Quote of the day:
It is our responsibilities, not ourselves, that we should take seriously. - Peter Ustinov
Karen Stevenson Brown is an accomplished student and advocate for the elderly. I thought I knew a great deal about the concerns and care of the elderly when I stumbled upon her web site and blogs....boy was I surprised.
Karen (she is not the lassie in the cartoon) was stamped out of good old midwestern soil.... the kind of soil where you knew your neighbors well, and in a time where family's cared for their parents and close relatives. The family was more than 'nuclear', it included the electrons, and all participated in sharing and supporting the family unit. Children were expected to contribute,
not only with chores, but for financial needs that in many cases parents could not meet.
Her historical notes outline how we got from there to here, and why our medical financial support system gradually spiralled out of control.
Anyone interested in how our modern day social welfare system(s) evolved and disintegrated needs to thoroughly review her website.
Some of the material is dated, but presents a source for current updates.
- 1776-1799
- 1800-1899
- 1900-1929
- 1930-1939
- 1940-1949
- 1950-1959
- 1960-1969
- Timeline
- Appendix
- Bibliography
One can extrapolate how depersonalized the actual financing of care for parents and elderly relatives has become in the United States.
Karen Stevenson Brown has travelled the country, holds several advanced degrees and has been involved in long term care for decades.
She has received many awards and media recognition from the likes of Forbes, Time magazine, and others which you can review by clicking on the above link.
for her unique focus on resources for the elderly, their family, caregivers, long term care administrators, and physicians.
In my humble opinion this is a must read website and reference for any physician who care for elderly or chronically disabled patients.
The Journal of Accountancy credits her with:
"....In 1995 (when the world wide web was still embryonic she started a Web site to create links to the few resources she could find to help her in her engagements. As more resources began creating their own sites, Brown made more connections, and now ?my site has a life of its own,? she said. Its original plain design has recently gone through a major face lift and organizational upgrade. And the site has become not only a powerful online research tool for clients, government agencies and the general public but also, inadvertently, a marketing tool for its creator. "My practice primarily has been providing services for health care providers. But they don't use the Web much, although consumers of health care for the elderly do; families of the elderly now consult me and my site, for example. So now I work with consumers who ask me, 'Where do I go to get help?'....."
Anyone in health care financial administration needs to read this, and contemplate that maybe the good old days were better.........