Love is in the air – again. In my last post, I told you about a contest for love stories sponsored by Emeritus Senior Living. Now I found out about a Florida-based marketing & PR firm that is seeking submissions of senior love stories for a book. The Ehlers Group, a firm that specializes in marketing programs for senior housing communities, is kicking off its “365 Senior Love Stories” quest on Valentine’s Day.

“We are often inspired after meeting residents at our clients’ communities,” said Janis Ehlers. “They often have such rich histories. From their first meeting and courtship to when they married and their early lives, these are wonderful heartfelt stories that need to be written down.”

The idea for the book was sparked during a recent visit to The Carlisle, a retirement community in Naples, Fla. Residents Jim and Winnie Perrill shared the story of their second marriage with Ehlers, who thought the romantic couple’s life sounded like a Lifetime Television movie.

“They are so in love and happy,” said Ehlers. “Everyone enjoys hearing a great love story.”

Entries for 365 Senior Love Stories must be submitted by May 31, 2010. So you have three and a half months to interview mom and dad, or grandma and grandpa, and get it written (400 words is the limit and that’s really not much). What do you get for your effort? For the 365 chosen – the joy of seeing your work in a published book. In my opinion, whether your submission is chosen or not, you may find that the process of writing a small piece of your family’s history will be rewarding on its own.

Additional submission guidelines include:

1. At least one party must be at least 70 years at the time of submission;
2. Both parties be living when the submission is made;
3. The submission may be written by the couple, relatives or third-parties on their behalf;
4. Submissions must be no more than 400 words (include how the couple met, courtship, wedding ceremony, length of marriage, etc.);
5. Submissions must be typewritten and include the full names of the couple, address and telephone contact information for verification;
6. The published story will contain only first names and ages;
7. Submissions without telephone numbers cannot be considered;
8. Submissions may be rewritten, edited and shortened at the discretion of the book authors;
9. Book authors reserve the right to select the love stories for publication and will notify the submitters in advance of the selection;
10. If you would like to submit a photo(s), it could be a wedding photo, a picture of the couple when they met or a recent photo;

Pictures need to include the couples’ names and a photographer’s name if credit is required. Photographs altered in any fashion are not accepted. Pictures can not be returned.  Image requirements: JPEG file format and 300 dpi. Please provide pictures that avoid red-eye, busy backgrounds, etc. Image where the couple’s heads and eyes are on the same level are preferred.

To submit a Love Story, please email SeniorLoveStories@TheEhlersGroup.com. For more information, please call 954-726-9228 or visit 365SeniorLoveStories.blogspot.com.

Today is the first annual World Pneumonia Day. Nearly 100 health organizations worldwide have come together to call on governments to take action to address this deadly disease. This awareness campaign is focused on pneumonia in children; and rightly so since pneumonia kills more than two million kids worldwide every year, making it the leading killer of young children.

Let’s not forget, however, that the elderly are the second most-affected segment of our population when it comes to pneumonia. Community Acquired Pneumonia (CAP) causes about 500,000 hospitalizations in those older than 65 yearly in the US and is the 5th leading cause of death in people over 65.  Nursing Home Acquired Pneumonia (NHAP) is one of the most common causes of infection in chronic care facilities and is one of the most significant infection-related causes of mortality in such facilities.

The Centers for Disease Control reports that last year 60% of adults 65 and over received a pneumococcal vaccination, sometimes called PPV. The good news is that if you get the pneumonia shot at age 65 or older, you should be protected from the most common type of bacterial pneumonia for the rest of your life, and Medicare will pay for it. According to the CDC, seniors age 65 and older should consider getting vaccinated against pneumonia as well as the seasonal flu, because they are at risk for developing the two infections at the same time.

So if you have an elderly family member, particularly one living in a senior living facility, find out if they have  received a pneumonia vaccine. Some, such as my somewhat stubborn elderly father, may refuse to get the shot. But it is an important issue to raise with the individual and his or her doctor.

