A GUIDE FOR ELDERS

CONTENTS:

A Guide for Elders: Planning That Protects You and Your Assets

Acknowledgments
To the Reader by Lillian Glickman, Massachusetts Secretary of Elder Affairs
Chapter 1: Introduction
Chapter 2: Why Do I Need a Power of Attorney Document?
Chapter 3: Why Do I Need a Health Care Proxy Document?
Chapter 4: Why Do I Need a Will?
Chapter 5: When Should I Consider Going Into a Nursing Home? Are There Alternatives?
Chapter 6: What Should I Do Before Entering a Nursing Home? How Will My Nursing Home Care Be Paid For?
Chapter 7: What If I Need a Guardian or Conservator? (Or Must Serve as Another Person’s Guardian or Conservator?)
Chapter 8: What If I Get “Ripped Off” as a Consumer?
Chapter 9: What If I Am the Victim of a Crime?
Chapter 10: What If I Am, or Know, a Victim of Elder Abuse?
Chapter 11: Conclusion
The Gerontology Institute, University of Massachusetts Boston

For more information on the Gerontology Institute and its publications, write to Publications, Gerontology Institute, University of Massachusetts Boston, 100 Morrissey Blvd., Boston, MA 02125-3393; call (617) 287-7300; or email: gerontology@umb.edu. For a printed copy of this booklet, send a check for $5, which includes postage and handling, to the above address.

 

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

All of the chapters of this Guide were written by members of the College of Public and Community Service's Gerontological Social Policy advanced certificate class “How To Avoid Financial Exploitation of Elders” in the Fall of 1993. The reader should know that every attempt to update phone numbers and other pertinent information was made for this 1998 revision but it is possible that some information may change.

The authors were: Dorothy Anderson, Roberta Bruce, Benita Celata, Marie Desir, Edward Duncan, Dorothy Fitzgibbon, Murdella Humphreys, Mildred Goodwin, Valencia Lewis, Abbie M. Lynch, Claire McCarthy, Hugh McGowan, Marjorie O’Neill, and Jean Wheelwright.

Jill R. Norton, Gerontology Institute, who was also a member of the class, copyedited the Guide and assisted with its production.

John J. Ford, Esq., the course instructor, served as editor.

Thanks go to the reviewers: Rep. Carol Cleven, David Clarke, Carol Dietz, Elsie Frank, Al Norman, Donna Reulbach, Joel Semuels, and Emily Starr, as well as Scott A. Bass, formerly Director of the Gerontology Institute, and Ellen A. Bruce, now Associate Director of the Gerontology Institute.

TO THE READER A Guide for Elders: Planning That Protects You and Your Assets contains information that is important for all of the Commonwealth's older citizens. In 1993, the Guide was developed to assist elders in managing their personal and financial decisions. It is not a booklet about stocks and bonds. The “financial planning” section of the booklet contains practical advice for everyday life as one ages. The information discussed can prevent financial exploitation and other types of elder abuse. A Guide for Elders also serves as a reference book for older people who may need to seek professional help. It contains information as to the circumstances under which an individual might do best to seek counsel, and the names of state offices and agencies — including the Executive Office of Elder Affairs — that may be of help for certain kinds of problems. Since 1995, when it was first published, thousands of older people in Massachusetts have benefited from its good advice. (Phone numbers have been updated for this printing as have other pertinent facts.) I am sure that this fourth edition of the Guide will be welcome in many more homes. I encourage you to read it, keep it as a reference guide, and share it with your family and friends. Special recognition goes to John J. Ford, Esq., editor of the Guide, who first conceived of it as a project for students of the advanced certificate course in Gerontological Social Policy at the University of Massachusetts Boston. He taught the certificate course “How To Avoid Financial Exploitation of Elders,” and worked closely with class members to produce this valuable booklet. Many of these students were over 60 years old at the time they took the course and were particularly attuned to the course material. Some were already outspoken advocates for the rights of older people — and a number of them continue to be. We all hope that you will join them, once you read the Guide, in advocating for elders and promoting the booklet's basic message — that elders in Massachusetts can provide a measure of control over their later years by planning ahead, with family and friends and with us. Lillian Glickman Secretary Executive Office of Elder Affairs, Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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