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Testimony on AAA
1-B 2007-2009 draft plan June 1, 2006
Adult Well-Being Services is a community
based non-profit agency that provides services to older adults and
adults with disabilities. We were established in 1953 and have
expanded from one of the country’s first senior centers to a
comprehensive agency serving senior adults, their caregivers and the
people they care for, in a variety of ways. We provide outreach
and assistance, case management, health promotion, substance abuse
prevention and treatment as well as mental health and guardianship
services.
Our guardianship services extend to
adults in Oakland County. Because the kinds of cases that are
referred by the courts for guardianship entail the most difficult and
neediest people, and because AWBS provides extensive social work
supportive and counseling services far beyond what is minimally &
legally required under guardianship laws, we would like to have this
opportunity to comment on the needs of people we serve in relation to
AAA 1-B’s plan.
We have always admired AAA 1-B’s provider
network for providing excellent, quality services to older adults.
AAA 1-B is a leader when it comes to prioritizing what is really needed,
identifying what is needed and then advocating on behalf of older
persons and their caregivers. Even with the best of efforts, as
you noted in your draft plan, there are still too many older persons who
are not aware of the services available that may assist them. The
recent efforts to educate and assist older adults about the Medicare
Part D prescription drug plan offers insight into the need to augment
the existing resource advocacy efforts. According to your own
statistics, just one week before May 15, there were still 97,000 people
who had not signed up for any plan and might be in need of assistance.
We are pleased that you have included resource advocacy as a top
priority in your draft plan.
There were several other priorities
identified in your plan: in-home respite, respite services for
grandparents raising grandchildren, health benefits education, and
support for older persons requiring guardianship. Adult Well-Being
Services has extensive experience with providing programs in each of
these areas.
We agree that family and friends who
still provide the bulk of long term care to older adults do so often at
great cost to themselves. Many lose income when they change jobs,
work part time or even quit working to provide care. The stress
and lack of self-care can lead to health issues and even early death,
for the caregivers themselves. The unfortunate death of Dana
Reeves may help to bring this more into the public’s awareness.
Through the Detroit Area Agency on Aging
we have had the opportunity to develop a model of respite care based on
customer choice or self-determination – they may have home health
personnel come to their home, or they may utilize day care, or assisted
living or even a nursing home for overnight stays. We have hired
persons of their choice to provide the care. We have one
complaint, and one word of caution. Our word of caution is that it
is very, very difficult to implement volunteer caregiving programs.
We have tried it, even with the help of faith based institutions, and it
is difficult to meet the need with this type of service. This ties
into our complaint: every time we provide the service, we get the
response that it is just not enough time. We would like to join
with AAA 1-B advocacy efforts to encourage the state to find new ways to
expand this type of service. It is desperately needed.
We congratulate AAA 1-B’s wisdom of
addressing the need for health benefits education. The vast
majority of older persons live with several chronic health conditions.
We also know that the majority of our health care dollars are spent for
the older adult population in the last few years of their lives.
With these facts in mind, it is important that we recognize the
increasing importance of comprehensive health promotion in our service
delivery system. And, these services must be designed so that
information is provided in a culturally and age appropriate manner.
AWBS was the first agency in the country
to receive funding for education on HIV AIDS for the senior population.
W e developed a health promotion program that has been well received.
The number of people 50 years and older that are infected with HIV/AIDS
is growing along with the increase in our senior population. Our
experience is that given the difficulty of broaching subjects having to
deal with sexuality, such information is best offered in community
seminars. We would be happy to provide information and technical
assistance in this area, if needed.
We also join AAA 1-B in recognizing the
needs of a special population: grandparents raising their grandchildren.
Through our experience with grandparent support groups and respite
services we have come to understand first-hand what a significant role
these grandparents play. Many of these grandparents themselves
have multiple health problems, fixed incomes and constant demands and
responsibilities. They need respite services. They also need
advocates who provide assistance and support so they can learn how to
obtain and access community resources and benefits to which they are
entitled. Many grandparents are often fearful of making their
needs known, for fear of embarrassment or fear of having the kids taken
away from them. We need to expand our outreach efforts to them.
Finally, regarding elder abuse and
neglect: we can all benefit from increasing awareness and education in
this area so that we are trained throughout the network in recognizing
and dealing with these situations. Our President and CEO, Karen
Schrock, served on the Governor’s Elder Abuse Task Force and drafted
recommendations to increase respite, caregiver training and mental
health services as a way to reduce neglect and abuse. For persons in
need of assistance, we support a range of alternatives from advocates
and representative payees to full guardianship when it is needed.
Access to reliable persons or organizations to assist families in these
areas is essential.
Again, we applaud the vision and
commitment of AAA 1-B to providing the kinds of services older adults
need most. With the projected exponential explosion in the number of
adults reaching the age of 60 within the next ten years, we need to be
proactive and ready to ensure their health and well-being, by having in
place the available resources to support their independence and dignity.
A fundamental rule of advocacy is “strength in numbers”. We stand
ready to join AAA 1-B as partners in their advocacy efforts with the
State to increase funding and resources to older adults.
Thank you. |
