Thanks to the generosity of community supporters, Kingston NY area seniors danced the night away waiting for the 2012 ball to drop. The annual  New Year’s Eve event was held at The Hillside Manor, a leading fine dining and events facility. Host Denni Demosthenes managed to get all guests to the table despite the many attendees who arrived up to an hour early! Over 350 seniors attended and enjoyed a full dinner and dessert, dancing to both live and DJ’d music, a champagne toast and, of course, New Year’s hats and noisemakers. The music makers mixed it up with the predictable old favorites and many contemporary hits that got everyone on the floor rocking.

For the third year, the main sponsors were Birchez Associates, the Bruderhof, and the Demonthenes family which owns The Hillside Manor. Other local purveyors also helped out. For example, Adams Fair Acres Farms donated beautifully prepared (and delicious) cookie platters for each table, Deisings Bakery provided the  dinner rolls.

The smiles of the seniors were evident at the festively set tables in both the full rear ballroom and the restaurants front function room. Not to be outdone by the decor, many of the ladies were “dressed to the nines.” As one quipped, “Where else am I going to get the opportunity to get so dressed up. I love it!” Join the festivities via video (only a minute and a half in length) in which Birchez principals Steve and Judy Aaron welcome one and all.

Several political leaders stopped by to lend their support, most notably Congressman Maurice Hinchey who greeted many by name. Outgoing legislator Walter Frey and encumbent councilman Jimmy Bruno traveled from Saugerties. Majority Leader for the Kingston Common Council Tom Hoffay was in early attendance. Newly elected Alderperson Deb Brown, 9th ward Kingston, shared her thoughts on the video.

Seniors who attended and who would like to comment on the evening can contact us at birchezassociates@gmail.com. We’d love to share your thoughts as we enter 2012!

Significant in the findings is that 90+ is the new 85+. Many demographic reports analyze age groupings such as 55 to 64, 65 to 74, and then 85+. This assumes a commonality in the group and/or smaller numbers that may not be reliable statistically. Yet the reality shown in this  report is that there are some sharp distinctions, even in the five year segment breakdowns of 85 to 89, 90 to 94, and 95+. Certainly as our seniors of today age healthier than their predecessors this will morph expectations for these segments.

This segment is growing both in size and proportion of the older population. Between 1980 and 2010, the people aged 90 and over almost tripled to 1.9 million. Projections are that the 90+ segment will more than quadruple by 2050, in comparison to a doubling of the population 65 to 89.

New York currently ranks third (after California and Florida) in the sheer number of 90+ residents, but it’s not even in the top ten when comparing the percentage of 90+ versus the 65+ populations by state.

The report details racial and educational statistics, and considering the report covers those born in 1918, this is an educated group. Perhaps not a surprise that women aged 90+ outnumber 90+ men nearly 3 to 1.

The economic numbers are certainly of interest in the affordable housing field:

• Social Security represents almost half of total personal income for the 90+ (47.9%)
• The poverty rate for the 90+ is higher than that for those aged 65-89
• 16.5% of women and 9.6% of men aged 90 and older were in poverty 2006-2008

When one considers this in the perspective that many baby boomers are ill prepared for retirement, and certainly for living some 20 years longer than expected, the economic forecast for this segment is of concern. Further compounding this is that the report addresses the 2006-2008 period, during which the source of 29.8% of 90+ income was  ”other” (which would include directly held investments), and 18.3% came from retirement accounts. Given the financial upheaval from the end of that period to the present would indicate that the 2011-2012 period would mean the 90+ segment might well be relying on Social Security for more than half of their income.

Difficulty doing errands alone and mobility-related limitations are the two most common types of disability for the 90+ (disability in this context is defined as a substantial limitation in a major life activity). Appropriate transportation modalities, proximity of services and handicapped accessibility will be key features of senior housing to come.

Aging in place will play an important role for the 90+ segment. While the percent of people with disabilities increases sharply with aging (see below), the nature of the disability(ies) may determine whether the individual needs an institutionalized setting or not. Certainly advances in senior housing facilities and services offer alternatives to more expensive nursing homes or even alternative level of care  facilities.

• Ages 85-89      80.4% report one or more disabilities
• Ages 90-94      82.7%
• Ages 95+          91.2

To see the full American Community Survey Report, 90+ in the United States: 2006-2008, authored by Wan He and Mark N. Munchrath,  click here.

- K.J. McIntyre

Entitled Serving Seniors: Innovative Ideas and Opportunities, the panel was chaired by Peter Florey of D&F Development. In addition to the Birchez representatives, the panel included Ken Harris of the NY Association of Housing & Services for the Aging, Evelyn Wolff of Selfhelp Community Services, Julie Behrens of the NYC Department of Housing Preservation & Development, and Stuart Zalka representing NYS Homes & Community Renewal.

