Senior Care

 

The County of Santa Clara Senior Care Commission convened on 9/10/14 and included public presentations.

These included the following:

Linda Kincaid spoke to the Commission about Law Enforcement duty manual police policies about elder abuse.

Dr. Robert Fettgather spoke to the Commission about the need to update these police manual protocols and how the resulting isolation has a devastating mental, emotional and physical effect on seniors and persons with disabilities in licensed facilities.

Richard Calhoun spoke to the Commission on the data received from requested law enforcement manuals and how a percentage of the civil code violations associated with elder abuse should be penal (criminal) code violations.

The 2014-2015 Santa Clara County Civil Grand Jury concluded "In order to best serve elders and dependent adults who may be victims of abuse, the County of Santa Clara; Social Services Agency; Adult Protective Services, and the Office of the District Attorney should collaborate on a document for law enforcement agencies to provide elder and dependent adult abuse victims advising them of available and applicable resources".

Notes On Depression

The Institute for Personality and Ability Testing has certified Robert Fettgather as a Stress Management Trainer, and Medical Hypnosis Seminars of the Los Gatos Institute has certified him in Clinical Hypnotherapy. At Santa Clara University, Graduate Department of Education and Counseling Psychology, Robert Fettgather's studies included Health Education and Behavioral Medicine. His writings have appeared in several journals.

Major depressive disorder may be a single episode or recurrent, but it is always time limited; in another form of depression noted above, persistent depressive disorder, the symptoms are somewhat milder but remain relatively unchanged over long periods. 

Two fundamental experiences can contribute either singly or in combination to all specific mood disorders: a major depressive episode and a manic episode. A less severe episode of mania that does not cause significant impairment in social or occupational functioning is known as a hypomanic episode. An individual who suffers from episodes of depression only is said to have a unipolar disorder. An individual who alternates between periods of depression and mania has  bipolar disorder (formerly called manic depression) which is a mental health condition that causes extreme mood swings that include emotional highs (mania or hypomania) and lows (depression). Cyclothymic disorder is a milder but more chronic version of bipolar disorder. Persistent depressive disorder (formerly called dysthymia) is characterized by consistently low moods that are not as severe as major depression. 

Bereavement: We all experience loss.  In that sense grief is difficult but quite normal.  Approximately 20% of bereaved individuals may experience a pathological, complicated grief reaction in which the normal grief response develops into a full-blown mood disorder.  But Allen Frances cautions us that DSM V has made it easier to diagnose MDD among the bereaved…”medicalizing grief reduces the dignity of the pain and short-circuits the expected existential processing of loss…”

There are many practices and rituals (e.g., memorial services, lighting candles) and resources to support those who have lost a loved one. One of my favorites, Soaring Spirits also provides virtual support. Working through grief can take many forms including writing. Journaling helps: poetry too

Notes On Fetal Alcohol Syndrome

A psychology instructor with extensive experience working with individuals with developmental disabilities, Dr. Robert Fettgather has served as an associate faculty member with Mission College since 1983. In this capacity, Robert Fettgather teaches courses in developmental psychology, general psychology, and psychopathology. You will find Robert Fettgather on local hiking trails in any season.

Developmental disabilities are typically life-long disabilities that begin during the developmental period and affect appearance, learning, behavior, and language. 

An unhealthy diet during pregnancy can result in certain developmental disabilities, including fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASDs). Some infants exposed to alcohol during pregnancy have historically shown signs of FASDs. These include hyperactive behavior, poor reasoning, an intellectual disability or low IQ, poor memory, and speech delays. Different developmental problems spawn from FASDs, and only a segment of these signs are psychological. Non-psychological signs of FASDs include low body weight, abnormal facial features, impaired growth, poor coordination, and vision problems. Many of these signs and symptoms are lifelong. 

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommend total abstinence from alcohol during pregnancy. If a pregnant woman consumes alcohol, the substance may transfer to the fetus through the placenta and cause adverse consequences for fetal brain development. Since a fetus' brain grows throughout pregnancy, abstaining from alcohol at any stage of pregnancy can be beneficial. The CDC also recommends female abstinence from alcohol when anticipating pregnancy because it may take four to six weeks before pregnancy can be identified.

Skills For Life

An associate professor of psychology from Grass Valley, California, Robert Fettgather, PhD, has taught the subject at Mission College in Santa Clara, California since 1983. In this role, Robert Fettgather has written extensively on the subject of people with disabilities, including one of his first articles on a life skills curriculum, “Be an Adult", published in 1989 in Lifelong Learning: An Omnibus of Practice and Research. Journaling and reading are among Robert Fettgather's favored past times.

A developmental disability can involve a wide range of abilities and functional impairments. The research on instruction for teaching life skills for this population promotes instruction in many subjects including self-care, household tasks, communication, and functional math/reading. All of these skills are important because they are utilized to meet the demands of everyday living. Besides self-care and communication, both math and reading occupy an important place in the curriculum. Learning basic mathematical concepts will prepare students to count money, give and receive correct change, and budget. Depending on functional level, these skills will also come in handy when having to make measurements (understanding volume) and when making a budget, a very essential life skill. Like everyone else, students with disabilities should learn to properly manage their money, so they make good purchasing decisions. Children with disabilities also must master basic and functional reading skills such as recognizing symbols that is a skill central to reading maps and road signs. If able, they must also learn how to navigate the internet and use search engines. More significantly, reading is a part of understanding important personal documents to make good life decisions as necessary.

Empowering students with special learning needs involves numerous practices teachers can take into the classroom. For example, for some students, experts suggest that teachers avoid overly complicated and multi-step instructions. As opposed to giving out unnecessarily detailed directives, teachers should provide students with easily understandable instructions that are accessible to everyone in the classroom. With peer tutoring, student ambassadors who have a deeper understanding of the lesson can assist others who may have difficulty understanding the material.