Helping the Elderly Stay Independent

(Editor’s note: Among the devastating cuts impending in the 2011 legislative session are projected cuts in funding for the Senior Citizens Services Act, the subject of this article. Despite a steady growth in the need for its services, funding for the act has been static for years. At issue in 2011 are possible cuts in such lifeline services as Senior Information and Assistance, foot care, bath assistance, minor home repair, adult day health care, transportation and case management.)

The Senior Citizens Services Act: It’s a stodgy, bureaucratic name for a very important piece of legislation that helps older adults remain at home and stay independent. SCSA funds important services you may have used in the past as well as services that you may not know about.

One critical service is Senior Information and Assistance. This service quickly connects seniors and their helping families to resources and programs through its help line and online data base. Senior I & A is often the first place that citizens turn for help in finding resources for caregiving information, adult day programs, and transportation needs, for example.

Less well known services are Discretionary Case Management, serving vulnerable adults who "fall through the cracks" of the regular Medicaid system; Adult Day Health, helping older adults remain in their communities by offering skilled day care with nursing, occupational, and physical therapy services and The Volunteer Transportation Program, providing rides to medical and other appointments for vulnerable and homebound elders through the use of volunteers and other cost-effective approaches.

Lesser amounts of funding are allocated to programs such as Health Promotion, The Senior Farmers’ Market, Long Term Care Ombudsman program, Elder Abuse, Alzheimer’s Support, Mental Health and Minor Depression Intervention.

The importance of these programs can be illustrated by looking at just one: Alzheimer’s Support. Studies have shown that families who receive training, support and at times respite, are able to keep their Alzheimer’s patient at home on average one year longer than families without these supports. Every month a patient remains at home in family care is a savings of many thousands of dollars to the state.

Funding for these services will be an issue in the next Legislative session as our representatives attempt to trim the budget to meet the state revenues. Cutting programs such as SCSA actually end up costing both the state and the Federal government much more as frail elderly need to enter long term care facilities once they lose the services that help them stay at home.

With the elder population in King County expected to double by 2025, the high cost of long term care placement will consume an enormous portion of the budget. It is wiser to support and enhance those community based services that keep seniors in their homes as long as possible. Urge your legislator to preserve funding to the Senior Citizen’s Services Act.

By Diane Snell, a member of PSARA.