,' no matter what their age

. WASHINGTON DC / USA Today / Health & Behaviour / June 29, 2009 By Sharon Jayson, USA TODAY If you've been telling yourself you're not old yet, you fit right in. No matter what their chronological age, most people say that they aren't yet "old" — and that they feel younger than their birthday count, according to a new nationally representative survey of almost 3,000 adults by the Pew Research Center. The average age considered "old" by respondents was 68 — but there were real differences in perception driven by the respondents' own ages: • More than half of those under 30 say the average person becomes old before 60. • Middle-aged respondents say it's closer to 70. • Those ages 65 and older say "old" is not until 75. "What you find is the older people are, the more people push back the age that is old," says Russell Ward, a sociologist who focuses on aging at the University at Albany, State University of New York, and who was not involved in the survey. "It's more in your future. You're not there yet." Frederick Augustyn Jr. of Greenbelt, Md., who heads the Aging and Senior Culture area of the Popular Culture Association, says Baby Boomers fuel such resistance because they grew up as a youth culture and don't want to give in to old age. "Twenty years ago, you would never see advertisements for hair dye for men," he says. "Now, almost all sports programs geared to a large male audience are promoting hair dye to look young. Before, gray hair used to be no big deal." Even among those considered "seniors" under the law, say for Social Security or Medicare purposes, most in the survey say they don't feel old. Among respondents ages 65 to 74, just 21% say they feel old. And among those 75 and older, just 35% say they feel old. Overall, 60% of those age 65 and older say they feel younger than their age. Almost half of those age 50 and older say they feel at least 10 years younger than their chronological age; among ages 65 to 74, one-third say they feel 10 to 19 years younger than their age. Why the focus on age? "We are becoming an older society, as are most advanced societies around the world, and we are about to hit a big new wave of adults entering older age," says Paul Taylor, who directs Pew's Social and Demographic Trends project. The study notes that about 39 million Americans, or 13% of the U.S. population, are 65 and older — a figure that has tripled from 4% in 1900. In two years, the oldest of the nation's 76 million Baby Boomers will turn 65. And by 2050, according to Pew Research projections, about one in five Americans will be over 65, and about 5% will be ages 85 and older, up from 2% now. Expectations and realities about aging in the survey also differ. Among those age 65 and older, the perceived downsides of aging (such as memory loss, illness, inability to drive or an end to sexual activity) aren't experienced as much as younger people think they'll be. Also, the perceived benefits of growing older (more time with family, more leisure travel, having more time for hobbies or volunteer work) are less than either age group thought they would be. Experts say the recession has reduced the "fun" part of retirement. The landline and cellphone survey of 2,969 U.S. adults was completed in March and includes 1,305 people age 65 and older and 1,664 ages 18 to 64. Pew also asked what age people would like to live to, and the average response was 89. About 20% said they would like to live into their 90s, and 8% said they would want to live past 100. [rc] Copyright 2008 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.

USA: A tale of computer woe

. MONROE TOWNSHIP, New Jersey / Octogenarian / June 28, 2009 By Mort Reichek I've been cut off from the blogosphere ever since my computer crashed more than a week ago. The problem began when a pop-up message box appeared on my screen warning me that the computer was heavily infected by worms and viruses. The warning came not from my McAfee anti-virus program but from a source identified as "System Security," which provided specific names for each one of the attackers. This lent a sense of authenticity to the warning. To destroy the worms and viruses, I was instructed to double-click a tab on the screen. I obeyed the instruction. This brought up a message informing me that the attackers would be destroyed only if I paid what I thought was $29.95 for the service and that a new, presumably stronger anti-virus program would be installed. I was so frightened by the virus warning that I foolishly provided my credit card information. Instead of destroying the malware, my computer screen quickly displayed a barely readable message, allegedly from Windows, that my computer was now infected with genuine worms and viruses. The message could not be removed from the screen. Nor would the computer respond to any action on my part. The computer had crashed. My McAfee anti-virus protection program had been overwhelmed by a criminal intruder because of my foolish behavior. The "System Security" web page provided an 800-phone number to call for help. When I phoned, I heard several minutes of music and then a heavily-accented message that was unintelligible. I was obviously a sucker who had been taken in by one of those hoaxes that plague the Internet. I had never before had a computer crash on me. When my computer-savvy grandson, who had solved my computer problems in the past, was unable to cope with this one, I hired a local computer repair service to come to my home. After carefully examining my computer, the professional expert told me that there was only one way to revive the machine. My hard drive would have to be wiped out and my operating system and all my operating programs would have to be reinstalled. Of course, that would mean the destruction of all my individual computer files. I had never backed up my files, which is what intelligent computer-users are supposed to do. My policy has been to make hard paper copies of any really important computer files. Wiping out the hard drive would therefore not be too painful for me. I would lose only old e-mail records, a handful of photos and music files, and my bookmarks. Sadly, I told the expert to go ahead. So now I'm back in the blogosphere, cursing myself for stupidly reacting to the phony virus-warning pop-up. But now the story becomes bizarre. I have just received my monthly credit card statement showing that the only charge posted on the very day that my computer crashed was one for $129.95, plus a $3.89 "foreign transaction fee." The charge was not from a business known as "System Security," but from one identified on the statement as "MP3Stones." It is located in Baku, Azerbaijan. That's a former Soviet republic on the Caspian Sea. Their tentacles had snared me half-way around the world in New Jersey. I immediately phoned my credit card company's customer service office. After listening to my tale of woe, I was instructed to deduct the fraudulent charges from my payment. In checking their merchant files, the credit card representative told me that MP3Stones listed the nature of its business as selling "music." What they "sold" me was frustration, aggravation, and a valuable lesson summed up in the Latin expression: "caveat emptor"--buyer beware! [rc] Mort Reichek, 84, Former Washington correspondent and senior editor, Business Week; former Washington correspondent, Newhouse Newspapers; former associate editor, Forbes. Contributed to New York Times Magazine, New York Times Book Review, The New Republic, The New Leader, Columbia Journalism Review, Midstream, others. The retired journalist now lives in Monroe Township, New Jersey and writes a blog, Octogenarian. File Photo by Barbara P. Fernandez for The New York Times. Source: Octogenarian

INDIA: Call for an age-friendly national budget

. NEW DELHI, India / HelpAge India / June 28, 2009 HelpAge India has written to the Government asking for an Age Friendly budget for Seniors. It has stressed on three primary concerns: Pension/Income Security, Higher exemption limites for Income Tax and Heath Security. There are an estimated 90 million elderly in the country today and their needs require immediate attention, the NGO has contended. HelpAge wants the amount of social pension be uniform across all federal States. At present this depends upon the contribution of the state and varies from Rs. 200 to Rs.1,000 per month. Able bodied older persons should be given employment/livelihood opportunities under government schemes like rural employment guarantee scheme, and through formation of self help groups, and credit for small enterprises. The 70-year old Mrs. Sudershan Arora, President, Senior Citizens Welfare Association, Rajendra Nagar, has says that with increasing age, expenditure of a senior citizen on health increases and cash flow decreases. One has to dig into savings. Some concessions are therefore required in the income exempted from tax and a uniform pension is required for all. The term “Senior Citizen” needs to be redefined. The retirement age in public and private sectors ranges from 55 to 60. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the Railways consider persons aged 60 and above as senior citizens. The Senior Citizens Savings Scheme, 2004, includes, under the term ‘depositor’, a person aged 55 years (if s/he has taken voluntary retirement). For Income Tax purposes, HelpAge seeks the revision of definition of senior citizens as ‘a person aged 60 years and above’. Citizens over the age of 80 shoudl be totally exempted from tax obligations. Senior Citizens whose tax liability is nil should be exempted from filing tax returns. Currently the threshold limit of income tax for Senior Citizens is Rs.225,000 HelpAge has sought this to be increased to Rs.300,000 to adjust for inflation. HEALTH: Comprehensive health cover is not available for 90% of senior citizens. Health insurance schemes should be introduced that provide security cover for hospitalization and domiciliary (home) care, for medicines, consultation and pathological tests for general ailments. Most insurance companies tend to increase the cost of health insurance as a person ages. A minimum of Rs.500,000 insurance is required today to cover for any major illness / surgery. HelpAge hopes Government will keep the elderly in mind during the finalization of proposals for the upcoming budget. [rc] Based on press release from HelpAge India, New Delhi.

