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Your newsletter from Mystic Valley Elder Services
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March 2011
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Work with people in your community to improve health care access: Take advantage of our free training on Medicare/MassHealth beginning April 29 to make a difference!
Click to read more.
Legend Mickey Rooney testifies to Congress on his own experience of elder abuse: On March 2, Rooney admitted to years of financial and emotional abuse.
Read more.
Over 50% of men carry HPV: A recent study claims that over half the male population in the U.S., Mexico, and Brazil are infected with the human paploma virus (HPV). HPV leads to cervical cancer in women and anal and genital cancers, as well as head and neck cancers, in both sexes.
Click here to read more.
Grab a seat: There are still some seats left for our sixth annual theatre event, 42nd Street, at the Stoneham Theatre on May 21, 2011! Proceeds will support the MVES Gap Fund. Tickets range from $50 to $100.
BUY TICKETS NOW!
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MVES board member Dorothy Elizabeth Tucker continues to dance with a troupe in Cambridge.
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Living a legacy of independence and community
She was born in Winchester and grew up near the train tracks. On summer nights she could hop off the street cars at the top of Harvard Street and not miss a single second of the ball game, as each house on the street had their radio dials cranked all the way up. She would sneak over the fence with her uncle to sit and watch the trains speed past. And she spent a lot of time curled up in a chair in the kitchen, ears trained on every single word from the grown-ups.
But at Dorothy Elizabeth Tucker's house, it was more than idle gossip -- it was a labor movement.
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Last Wednesday, MVES held our 2011 Legislative Breakfast, where we talked to your lawmakers about what elder service agencies need to keep elders safe and secure. We put particular emphasis on the growing epidemic of elder abuse and the need for increased funding and programming to address the critical needs of elders suffering from abuse at the hands of family members or caregivers.
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Legislators gather to learn about elder abuse
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Trapped in the gap:
MVES Gap Fund says yes when government says no
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When 96-year-old Evelyn returned from a recent stint in rehab, she came home to an empty house, no caregiver, and steps that she couldn’t climb in order to get to the grocery store.
But her annual income was $30 over state eligibility guidelines, so Evelyn didn't qualify for any help. Even though her income was being eaten up by heating costs, home upkeep, and medication co-pays. Even though Evelyn had been suffering from chronic urinary tract infections because she couldn't bathe herself without help.
Evelyn is why the Gap Fund exists.
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Last month, the Wall Street Journal published a piece reminding folks about important tax exemptions available to elders' caregivers.
To be eligible for these tax breaks, you must provide more than half of a care recipient's financial support for the year, and the elder must be a relative or someone living with you for the last year. The elder also must be a U.S. citizen or legal resident of North America.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mves/sets/72157626147962111/
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Caregiver tax breaks can save you money
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Acclaimed film about local elders' private lives
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What would you do if you were old, disabled or ill - and the person feeding you put down the spoon and explained that you are going to hell unless you change your sexual orientation?
Read more about Gen Silent and the special screening on March 28 where cast and crew will be on hand to answer your questions.
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From the director
This month, I want to share with you an excerpt from a letter that was recently sent to our legislators, requesting increased funding to address elder abuse in the state.
Dear Speaker DeLeo and President Murray:
We are writing to you as Presidents of the Boards of Directors of the protective services agencies to enlist your support for a critical need affecting older people in Massachusetts.
Violence against the elderly can take many forms—all of them pernicious: physical abuse, mental abuse, financial exploitation, and self-neglect. Unfortunately, the trend on abuse reports against seniors is rising as fast as the elder population is growing in our state.
54 reports of elder abuse and neglect are filed in Massachusetts every day.
Studies suggest that for every one report of elder abuse filed—another 24 cases go unreported.
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Ending elder abuse
Question:
I don’t understand elder abuse. Are there really people who engage in physical violence against older people? That sounds pretty unthinkable to me. How can we stop it?
Answer:
Sadly, elder abuse is a widespread and varied problem. Many cases of elder abuse are cases of domestic violence between intimate partners or relatives (children/parent, grandchildren/grandparent, siblings). But elder abuse is not only about physical or sexual violence; it also refers to instances of neglect, self-neglect, emotional, verbal, and psychological abuse, and financial abuse or exploitation. With so many different types of abusive situations, there’s not going to be one clear answer about how to stop the abuse from occurring.
But we do know this: in many of the situations, elders tolerate the abuse or choose not to report the abuse because they are unaware that services exists that can help them.
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Mystic Valley Elder Services
300 Commercial St., #19
Malden, MA 02148
781-324-7705
Copyright © 2011 Mystic Valley Elder Services
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