Among services and amenities provided for residents, Birchez Associates employs a Senior Advocate, Alice Tipp, who had served for 30 years in the Ulster County Legislature and chaired the Health Services Committee. Ms. Tipp provides a knowledgable bridge to resources and services in the greater community. At residents’ meetings, she frequently invites service providers to meet with the residents. Augmenting the advocacy team is the Director of Community Services, Paul Watzka.

Working with agencies such as the Ulster County Office for the Aging and Jewish Family Services, Birchez has brought services to the doorstep.  Both physical and mental health issues are attended to at the Birchez Communities. This spring a mental health social worker was on hand to meet with seniors dealing with issues such as bereavement and depression and to recommend longer term services available often at no cost to the senior. One result of this has been the formation of a weekly group at The Birches at Chambers.

Physical health is improved at the Fitness Studios available at both The Birches at Chambers and The Birches at Esopus (although open to all Birchez residents). Here a specially trained senior fitness coach is available at no cost to work out at the residents ability and speed.

Augmenting amenities include Media Centers with state of the art projection and sound for the latest Indie or Classic film. Community rooms encourage gatherings, the library/game room to meet with friends, and a computer lab for instruction and free use.

The crafts room allows seniors to show off crafting ability and to learn new ones. A team of knitters created nearly 100 caps for young children this past winter at both the local neighborhood center and Sloan Kettering Cancer Hospital. Among the participants were three male seniors, two of whom were in wheelchairs. None of them had ever knitted before but they took to the project with zeal.

Steven L. Aaron, Founder &  Managing Member of Birchez Associates LLC, is a board member of NYSAFAH. Birchez Associates was a Gold Sponsor for the annual conference held in New York City each spring. Birchez Associates LLC, founded in 2002, has built five affordable housing communities in the Hudson Valley.

The New York State Association for Affordable Housing (NYSAFAH), formed in 1998, the New York State Association for Affordable Housing (NYSAFAH) is the trade association for New York’s affordable housing industry statewide. Our 300 members include for-profit and nonprofit developers, lenders, investors, syndicators, attorneys, architects and others active in the financing, construction, and operation of affordable housing. Together, NYSAFAH’s members are responsible for virtually all of the housing built in New York State with federal, state, or local subsidies. is the trade association for New York’s affordable housing industry statewide. Our 300 members include for-profit and nonprofit developers, lenders, investors, syndicators, attorneys, architects and others active in the financing, construction, and operation of affordable housing. Together, NYSAFAH’s members are responsible for virtually all of the housing built in New York State with federal, state, or local subsidies.

Now the EBA is holding its second annual celebration with a picnic mixer on June 27th from 5:30 to 7:30 on the majestic lawns of the Hudson Valley School of Massage overlooking the Hudson River. Locate at 1723 Route 9W, West Park, the school is directly across from the Stonehedge Restaurant.

Come on out for a special evening. Live (and lively) music features Earl Pardini and his group. Complimentary picnic style refreshments, lawn games, chair massages and mini-facials by the H.V.S.M.T. staff, and a champagne toast to celebrate EBA’s incredible first two years. Non-members and guests are welcome. There will be a $5 per person fee for members and an $8 fee for non-members, payable at the event.

This is a rain or shine event as indoor space will be available if needed. Registration is a must. Birches at Esopus residents who would like to attend, please call K.J. McIntyre at 845-532-7528 or email her at kjmcintyre@birchez.com so we may add you to the guest list. Sounds like a fun event!

Already recognized by NYSAFAH as Project of the Year — Upstate for 2010, The Birches at Esopus served as a case study in successful public and private partnership, innovative financing, and green energy efficiencies. At its ribbon cutting, the community was also acknowledged as an Energy $mart Building by NYSERDA, in part because 70% of domestic hot water and 30% of the heat comes from solar thermal panels. Further, The Birches at Esopus was one of four national finalists for Senior Project of the Year in Affordable Housing Magazine.

The panel (shown to the right) was introduced by Jay Seiden, Seiden & Schein, PC, and comprised Birchez Associates Founder & Managing Member, Steven L. Aaron, The Honorable John Coutant, Supervisor of the Town of Esopus, John Kelly, Esq. of Nixon Peabody, Marian Zucker of New York State Homes & Community Renewal, Peter King representing the Federal Home Loan Bank – NY, and Rita Wyatt Esq., principal of Wyatt & Co. Judy Wells Aaron and K.J. McIntyre both of Birchez Associates also participated in the presentation. Available for the Q&A were the Town of Esopus clerk, Diane L. McCord, town council member Gloria VanVliet and chair of the planning board Roxanne Pecora (shown in the lower left photo from right to left).

