Document 6508141

June 17, 2005;
lUcord Press
A-4
Commentary
How to care for
the caregivers?
The county's twin tragedies of the past two weeks — the murder-suicides of first Ruth and Robert Sessler of New Providence
and then Thomas and Carolyn Sweeney of Fanwood — have their
own unique, heartbreaking details. But there is an unmistakable
connection between the two incidents; In each case, the burden of
caring for an elderly, ailing spouse was apparently key in the decision to end a pair of lives.
In the first case, Robert Se.ssler's fall from the bleachers at a
local hockey game left him a quadriplegic and dramatically altered
the life he and his wife Ruth .shared. In the second, the deteriorating medical condition of Carolyn Sweeney, who suffered from diaIx'te.s, a hip replacement and numerous other ailments, has been
described as a key factor in her husband's action.
"He wns completely overwhelmed with many concerns. My
mother hud recently broken her hip and she has an incredibly long
history in and out of the hospital. They loved each other, and he didn't want her to suffer," the Sweeneys' daughter, Joanne Wolf, told
the Courier-News.
There is no cure-all that could have solved the physical and emotional hardships confronted by the Sweeneys and Sesslers. But the
cases underline a long-standing and growing problem: We must do
more to support people with chronic illnesses and their caregivers.
The need for long-term home care is driven by the nation's
changing demographics. More and more Americans are living long
lives despite chronic medical conditions, and many of those people,
either because of financial pressures or personal choice, will
remain in their homes rather than moving to an assisted living
facility. At the same time, social trends are weakening extended
family bonds and forcing the adult children of the elderly to devote
more time to work.
Union County is blessed with many church groups, clubs, support groups and volunteer organizations that do yeoman's work to
help elderly residents in need of physical or emotional support. In
addition, facilities such as Runnells Specialized Hospital in
Berkeley Heights and SAGE Eldercare in Summit offer valuable
respite programs for caregivers. And the county even boasts a
unique program in which tocal artists will perform in the home of
a caregiver.
All these efforts are vitally important — indeed, caregivers in
the immediate area are better supported than most. But they still
amount to a series of patches atop the hodge-podge mix that is our
long-term care system. And the burden still falls disproportionately on family carogivors, who are often elderly themselves. A 1998
report from the American Council of Life Insurance found that 57
percent of frail elders who live in the community rely solely on family and friends for care.
Of course, in addition to the physical and emotional burdens of
acting as caregiver, there are the financial costs. Respite care at
Runnells for example, is sometimes covered by Medicaid but is
most often paid for out-of-pocket. And though home health aides
art? notoriously poorly paid, the cost of help at home can be overwhelming to middle-class families. Among government programs,
Medicare's fee-for-service model is ill-suited to chronic care, and
Medicaid laces cutbacks (The Sweeneyn' Medicare coverage niaxed
out u i'ew wi-uka ago, Joanne Wolf told The Star-Li?dn«ri. AH the
Center for American Progress (CAP) writes in a report issued last
week, "The nation lacks a policy that ensures people of all ages
access to quality long-term care when they need it, without risk of
impoverishment."
This is a difficult problem, but it's within our jxiwer to change it.
'Judith Feder, the author of the CAP report, recommends a now
commitment of federal funding, which could be used to provide a
core program of universal public insurance, an extension of
Medicaid to provide a baseline of protection, or a more modest
broadening of Medicaid to pay for home- and community-based
can-.
And because this is, in ninny ways, a social problem, we also
need to find ways to allow adult children and extended family
members loofVer support t<i their loved ones. Improved family leave
and Ilex-time programs would be .\ good start. Better awareness tin
the part n|'everyone in the medical community to the issue is
iiu;Miriatil, too.
Mure ideas than these will be needed, of course. But it's ii discussion we need I" start having
The Record-Press is here for you
The I'ullmving information should help you get your
ideas and community news into Thv livcofd-I'rcss:
('all Kditor Gregory Marx at <7.'12) .'596-4219 with story
suggest urns, (|ursti»ns or rnmineuts For sports, call ('had
Mememvay itl (7M2> :19H-12(>2.
Our address 1'fx- Hrcnnl-Prcss, KOI Central Aviv, Clark,
N.J. 070BH.
