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Health
The number one killer of teenagers is on the loose:
drunk driving. ‘But my teenager doesn’t drink,” you
say. This is what most parents would like to think. But
more teenagers are drinking than ever before and
they’re starting at younger ages.
Teens drink for many of the same reasons adults do.
They drink to take their minds off problems at school
and home, for entertainment and to relax in social
situations. Others drink to rebel against parents or to
feel “adult.” Of course the peer pressure to drink is
also greater than ever before.
What can a concerned parent do? Talking to your
teenagers honestly and openly is a good beginning.
Also take an honest look at your own drinking
behavior and explore your own feelings. The example
you set, good or bad, can make a great impression on
your teenager.
Become familiar with the facts. You and your
family members can learn more about drinking and
driving by reading available literature. But also
remember, reading literature is not a substitute for
talking with your teens.
If you're like many parents, your first tendency may
be to lecture, preach or use scare tactics to discourage
your child from drinking and driving. A better
approach is to share your feelings and concerns and
then be willing to listen to theirs.
You might want to make an agreement with your
child that has worked for many other parents. If your
teenager is away from home and has been drinking
too much, allow him or her to call you for a ride home,
at any time, NO QUESTIONS ASKED. Also, talk about
how to help a friend who is drunk and insists on
driving.
Don’t forget to include in your discussion the
obvious: you can always make the choice not to drink.
Openly talk about your experiences and your child's
experiences around drinking situations.
Your child should also be aware that persons who
drink are still responsible for their own actions. Drunk
drivers are not only risking their own lives, they can
cause accidents that injure and kill others.
Finally, both you and your child should become
familiar with Pennsylvania’s new drunk driving laws.
A teenager under age 18 can be arrested and lose his
or her drivers license for a year or more if convicted
of drunk driving. In addition, she or he can be placed
in a juvenile facility for up to two years, acquiring a
juvenile record that could hinder future employment
and career opportunities.
The teenager arrested for drunk driving is also
subject to the same $5,000 fine plus court costs as
adults. Parents who knowingly allow their children to
drive while drunk can receive the same penalties as
the teenager.
For good health, don’t mix drinking and driving.
The attention devoted to public
education on child abuse and
neglect in recent years has been
phenomenal. It has been long over-
due and contributed greatly to ame-
liorating a social problem of major
proportions. But there is another
form of abuse and neglect that has
received little attention and yet
represents an imminent danger to
large numbers of our population.
An estimated one million elderly
Americans, or one out of every 25,
is a victim of some form of abuse or
cal abuse to more subtle, psycholog-
ical mistreatment or neglect. It is
believed that only one in six cases
of elderly abuse is ever reported
because the victims are often afraid
of being sent to a nursing home, and
in fact, one half of the complaining
victims reportedly do end up there.
According to a recent report from
the House Select Committee on
Aging, nearly half the elderly
people who are abused live in nurs-
ing homes. The other half are
abused by their children or other
relatives. The abuse often occurs in
the patient’s own homes.
A typical victim would be a widow
older than 75, who suffers from one
or more disability, and who lives
with an adult child or other family
member who abuses her. The typi-
cal abuser would be a son or a
daughter who is an alcoholic or
abuses drugs, and who suffers from
some sort of stress, such as unem-
ployment or a long-term medical
problem.
While many gerontologists blame
elderly abuse on the stress felt by
caregivers, Isabel Levow, program
director for aging services at the
International Center for the Disa-
bled in New York, feels stress is
only one of the factors involved.
see it as mainly stress-related. I
think it has a lot to do with early
relationships,’”’ says Levow, a social
worker who deals with older per-
sons suffering from some form of
dementia. She says often the abus-
ing caregiver was abused or mis-
treated in some way by the elderly
person earlier in their lives.
Statistics bear out Levow’s con-
tention that elderly abuse isn’t just
a sudden reaction to the stress of
caring for an aging relative. They
show that three-quarters of all
reported cases of elderly abuse
occurred more than twice, and that
some abuse has continued for as
long as 30 years. The average
period of abuse is said to be slightly
longer than nine years.
Cases of extreme physical abuse
have been well-documented, includ-
ing burns, bruises, cuts, sprains,
and broken bones, but Levow says
there are other forms of abuse.
They can include verbal and psy-
chological abuse and forms of
neglect so subtle they would be
difficult to prove in a court of law.
She says she knows of children
who have refused operations or
other medical treatments to ill par-
ents for seemingly responsible rea-
sons. She says she has seen parents
denied medication or given it incor-
rectly. Some of the dementia
patients Levow sees, are financially
exploited by relatives who have
been given conservatorship or
power of attorney when the elderly
person was judged no longer able to
responsibly make decisions.
All but 12 states now have manda-
tory reporting laws for suspected
cases of elderly abuse, but over the
past few years, funding for protec-
tive service programs has been
reduced. Social workers are becom-
ing more involved in assessing and
treating this problem through pro-
grams centered in hospitals, nurs-
ing homes and community agencies.
Various solutions to the problem
of elderly abuse have been pro-
posed, including legislative incen-
tives for states to improve enforce-
ment of elderly abuse laws,
requirements that employees in
Medicaid-Medicare-certified long-
term care fatalities be bonded to
reduce chances of financial exploi-
tation, and unannounced site visits
to nursing homes by government
inspectors to ensure quality care.
The National Association of Social
Workers is sponsoring a public serv-
ice campaign entitled ‘‘Aging Par-
ents: Return the Gift of Caring.”
The association urges adult chil-
dren, their parents, public policy-
makers, and health care profession-
als to use this opportunity to focus
attention on such problems as
elderly abuse and on solutions that
allow our aging population to live
lives of dignity and personal fulfill-
ment.
RICHARD G. COSLETT D.M.D.
696-3868
Emergency Care at all hrs.
Parking On Premises
Mainline Building
121 S. Memorial Highway
Shavertown, 18708
(Next to Howard Duke Isaacs)
Vernon to
be honored
A reception to honor Anne
Vernon, Executive Director of the
Family Service Association of Wyo-
ming Valley, who will retire at the
end of June, is scheduled for Tues-
day, June 3, from 4 to 7 p.m., at the
Dorothy Dickson Darte Center of
Wilkes College.
After many years of community
service, Mrs. Vernon came to
Family Service in 1965 as a social
work assistant. She was chosen as
its Executive Director in 1975, and
headed the year-long festivities that
marked the 90th Anniversary Cele-
bration of the Family Service Asso-
ciation in 1985. Also in 1985, she was
chosen as Athena Woman of the
Year by the Wilkes-Barre Chamber
of Commerce.
Anne Vernon resides in Trucks-
ville with her husband, Thomas,
who is retired. They are the parents
of three children.
The farewell party is open to the
public, and reservations can be
made by calling Family Service,
823-5144. There is no charge.
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DR GERALD STEFANOSKI
PLYMOUTH CHIROPRACTIC
|ICENTER
439 WEST MAIN STREET
PLYMOUTH, PA 18651
|PHONE 779-2225
Medicare, Medicade, and most
Copyright 1986 PYRAMID ADVERTISING