TEACHING GERONTOLOGY May 12, 2003 H.R. Moody, Editor xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx In this issue: - Retirement: You're On Your Own - Is Medicaid Spend-down Immoral? - Curricula on Adult Development - Lesson Plans in Gerontology - Digital Disconnect - Incredible Shrinking Europe - End-of-Life Issues - How Many Old People Are Poor? - Trends in Population Aging - Database on World Aging xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx RETIREMENT: You're On Your Own About two-thirds of workers are employed by a company sponsoring a pension plan. But only 55% of those workers participate in a plan. There are 100 million Americans enrolled in private pension plans: 42 million in defined benefit programs and 58 million in defined contribution plans (1998 figures). Those in defined benefit programs have remained level, while growth has come mainly in defined contribution plans. For websites on the questions "Is Retirement Obsolete?" visit: http://www.pineforge.com/moody/retire.htm ----------------------<<< >>>------------------------ IS MEDICAID SPEND-DOWN IMMORAL? Did you ever get into a debate about whether it's right for wealthy people to deliberately "spend-down" their assets in order to qualify for Medicaid? This topic is sure to get the juices going among students. Americans commonly (and mistakenly) believe that Medicare pays for long-term care. In fact, Medicaid is by far the most significant government payment source: "The truth is that throughout the United States, elderly people who qualify medically for nursing home care, can qualify easily for Medicaid nursing home benefits--without spending down significantly--even when they have median income and assets. People with much higher income and assets can also qualify quickly with advice from a Medicaid estate planning attorney. These facts help to explain the public's perception that the government pays for long-term care." (Center for Long-Term Care) A recent study by the Health Insurance Association of America found that only 25 percent of people 55 and over believe that they or their family would be responsible for long-term care expenses. A recent "LTC Bullet" publication estimates that the proportion of nursing home costs paid by Medicaid has gone up 10 percent in the past 10 years, while the pro- portion paid out of pocket has gone down 10 percent. If you want to read a hard-hitting attack on divestment planning and other methods practiced by elderlaw attorneys, look at "The Myth of Unaffordability: How Most Americans Could, Should, and Would Buy Long-Term Care Insurance." The full text is available on the website for the Center for Long-term Care at: http://www.centerltc.org You can see links to both sides of the debate over financing long-term care at http://www.pineforge.com/moody/provide.htm ----------------------<<< >>>------------------------ CURRICULA ON ADULT DEVELOPMENT The American Psychological Association has assembled a collection of undergraduate and graduate syllabi submitted by faculty from around the country, now available at: http://aging.ufl.edu/apadiv20/syll.htm ----------------------<<< >>>------------------------ LESSON PLANS IN GERONTOLOGY Planning a course in gerontology? You can download free lesson plans from a website developed by the Ithaca College Gerontology Institute. Look at the website at: http://www.ithaca.edu/aging/guide/ ----------------------<<< >>>------------------------ DIGITAL DISCONNECT There's a widening gap between Internet-savvy students and their teachers. That disconnect is the focus of a major report from the Pew Project on "The Internet and American Life." Some key findings: it turns out that teachers, not students, are the primary stumbling block for improving use of online resources and tools for education. For those of us who've tried to use the web for gerontological education, this result may come as a surprise, but it calls attention to the need for faculty to use imagination in overcoming the digital disconnect. To read the full report, visit: http://www.pewinternet.org/reports/toc.asp?Report=67 ----------------------<<< >>>------------------------ INCREDIBLE SHRINKING EUROPE "Going, going... gone!" One of the consequences of population aging is that total population sometimes shrinks. According to recent United Nations estimates, by 2050 the median age in Japan and Italy will be over 50. Even taking account of immigration, Europe's population is expected to decline from 728 million today to 632 million in 2050. Italy-- the country that forgot to have children-- will shrink by a fifth and Estonia by half. The demographic pattern of Italy today already looks like Florida. ----------------------<<< >>>------------------------ END-OF-LIFE ISSUES "End of Life: Exploring Death in America." Developed in conjunction with a series produced by National Public Radio. This web site contains an extraordinary range of material about dying and death, including stories submitted by ordinary people about experiences with their own life-threatening illnesses as well as deaths of friends and family members. http://www.npr.org/programs/death/ ----------------------<<< >>>------------------------ HOW MANY OLD PEOPLE ARE POOR? Good question. The fact is that the poverty rate among older Americans has gone down over the past generation. But it's still high among sub-groups. For the full picture, look at "Poverty Rates by Age (1959 – 1996)" available at: http://www.census.gov/hhes/poverty/poverty96/povage96.html ----------------------<<< >>>------------------------ TRENDS IN POPULATION AGING For a good (and brief!) discussion of the demographic transition and epidemiologic transition related to global trends in population aging, see the report from the CDC available at: http://aarp.post.intellimedia.com/UM/T.asp?A910.36450.1282.4.320322 ----------------------<<< >>>------------------------ DATABASE ON WORLD AGING AARP has launched a searchable online database, "AgeSource Worldwide," including libraries, clearinghouses, directories, statistical resources, bibliographies, and Web metasites dealing with aging. The database includes more than 200 information resources from 24 countries. For details, visit: http://aarp.post.intellimedia.com/UM/T.asp?A910.36450.1345.6.320322 ----------------------<<< >>>------------------------ 4th EDITION OF TEXTBOOK AVAILABLE The 4th edition of AGING: CONCEPTS and CONTROVERSIES (Pine Forge Press, Sage Publications, 2002) is now available. The book presents gerontology through "great debates" around topics like assisted suicide, privatizing Social Security, extension of the human lifespan, and the search for meaning in later life. Details about the new, fourth edition are available at http://www.sagepub.com/book.aspx?pid=7893 Copies of AGING: CONCEPTS and CONTROVERSIES are available at no charge for college faculty to consider for course adoption. An Instructor's Manual is also available at no charge with pedagogical methods, questions for class discussion, sample tests, and other resources for teaching from the book. For questions about how to get a review copy or the Instructor's Manual, call Sage Publications for Customer Care at 1-800-818-7243 (805-499-9774 outside the U.S.) or e- mail textbooks@sagepub.com xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx This electronic newsletter, edited by Harry (Rick) Moody, is published by the Institute for Human Values in Aging in cooperation with Pine Forge Press (Sage Publications). TEACHING GERONTOLOGY contains items of interest to improve the teaching of aging. To submit items or request subscription changes, contact teachgero@yahoo.com Back issues of the newsletter are available at: http://www.hrmoody.com (c) Copyright 2003; all rights reserved. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx