By JUDY CREIGHTON
Canadian Presse

‘There was a gasp of horror in the lecture room as
Gerard Lapeer showed a slide depicting yellow-crusted
dentures — an example of the neglect he's found too often
among his geriatric dental patients,

Lapeer, a dentist at St. Mary's of the Lake Hospital,
a geriatric facility in Kingston, Ont., pulls no punches
when he discusses the deplorable state of their dental
health. *

At a recent conference on gerontology held at
Queen's University’in Kingston, Lapeer said: “I feel that
the primary reason for this is ignorance on the part of the
elderly, their families, eare-givers and health profes-
sionals.

“People still hold the erroneous belief that in old age
tooth loss is inevitable, that after a certain age, care of
the mouth and teeth is no longer necessary, that dental
treatment is an expensive frill.

“In fact, proper dental care should be a lifelong
health concern, as important in old age as in youth and
middle age.”

Lapeer said that the elderly should be encouraged to
seek routine dental maintenance.

He admits that “the dependent elderly, those whose
mental or physical capabilities are impaired, present a
special problem for the dentist.

“They must rely on others — either amateur or
professional care-givers — to fulfil most of their basic
needs, including oral hygiene.”

Lapeer said that a “conscientious care-giver will
brush the patient's teeth or gums following every meal,
will floss the patient’s teeth regularly and will cleanse
dentures daily.

“With a good program of oral hygiene, the geriatric
patient should avoid most dental and oral problems which
have become associated with aging.”

He said that if the older person is not receiving

Proper dent
needed for

Ay

problems such as periodontal disease,
tooth decay, abscess and pain will result.

Lapeer said that besides a comprehensivé home care,
routine, the elderly must have access to hal |

services, such as radiographs when
restorative, surgical and prosthetic services must also be
part of such a program.” i
But, Lapeer said, all this will take education.
“People must be informed of preventive dental care.
We must debunk the myth that the elderly do not need
preventive dental care.” a
Lapeer said that dlder people living on their own
“must beencouraged to make informed decisions about
their dental health just as they do about other aspects of
their health care.”
PART OF SYSTEM
He would like to see dental care incorporated into
the education programs of health professionals so that
they will recognize it as an integral part of the whole
health care system for the elderly.
In homes for the aged and nursing homes, a
d of pr dental care should

prog
be in place, he said.

“Patients should be monitored frequently to assure
that the best standard of oral hygiene and dental care is
being maintained. Just as physicians perform regular
inspections of their patients, so should dentists.”

Many geriatric patients and independent elderly are
on fixed incomes and feel they can't afford dentistry,
Lapeer said. :

“Funding assistance should be made available for
needy elderly so that they can participate in a proper
preventive dental program.”

SEATTLE (AP) — Chil-
dren botn to mothers who
drink alcohol during preg-
nancy may have shorter at-
tention spans and slower re-
action times, a long-term
study of 1,500 women and
their children indicates.

The most recent findings of
the study, now in its 14th
year, focused on seven-year-
olds and confirmed previous
research, performed at ear-

lier ages, showing the danger
of prenatal alcohol exposure
to children and their devel-
opment.

In addition to the physical
deformities and mental re-
tardation in children caused
by mothers’ alcohol fuse,
the long-term research also
has found more subtle effects
linked to levels of alcohol,
said Ann Py icz Streis-

Alcohol hinders kids

University of Washington's sponsored by the School of

Department of Psychiatry
and Behavioral Sciences.
“That's why the surgeon
general's statement is so im-
portant,” Streissguth said,
referring to the admonition
in 1981 that pregnant women
avoid alcohol. “There's no
known safe level. It's better
not to drink.”
i her

sguth, a professor’ in the

research at a recent seminar

Medicine of the University of
Washington and in an inter-
view afterward.

In 1974, Streissguth and
several colleagues began the
Seattle Longitudinal Pros-
pective Study On Alcohol and
Pregnancy, to examine ef-
fects of aleohol and other fac-
tors on children’s long-term
development.

STANDING TALL . . . Snow-covered trees almost look fake as they stand silent
guard along Castlegar-Salmo highway.

CosNews Photo by Mike Kolesniko

Elder abuse given
increased attention

By The Canadian Press
An 87-year-old woman sent
to hospital disoriented and
dehydrated after her son
abandoned her for two days
was one of more than 120
cases of elder abuse and neg-
lect reported in 1966 under

Nova Scotia’s year-old Adult
Protection Act.

