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Agency: 'Golden age' will multiply
By Francesca Olsen
Data from the U.S. Census Bureau reveals a potentially stunning social problem for Columbia County. The elderly population is expected to rise exponentially in the next 20 years — leaving the population the Office for the Aging serves with some unanswered questions in coming years.
A focus group Sept. 18 will attempt to advance the dialogue. The Office for the Aging Advisory Council will hold a meeting at 1 p.m., open to the public, to discuss options for how to handle an increasing caseload as time progresses. All five Hudson supervisors were invited to the focus group, said Office for the Aging Administrator Kary Jablonka.
Columbia County is the second oldest county in New York State, with 20.1 percent of the population over age 60. The U.S. Census Bureau reported that 1 in 5 citizens in the nation would be considered elderly (65 and over) by 2030; by the middle of this century, the bureau reported that the elderly population would more than double to 80 million.
This poses an interesting question public officials have pondered since this data was released: How will programs and services, mandated to serve the elderly, have to change to accommodate their sizable demographic?
In Columbia County, there’s also a large portion of the population over age 85. “That’s our legacy,” said Jablonka, referring to an agricultural community where people tend to stay in their own homes and which younger people are prone to migrating away.
“You build the program you’re going to need — not the one you need today. We need to create communities where people can age in place.”
A long-term care workforce is needed to attend to the health concerns of a growing elderly population, as well as a paradigm shift. It has been a normal occurrence to place the elderly in nursing homes when, according to Jablonka, quality of life would be just as good, if not better at home.
For every person in a nursing home, Jablonka said, “two to three are being successfully maintained in the community, at maybe a third of the cost.”
Community-centered care, Jablonka said, is a good way to respond to the increase in the aging population. “Our sense of place is just so fundamentally important in the human experience,” Jablonka said, adding that care should “build on natural structures in the community.”
In Columbia County, building on a traditional social connection to land (as an agricultural community there is history and importance in farming and in farming community) is important. “We don’t want to replace it.”
The county also has a large population of part-time residents who plan to retire here. These individuals may have a much weaker connection to the community, less support from neighbors, and children who may live hundreds of miles away.
“The demand for services for those people might be greater because they don’t have children (close by). It’s a community that is required. These are human beings!
“This needs to be talked about on a regular basis,” Jablonka said. “You do that by listening to lots of people, doing some survey research, looking at numbers and asking for lots of participation.
“We know we’re going to need additional staff. We may have to organize ourselves differently.”
For example, the kitchen in Philmont that is run by the Office for the Aging for Meals on Wheels delivery food is operating at close to capacity now; the office delivers about 88,000 meals a year through the Meals on Wheels program.
The Office for the Aging’s budget is currently $1.7 million, and three caseworkers split approximately 300 cases in different categories.
The focus group meeting on Sept.18 will be “fairly structured”, according to Jablonka, but it is open to the public and more dialogue will follow on the topic.
“The best way to foretell the future is to create it. You have to. Complex systems are very dynamic. What they’re going to look like and how it’s going to play out takes time.”
To reach reporter Francesca Olsen call 518-828-1616, ext. 2272, or e-mail folsen@registerstar.com. To comment directly on this story, visit www.registerstar.com.
A focus group Sept. 18 will attempt to advance the dialogue. The Office for the Aging Advisory Council will hold a meeting at 1 p.m., open to the public, to discuss options for how to handle an increasing caseload as time progresses. All five Hudson supervisors were invited to the focus group, said Office for the Aging Administrator Kary Jablonka.
Columbia County is the second oldest county in New York State, with 20.1 percent of the population over age 60. The U.S. Census Bureau reported that 1 in 5 citizens in the nation would be considered elderly (65 and over) by 2030; by the middle of this century, the bureau reported that the elderly population would more than double to 80 million.
This poses an interesting question public officials have pondered since this data was released: How will programs and services, mandated to serve the elderly, have to change to accommodate their sizable demographic?
In Columbia County, there’s also a large portion of the population over age 85. “That’s our legacy,” said Jablonka, referring to an agricultural community where people tend to stay in their own homes and which younger people are prone to migrating away.
“You build the program you’re going to need — not the one you need today. We need to create communities where people can age in place.”
A long-term care workforce is needed to attend to the health concerns of a growing elderly population, as well as a paradigm shift. It has been a normal occurrence to place the elderly in nursing homes when, according to Jablonka, quality of life would be just as good, if not better at home.
For every person in a nursing home, Jablonka said, “two to three are being successfully maintained in the community, at maybe a third of the cost.”
Community-centered care, Jablonka said, is a good way to respond to the increase in the aging population. “Our sense of place is just so fundamentally important in the human experience,” Jablonka said, adding that care should “build on natural structures in the community.”
In Columbia County, building on a traditional social connection to land (as an agricultural community there is history and importance in farming and in farming community) is important. “We don’t want to replace it.”
The county also has a large population of part-time residents who plan to retire here. These individuals may have a much weaker connection to the community, less support from neighbors, and children who may live hundreds of miles away.
“The demand for services for those people might be greater because they don’t have children (close by). It’s a community that is required. These are human beings!
“This needs to be talked about on a regular basis,” Jablonka said. “You do that by listening to lots of people, doing some survey research, looking at numbers and asking for lots of participation.
“We know we’re going to need additional staff. We may have to organize ourselves differently.”
For example, the kitchen in Philmont that is run by the Office for the Aging for Meals on Wheels delivery food is operating at close to capacity now; the office delivers about 88,000 meals a year through the Meals on Wheels program.
The Office for the Aging’s budget is currently $1.7 million, and three caseworkers split approximately 300 cases in different categories.
The focus group meeting on Sept.18 will be “fairly structured”, according to Jablonka, but it is open to the public and more dialogue will follow on the topic.
“The best way to foretell the future is to create it. You have to. Complex systems are very dynamic. What they’re going to look like and how it’s going to play out takes time.”
To reach reporter Francesca Olsen call 518-828-1616, ext. 2272, or e-mail folsen@registerstar.com. To comment directly on this story, visit www.registerstar.com.
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