Our fax number is \,1'.\2) f>74-2<>i;J.
Our e-mnil address is
Jrcss
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Hitiniit< II Krt'kcl
Codey's contract draws questions
Recruiting in schools should stop
Jr. Women raise $1,500 through sale
SEE
To T h e H e c o n l - P r e n s :
The Washington Scliiinl Show is the ntnin
fundraiser Inr the Waslimj'.lnu Schonl Kletitentary
Seltool in West field. A- tin producers of the liOOfi
show, we would like to I A I . - I I I I hcarllell thanks lo
illl tin 1 local Mi'Tcliiml •; lh.it phired an advertise
p l u s lull
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II s u c h ;i liii(;i'
Consider organic lawn treatments
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Phone 732 39IM219 *•» 732574-2613
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Advancing : 732-396 4404 a Claolfled: 1<800<47g*O1O2
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\ \ v| ( I U l ! O | i . : . ' , . I I1 1 r ] l | | l | f r i l l II / I ' I I I I 1 1
I f M i i i l i l i i l
t ' l l l l l l ' l
UiHltiiUrf
And on those late nights when
you came home exhausted,
I hunks lor taking the time to
help me with my homework.
success without the HIIpport of the Incnl inerclnintM
Thanks for lending me the
ami business owners,
keys to ihe car, and tliunkH fur
The producers of 1 be 20()<i nhow will he ,|en always offering tn give me a
Hchildjre, Anita Mushell. Katie V i r / i and Hnrbnni
ride if | needed it.
l i n g e r . The show \\i\» been selected nml is mire to
Tluinks for (riving me my
he aunt her superg production.
first sip nl1 beer, mid tliunkH for
CATHY HAWKIN8. GRACE CETLIN,
not ffttIiri(» loo mad when I
KATIE VIRZI and BARBARA BAGQER
I brew a party during your
W«atfl«ld
vncat ion
Thank ynii for piiHliiiiK me
urn! I hank you for being
(liilient Thank y<ni f o r g i v i n g
me iln freedom to innke my
own
deci.MioiiH, helping HIM
I'iMtiitinlelv. there a r e lots olfMHy ways l<> d<> I H I
Ibroiifili my mint iikcx mtil for
lee T r v oi>;iiiitc lawn cure
n edmbiitation ol e n \ i
iilwiiv:-: heuiK Itiori' when I
i'oiiiiM'litnll\' li'ii'lidlv Invvtl elite |H m t u e- n m l i i a t l l i a l
needed niK'tce
pinihicl'- w i t l i ' i u l niiniy wide eili't'lH
I l i r e ' i w h a l ynii r u n dn
Thimbu fin beilit; tbe pllltiC
I 'i«' I I t i n i l c h i h ^ iiuivver w i l d ;i Mlnirp hlinle t o i nt
mo ljumlv could IIIWM.V" count
Merchants supported school's show
The
School
mii^i
MTBBMI
Wi (nttmi M-Htitt.t lurk, y .
When I was a kid, and my
addiction to sports was just
beginning, I remember watching games with my family and
noting the way athletes celebrated on the sideline.
Player after player mugged
for the cameras by flashing the
"We're No, 1" sign and saying
hello to their mothers, which
was simple and enthusiastic
and far better than today's
practice of thanking agents
and auditioning for endorseLetters to the editor
ment deals. But I was always
bothered by the way they
never seemed to thank or
acknowledge their fathers.
And I remember saying that
because The Star-Ledger obtained documents relatTo The Record-Press:
Robert Codey, the brother of acting Gov. Richard ing to the transaction and inquired about the offi- when I became a pro athlete
Codey, will be retiring Sept. 1 from his deputy attor- cials' actions and then reported them. Acting Gov. and made a great play and had
ney general's post. He will collect a $98,000-a-year Codey, through a spokeswoman, said he hoped his the cameras in my face on the
pension that was boosted by an unusual arrange- brother's scheduled retirement would end the spate sidelines, I would be sure to
ment approved by the all-Democrat Union County of news articles that have appeared about the thank my dad and send a little
freeholder board, which is led by an appointed coun- arrangement.
love his way as well.
ty manager who is powerbroker State Senator
I find this comment to be in direct contrast to his
Somehow my athletic career
Raymond Lcsniak's iD-L'nionl nephew.