‘Across Canada, advocacy
groups and public officials
are turning their attention to
abuse of the. elderly —
broadly defined to include

“physical, financial and psy-
gical abuse

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s~ and neg-
lect, defined as failure to
provide for their needs.

The case of the Nova
Scotia woman is fairly repre-
sentative of abuse cases
identified in the emergency
ward of Halifax's Victoria
General Hospital, said Paul
Girard, the hospital's head of
social work.

The woman's son, an al-
coholic, moved into his
mother's home after he lost
his job. As she became more
feeble and dependent on him,
he began cashing her pension
cheques.

One day, he left her in the
kitchen and went on a drink-
ing binge. When he returned
two days later she was still in
the kitchen, lying on the floor
in her own excrement. She
was admitted to hospital.

“The victims are usually
white females over 75 years
old who are disabled either
mentally or physically,” Gir-
ard said. “They usually live
with the abuser and have
some kind of income or assets
above their pensions.”

At Toronto Queen Eliza.
beth Hospital, frail elderly
patients have been admitted
with rope burns on their
wrists and ankles from being
tied down in bed.

One man was transferred
from an institution where he
suffered a dislocated shoul-
der from being yanked about
by a staff member.

Physical injury may be the
most obviously horrifying
manifestation of elder abuse,
but “the neglect form is far

‘and away more common than
abuse. And it can be just as
life-threatening,” said Dr.
Jim Kirkland, head of geria-
tries at the hospital.

“By neglect, I mean, for in-
stance, people who are left
alone all day, sometimes tied
in bed, lying in their excre-
ment and not getting enough
food to eat.”

MANITOBA STUDY

A 1982 Manitoba study
concluded that about 2.2 per
cent of the elderly in the
province are subject to abuse
— defined for the study as
physical assault or rough
handling,’ isolation or inad.
equate attention, misused or
withheld finances, or theft.

The federal government's
National ' Clearinghouse on
Family Violence estimates
that 100,000 Canadians, or
from two to four per cent of
senior citizens, are abused.

The Manitoba study looked
only at elderly living in |the
community.

Nursing homes are also a
breeding ground for abuse
because society tolerates in-
stitutions that are under-
staffed and employ undered-
ucated individuals, said Dr.
William Dalziel, head of ger-
iatrics at Ottawa Civic Hos-
pital.

Linda Greenacre, a nurse
and co-ordinator of thé Uni-
veristy of Ottawa's geriatric-
assessment program who has
worked in nursing homes,
says she knew of incidents of
sexual and physical abuse.

She cited an incident in
which staff flushed patients’
meals down the toilet to
avoid the task of feeding
them.

Ontario recently passed
legislation calling for manda-
tory reporting of abuse in
nursing homes.

month. Please...

Your Carrier is Collecting

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collecting for delivery of the
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ready when he or she calls?

paper for the past

Spring —
Story of Margaret and Her

she faced a lonely death in
hospital.

But a lifetime of commit-
ment to causes such ag bat-
tered and raped women,
church work and a love of
music had given her a re-
markable network of friends.

They weren't willing to let
her die alone. So, in an
example of what Callwood
described as “the human
tribe functioning at its best,”
these people — many of them
strangers to one another —
came together to make Fra-
zer’s last days “a redemptive
experience.”

Extraordinary problems
arise when five dozen people
of varying backgrounds and
personalities take over some-
one's home and life.

However, as Callwood ex-
plained in an interview, those
problems and dangers were
anticipated: a co-ordinator
was appointed and a duty
roster and medical log were
instituted.

“And we were so fortunate
to have a doctor on call 24
hours a day in Linda Rapson,
which helped alleviate any
fears that we non-medical
people had about Margaret's
care and treatment,” Call-
wood added.

“We had no inkling at that
stage and process, naive ae
we were and new to the
hazards of home-based palli-
ative care, that what we
were proposing to do would
have been impossible without
the intense commitment of a
selfess, dedicated, expert and
resourceful doctor.”

LIVING ROOM

Although Frazer's
bedroom was on the second
floor of her Toronto home, it
was her wish to spend her
last days on a small green
sofa in her downstairs living
room, where she could be
part of the activity.