Key topics introduced both by panel participants and the audience included:

• Finding financing for affordable housing projects and how that has changed in today’s economic market

• Creating market rate amenities to both attract residents and to fulfill aging in place goals

• Structuring a public – private partnership and the political courage it takes to succeed in bringing quality affordable housing to a community

• Changing environment in the now combined DHCR and nyhomes, now New York State Homes and Community Renewal

Attendees included developers, financiers, architects, attorneys and other members of NYSAFAH.

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The event was sponsored by two of the region’s group travel-related companies, Hudson River Valley Tours and Destinations of New York State, and drew tour operators from as far as Ottawa, Canada. Judging from the buzz, we’ll see many of the tour operators back with full buses and boats in the not so distant future.

The Birches at Esopus is one of four affordable senior housing communities built and managed through Birchez Associates. For more information, www.Birchez.com

For the full article, click here. PS: knowing Mary, she’ll be available for autographs!

picture credit: Darryl Bautista/Poughkeepsie Journal

The implications for baby boomers in the social media market are huge. So we thought we’d share what Mashable, a top source for news in social and digital media, had to say about this phenomenon. As author Jamie Carracher puts it, boomers “will challenge us to rethink how we use the web and how we engage older people with newer technologies”.

Seniors are among the fastest growing demographics for online usage. And connecting with friends and loved ones is one of the primary drivers to get seniors to embrace digital media. Searching for information, especially about health issues, drug interactions, and more is helping seniors and their caretakers help themselves. For the full article click here.

K.J. McIntyre, Director of Marketing, Birchez Associates kjmcintyre@birchez.com

Last but certainly not least, the one and only Alice Tipp, Senior Advocate for The Birches Communities, held court for several hours on Sunday. After her 30 years in the legislature and over five years with us, Alice is known far and wide. One couple who stopped by, married for over 50 years seemed to take almost more pride in their voting record for Alice from the beginning of her career in public service.

One unexpected treat for the staff was the number of residents who stopped by, frequently showing off photos or stopping to point out parts of the videos being shown to their friends and family. We hope that many of our visitors will in fact submit applications so that we might add them to the wait lists. Sooner you are on the list, the sooner a spot might open with your name on it! If you didn’t make it to the mall, stop by one of our communities (call first to assure a tour and application will be ready for you). Just click on the communities tab or one of the community photos on the home page for contact information.

K.J. McIntyre, Director of Marketing, Birchez Associates, kjmcintyre@birchez.com

Older people may be more likely to react badly to their medications because of physiological changes that occur with age, or because they’re taking multiple medications, the researchers said. These reactions may pose an increasing public health challenge as the number of older Americans continues to grow in decades to come.

“Individuals taking medications need to take personal responsibility, and not assume that just because the medications are legally prescribed that they are without risk,” said SAMHSA Administrator Pamela S. Hyde. “People should monitor how they feel when on medication, ask their doctor about what signs to look out for, and not hesitate to contact a doctor if they feel the medication is having adverse effects on their health.”

Birchez Editor’s Note: I’d go one step further. Ask your doc for a review of medications when a new med is prescribed. Sometimes the prescribing physician is only looking at the top page or so of the chart and may not be aware of other meds that may interfere with or magnify the effects of the new med. Also, keeping all your prescriptions at one pharmacy may catch some harmful drug interactions and reactions BEFORE they happen.

Most of the emergency visits involved reactions to just one medication. Reactions to pain relievers accounted for the largest share of these visits (24.3 percent). Other cases involved cardiovascular system medications, metabolic disorder treatments and psychotherapeutic drugs. Nearly 33 percent of emergency room visits by older adults resulted in hospitalizations for further treatment, the study showed.

The study was based on data from SAMHSA’s 2008 Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN). DAWN is a public health surveillance system that monitors drug-related hospital emergency department visits reported throughout the nation.

Pass it on: Older Americans make up the majority of those who visit the emergency room for adverse reactions to medication.

Article passed along by K.J. McIntyre, Director of Marketing, Birchez Associates.

A new study, titled “Inadequate Health Literacy among Paid Caregivers of Seniors”, by Northwestern University finds that more than one-third of caregivers had difficulty reading and understanding health-related information and directions. Sixty percent made errors when sorting medications into pillboxes.  The study, which will be published in the Journal of General Internal Medicine, surveyed non-family caregivers in the Chicago area and assesses their health literacy levels and caregiving tasks.  The study is serving as a basis to work on establishing employment screening tasks as one of the long-term goals of the study.

“We found that nearly 86 percent of the caregivers perform health-related tasks,” said Lee Lindquist, MD, assistant professor of geriatrics at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and physician at Northwestern Memorial Hospital and lead author of the study. “Most of the caregivers are women, about 50 years old. Many are foreign born or have a limited education. The jobs typically pay just under $9 per hour, but nearly one-third of the caregivers earn less than minimum wage.”

– K.J. McIntyre, Director of Marketing, Birchez Associates LLC