Tag Archives for Department of Elderly Affairs

Delegates Reject Bush’s Policies

Published in Senior Digest on January 2006

President George Bush and congressional Republican leaders supporting Social Security reform through private savings accounts, saw their policy soundly rejected at the White House Conference on Aging (WHCoA) held last month in Washington, D.C.

According to AARP State Director Kathleen Connell, who was appointed to the Rhode Island WHCoA delegation by U.S. Sen. Jack Reed, Bush’s private sector approach to Social Security reform got a big thumbs down.

The president also took a hit on his new Medicare prescription drug benefit program, which offers insurance coverage through the private sector. Delegates voted for a strategy that calls for replacing the new Medicare drug benefit with a government-run program.

By the end of the fifth WHCoA, 50 resolutions dealing with a variety of policy issues were approved by the 1,200 delegates. Most of the top 10 resolutions concern the need to create a comprehensive national strategy to address the long-term care of the nation’s frailest and most vulnerable seniors.

While the delegates took a couple of swings at Bush, the president made an obvious political snub when he failed to appear at the four-day conference and sent Health and Human Services Secretary Michael O. Leavitt, as a replacement. That goes in the record books as the first time a president was no-show at the national aging conference, held every decade since 1962.  Presidents John Kennedy, Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton did make a showing to welcome the delegates.

Moya Thompson, WHCoA deputy director for outreach, stated the conference’s Policy Committee had initially approved 73 resolutions, sharing them with the 1,200 delegates before they arrived in Washington.  Thompson said that three voting sessions were scheduled at the beginning of the WHCoA, with each delegate having an opportunity to vote once to choose their top 50 resolutions. The 50 resolutions that received the most votes were presented at the conference.

According to Thompson, 56 implementation strategy workshops, at least one for each of the 50 resolutions, were held. By law, the resolutions must be delivered to the president and Congress six months after conference, Thompson said.

Counnell said many of the delegates felt that the WHCoA agenda was controlled too much by the Policy Committee appointed by the Bush administration and the Republican-controlled Congress. “This was very visible to those attending,” she said.

Another organizational issue, Connell said, was concern over the Policy Committee not allowing delegates to submit resolutions for a vote in addition to the selected 73. At previous conferences, she said, additional resolutions could be considered if petitioned by 10 percent of the delegates.

Connell said that the Rhode Island delegates were a very cohesive group. “Everybody was on the same page in advocating for issues. Given the size of our delegation, we were very effective,” she said.

Corinne Calise Russo, director of the state Department of Elderly Affairs, said she was pleased that the top vote-getting resolution was the reauthorization of the Older Americans Act, a priority of the Rhode Island delegation.

Russo, appointed by Gov. Donald Carcieri as a delegate, said, “Delegates throughout the nation attending the conference felt that the Older Americans Act should be enacted with increased funding for all of the act’s titles, within the first six months following the end of the conference.”

Ensuring older Americans have transportation options to maintain  their mobility and independence was another resolution that received strong support, Russo said, stressing the importance of keeping seniors independent and driving for as long as possible. She believes the resolution can be implemented at the state level by using new signage on highways, making lane markings extremely visible in rain and at night and designing larger and more visible crossing signs at busy intersections.

While older worker issues and affordable housing designed to allow seniors to age in place are in the top 50 resolutions, and are high on Russo’s agenda, she stressed federal and state policy makers must not forget the growing numb er of grandparents who are raising their grandchildren.

“We need to expand our national family caregiver programs funded by the Older Americans Act, to provide more support for older persons taking on this new role,” she said.

Barbara Rayner Leaves Legacy of Support

Published in Senior Digest on August 2004

Barbara Ann Rayner was a tireless advocate for Rhode Island seniors and community-based services for the past 20 years, according to her peers who looked back at her life. They knew her as a dedicated professional with a great sense of humor.

Rayner, who served as Coventry’s human resource director, the first director of the community’s senior citizens center and later as director of Coventry Human Services, died last month after a long illness.

For five years, she served as director of the state’s Department of Elderly Affairs (DEA) being replaced by the then newly-elected Gov. Donald Carcieri.

