‘The moment is now’

Sociologist Paula Prince has analyzed the regional needs among both the homeless and the elderly populations. While she finds both groups deserving of attention, she is quick to point out: “Homeless people can get three meals a day between the Rescue Mission and other shelters, but there are seniors for whom the five Meals on Wheels are the only meals they get all week. That program is their lifeline.”

Long-term solutions are complex, and many would require a welter of systematic, multi-jurisdictional changes, including at regional, state and federal levels. Virginia historically has supported institutional care at the expense of community programs such as home-based services. Nationwide, the state ranks sixth for funding of institutional care and 38th for funding of community prevention programs.Sylvia Coleman holds a cup of communion wine for Hattie Brown. Once a month, Coleman drives a bus for Maple Street Baptist Church. (Click image to enlarge)

“Across the board with social issues we spend far more time mitigating the effects of problems than we do preventing them,” Prince said.

But some communities with similar demographics are tackling their aging problems head-on, according to Elise J. Bolda, director of the Portland, Me.-based Community Partnerships for Older Adults. Bolda has administered $750,000 planning grants from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to 16 communities preparing for the rush of retiring baby boomers.

In Culpeper, a partnership called Aging Together used the grant to prioritize needs and has already implemented several initiatives. Those include a new adult day care center and a program to help low-income seniors get free prescriptions.

“We have buy-in across the board within the five different counties and regionally to make this work; that’s the key,” said April Holmes, communications director for Aging Together.

To help seniors get to medical appointments, the partnership created a network of volunteer drivers. To address labor shortages, it collaborated with Germanna Community College to draw more health-care workers into the geriatrics field and retain the ones they already have.

(See sidebar for a list of what other cities are doing.)

“Communities are just now starting to deal with the issue,” Bolda said. “If you’re already not addressing the needs of your seniors, you’re surely not going to be able to do it 10 years from now.”Geriatric physician Dr. Mike Camardi gives patient Joyce May a checkup at the Center for Healthy Aging. (Click image to enlarge)

Council of Community Services director Pam Kestner-Chappelear heads the Senior Citizens Coordinating Council that grew out of the 2005 report on seniors. The group is involved in several initiatives to meet senior needs, including trying to expand funding for transportation of the elderly. In January, it participated in a Roanoke symposium on senior housing issues: from affordability and handicap accessibility to the increasing need for home repairs.

It’s also pushing education among employers — how to provide resources and information for employees who are taking care of elderly relatives.

“We need to explore how to bring additional money here to help pay for things that keep seniors independent as long as possible,” Kestner-Chappelear said.

Werner, the Carilion executive, challenges area leaders not to wait on federal and state governments for a fix. “As a community, we need to come together and say: ‘What are our strategies for addressing a population that’s increasingly old, frail and uninsured?’ ”

Geriatrician Dr. Michael Camardi agrees. Two years ago, the 60-year-old moved to Roanoke because he wanted to work for Carilion’s Center for Healthy Aging — and because he saw Roanoke as a great place to retire. “I’ve been in this field for 30 years, and we had hoped that it wouldn’t come to this point,” he said. “Right now in geriatrics, we need more of everything,” from increased staffing to better access to medical care.

“As a nation and as a community, we need to start thinking about the elderly,” he added. “It begins at the grassroots level, and it begins at the bedside.

“The moment is now.”

Data Delivery Editor Matt Chittum contributed to this story.