MALAYSIA: Taking a peek into the elderly shoppers' list

. KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia / The New Straits Times / June 28, 2009 RETIREES or elderly consumers spend more than RM500 a month just on food. This figure represents 39 per cent of their total monthly expenditure. This was followed by rent, fuel, electricity, food and beverages away from home, transport, communication, medical and health care. All these amounted to more than 80 per cent of their monthly expenditure, leaving little room for other purchases. These are the results of a survey conducted in 2005, led by Universiti Malaya Faculty of Business and Accountancy deputy dean Associate Professor Dr Ong Fon Sim, on the consumption behaviour of elderly people in Malaysia. The survey was funded by the Science, Technology and Innovation Ministry under the Intensification of Research in Priority Areas grants. Dr Ong Fon Sim says the present economic downturn is not likely to significantly change the spending patterns of the elderly "The survey's major objective was to test and compare differences in spending patterns among elderly consumers based on age, ethnicity, income and gender. "It also sought to examine the evaluative criteria used by this group when making purchase decisions," said Ong, who is also an Honorary Research Fellow in the Asia Pacific Institute of Aging Studies, Lingnan University in Hong Kong. She has also set up a Centre for Mature Consumer Studies-Malaysia -- which is affiliated to the Centre for Mature Consumer Studies in Georgia State University, Atlanta -- in UM's Faculty of Business and Accountancy. A total of 1,233 respondents from eight geographical regions in Peninsular Malaysia participated in the 2005 survey. They were divided into three age groups: 55-64 years, 65-74 years and those aged 75 years and above. Among the respondents, 57.6 per cent were male and 42.4 per cent female. The Malays made up 55.6 per cent, followed by the Chinese at 29.4 per cent, Indians (11.8 per cent) and other races (three per cent). The survey, conducted through door-to-door interviews, posed questions related to spending on 10 main categories of products or services -- food; beverages and tobacco; clothing and footwear; gross rent, fuel and power; furniture, furnishings and household equipment and operations; medical and health care expenses; transport and communication; recreation, entertainment, education and cultural services; food and beverages away from home; and, other miscellaneous goods and services. For each of the above items, respondents were asked to state their estimated monthly expenditure. The survey found that the average monthly expenditure on the 10 items was RM1,301.90. About 64 per cent had monthly household incomes of less than RM2,000, while 19 per cent had incomes of between RM2,000 and RM3,000, and 17 per cent reported incomes of more than RM3,000. The results showed the elderly spent a large proportion of income on food -- 39 per cent or RM507.74 per month. Rent, fuel and electricity made up 12.4 per cent, food and beverages away from home (11.4 per cent), transport and communication (10.3 per cent) and medical and health care ( 7.3 per cent). "The findings showed that the elderly, in general, considered product durability the most important factor in their purchase decisions," said Ong. "In addition, they were concerned about price, comfort and safety features. Design and brand were the least important factors." However, she said, the consumers in the 65-74 age group spent a significantly bigger portion of their monthly expenditure on beverages and tobacco compared with those in the 55-64 age group. She said those in the 55- 64 age group spent 6.8 per cent of their monthly expenditure on medical and health care. "This is significantly lower than those in the 65-74 age group who spend 8.3 per cent of their monthly expenditure on this. "On the other hand, those 75 years and above spent 7.8 per cent of their monthly expenditure on health care products." She said the younger age group of 55 to 64 years old placed more importance on quality, after-sales service and environmentally-friendly products compared with those aged 75 years and more. It was also found that male consumers spent significantly more on food and beverages away from home and less on medical care and health products compared with females. "The elderly males spend on average RM158.30 each month on food and beverages away from home, significantly higher than the female's RM134.60. "The other difference in spending patterns between the genders was their expenditure on medical care and health products, with men spending RM91 and women, RM104.20." Females, said Ong, also placed more importance on design, while males emphasised on quality, safety features and after-sales service. "Interestingly, those who just receive care exhibit a lower life satisfaction. "When they receive and don't give, they are not happy. Their life satisfaction and self-worth are low." She added that despite the economic downturn, it was unlikely that the monthly expenditure patterns of the elderly would alter significantly. "This is because the major portion of spending is on food. However, they may now spend lesser on food away from home." [rc] Copyright © 2007 NST