“She had taken up her
battle station from the mo-
ment she arrived home from
hospital,” Callwood wrote.

The volunteers were so
enthusiastic that Frazer's re-
frigerator was constantly
overflowing with gourmet
dishes and homemade treats
to tempt her flagging ap-
petite. !

It became so chaotic that a
volunteer plaintively beg;
others to “please label =

date all food in the frid, \

The working of the team

was not flawless: “Each of us
brought our own way of
folding towels, our own way
of washing a floor, our own
way of doing dishes,” Call-
wood said.

“Margaret, who had lived
alone much of her life, had
developed fixed household
routines that often bore no
resemblance to ours.”

While caring for Frazer,
some volunteers appeared to
be re-enacting other death-
watches — usually of their
own mothers, “and needed to
feel that grief again to bear it
better.”

Callwood praises Frazer
for allowing 60 people to give
her intimate care “without
resisting or resenting them.

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IEW RULES
MAKE RRSP
ORE EQUITABLE

By BRENDA DALGLISH

With Ottawa's. new rules on: regi: d i

Others who don’t have pension plans, are self-
employed or who make all or most of their pension plan
contribution ‘themselves, will find that they can
contribute ‘more to their'RRSPs come 1988.

ee INCREASES AMOUNT

‘Therefore, those who expect to find their maximum
contribution level reduced may want to step up their
contributions now — if they aren't already contributing
the maximum.

Others may want to begin planning to increase their
contributions in two years. %

Ci

gavings plans due to begin taking effect in 1988, now is
the time for taxpayers to start adapting their RRSP

id ti saving for
are based on the principle that income set aside for
retirement should be taxed when. it’s received, not when
it's saved.

The coming changes are inspired by the govern-
ment's desire to make the RRSP system more equitable
for everyone. The idea is to enable Canadians of similar
incomes, regardless of whether they have a company
pension plan, to build comparable retirement incomes.

In the past, RRSP contributions have been limited to
20 per cent of income. For Canadians with pension plans,
the maximum has been $3,500, minus any pension plan
contributions. For those without a pension plan, the top
limit has been $7,500.

Beginning in 1988, the government reduces the
contribution level to 18 per cent of annual income, but
raises the maximum contribution levels. Because of the
complicated formula involved in determining the

dividual’s P ibuti hi

who are already receiving pension income but
can still contribute to an RRSP should re-examine their
investment strategy.

Currently, the government allows individuals to roll
up to $60,000 a year in pension income into an RRSP in
addition to the usual contribution limit.

After 1989, that pension transfer provision will be
eliminated, Delaney said. That means any individuals
who receive pension income and have more income than
they need tolive on may want to shelter as much of the
pension income as possible in the next three years.

This, of course, should be done only if there's a tax
benefit available,” he said.

AVOIDS TAX

With the $4,180 basic personal exemption, the $1,000
pension exemption, the $1,000 interest income exemp-
tion, the over-65 age exemption of $2,610, and that fact
that there is almost no tax charged on the first $1,000 of
taxable income, most retirees can, earn almost $10,000
before any income tax is payable, he said.

However, if your total income is in excess of that and
you ean afford to increase your tribution above

RRS the
government. will notify each taxpayer of his or her
allowable contribution. °

INCOMES CHANGE

In addition, the government has acknowledged that
financial circumstances change from year to year and
taxpayers shouldn't be penalized because their incomes
fluctuate.

Beginning in 1988, those who haven't made the
maximum permissible RRSP contributions will be able to
carry forward the shortfall for seven years to permit
them to catch up.

Tom Delaney, author of The Delaney Report on
RRSPs, says that for most people the same rules apply
for the tax years 1986 and '87 as have in the past.

“To the extent that they can afford to, people should
take full advantage of RRSP contributions to the
maximum possible,” Delaney said.

Because of the government's intention to make the
RRSP system fairer, the maximum RRSP contribution
levels ‘in 1988 will be reduced for Canadians with
generous pensions plans — where the employer makes
the whole contribution or at least pays more than
employees do.

the by all dr some‘of the pension
income to the RRSP, you'll be able to shelter that money
from the taxman, Delaney said." “7 "7"

Aé’s traiisition theasure, for the years 1990" to 1994
taxpayers will be allowed to contribute to spousal RRSPS
to a limit of $6,000 a year from pension income.