January State of the State address, at which Gov. never made it to the profesAlthough Codey. who's only 55, will collect an Codey, a Democrat who stepped in to replace dis- sional ranks, denying me the
additional $33,000 a year for life from the state pen- graced Democrat Governor James McGreevey, stated opportunity to live out that
sion under the arrangement, as well as automatic regarding the §25 billion underfunding of the pension promise. But I guess the
annual cost of living adjustments and .state-paid system, This is a problem we can no longer ignore". checks I receive for this colhealth insurance throughout his retirement,
As a society, this sort of political dealing, in the umn qualify me as a profesDemocrat-appointed Attorney General Peter many ugly ways it rears its head, is a problem we can sional writer, and since
Harvey's office defended the move as merely a tech- no longer ignore — therefore, remember to vote all Father's Day is approaching
nical maneuver that cost the state nothing since the Democrats out in November.
this weekend I'm going to take
raise was paid for by Union County.
TINA RENNA
this opportunity to say the
Cranford
The taxpayers know of this arrangement only
thanks the television cameras
never had a chance to capture.
Thank you, Dad, for teaching me how to ride a bike,
To The Record-Press:
legislation through which students can request shave, score a baseball game,
I am writing to voice my concern about mili- to keep their contact information private, but change a tire, parallel park,
tary recruiting in our public schools. While I rarely are students or parents informed of it. I break in a baseball mitt, tell nsupport the troop,-; and the rights of a volunteer encourage all students and parents to send a tat- good joke, ride a wave and
military, I do not support institutionalizing ter to their school's administrators asking them work a grill.
involuntary recruitment practices.
to keep their information private.
Thank you for teaching me
The No Child Left Behind Legislation autoA sample
form can be found at how to throw and how to
matically gives the military permission to pres- http://www.militaryfreezone.org/opt_out,
catch. Thanks for coming to my
sure public school districts into handing over
A happy and willing military is an effective games and for taking me to
their students' private information without any military, and we cannot have our young people
form of parental permission or notification. This duped or coerced into doing something that McDonald's after a tough loss.
Thanks for hanging a hoop on
is a blatant violation of privacy and it needs to threatens their very lives.
the garage, and thanks for
stop.
ROSEMARY TOPAR
fishing many wayward Wifflo
There is an opt-out provision written in the
Westfleld
balls out of the gutters. Thank
you for giving me my first set
of clubs and for showing me
how to hit a golf ball. And
thank you very much for buyTo Thi* Record-Press:
lishments.
ing me lessons.
The Scotch Plains Junior Woman's Club would
Additionally, a special thanks to the UPS
Thanks for waking me up
like to thank everyone who participated in the Store for copying the maps for free.
early
to go caddy, even when
town-wide garage sale.
We look forward to another successful year in
It was another successful year for the sale. 200n. If you are interested in learning more you wanted to catch a few
Mure than 100 homes participated, raising over about the Juniors, please feel free to call extra Zs on the weekend. And
$l.r>00 that will he (list rihuted ti> local charities. Danielle at <90Hi 2-lf>-2(599 or send an email to thanks for making sure I put a
few of those bucks in the bank.
We hope t hut all t hose who part icipnted had suc- Josephine at majwa|sh(«conicast.net.
cessful sales
Thank you for hustling
The Junior Woman's Club was organized in
Also, we would like lo thank I'ulmcr Video. 1947 In provide women with an opportunity to home from work in time for a
Nun/io's, Fiinwiind Ita^el. Kiiuwnod t^uiik Cheek socialize, make friends and make a difference in family dinner, and tbanks for
mid the Scotch I'lniiis mul Kaini' I libraries for our community,
working late on the nights you
a I low in;; us to distribute I he maps ;it I he ir estabScotch Plains Junior Woman's Club
had to reheat the leftovers.
Ilient i i i I be N||I
N.IN I'otilmtiing «>;»()()')
A Poiiti Jmsfiy Ailviinnii luc Nowspfipof
1'iihlMlir/M1 \(l\c rlNiiK
DearDad:
Thanks for
everything
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