ITALY: Europe's oldest person dies at 113

. KARACHI, Pakistan / The News International / June 28, 2009 ROME, Italy (ANSA) The oldest person in Europe, Italian Lucia Lauria, died Sunday at the age of 113 in the village where she was born, news agency ANSA reported. Lauria passed away in Pietrapertosa, in the southern Basilicata region of Italy, aged 113, three months and 24 days. She returned several days ago to the village where she was born on March 4, 1896, and died early Sunday. Lauria is survived by two children, both aged over 80, one who used to spend part of the year with her and a second who has emigrated to the United States. She was considered the oldest living person in continental Europe. Frenchwoman Eugenie Blanchard is actually several weeks older than Lauria, but lives in Guadeloupe, an overseas department of France in the Caribbean. The crown of oldest living person in Europe now passes to an Englishwoman, 113-year-old Florrie Baldwin, who was born on March 31, 1896, according to a ranking compiled by the Gerontology Research Group. The oldest living person in the world is American Gertrude Baines, who is aged 115. [rc] Source: The News International

INDIA: Basu, Suchitra join hands with cops to help senior citizens

. KOLKATA, West Bengal / The Indian Express / June 28, 2009 Former Chief Minister Jyoti Basu and legendary actress Suchitra Sen became the first to fill up forms as part of a novel scheme introduced by the Kolkata Police and the Bengal Club to ensure the security of senior citizens in the city. Comrade Jyoti Basu, now 95. Photo: India TV. At the inauguration of an old age home named Pranam at 38/1 Beltala Road next to Ballygunge police station, city Police Chief Gautam Mohan Chakrabarti said according to estimates there are 81 lakh senior citizens in the city who are facing harassment by their relatives. Old time picture of the ever-reclusive Suchitra Sen, now 78. “From now on, senior citizens with grievances can call the helpline 24190740 (Pranam) to avail of aid. The information will also be passed on to the police who will take necessary action,” said Chakrabarti. [rc] © 2009 The Indian Express Limited

