Elder Care

Update: Sep. 06, 2011 -

Elderly abuse is on the rise in South Florida. In PBC, there were 3,957 cases of elder abuse in 2010-11, up from 3,516 the year before. /via sun-sentinel.com

Issue Overview

Elder care is the term used to describe the care of and services provided for senior citizens. Generally, "elder care" refers to the issues and concerns faced by people over the age of 65. There are an estimated 275,000 people over the age of 65 living in Palm Beach County, constituting over 20% of our population.

Senior citizens face unique issues such as grandparents raising grandchildren, Social Security and Medicare concerns, advanced directives, powers of attorney, and exploitation or abuse concerns. Services included in elder care are: meals, socialization, light housekeeping, residential facilities, adult day services, transportation, visiting, caregiver support, respite care, financial assistance, and legal aid.

Why Does it Matter to Me?

Elder ...

...care affects the entire family. When a senior citizen begins to require assistance in activities of daily living or needs continuing medical attention due to chronic conditions, the ripple effect reaches out to family members. With regards to scams targeting the elderly, family members or friends may also become victims of abuse or exploitation.

Over the next 40 years, the share of working-age adults will decline and the amount of financial support to programs that seniors depend on-Social Security, Medicaid, Medicare, tax-supported programs-will decline. This leaves a significant gap between people needing care and funds available to pay for care.

Some of the questions we face are:

What will happen to my parents/grandparents when they are in this age bracket and face these conditions?
How do we pay for the seniors in our system, and how will we pay for the millions more that will enter the healthcare system over the next 30 years?
How do we care for the caregiver?
What about elderly individuals who are wards of the state with no one to care for them?

What Can I Do?

Educate yourself by reading about the options available to your family. The time to start thinking about these things are when you are in you 30's; not when you are in your 60's and your spouse is diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease.

Have a frank conversation with your parents, grandparents or other soon-to-be senior citizens in your family. Meet with an elder law attorney to discuss health care surrogates, guardianship, estate plans, and living wills. It's easy to put these conversations off, because "it won't happen to me" or because these are hard conversations to have...every single current caregiver felt the same way at some point.

Advocate for change and better healthcare programs. Learn about laws protecting the elderly, such as those against abuse and exploitation. The only way these problems will be fixed is if you do something about them. Learn what congressional representatives support similar programs and let them hear you.