Jacqueline Marcell, Author of Elder Rage, May 19th, 5PM pst, on blogtalkradio.com/kindethics – “Strategies for Dealing with the Difficult Aging Parent.”

I will be interviewing Jacqueline Marcell, Author of Elder Rage, May 19th, 5PM pst, on blogtalkradio.com/kindethics – “Strategies for Dealing with the Difficult Aging Parent.”

It is my pleasure to introduce you to JACQUELINE MARCELL – (949) 975-1012

JACQUELINE MARCELL was so compelled by caring for her elderly parents, both with early Alzheimer’s not properly diagnosed for over a year, that once she figured everything out she gave up her stalled career as a television executive to become an advocate for eldercare awareness and reform. She is the devoted daughter in her best-selling book, Elder Rage (www.ElderRage.com) a Book-of-the-Month Club selection being considered for a film. Over 50 endorsements include: Hugh Downs, Regis Philbin, Johns Hopkins Memory Clinic, and the National Adult Day Services Association who honored her with their Media Award. She also received “Advocate of the Year” from the National Association of Women Business Owners at their Remarkable Women Awards.

Jacqueline is a sought-after international speaker who has spoken at hundreds of events including to the National Security Agency and Florida House of Representatives. She’s been interviewed on the TODAY SHOW and CNN, and was featured on the cover of the AARP BULLETIN. Jacqueline also hosts a radio show, Coping with Caregiving on wsRadio.com, where 7 years of her interviews with healthcare professionals are archived for free listening-on-demand: www.wsRadio.com/CopingWithCaregiving. She also writes columns for AgingCare.com (www.agingcare.com/Experts/1108/Caregiving) and ThridAge.com (www.thirdage.com/expert-voices/jacqueline-marcell), and as a breast cancer survivor, Jacqueline advocates that everyone, especially caregivers, closely monitor their own health. Her website is www.ElderRage.com.

JACQUELINE’S MISSIONS ARE TO: encourage long-term care planning; enlighten healthcare professionals how they can better help the families they work with; empower caregivers with solutions and hope, and to always put their own health first; encourage funding for Alzheimer’s research and heighten early diagnosis awareness; expose elder abuse and exploitation; advocate for funding for Adult Day Care Services; and to help improve eldercare laws.

KEY POINT: The importance of EARLY diagnosis and treatment of Alzheimer’s–and that there can still be a good life after a diagnosis of dementia, if it is properly balanced medically and behaviorally.

STARTLING ELDERCARE STATISTICS

• There are 78 million US Baby Boomers (those born 1946-1964) among 300 million. Every year, more than 50 million Americans provide care for a chronically ill, disabled or aged family member or friend.

• The average life expectancy at the turn of the last century was 47. With advances in medicine, in 2008, average life expectancy is 82.1 for males and 85 for women.

• By 2025, there will be over 62 million Americans over the age of 65–almost double in 25 years.

• The fastest growing segment of our population is the 85+ group–and half of them need some help with personal care.

• Over 5.1 million Americans have Alzheimer’s–more than double since 1980. 1 in 10 say they have a family member with Alzheimer’s, and 1 in 3 say they know someone with the disease.

• Alzheimer’s does not happen overnight. It begins to attack the brain 10 to 20 years before the first symptoms. A person will live an average of 8 and as many as 20 years from the onset of symptoms.

• Increasing age is the greatest risk factor for Alzheimer’s. 1 in 8 over age 65, and nearly half over the age of 85 are afflicted. Rare, inherited forms can even strike victims in their 30’s and 40’s.

• More than 7 out of 10 people with Alzheimer’s live at home, where their family and friends provide 75% of their care. The remaining 25% is paid-for care costing an average of $19,000 per year–which families pay mostly all out-of-pocket.

• By 2012, 75% of Americans age 65 and over will require long-term care–an estimated 43% to spend time in a nursing home. Half of all nursing home residents have Alzheimer’s or a related dementia.

• The annual cost of Alzheimer’s care in the U.S. is at least $100 BILLION. With 78 million Baby Boomers reaching their Golden Years soon, our health care system will be overcome, bankrupting Medicare and Medicaid.

• The estimated annual value of all types of informal caregiving is $257 BILLION.

• Medicare expenditures for people with Alzheimer’s are nearly 3 times higher than the average for all beneficiaries. Half of all Medicare beneficiaries with dementia also receive Medicaid because they have exhausted their own resources.

• Alzheimer’s Disease costs American business $61 BILLION a year–60% of that is the cost of the lost productivity and absenteeism of workers having to take time off to care for their sick loved ones.

• By delaying the onset of Alzheimer’s Disease in individuals for five years, we could save 50% in annual health care costs. Even a one-month delay in nursing home placement is estimated to be able to save $1 BILLION a year. Early diagnosis and treatment is the key.