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Show ft. - 10 CUPPER Friday, September 24, 1993 f&d Garden Center American families will still care for the nation's elderly No matter how the U.S. health care system is retooled by the Clinton administration, the burden of caring for most of the country's elderly will still rest squarely on the shoulders of American families, a University of Utah professor says. Instead of true continuum of care for all -- - the overriding health care the country could reform goal well find itself with a system in which nursing home care is available to the very rich or provided for the destitute; families will provide care for the rest, says Bountiful resident Dr. Amanda Smith Barusch, an associate professor in the Graduate School of Social Work at the U. Barusch has researched and written extensively about health care for the elderly. "A preference for family care was evident in President Clinton's initial health care proposal in which he said long-tercare benefits are 'to be phased in, beginning with home-base- d and community-base- d care,"' Barusch says. "As a country, we tend to see family care as offering a and humane approach (for the elderly) in sharp contrast to the expensive and sterile at best nursing home," she says. As a result, families may be asked, encouraged, even required by government to bear ever increasing burdens, she says, adding that pressures on the health care industry might further restrict access to nursing home care and prohibit expansion of government support services. A pilot study recently conducted at the U. reveals that there is often a heavy price paid by families caring for the elderly at home. Members of 42 families with 62 children were interviewed about living with a grandparent. All lived in households, and 32 lived with an elder with Alzheimer's Disease. The study showed that the psychological levy on children living with a grandparent suffering from Alzheimers included loss of parental attention, fear of aging, exposure to physical and or verbal abuse, loss of personal space, more behavioral problems and slightly higher risk of using alcohol. Barusch says one of several revealing results of the study was that all but a few of the caretaker parents, when asked to assess the effect on their children of having an Alzheimer's sufferer in the home, mentioned only that the children were not helpful enough in taking care of the grandparent. They did not mention any emotional cost to m cost-effecti- three-generati- the children. "The parents were so overwhelmed with taking care of the elderly that they lost focus on their own children," Barusch says. "That's just another indication of how monumental an effort is to M it Wattling Ffeuwt! Pansies Love Cool Weather They bloom Fall, Winter & Spring. Lots of colors and Varieties Available. Plant Pansies Now! Foffi ia PEawtiiuj! 6 wiim Spttiu) Flown Tulips Daffodils DR. AMANDA BARUSCH ' ' Crocus take care of an ailing elder." A key part of the reform, Barusch advises, is an attitude Hyacinth All adjustment regard nursing homes. "We have to get over this phobia about nursing homes," she says. "We fear them because they are only associated with dying or care of the very frail, and as a result we medicalize them, driving up the cost of care and further stigmatizing them." One alternative could be assisted living centers, homes where frail old people can live and be supported where help is not driven by medical needs, which is typical in nursing homes, she says. Some elders now living in nursing homes could be cared for in a less intensive setting, she says, noting that a Congressional Budget Office review estimate that 10 to 20 percent of those living in skilled nursing facilities are functionally able to live in the community. Frittilaria Allium Muscari Scilla Eranthus Anemone Galanthus Dutch Iris Available Now! But mandating family responsibility is not only impractical, it is inconsistent with Americans' movement "community-base- d may become mental-healt- of the Large Roots 1970s, long-ter- relieving the government of responsibility for vulnerable people." Sept. 17, 1993 was the anniversary of the signing of the United States Constitution. It is appropriate that as a people we give thanks and rededicate ourselves to the great principles that have formed the basis for our national strength and prosperity. Members of the Sego Lily Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution of Bountiful, Utah called upon Mayor Robert D. Linnell this week to sign this proclamation designating Sept. 17 to Sept. 23 as Constitution Week, urging all citizens to study this precious document to preserve our freedom and American way of life as given us by our Founding Fathers at such sacrifices. Those present for the signing of the proclamation were Kathryn Hess, chairman, Constitution Week; Christine Schultz; Jan Michel, regent; and Mayor Bob Linnell. & A Spiders and Other Pests Regular $7.98 Regular $8.98 $98 Pl $798 Pt. Spray around windows, doorways and foundations. Spray Now! V 3$1 000 Kills Hobo Morning Glory care for Constitution Week celebrated inJ3ountiful $4 99 Kills Clover, Dandelions 1 8 Colors $98 h a euphemism Iris 8 Varieties nt community Bearded Peony preference for keeping government out of their homes, Barusch says. In the long run there is no strong rationale for policies or programs that in appropriately encourage or require families to provide care, she says. "We need to create a system that recognizes that the family does not always emerge as the superior provider." Government support services are unlikely to be expanded in today's health care climate, she says. 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