As the Baby Boomers enter their golden years, America herself is aging.  We are either facing an uncertain future ourselves, or making decisions as to the best options for our aging parents.  This week on BROADSIDED, we discuss those options and are joined by Lisa K. Meeks, a certified professional geriatric care manager. Lisa understands the role of the caregiver firsthand, having been caregiver to her elderly grandmother during the end stages of her life. With her combination of practical and clinical experience, Lisa is uniquely qualified to assist families in caring for their aging loved ones.  When making such decisions, there are factors to consider such as personal finances, the abilities of the elderly person, health factors and other issues.  Most of us hope to retain our independence for as long as possible, but any or all of the above factors can be a barrier to that.

Lisa K. Meeks, MS, CMC, CTRS, is a Fellow/Certified Professional Geriatric Care Manager, and has worked specifically with the specialized allied health needs of the older adult since 1993. She has owned and operated SeniorCare Options since 2001, and she is an active member of the National Association of Professional Geriatric Care Managers, and is one of only a handful of certified care managers in Georgia. In addition to her degrees and national certifications in her fields, Lisa’s credentials include a Certificate of Gerontology from Kennesaw State University, and a certification in Program Development for Dementia Clients. She is the Past-President of the NAPGCM South Eastern Chapter, a member of the American Therapeutic Recreation Association, and is the only Fellow / Certified GCM in Georgia.

SeniorCare Options is a Geriatric Care Management service specializing in senior advocacy, needs assessment, and “care at a distance.” They are self-desribed as a cross between a hospital case worker and a “Daughter for Hire”  We look forward to speaking with her about her unique approach to caring for the elderly.

Scott Crider, founder of "Dogs Against Romney"

*Due to technical issues, we were not able to air this segment last week – warm thanks to our Producer, Dustin Gilder for his frantic efforts to get us on the air and to Scott Crider for agreeing to come back.*

For the second half of the hour, we will be joined by Scott Crider, founder of the grassroots phenomenon, Dogs Against Romney. Anyone with a television or access to social media has heard about the infamous “Seamus-gate” incident, in which the presumptive GOP nominee strapped the family pet to the top of his station wagon for a trip.  In June 1983, Romney and his family were preparing for their annual vacation from their Belmont, MA home to a family cottage in Beach O’ Pines, Ontario. Seamus was enclosed in a carrier that Romney had equipped with a windshield and strapped on the roof of the family’s Chevy Caprice station wagon. Sometime during the 650-mile trip from Massachusetts to Ontario, the dog became afflicted with diarrhea, causing excrement to flow down the windows of the car. Romney stopped at a gas station to hose down the dog, the carrier and the car, then put Seamus back in his carrier, and continued the 12-hour trip to the family’s vacation home.  During a 2012 interview. Romney stated that Seamus enjoyed being in the dog carrier, an “air-tight kennel,” and that he was not aware of any violations of Massachusetts law. *Yes, Willard, it’s illegal.* Mrs. Romney has complained that the news media has exaggerated the severity of the incident and compared traveling in the roof-top dog carrier to riding a motorcycle. Given that dogs possess no opposable thumb with which to grasp the handlebars… we’re thinking she’s probably wrong about that.  PETA has weighed in on the cruelty of the act, as well as many other animal rights organizations.

Enter Scott Crider.

Scott Crider is an award winning digital creative director,

Tess Baker joins "Dogs Against Romney"

social media/interactive marketing strategist, and blogger living in Gulf Shores, Alabama. A Web 2.0 pioneer since 2005, Crider’s background in social media includes authoring two blogs that have received millions of visitors and massive media attention from virtually all major U.S. news media and many International media outlets. His work was also written about in a book about viral culture.  Scott has demonstrated acumen in harnessing the power of Facebook community-building and strategic application of social plug-ins to drive narrative across all media channels, online and offline.

So, what do you get when you take one digital media guru and cross it with a politician who, many suspect this incident personifies his disconnected, clinical leadership style?  DOGS AGAINST ROMNEY.  We’ll examine both sides of the issue – see if it’s much ado about nothing or does it speak to a larger character issue with a man who is asking us to make him the leader of the free world?  We’ll find out.

So Buckle UP!  And prepare to get BROADSIDED!

Live Thursday

11am-12 Noon Eastern (8-9 am Pacific)

Call in 877-500-ZEUS (9387)

Chat in

Replay Thursday 7pm/Friday 6am ET

You can also follow us on Facebook and Twitter and now, you can go to the iTunes Store and subscribe to the BROADSIDED Podcasts or listen to our archives shows here