UK: Rip it up and star again

. GLASGOW, Scotland / The Sunday Herald / Life / June 28, 2009 After the singer Edwyn Collins suffered two severe strokes, his partner Grace Maxwell had to rebuild both their lives By Teddy Jamieson IN THE DAYS IMMEDIATELY AFTER she found her partner Edwyn Collins lying on the floor of their north London home semi-conscious, unable to speak, his face lopsided, his body contorted, Grace Maxwell didn't get much sleep. But when she did, she would dream, and in those dreams the musician and former Orange Juice frontman wouldn't be sick. "He was back to normal," she recalls, sitting in the front room of that same house in Kilburn, four years after that evening in 2005. "You know when you've had a bad dream and you wake up and whoosh, it's just a dream," she says. "This was the reverse. I remember coming out of a sleep and having to accustom myself to what was happening. Every time you closed your eyes you had to open them again and reacquaint yourself with the horror of what was going on." Collins had suffered a brain haemorrhage. It was a Sunday and Antiques Roadshow was on the television. The following Friday he slipped into a coma and another bleed was discovered. Against the odds, he lived, but survival was not without its costs. The two haemorrhages had scoured a path through his brain, destroying connective tissue like a river in flood washing away bridges. Communication to the right side of his body was gone, leaving him completely dependent on others for all physical functions. He was diagnosed with aphasia, a condition that left him bereft of words, bereft even of memories. In those days, Maxwell faced the loss of her partner and the father of her teenage son, Will. That was then. Today Grace Maxwell is bustling around, making tea, asking Will to turn his music down so she can hear herself think. He looks the spit of his father way back when."I've got to watch I don't project the young Edwyn on to him too much and go, Oh that's so like your dad'." ....... These days Grace Maxwell is allowing herself to dream again. She has a plan - a vague plan for a woollen future. She wants to move out of London, up to the north of Scotland and Helmsdale where the couple have a house now. "Edwyn loves London," she says. "He thinks his work is in London. My theory is if I can shift the work to the north of Scotland then we can both get what we want, which for me is some sheep. There it is. Some sheep." Just over a year after Collins's first stroke Grant McLennan, singer of the Australian band The Go-Betweens, died of a heart attack at his home in Brisbane. He had once shared a record label with Collins. They even shared a flat in London at one point. His death was a huge shock to Collins, says Maxwell. "He kept returning to thinking about Grant and the randomness, the arbitrariness of it. He goes: Grant died and I got to live, so when you're here you need to love your life and enjoy it' and that's what he's doing. Packing it in. Cramming it with stuff." She knows what he means. Of course she does. This is her story as well as his. "When you come out the other end you want to make plans because there's no point being here and not being happy," she says. "Choose happiness." [rc] Abridged version. View complete SUNDAY HERALD report ========================================= What is aphasia? Aphasia is a total or partial loss of the ability to speak correctly or to understand or comprehend what is being said. It may be caused by brain injury or disease. It's most often caused by a stroke that injures the brain's language center, located on the left side of the brain in most people. Some people with aphasia recover quickly and completely after a stroke. Others may have permanent speech and language problems. Source: americanheart.com ========================================= Falling And Laughing: The Restoration Of Edwyn Collins Published by Ebury, £16.99. Grace Maxwell and Edwyn Collins are supporters of Connect, a charity for people living with aphasia. Related Links www.ukconnect.org ©2009 newsquest (sunday herald) limited. ========================================= THE GUARDIAN, London, July 4, 2007: Back where he belongs ... Edwyn Collins with his Rickenbacker guitar. The miraculous return of Edwyn Collins: Since 2005, Edwyn Collins, who turns 50 in July 2009, has endured two brain haemorrhages and a bout of MRSA. =========================================

JAPAN: In their final days, lonely elderly find solace in cheap, unregistered homes

TOKYO, Japan /
The Asahi Shimbun / Society / Lifestyle / June 27, 2009
By Kiyoko Miichi,
The Asahi Shimbun

After a solitary life that unraveled in cheap, dingy lodgings, an 81-year-old man finally found sanctuary and peace of mind at a residence in Tokyo. His new "home" is Furusato Hotel Sanko in Taito Ward, run by a nonprofit organization that assigns two to three workers around the clock to watch over dozens of mostly elderly residents, all of whom live on welfare.
Elderly care in Japan: Photograph used here only for illustration of elderly care in Japan. Courtesy JAPAN TODAY/REUTERS/Issei Kato

