ShAARP Session: Observations from AARP

all of the big talk for health reform, one of the major initiatives discussed has been the implementation of health IT. Now the claims are that health IT will allow health care to be more efficient, better organized and cheaper through the use of technology. This sounds like a great idea and it is one of the many concepts that will be getting funding through the stimulus package. Of course, this all begs the question, how will doctors use it? It will certainly take time for doctors to adjust from all-paper records to a completely digitized work environment. However the payoffs, now with government incentives, seem to make it a worthwhile endeavor.

In the midst of the terrible economic news, and the passage of the stimulus package, President Obama announced his budget proposal. One of the most noted aspects of this budget is the money allocated for reforms to the health care system. The President isn't the first to try and overhaul America's health care, but he is going about it in an interesting way. Rather than coming up with a whole plan and then trying to gain approval for it, he his budgeting money first, and then working out the details. The plan is to reserve the money for expanding and improving coverage, and then working with Congress to find a solution that will be able to gain the support needed for passage.

President Obama's biggest challenge may just be finding ways to pay for his budget, especially as the government is seeing decreasing revenues during this recession. It will be very interesting to see how the planned spending in this budget will match up with the economic realities we are all facing right now.

While this isn't necessarily good news, I'm sure glad it came out. According to a new study by the Yale School of Public Health, we find that feeding into negative age stereotypes - like the perception that all older people are weak - can have detrimental effects on your health. Via USA Today's blog, A Better Life:

More than 400 people, age 18 to 49, were surveyed on their age stereotypes. Thirty years later, 25% of those with more negative age stereotypes - such as the belief that the elderly are feeble or helpless - had suffered a heart problem or stroke, while only 13% of those with more positive age stereotypes experienced a heart problem or stroke. The study appears in the March issue of the journal Psychological Science.

Becca R. Levy, associate professor of epidemiology and psychology at Yale is the study's lead author. In earlier studies, Levy and colleagues found that negative ideas about age can increase stress and decrease the likelihood that the person will live healthfully, increasing the risk of poor cardiovascular health.

This isn't too surprising, but can serve as a useful reminder to avoid getting sucked into age-old (no pun intended) stereotypes that do nothing but harm mentally and physically.

The New York Times has an interesting article about a growing trend - while the general perception is that kids are taken care of, this isn't necessarily always the case. In other words, some school-age kids end up caring for their parents and grandparents.

I don't doubt this will grow even more as the economy suffers. Carol Levine, director of families and health care at United Hospital Fund, says, "Our society thinks of children as being taken care of; it doesn't think of children as taking care of anybody." She also discusses the consequences of children caregivers - on the one hand, caregiving makes help kids develop resonsibility, but others can grow angry and resentful as they sacrifice much of their youth to care for their loved one.

But let's not just recognize the emotional effects of caregiving, but also the ones being cared for. "It is embarrassing for grownups to admit they're so helpless that a child is caring for them," said Kim Shifren, a psychology professor at Towson University.

The good thing about this is that health care programs and organizations are beginning to recognize this issue and create programs to help these kids cope as well as offer them resources. Check out the whole piece for more info.

There is a certain perception common amongst Americans. For some reason older drivers are labeled negatively and viewed as less safe than drivers of other age groups. While there are some physical changes that can make driving a bit more difficult, the facts simply don't show that older drivers pose a greater danger than others.

Case in point, the AAA has gathered statistics showing that older drivers:

Kill fewer motorists and pedestrians than any other age group;
Have the lowest crash rate per driver;
Have the lowest rate of crashes involving alcohol;
Use seatbelts the most.

Just goes to show you that when it comes to older drivers, you can't rely on perceptions.

A new study from the Yale School of Public Health has some interesting ramifications. The study measured people's attitudes toward older folks. Thirty years later, the study went back and checked on the health of the people who they had spoken with earlier. The findings were pretty interesting: those participants who had lower opinions of older people or believed negative stereotypes were almost twice as likely to suffer heart troubles or a stroke as those respondents who exhibited more positive beliefs about older people. Really makes you think doesn't it?

We'd be remiss to not mention the Oscars for at least a moment, and what a show! The Oscars are still buzzing since the Sunday night festivities, with everyone going over the highlights and upsets that the awards ceremony brought to the table. Between Kate Winslet's father whistling to her during her acceptance speech for Best Actress, to Heath Ledger's family accepting his award for Best Supporting Actor, it was a night to remember.

Below is the awards' opening number with Hugh Jackman, who did a fantastic job as host this year.

What was your favorite Oscar moment?

When you were a kid in school, you probably had a teacher who extolled the value of writing your elected officials to let them know how you feel about important issues. I can remember writing a letter to the President when I was in elementary school. Getting that form letter in the mail was pretty exciting, even if the President never even saw the letter.

Mailing your thoughts to the President continues to be a popular choice for Americans facing serious issues and the White House gets thousands of letters everyday. What you might not have known is that President Obama reads ten letters from normal Americans each and every day. Moreover, he says that these letters help him see the real problems facing people in this country and have an impact on his policy decisions. The odds might not be good, but knowing there is a shot the President could read your letter is pretty cool.

AARP's CEO Bill Novelli reports to President Obama at the Fiscal Responsibility Summit on the road to sustainability through health care reform. See the clip below and tell us what you think...do you agree? Or disagree?

After signing the federal stimulus bill into law last week, the White House has convened a Fiscal Responsibility Summit. AARP's CEO Bill Novelli is attending to represent AARP's 40 million members. Here's what he had to say about today's importance:

I love this. Abigail Thomas has a thoughtful piece in AARP The Magazine on writing a memoir, saying, "To write a memoir, cultivate the habit of listening to yourself." Not only does she talk about her own personal journey towards and through memoir-writing, but gives us inspirational advice on how to tune into our inner writer, step by step. One snippet I like:

Writing is the way I ground myself, what keeps me sane. Writing is the way I try to make sense of my life, try to find meaning in accident, reasons why what happens happens--even though I know that why is a distraction, and meaning you have to cobble together yourself.

Sometimes just holding a pen in my hand and writing milk butter eggs sugar calms me. Truth is what I'm ultimately after--truth or clarity. I think truth's what we're all after, although I'd never have said such a thing when I was young. Writing memoir is a way to figure out who you used to be and how you got to be who you are.

She reminds us that a memoir isn't a journal of who you are, but how you got to where and who you are; in other words - the story behind it. After all, everyone has a story to tell.

Last week Congress and the President pushed the huge stimulus package into law. With all of that money, flying around it's important to know what's in it for you. A few highlights from the bill include a $400 payroll tax credit for those earning under $75,000, a $25 raise in unemployment checks, which you can now collect for a longer period of time. Also, if you collect Social Security, you're in line to receive a one time payment of $250 dollars and you won't even have to file any paperwork to get it. Federal programs such as Medicaid will also get a big financial boost. There's a lot in this stimulus package so it really pays (literally) to do your reading to make sure the government shows you the money.