Jeffrey Halpern, director of . personal financial
planning at Royal Trust, agreed that the general rule is to
make the maximum RRSP contribution you can afford.

OFFERS OPTIONS

The federal government has also increase, effective
in '88, the number of options available in the way RRSPs
are collapsed following retirement, Halpern said.

The options vary from person to. person.

“It’s complicated because it’s based on your health,
interest rates, your cash flow needs,” said Halpern.

He advised that about 10 years before retirement
people should meet with representatives of trust
companies, annuity brokers and insurance companies to
consider their RRSP withdrawal options.

“I think that’s probably something too many
Canadians overlook. After all, next to their house, their
RRSP is going to be niost people's largest retirement

:
~

1g

of crease demand.

next few years, causing a
major shakeup in the auto

Rosiers Automotive Re-
| search Ltd. show importers
increased their sharé to 30.2
per cent’ from 30.1 in 1986.
But Dennis. DesRosiers, the

“It will mean

firm's p said Tues-
day they will have almost 40
per cent on the market by
1990, taking into account
foreign cars manufactured in

Canada.

Statistics from DesRosiers
show the market share of
imports since 1978 has grown
steadily from 17.8 per cent
and 172,896 car sales to 30.2
and 826,170 cars in 1986. The
slight 1986 gain came despite
8 15,500 drop in sales as the
overall tharket dropped.

He said in an interview it
will mean drastic change in
the auto parts industry,
which employs about 60,000
workers mostly in Ontario.

“Tt will be much tougher to
do business with the new
players than it was with the
traditional. ones. There will
be an entire shakeup in their
(auto parts) operations.”

sembly plant
Ont.; Toyota will start pro-

eration in Cambridge, Ont.;
and No, 1 importer Hyundai
of South Korea plans a start-
up at a $300-million site in
Bromont, Que., in 1988. Gen-
eral Motors and Suzuki have
joined in a $500-million ven-
ture to start production at a
plant in Ingersoll, Ont., in
1989.
SEES CLOSINGS

DesRosiers predicts some
auto parts plants will close,
although the amount of new.

downhill for us,” Lonmo said.
“It will definitely mean some
closings.”

He said a Honda subsidiary
is building a stamping plant
in Tottenham, Ont., which
will provide steel supports
for transmissions “without
even asking for a quote” from
any Canadian parts plant.

“I know about 12 compan-
ies that would've loved to
quote a price on’ that,” he
said. “What's worse then
(Honda’s part plant) could
turn around and bid on parts
from the Big Three, having a
base already with their own

ed that if Ottawa doesn’t act
to stem the tide of imports,
“more than half of the cars
available for sale in Canadian
showrooms,” could be pro-
duced by foreign-based man-
ufacturers by the early
1990s.

Peapples called on Ottawa
again to impose import duties
if importers don't accept
domestic content rules, not-
ing that up to 40,000 jobs will
be in jeopardy because of
oyer-expansion. my 2 4

“CARRIER REQUIRED

The Castlegar News once again has a
ilable b

route
\

in North Castl

the Turbo

and

Friday.

asset.”

Alberta doctors earn more

CALGARY (CP) — Reven-
ue Canada says)Alberta doc-
tors-earn moré money than
any other group of profes-
sionals in Canada ‘and four
times as much as the average
taxpayer.

Figures reléased by the
Revenue Department show
an Alberta doctor's average
wage before taxes was
$105,000 in 1964 after ex-
penses.

The figures, the latest
available, also show doctors
in Alberta earned 4.2 times
as much as the average

Canadian taxpayer, who
made just $24,700.

Lowther Rehmer, health
information director in the
federal Health and Welfare
Department, said doctors’
incomes in Alberta could ac-
tually be higher.

Many high-paid doctors in
the province operate their
practices as corporations and
are not included in the study,
he said in a telephone inter-
view.

Other revenue department
figures show Nova Scotia
doctors were the next

highest-paid in 1984, earning
$104,500.

Ontario doctors were next
with average incomes of
$103,400, followed by British
Columbia arid Quebec where
doctors earned $102,500 and

3,000.
The national average was

$96,500 — still well above
other professionals, Dentists,
who netted an average of
$77,000, ranked second.

Canadian lawyers earned
an average income before
taxes of $68,000, while ac-
countants made $58,600 and
engineers had $46,400.

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