Like his new neighbors, the man uses his benefits to pay a monthly rent of 69,800 yen, and 70,000 yen for meals and utilities. He was divorced at age 45, then lost a job through illness five years ago and was forced to shift between uncomfortable, low-rent accommodations until he moved into Sanko last year. He says he can no longer return to his hometown. "I live in a private room and get three meals a day. I feel safe because a staffer comes as soon as I call," the man said. But his sense of security is not shared by many like him, who have little money and no relatives to help them in the twilight years of their life. A fire at the Tamayura home for poor, elderly people in Shibukawa, Gunma Prefecture, highlighted the tribulations these people endure, and the lack of administrative support they receive. Of the 10 residents killed in the March 19 fire, six were receiving livelihood assistance from Tokyo's Sumida Ward. With no homes to accept them in Tokyo, ward officials sent them to Tamayura, which was not registered as a nursing home for the aged that must satisfy standards under the Welfare Law for the Aged. Repeated renovations had turned the buildings into a maze. It had no smoke alarms. Where central and local governments fail, more NPOs are coming in to provide much-needed help for solitary, elderly people who cannot afford to pay to live in fee-charging, privately run old people's homes. But their facilities and operations vary, as do their legal status. Even Sanko, where the 81-year-old man found solace, remains unregistered under welfare laws, despite the fact welfare officials often rely on it in their desperate search for facilities ready to accept old people on welfare. Welfare workers and volunteers say they have little choice. Where else can they turn when they need support for these frail members of the community? The operator at Sanko, an NPO called Furusato no kai, calls it a "home to support self-reliance." It says the facility is a temporary lodging where people can stay before moving on to a special nursing home for the elderly or some other facilities. But waiting lists are getting longer at such nursing homes, which are run by municipalities or welfare entities. Sanko was opened in 2005 in Sanya, a district known as a day laborers' town. Furusato no kai started as a group to help homeless people. Many of its residents have no relatives. A man in his 60s who moved into Sanko last year died from illness at a hospital this year. Two Sanko staffers were the only people to attend his cremation. The man had a younger sister, who was contacted when he was in critical condition. Her response was: "We have no grave. I'd rather welfare authorities took care of his funeral." The manager at Sanko, 44-year-old Noboru Tanabe, said that it was "very rare for relatives to attend the cremation of a deceased resident." He said the mortuary urn of one resident who had dementia bore the title "Mr. Unknown Name" because staff had been unable to ascertain his identity. Sanko can accommodate up to 78 people. Six out of 10 residents require nursing care or assistance with day-to-day activities. Most are introduced by welfare officials, as in the recent case of a 78-year-old man who had to be supervised at all times and often taken to hospital as a result of an injury he had suffered. Sanko worker Kenichi Shibayama, 27, welcomed the man, who walks with a stick. "Please take it easy; you can stay here as long as you want," he told him. Many initially worry they might be forced out at any time, Sanko workers said. Their anxiety stems from earlier poor treatment at profit-driven facilities that found ways to get rid of them when they began to need expensive nursing care. Besides Sanko, Furusato no kai operates eight similar homes in Sumida and Taito wards. Altogether, the NPO provides shelter for 200 people. About 100 more are on a waiting list. Still, Ken Takiwaki, 37, a director in charge of the group's lodging operations, often receives hopeful calls from case workers looking for help. "We can't find any room; isn't one available?" inquired a welfare official from a Tokyo ward in one such call recently. Takiwaki had to decline. "Case workers are often desperate," he said. "They insist they have nowhere else to turn if we say no. There's no recourse available." At the time, Takiwaki was on his way to visit an unregistered home in another prefecture where several elderly welfare recipients from another Tokyo ward had been placed. The purpose of the visit, by Takiwaki and others, including a ward official, was to see whether they need to be relocated to Sanko's facilities. In the wake of the Tamayura disaster, the ward was hopeful it could move some of its residents back to Tokyo. The home was on a mountain slope far from shops and other residences. "It's (like) an elderly dumping site ... ," said one of the visitors. Later, Takiwaki said: "Our main fear is that a home (like this) is isolated from society." "Even within Tokyo, we can support elderly people if regional services such as home visits by doctors and helpers are put to good use," he said. "But such services do not reach those who actually need them. I hope the central and Tokyo metropolitan governments will try to meet these needs." Formerly, hospitals accepted elderly people requiring nursing care, but that led to ballooning health care expenses. In 2000, the government introduced a long-term nursing-care insurance program aimed to shift treatment to home-based care. In 2006, it went further by reducing hospital "convalescent wards"--which had effectively been facilities for elderly patients requiring care. These and other steps to cut medical costs have deprived many frail elderly citizens of a place to stay when they begin to require nursing care. Sadao Shibasaki, who uses a wheelchair, was one such person. His rescue came from another Tokyo-based NPO. In April, Shibasaki, 74, went to see what would soon be his new "home," and was overjoyed at what he found. "It's nice and clean," said Shibasaki, who had spent years in lodgings for day laborers in Sanya. The welfare recipient depends on an oxygen cylinder to support his lungs, which have been weakened by a battle with tuberculosis. Opened by Home-visiting Station Cosmos in May, his new home, the Cosmos House Ohana in Taito Ward, accommodates 13 low-income elderly people like him. Residents started moving in on May 11. At least one worker is always on hand to help residents at the facility, which has an elevator to help frail residents access their rooms with minimal strain. A visiting nurse provides health checks, and helpers assist them when they use the barrier-free bath. The rent and other fees are the same as at Sanko, so residents can afford to pay them out of their welfare benefits. "It's too good for me," an apparently relieved Shibasaki said. "I feel I might receive a divine punishment (for having so much luck)." He was accepted by Ohana, which means "family" in Hawaiian, because he had been covered by the Cosmos nursing visit program. However, there is a limit to what one NPO can do. Ohana has a quake- and fire-proof structure and is equipped with smoke detectors and evacuation lights. Even so, it does not meet the standards to register as a fee-charging nursing home under the Welfare Law for the Aged. The NPO has registered the home with the Tokyo metropolitan government as a low-rent lodging under the Social Welfare Law instead. Many NPO facilities remain unregistered under welfare laws mainly due to the high costs involved in meeting building standards, fire safety and other laws. Tamayura was one such facility. According to Cosmos, Ohana is expected to chalk up a monthly loss of more than 500,000 yen from its operations, construction costs excluded. The NPO plans to make up for the loss with profits from its home nursing care programs. Mamiko Yamashita, a nurse who serves as Cosmos representative, says the NPO decided to build Ohana, costs notwithstanding, because it "wanted to do something" for an increasing number of elderly people with no support. "There are too few places where elderly people can live at ease while receiving welfare assistance," Yamashita says. "But making a fee-charging nursing home is too costly. It couldn't be done easily in an urban area with high land costs." Cosmos opened Ohana to help fill a gap left by administrative inaction. But it is now inundated with applications and inquiries from welfare officials of Tokyo municipalities.[rc] Related earlier report Copyright 2009 The Asahi Shimbun Company