She served on the Kent County Coalition of Nonprofit Executives and was a Rhode Island delegate for the White House Conference on Aging. She was appointed by the governor to sit on the Advisory Council on Health, the Commission on Care and Safety of the Elderly and the state’s Para-transit Task Force.

As a former director of the Rhode Island Association of Senior Programs and a founding member of CHOICES, a coalition of community-based care providers, Rayner fought to adequately fund services to keep Rhode Island seniors in their homes and independent.

At the national level, Rayner served as the immediate past chair of the National Institute of Senior Centers, a constituent union of the National Council on Aging (NCOA). She was also a contributing author of the revised Senior Center Standards & Guidelines, and was actively involved in NCOA’s policy agenda and international affairs initiatives.

Rayner was recognized nationally for her advocacy’s efforts when she received the Founders Award from NCOA in 1998, and was recognized on the state-level in 1999 with the Thomas A. Lamb Home Care Award.

Maureen Maigret, director of public policy for Lt. Governor Charles Fogarty, remember that Rayner was “very sensitive to the needs of the elderly and to ageism.”

The former DEA director was a passionate, dedicated professional, says Maigret, who noted that Rayner always knew the importance of laughter and having fund.

Under the DEA tenure of Rayner, home and community-based services greatly expanded in the state,” noted Maigret, saying that she recognized the value of the state providing family support services.

Rick Ryan, director of senior services for South Kingstown, worked closely with Rayner for more than 25 years. “We were very close friends and this grew out of our professional life,” he said.

Ryan says that Rayner was fund to be with and had a tremendous sense of human. She was willing to let her hair down, making her very approachable and real to her colleagues, according to Ryan. As a seasoned professional, she even mentored dozens of others in the aging network both locally and nationally over her 25-year career, he said.

At the national level, Rayner and Ryan, who served on NCOA’s Public Policy Committee were successful in changing the language in the federally enacted Older America’s Act. “Provisions noting that ‘states shall’ were changed to ‘states will’.” This strengthened the act and actually put teeth in it, he said.

Paula Parker, executive director of the Rhode Island Partnership for Home Care, remembers Rayner as “being passionate and committed to community based services.”

The members of CHOICES were very pleased to see her appointed as DEA director and then see her translate this passion for home and community based services through her leadership to creating state programming and policy supporting this level of care,” she says.

Joan Crawley, director of the Pawtucket-based Leon Mathieu Senior Center, notes that Rhode Island’s senior centers network owes Rayner “a debt of gratitude.” Under her leadership as director of DEA, support for Rhode Island’s senior centers grew by leaps and bounds,” Crawley observed, noting that new programs and services and initiatives were dramatically increased under her rein.

“It was her vision to see Rhode Island senior centers nationally accredited,” notes Crawley. “To this end, she not only found money to fund this project but she also worked with each of the 14 senior center directors, giving technical support and encouragement for them to successfully prepare for accreditation, Carwly says.

Crawley says that Rayner wanted no senior center left behind. “I can still remember her proud smile as each of us stepped up to the podium during NCOA’s national conference in Colorado to receive the prestigious recognition of accreditation for our senior centers,” Crawley noted.

Barbara Ann Rayner left behind a lengthy list of accomplishments that benefited senior centers and those who work for and with the elderly. She will be missed.

Study Finds Caregiving Becomes Second Job for Many

Published in Pawtucket times on April 12, 2004

The demands of caregiving can seem like a 36-hour workday, Alzheimer’s researchers Nancy Mace and Dr., Peter Rabins tell us.

So true. A new study compiled by the National Alliance for Caregiving (NAC) and the AARP that was released last week supports the researcher’s views – that caregiving can consume one’s life, often becoming a second job for many.

According to the 138-page report, entitled, “Caregiving in America,’ more Americans are now holding “second jobs” – functioning as the family caregiver.

The national caregiver survey, which was funded by MetLife Foundation, estimates there are 44.4 million adult caregivers who provide unpaid care to another adult. This care ranges from helping another manage finances, shopping for groceries, doing housework, and assisting others getting in and out of beds or chairs, getting dressed, getting to and from the toilet, bathing, showering and eating.

The study found unpaid care- provided by family caregivers – totaled $257 billion annually. Quite a sum.

