Celebrities & Experts Join Forces to Help Prevent Elder Abuse by Giving Tips on Finding the Best Elder Care: World Elder Abuse Awareness Day, June 15, 2008

LOS ANGELES, June 12 /PRNewswire/ -- Ed Asner, Art Linkletter, Michael Reagan, LAPD Police Chief William Bratton, L.A. Public Health Director Jonathan Fielding, Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen and a host of others join intergenerational experts Debby Bitticks and Dorothy Breininger of Delphi Health Products, Inc. in a new documentary, "Saving Our Parents" (http://www.savingourparents.com), which was released in April 2008.

Nothing could be more horrifying than learning that one of your parents or grandparents is being victimized by a predatory caregiver, crooked conservator, or neglectful nursing home. When Debby and Ken Bitticks were charged with the responsibility, like many in the "sandwich generation" today, of providing elder care for their parents, they moved both of their aging fathers into their home and hired help to care for them while they worked. Ken soon discovered that the caregiver he had hired to help his dad was abusive, dishonest and had been scamming the elderly for the last few years. They were horrified when they realized that elder abuse is a growing epidemic and were frustrated at how difficult it is to find good elder care. Unfortunately, stories of elder abuse are becoming more and more prevalent across the country, inside and outside of nursing homes.

"People over age 60 make up only one-eighth of the U.S. population, yet they constitute one of every three scam victims," says Sid Kirchheimer, an advisor to AARP. Telephone ploys, identity theft, get-rich-quick schemes, sweepstakes prizes -- today's hucksters have a wide-ranging repertoire of tricks in their bag and seniors are especially vulnerable. Being put in elder care or in a nursing home no longer guarantees a lessening of this trend and can actually increase an unscrupulous person's ability to scam the elderly.

Hosted and narrated by Emmy & Golden Globe winner Ed Asner, and produced and directed by Emmy winner Jeff MacIntyre, the mission of the Saving Our Parents DVD is to protect the aging population of the country and help adult children care for their aging parents as well as find the right type of elder care for their needs. Interviewees tell shocking stories of families deceived by predators who scammed their elderly family members and offer life-saving information from the country's most trusted experts on the intricate world of elder care. Segments include:

    -- Scamming the elderly: Predatory caregivers and crooked conservators
    -- Financial scam artists
    -- Neglectful nursing homes and generations living together
    -- Dangerous hoarding disorders that pose health risks
    -- Michael Reagan's transformational experience with his father, former
       president Ronald Reagan and Alzheimer's Disease
    -- Tips from Marc Hankin, Elder Abuse Attorney
    -- Inspirational tips for safe, healthy aging and finding an elder care
       facility that will work for your family.

MATERIAL AVAILABLE: Organizing and safety tips, film clips and quotes at http://www.savingourparents.com, articles written, DVD reviews, Q&As, Statistics: http://www.census.gov/Press- Release/www/releases/archives/facts_for_features_special_editions/011603.html DVD available for purchase at http://www.savingourparents.com for $29.95. A portion of the proceeds go toward Alzheimer's research, and elder abuse prevention.