JAPAN: IBM researcher Chieko Asakawa awarded prestigious Fellow title

. OSAKA, Japan / The Mainichi Daily News / June 27, 2009 "Fellow" is the name of IBM's highest technical honor, awarded for "sustained and distinguished technical achievements in engineering, programming and technology," according to their Web site. Chieko Asakawa was chosen for this honor on June 1, for her team's work in developing information technology systems to assist the elderly and the vision impaired -- despite being blind herself. IBM Japan researcher Chieko Asakawa. (Mainichi) "This research field is headed for limitless expansion. But when I joined the company more than 20 years ago, it felt like I was all alone," says Asakawa, holder of a University of Tokyo Department of Engineering PhD and known as "The Boss" among her team. Only a handful of the some 400,000 IBM employees worldwide are chosen each year for the title of IBM Fellow -- which comes with the promise of a salary on par with company executives -- and at present only 75 hold the honor. There have been a total of 218 recipients since the award's inception in 1963, and Asakawa is the fifth Japanese to hold the title -- following Nobel Prize for Physics holder Leo Esaki -- and the first Japanese woman. Asakawa, a native of Osaka Prefecture, lost her vision in an accident when she was 14 years old. The determined Asakawa studied English literature in university using Braille, gaining a keen sense of the importance of making academic materials available in Braille in the process. She was given a chance to help address this problem when she joined IBM in 1985, and was given work related to developing a Braille translation system. The popular rise of the Internet starting at the beginning of the 1990s proved to be a major turning point in her career, vastly expanding the limits of her research. "With the advent of the Internet, which allows for the gathering of so much information from all over the world, the disabled gained a close point of contact with society," says Asakawa, whose Internet-related research came to fruition in 1997 with the development of text-to-speech software. Asakawa went to the Fellows award ceremony in Armonk, New York, with her eldest daughter and enjoyed exchanging ideas with the eight other recipients. "After talking to the other Fellows from so many different disciplines, I wonder what new ideas I will have," muses Asakawa. "IT aimed at the visually impaired should also have applications for the learning disabled." [rc] Copyright 2009 The Maininichi Newspapers