Living with an aging parent--JAMA Aug 17, 2011, vol 306.no.7

JAMA has a bimonthly series called, "Care of the Aging Patient; from evidence to action," and the most recent was Living with an aging parent, a well written summary with citations to the medical literature of one family's exerience. In the library field, we used to call these articles, "How I done it good" papers. JAMA solicits these articles from actual experience, assures the authors of "peer review" status to put on their CV, and gives a $500 honorarium.

The three authors tell a story of a healthy couple, 89 and 86, who move across the country in 2006 to live with their daughter and husband after the husband begins showing signs of dementia. The daughter invites them, rather than have them go to a retirement community. The backstory is that for 15 years, the parents lived with this family in the summer to take care of their children while the parents worked. The article describes the health condition and living arrangements and how things changed between 2006 and 2011. There are 3 tables which would help anyone considering this type of living arrangement, and one list of "issues."

I could have written this article myself, and I don't have an MD, PHD or MSPH, but my good frinds Jim and Jackie did a similar move to Colorado a few years back with similar results. Nor would I need 5 grants from the U.S. government, or various awards from foundations, all listed as an appendix to the article.

Now I say this for two reasons: 1) the article is an interview with 46 citations from medical databases to confirm the points made by either the interviewer or the interviewees. There is nothing wrong with this method--it's informative, easy reading, and although it would seem to be common sense, many people don't have that, so it will be very helpful for anyone considering a multigenerational living arrangement; 2) this type of writing isn't rocket science, but for the tax payer it is very expensive.

As near as I can determine, Alabama has received nearly $9,500,000 from the federal government of Title VIII just in 2010. Glancing through the list I think this is all geriatric health issues. That's just one state, one issue. The lead author, Christine S. Ritchie, according to her vita which I looked up, has at the moment, 7 simultaneous positions/titles, and if my experience in academe is to be trusted, she's being paid for each one. I found two different amounts for Dr. Richie, both over $200,000, for grants that supported this research--research that I could have written given a few days off my regular duties. The other two authors also report (disclosure) support from grants.