Tshe caregiver study, released on April 6, paints a picture of the typical caregiver – 46 years old, married, has some college experience, and provides care to a woman age 50 and older.  The caregiver’s recipient is most likely an older female who is widowed.

The findings are based on a national survey of 6,139 adults, 1,247 of whom are qualified as caregivers. The margin of error for a sample this size is 2.8 percent, at a 95 percent level of confidence.

Almost six in 10, or 59 percent, of these caregivers either work or have worked while providing care, the study found. Moreover, 62 percent have had to make some adjustments to their jobs, from arriving late to work to giving up a job entirely.

Caregiving does not only impact the personal and working life of women, the study says, but it impacts men, too. Almost four in ten (39 percent) caregivers are men, and 60 percent of these individuals are working full-time.

In a written statement announcing the release of this study, the release of this study, Gail Hunt, NAC’s executive director, noted that the study found caregivers need more information and education. “Two-thirds of caregiver respondents says they need help or information on at least one of 14 activities or issues that caregivers commonly face,” she said.

The study’s findings indicate that three in 10 caregivers carry the heaviest load and are most likely to report physical strain, emotional stress and financial hardship as a result of their caregiving responsibilities, compared to caregivers who provide fewer hours of care and perform fewer  demanding tasks.

In addition, the study found caregivers who provide higher levels of care (most likely women) may find their responsibilities complicated by the fact they tend to be older and more likely to say their health is only “fair,” compared to younger caregivers.

Nearly eight in 10 people who need care are age 50 or older (79 percent), the study found. Caregivers say these older care recipients are afflicted with age-related health problems (15 percent), specifically heart disease, cancer, diabetes, Alzheimer’s or other mental confusion ailments.

But younger recipients (ages 18-49) of caregiving often face problems of mental illness and depression (23 percent), the study added.

Caregiving may consume a person’s later years.

The study found the average length of caregiving provided is 4.3 years; however, three in 10 caregivers report providing care for more than five years.

Older caregivers (ages 50 and older), who tend to be caring for their mothers and grandmothers, are among the most likely to have provided care for 20 years or more. The survey found 17 percent of caregivers between the ages of 50-64 years and 18 percent of those over 65 have been providing care for more than a decade.

“I think people who are dealing with caregiving are unaware that many of their coworkers are dealing with the same thing,” AARP Board Member Jennie Chin Hansen claimed in the written statement. “This report shows just how common this  is,” she says.

Like the caregiver respondents of NAC/AARP’s caregiver study, tens of thousands of Ocean State caregivers juggle the demands of taking care of an older relative while taking care of their family and working a job. The study’s findings are just another reason why Gov. Doanld Carcieri and state lawmakers must adequately fund the Department of Elderly Affair’s (DEA) copay program and respite programs.

DEA’s co-pay program assists 1,500 frail seniors who do not qualify for the state’s Medicaid program, to partially pay for the services or certified nursing assistants (CNAs) to assist with bathing, meals, shopping, laundry and light housekeeping. In addition, DEA’s co-pay program also provides subsidies for adult day care.

Last October, DEA’s freeze on new admissions to its co-pay program left more than 200 frail seniors  on a waiting list for home and community-based services. Although Carcieri has increased funding for DEA’s co-pay program by $ 200,000 in his 2005 budget, senior groups say this amount is still not enough. The governor’s increase in his budget is estimated to only serve 60 to 80 out of the 200 seniors currently on this waiting list.

DEA’s freeze on new admissions to its respite program, which enables caregivers to take a break from the grueling demands of taking care of frail family members, may adversely impact the health and wellbeing of caregivers who can’t take advantage of this program.

The freeze placed on the respite care program will continue for the rest of this fiscal year- nobody is sure how long the freeze for this initiative will last.

In years to come, we will see a growing number of Rhode Islanders  taking on the role of unpaid caregivers (a second job) to keep a frail family member at home. Lack of access to community-based services and to caregivers oftentimes will lead to placement in  a costly nursing home.

From a budgetary stance, Carcieri and state lawmakers may well want to adequately fund DEA’s co-pay and respite program because of the ultimate cost savings to the state budget. On the other hand, supporting a policy that assists caregivers to keep seniors independent and in their homes is simply the right thing to do.