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By Ana B. Ibarra, Photo: Martin do Nascimento/CalMatters, CalMatters, February 10, 2023 Norma Johnson cracks a faint smile as she adjusts her stylish cat-eye glasses. She’s at St. Mary’s Center’s cafeteria in West Oakland, where older adults in interim housing or living on the streets can drop by for a free meal. But Johnson’s mind is elsewhere. Her treasured red leather rocking chair, along with most of her belongings, sits in a storage unit. She’s afraid if she doesn’t pay her $500 balance...

Note: PACEs Connection is in dire financial straits. We are asking for support, from you, our 57,586 members, to help cover the loss of foundation funding that was promised and did not come through. Pay and hours have been cut for our staff—most of us will be laid off for the month of December. Another grant will pick up in January, but we will still be underfunded. Since sounding the alarm this summer, we’ve raised about $26,000 . Thankfully, about 25% of new donors are making monthly...

As a clinician, researcher and policy specialist devoted to the prevention and treatment of the ill effects of child abuse and neglect (CAN) I read “Recommendations for Population-Based Applications of the Adverse Childhood Experiences Study: Position Statement by the American College of Preventive Medicine” (Sherin KM, Stillerman A, Chandrasekar L, Went N, Niebuhr DW. Recommendations for Population-Based Applications of the Adverse Childhood Experiences Study: Position Statement by the...

A recent article in N ature: Aging reports research evidence about risk and protective factors for elder abuse in Canada. In the past year, 10% of older Canadians experienced some form of abuse, and those most vulnerable were experiencing cognitive, physical or mental health challenges, had experienced childhood maltreatment, were in shared living arrangements. Black adults were at greater risk of financial abuse. Having social support systems (e.g. including tangible support, affection,...

@IsaiahGarza/TikTok To read more of Annie Renneau's article, please click here. Isaiah Garza knows a thing or two about struggle. Having lived in poverty and been in and out of homelessness growing up, the Los Angeles-based designer, entrepreneur, philanthropist and public speaker hasn't traveled an easy road, but has always felt compelled to make life better for others and inspire future generations. Thanks to Rihanna being photographed wearing one of his jewelry designs on the cover of a...

By Judith Graham Millions of older adults are having trouble making ends meet, especially during these inflationary times. Yet many don’t realize help is available, and some notable programs that offer financial assistance are underused. A few examples: Nearly 14 million adults age 60 or older qualify for aid from the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (also known as food stamps) but haven’t signed up, according to recent estimates. Also, more than 3 million adults 65 or older...

When Bruce McEwen, a neuroendocrinologist, was 79 he published, an important paper summarizing the evidence that early childhood adversity, including extended poverty, contribute to the replication of poverty across generations.

An elders PACES interest group is very important. First because frail elders are often taken advantage of, even abused. Second because many people who had abusive trauma as children are not able to deal with it until they have the perspective of age. Third because some elderly diagnosed in the standard DSM way may not have mental illness or dementia, but be suffering the symptoms of child abuse trauma.

Providers in these trainings have frequently expressed familiarity with ACES but have not realized that childhood experiences could still be deeply impacting the behavioral health and substance use of older adults who may be seeking help for the first time in their elder years.

I am inviting my respondents to break their posts to shorter length single issue posts

I am interested in the people who are interested in this site. Could you give me information about yourself and about why you think an ELDERS site will be important.

Hello, I'm a retired Clinical Psychologist who will turn 80 this August. Not surprisingly, much of my work has centered on helping people create higher quality lives via developing more resilience & overall effectiveness in transcending previous traumas. In short, I'm interested in individuals & communities becoming as trauma-informed & resilience-informed as possible. Since elderly individuals often have experiences & hard-won wisdom to share, I am certainly glad to see an...