Managing Senior Independence with AgeTech
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Managing Senior Independence with AgeTech

Aging, Healthy Aging

Managing Senior Independence with AgeTech

Before We Drove, We Walked In our Elder Care Law practice, our Care Coordinators frequently encounter families who need assistance managing senior independence, such as loved ones who should no longer drive. Whether because of a cognitive incapacity or physical incapacity, driving safely is not something their loved one can manage. 90% of seniors aged 70 or over believe losing the ability to drive means a loss of independence. Because of this, these discussions are often met with frustration, anger, and sadness. Also discussed frequently, but with seemingly less anger or frustration, is the loss of one's ability to walk. [...]

Jerold Rothkoff2024-03-08T11:27:37-05:00July 15, 2022|

Senior Resources: Social Work, Care Coordination, and Elder Law
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Senior Resources: Social Work, Care Coordination, and Elder Law

Aging, Healthy Aging

Senior Resources: Social Work, Care Coordination, and Elder Law

For families with aging loved ones, having the right mix of senior resources can make life care planning easier and more effective. Many people often question the role of a care coordinator in an elder law firm, but in our practice, including social work in long-term legal and elder care planning makes perfect sense. After all, Rothkoff Law Group is an elder care law firm. How many times have your peers encouraged you to see an elder law attorney for your loved one? Many of your peers may have found themselves in times of crisis in which they not only felt [...]

Rothkoff Law Group2024-03-08T11:32:07-05:00March 18, 2022|

2022 Consumer Electronics Show Features Elder Care Technology
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2022 Consumer Electronics Show Features Elder Care Technology

Aging, Caregiver, Healthy Aging

2022 Consumer Electronics Show Features Elder Care Technology

Big tech is lending its innovations to the care of seniors with new elder care technology. As I’ve written before, care costs (whether acute or long-term) continue increasing, as they have for years. As elder care advocates we deal with these growing costs daily and have seen this trend for years. However, another issue has risen over the past year or two: a dearth of caregivers. The number of CNAs, home health aides, and LPNs is dwindling for a variety of reasons: a growing need by aging adults, the pandemic, low pay, hard work, and reduced immigration. As a result, [...]

Bryan Adler2024-03-08T12:11:00-05:00January 13, 2022|

Preventing Falls: Tips on Caring for Aging Parents
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Preventing Falls: Tips on Caring for Aging Parents

Aging, Healthy Aging

Preventing Falls: Tips on Caring for Aging Parents

As our loved ones age, it's important to help in preventing falls in an effort to help save them from devastating effects on their health. There are steps you can take to lower the risk. It is always a good idea to have a conversation with your loved one’s doctor about what might be appropriate. Here are a few talking points for preventing falls to discuss with your loved one and/or their doctor. Start by asking your loved one’s doctor whether they are at high risk for falls. Ask your loved one’s doctor whether they are any steps you can [...]

Rothkoff Law Group2024-03-08T12:19:28-05:00August 19, 2021|

FDA Approves New Alzheimer’s Drug
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FDA Approves New Alzheimer’s Drug

Aging, Healthy Aging

FDA Approves New Alzheimer’s Drug

On June 7, 2021, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Aduhelm (aducanumab), a new Alzheimer’s drug for the treatment of the disease. Aduhelm was approved using the “accelerated approval pathway,” which can be used for a drug for a serious or life-threatening illness that provides a therapeutic advantage over existing treatment. According to the FDA, “accelerated approval can be based on the drug’s effect on a surrogate endpoint that is reasonably likely to predict a clinical benefit to patients, with a required post-approval trial to verify that the drug provides the expected clinical benefit.” Was the approval of [...]

Jerold Rothkoff2024-03-08T12:25:48-05:00July 1, 2021|

Aging with PRIDE: LGBT Aging and Advocacy
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Aging with PRIDE: LGBT Aging and Advocacy

Aging, Assisted Living, Healthy Aging

Aging with PRIDE: LGBT Aging and Advocacy

LGBT aging and advocacy can be an ongoing issue for seniors as they make new transitions in their lives. From medical care to social roadblocks in assisted living facilities, LGBT aging is an important topic for all, whether or not you find yourself a part of this community. As we all know, aging is not something we can avoid. There are ways we can slow the progression by which we age, such as by exercising and maintaining a healthy lifestyle, but eventually, we all get there. Working with seniors, I have seen 90-year-olds that look 60 and 60-year-olds that look [...]

Rothkoff Law Group2024-03-08T12:26:26-05:00June 17, 2021|

The Struggle for a National Agenda on Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementia

I am into my third decade of being an elder care law attorney. Early on in my career, I realized the shortcomings of a traditional elder law practice focused exclusively on financial issues. Our clients and families needed a multi-disciplinary approach to aging and chronic care issues, which focused on helping families navigate the health care system. This is the reason we now have five geriatric social workers in our elder care law firm. In 1989, Dr. Margaret Noel, a geriatrician, founded the Center for Older Adults at Thoms Rehabilitation Hospital in Asheville, North Carolina. Her center saw older adults [...]

Rothkoff Law Group2024-03-08T12:30:46-05:00April 6, 2021|

Helping Seniors Stay Connected During the Surge
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Helping Seniors Stay Connected During the Surge

Aging, Healthy Aging

Helping Seniors Stay Connected During the Surge

Let's look at what we can be helping seniors stay connected during the pandemic surge. I think I was more upset about my father having Thanksgiving alone than he. My small family is scattered across the states, and it was not safe for us to be together. While I worry about my dad living solo, he sees friends, can handle facetime without tech support, and is the master of the pithy text. Not all seniors are faring as well. Physical and mental limitations cause many of our nation’s seniors to live in isolation. The pandemic has only exacerbated the problem. [...]

Rothkoff Law Group2024-03-08T12:33:49-05:00December 1, 2020|

Is it Okay for Seniors to Have Elective Surgeries?
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Is it Okay for Seniors to Have Elective Surgeries?

Aging, Healthy Aging

Is it Okay for Seniors to Have Elective Surgeries?

Let's weigh the risks to seniors from elective surgeries during the pandemic. My 71-year old father lives in Maryland alone. I live in New Jersey and am his closest relative. (My brothers hightailed it to California years ago.) This past fall he had back surgery in Maryland. It was difficult to support him through the procedure and recovery from a distance, especially with two young children and a job. When he began discussing a long-overdue knee replacement, we decided he would have it done in New Jersey. The surgery was scheduled for March of this year. We were ready for [...]

Rothkoff Law Group2024-03-08T12:38:41-05:00July 14, 2020|

Life Lessons From Two Decades Advocating for Seniors
Life Lessons From Two Decades Advocating for Seniors

Aging, Around the Office, Estate Planning, Healthy Aging

Life Lessons From Two Decades Advocating for Seniors

On February 1, 2000, I began a journey to an unknown destination. On this day twenty years ago, I opened my elder care law office. If you were to tell me twenty years later we would expand to six offices in NJ and PA, employ thirty team members, including five attorneys and six geriatric social workers, establish groundbreaking elder care symposiums in NJ & PA, receive numerous awards and recognition for our firm’s advocacy for seniors, and teach other attorneys across the United States how to engage in legal advocacy for seniors, I would not have believed it. Last month, [...]

Rothkoff Law Group2024-03-08T12:41:08-05:00January 8, 2020|