A few weeks ago, I posted a story about felons working in Florida nursing homes.  Thanks to that series of articles in the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Florida’s attorney general is getting involved.

Here’s the latest article from the Sun Sentinel’s Sally Kestin:

Florida’s attorney general has ordered a review of a state system that allows convicted felons to work in day care and nursing homes, after a Sun Sentinel investigative series.

In a letter to legislators this week, Bill McCollum said the series highlighted the “disastrous results” of Florida’s exemption process that has cleared more than 8,700 people with criminal pasts to work as caregivers of children, seniors and the disabled.

A Central Florida woman with a record for aggravated assault won an exemption from the state to work in a nursing home, where she stole $36,000 from patients, the newspaper reported.

“With her violent criminal background, she should have never been given the opportunity to work in a position of trust,” McCollum wrote. The Republican official directed his staff to review existing laws and policies and make recommendations before the Legislature convenes in March.

Legislators are already working on changes to state law to restrict who can receive an exemption and for what crimes. One proposed bill would ban people with records for violence and fraud from ever getting clearance to work as a caregiver.

The Legislature created exemptions two decades ago as a second chance for people with long-ago or minor offenses in their past.

But the Sun Sentinel’s “Trust Betrayed” series found the state also granted exemptions to career criminals and people convicted of rape, kidnapping and murder. A dozen registered sex offenders were cleared to work along with 200 people charged with harming children.

Research in Florida has found that as many as half of convicted felons commit more crimes within five years of their release, said Joe Jacquot, the attorney general’s chief of staff.

“The state shouldn’t give people the opportunity to do so,” he said.

Lawmakers have also pledged to fix other problems identified by the Sun Sentinel series. Caregivers would have to pass a nationwide background check before they could begin working with children, the elderly or disabled, under proposed legislation.

Now, many caregivers undergo a criminal history search in Florida only, and can be on the job several months before the results come back.

The reforms have the support of George Sheldon, secretary of Florida’s Department of Children & Families. Sheldon has written a four-page letter to lawmakers outlining his plan to tighten screening requirements and exemptions, and met with legislative leaders this week.

The newspaper series “really made a tremendous difference in people’s resolve to address these issues,” said state Sen. Nan Rich, D-Weston. “I think this is just going to be a no-brainer.”

Sally Kestin can be reached at skestin@SunSentinel.com or 954-356-4510.

There is a crisis looming in our ability to care for the elderly in this country. I’m not talking about the healthcare debate or the solvency of Medicare. I’m talking about a growing shortfall in the number of doctors trained to care for the special health problems of the elderly. These doctors are known as geriatricians. And with our nation’s senior population due to explode in the next few decades thanks to the  aging of the Baby Boomer generation, this could present a serious problem.

According to the American Geriatrics Society, there are currently 7,590 certified geriatricians in the US — one geriatrician for every 2,500 Americans 75 or older. Due to the projected increase in the number of older Americans, this ratio is expected to drop to one geriatrician for every 4,254 older Americans in 2030.

One reason geriatrics does not appeal to medical students: money. According to the AGS, the median salary for a geriatrician in private practice in 2006 was $161,888. This was $2,133 less than the average family physician’s salary, and $15,171 less than the average general internist’s. Geriatricians train at least one year longer than their primary care colleagues, and yet they are compensated at a lower level. In many parts of the U.S., Medicare payment rates for physicians are lower than commercial insurance rates. Medicare reimbursement is the major source of income for most geriatricians and, as a result, community-based geriatricians have lower incomes than most other physician specialists.

The University of New England has created a unique program to give its medical students first-hand experience in a nursing home. UNE’s college of Osteopathic Medicine operates the “Learning by Living” project, which places a medical student in a nursing home to live the life of an elder resident for two weeks, 24/7. The goal is to equip the students to become more effective physicians, and also to offer a fresh perspective to nursing home administrators.