I am an old geezer who likes to stay informed. This means I am a news junkie and a voracious reader. Give me a good newspaper (electronic format is OK), a good magazine (paper form only), an interesting podcast, and a good audible book or one available through Amazon or Libby (preferably of the nonfiction variety), and I’m a happy camper.
I’m also an old geezer who is an active volunteer.
The combination of life as a hardcore news and reading consumer and dedicated volunteer has led me to participate as a member of Rotary Club of Los Gatos (although many of our approximately 145 members are not old geezers), and to become a commissioner on the Community Health and Senior Services Commission (CHSSC).
This makes me tend to focus on educating myself about issues facing older adults, by reading a lot about aging and by seeking out experts who deal with older adults in a variety of capacities.
I keep reading and hearing the problem of caregiving for older adults.
This older adult caregiver dilemma is mentioned in the Senior Services Committee Road Map report, which was completed about nine months ago, and which the Los Gatos Town Council has approved as a plan for improving senior services. CHSSC is tasked with implementing this road map, which means we must find ways to address this dilemma.
According to a survey mentioned in the Road Map, more than one-third of the survey respondents are caring for someone who is 55-plus. Although Los Gatos now has an adult day care service (i.e. Live Oak Adult Day Care), a future crunch is predicted for caregiving support.
A recent study funded by the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors titled the “Adult Caregiver Study” will further educate our commission and our community to the need for action to address the increasingly dire caregiver situation.
Some of the findings in the study include the following:
• Most family caregivers are women, an adult child of the care recipient, 45-64 years of age, and married.
• According to a survey by Sourcewise, which is mentioned in the study, caregivers indicate that in-home assistance is the top service missing for older adults. The survey also indicates that a substantial number of caregivers identified respite (i.e. short term breaks) as the most important unmet need for caregivers.
• Top priorities for family caregivers include information on caring for a loved one, counseling or help managing care, and information on managing difficult behaviors.
• Family caregiver needs also include emotional/mental health support, financial aid, housing/placement, disease specific information, family caregiver education training and transportation.
• Choosing not to invest in Santa Clara County family caregivers and direct care workers is likely to result in significant human and economic costs for the county. More family caregivers will suffer from depression, burnout and poverty. Fewer individuals will become direct care workers, making an already understaffed workforce unprepared to meet future demand. And hospital and health systems will likely experience overcrowded emergency rooms, avoidable hospital admissions, and a surge in nursing home requests.
More than one-fifth of Los Gatos residents are seniors. The older adult population in Los Gatos is expected to grow to approximately one-third in the next several years. Thus, as the study notes, the older adult dilemma is likely to worsen, with our caregivers who assist these older adults experiencing many adverse consequences.
The study is comprehensive, and it offers many concrete suggestions for addressing the older adult caregiver dilemma, such as calling for county departments, including health departments and hospitals to work together with community organizations to create specific programs that address the caregiver dilemma.
Addressing the caregiver dilemma doesn’t end with publication of the study, however. More old geezers like me who love to read, educate themselves and volunteer can help by contacting our Board of Supervisors to express their concerns, joining CHSSC to help us construct recommendations for improving the situation, and/or by otherwise applying their knowledge, experience and connections to finding answers to the older adults dilemma.
Jeffrey P. Blum is a family law mediator who lives in Los Gatos. He can be reached at [email protected].
