Alone and Invisible No More

How Grassroots Community Action and 21st Century Technologies Can Empower Elders to Stay in Their Homes and Lead Healthier, Happier Lives Allan S. Teel, MD
$17.95 US Paperback Original ISBN 9781603583794 6 x 9 216 pages Pub Date: July 2011

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Dr. Teel has written a serious, comprehensive book about the coming revolution over aging in America. There are a number of states that have put together pieces of the elder-care puzzle. This book pulls all these reforms together and helps us understand the underlying social movement against kicking seniors to the curb. Hopefully it will also serve as a call to real action, not just reform of bureaucracy! Howard Dean, former Vermont governor; author of Howard Deans Prescription for Real Healthcare Reform The current state of elder care in America is appalling, expensive, and unsustainable. It underserves the majority of elderly Americans and bankrupts all but the richest few while virtually ignoring this populations complex physical and mental needs. At a time when we should be celebrating the achievements and wisdom of the oldest citizens, we instead find ways to isolate them in dehumanizing nursing-home facilities. With tens of millions due to reach retirement age in the next two decades, time is running out. We must find a better way! In Alone and Invisible No More, physician Dr. Allan S. Teel, MD, describes a philosophy and a course of action that have turned aging in place into a viable alternative for dozens of elderly residents in Damariscotta, Maine. Teel lays out a plan to expand his approach to the millions of Americans nearing retirement age and how these techniques can be used to avert the financial and personal disaster approaching nationwide. He discusses the resourcesboth technological and professionalneeded to guide this transition and the community support that will be critical to its success. Taking this Maine Approach to the rest of the country could create a climate where Americans welcome rather than fear the approach of their golden years.

A must-read book for any community looking at its own aging population and pondering care for these older citizens. Dr. Teels pioneering stay-at-home approach shifts the focus from medicalized care to empowering older adults to serve as resources for one another. This approach creates the true foundation for health and well-being in ones later years. Teels project moves our dialogue about aging forward in one great leap. Dennis McCullough, MD, Associate Professor, Community and Family Medicine, Dartmouth Medical School, and author, My Mother, Your Mother: Embracing Slow Medicine

Allan S. Teel, MD is a family physician in Damariscotta, Maine. During his twenty-five-year medical career, he has worked with thousands of older patients in the hospital, at nursing homes, in assisted living homes, and in their own homes. Each one has left a lasting impression. Dr. Teels passion and commitment have driven him to speak out forcefully on the crisis facing our communities and our country. He puts human faces on our elders who are too often alone and invisible.

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The numbers behind the eldercare crisis and some Maine Approach solutions:
By 2020, 55 million Americans will be over age 65 and the fastest growing segment of the population is those over 85. More than 4 million Americans are over 85 now, and by 2030 that number will quintuple to 21 million. The entire annual health-care expenditures in the United States is $2.5 trillion, a staggering 16 percent of our gross domestic product. The cost to build enough nursing homes and assisted living facilities over the next two decades at todays prices is $1 trillion. The annual operating costs for these facilities will be about $500 billion. The national average for nursing-home care per year is $75,190, or $206 per day, and exceeds $100,000 in the Northeast US. # The average cost of the Maine Approach is $400/month. The enhanced Maine Approach with twenty-three hours a day remote monitoring and one hour a day of on-site personal care, costs about $1000 per month, or $12,000 yearbarely 15 percent of a nursing-home fee. The mortality rate of individuals moving into a skilled nursing facility is as much as 50 to 60 percent within the first twelve months. The mortality rate is even higher in the first six months.* With the right blend of high tech monitoring, coordinated volunteers, family, neighbors and only as much skilled medical care as necessary, the Maine Approach is helping senior citizens aged 80 to 104 to live happily at home. # http://in-lawsuite.com/elder-care-cost-comparison/ * http://www.lifecarefunding.com/whitepapers/LifeExpectancyCompression.aspx

Praise for Alone and Invisible No More

Alone and Invisible No More is a deeply human, delightfully funny, and fascinating account of how people have come together in community to create the Maine Approach. Nikitas Zervanos, MD, director emeritus, Family Practice Residency, Lancaster General Health Compassion and passion are two essentials in the medical care for older persons. Dr. Teels care for his patients has spurred him to forge an innovative and comprehensive approach to their care and has the promise of being a model for communities everywhere. Ted C. Fishman, author of Shock of Gray

Digital Press Kit: http://media.chelseagreen.com/alone-and-invisible-no-more/