A tsunami of aging

I read recently that close to 200 individuals and companies donated several million dollars to complete the Boys & Girls Club of Western Nevada in Carson City. I was thrilled, as it is a wonderful place for young people to spend their time and learn to become good citizens. It is long overdue.

At the same time, however, I was saddened that a newspaper story about an elderly woman in Carson City, Heidi Manfroi, living in poverty and in a mobile home with no amenities (and in a wheelchair, to boot) brought only three donations, one of which was mine.

The other two were from low-income seniors themselves, who gave because they were a “little bit better off,” according to them.

I will continue to try and get help for Heidi so at least she has a door instead of a piece of plastic. However, isn’t it a sad lament that we don’t treat our seniors as well as our youth, or hold them in the same high regard?

Nevada government at all levels needs to wake up to the fact that it is facing a tsunami of aging, and no one seems to see it coming.

Here are some facts taken from the Sanford Center for Aging at the University of Nevada, Reno that should open everyone’s eyes:

— From 1990 to 2000, Nevada’s population age 65 and older grew by 72 percent while the 85-and-older segment grew by 128 percent.

— From 2000 to 2005, Nevada’s 65-and-older population increased by 19.7 percent as compared to 3.8 percent nationally.

— Those 85 and older in Nevada, referred to as the “oldest old,” increased by 41.3 percent from 2000 to 2005.

— Nevada’s elder population is projected to increase from 11.2 percent of the population in 2004 to 18.6 percent in 2030. If the projection is accurate, this means Nevada’s senior population will have increased 264 percent in just 30 years.

According to the Sanford Center for Aging:

“The increase in elders has come from both the longer life span as well as the migration of older adults from other states. The demand for services continues to grow proportionately.

“The impact of this aging statewide population will be dramatic, but nowhere as great as in the health care system. Current data show that although Americans are living longer, they are not necessarily living in better health during their senior years. It is well-known that elders are the biggest consumers of health care. Action must be taken now to address the mounting health care needs of this rapidly growing population in Nevada. Alternative programs to institutionalization are a must.”

Former Gov. Kenny Guinn allocated a portion of the tobacco-settlement dollars to provide funds to nonprofit agencies serving older Nevadans to help keep them independent and at home as long as possible. However, those funds are diminishing and there is no plan to replace them.

The Retired Senior and Volunteer Program for rural Nevada program has five direct-service programs designed to help keep seniors at home, for which we do not charge. We provide the Lifeline Program (a medical-alert service) on a sliding scale; however, we struggle to pay the full cost we are billed, which is about $15,000 a month. Another RSVP program in Northern Nevada, RSVP of Washoe County, offers Senior Outreach Services and other volunteer programs that are designed to help seniors remain independent in their homes.

Before he left office, Gov. Guinn allocated $300,000 into the executive budget to help RSVP offer the Lifeline Program to low-income seniors in the rural counties. But it was subsequently removed, and thus we cannot offer this service, which is a deterrent to institutionalization, an option that is a lot more costly ($360 a year for a Lifeline unit versus an average in Nevada of $62,500 to keep one senior in a care facility for one year).

I realize that education issues consume the majority of the state budget, and certainly we must, as a state, have educated people to be able to offer all potential employers qualified candidates in all categories of service. However, the situation for mounting health care for seniors becomes more urgent every day.

The state of Nevada needs to take a better and closer look at the nonprofit agencies that for years have been keeping seniors at home by utilizing volunteer help, and assist these agencies by funding them to a greater degree or the tsunami will be catastrophic to state agencies responsible for aging services.

If you read this and can help Heidi Manfroi, we have set up a trust account in her name at First National Bank of Nevada, Account No. 16504831. I wish I could say that Heidi’s case is an isolated one, but it isn’t. Is this how we treat what Tom Brokaw called the “greatest generation”? We can all do better.

Janice Ayres has been executive director of the Nevada Rural Counties RSVP program since 1979. She writes from Carson City.