Abstract
Whereas most of the Americans are conversant with the benefits of the social services for the senior citizens, many Americans are still not aware of the many programs which support the elderly. Designed to improve the lives of the aged citizens and protect their fundamental rights, these programs have worked wonders to support and uplift the aged citizens throughout the country. The aged citizens especially those with 65 years and above are the fastest growing group in the United States. About 11% of the U.S. total population falls under this group with the proportion ranging from 2.6% in Alaska to 18.1% in Florida. A quarter of the budget in federal governments translating to 155 billion dollars goes to facilitate the support of the elderly.
Introduction
According to a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one out of eight Americans are 65years or above. It is projected that by 2030, one out of five Americans will be 65 years or older (Mitchell, 2016). The increasing populations of the senior citizens need help for them to get quality lives and make good decisions. The help is expected to come from government agencies, families and caregivers. The senior citizens particularly the ones who solely depend on Social Security consists of majorly poor households. This paper aims at discussing several programs instituted by state, federal and local governments to help in improving the lives of the senior citizens all across the country.
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Federal Level
Medicare is a health program which aims at providing health insurance to the senior citizens who are 65 years and above, eligible for the social security program either because of disability or those with the end-stage renal disease. More than 40 million of the American citizens benefit from the Medicare program some of whom are aged citizens. Medicare is fully financed and operated at the federal level. Health care services are almost delivered through the private sector.
At the federal level, The National Institute on Aging (AoA) helps in conducting research on the well-being and health of the elderly people. Further, the institute seeks knowledge on the aging process and the conditions and diseases associated with aging to help in knowing the active period in the aging process. The health initiative for the elderly has resources on the association of aging with disability, Alzheimer's disease, physical exercise, cognitive health as well as longevity. In 1965, The U.S. Congress passed a legislation to respond to the lack of community social services for the senior citizens (Mitchell, 2016). The original law had put in place grants to states for social services and community planning as well as research and training programs in the field of aging. The legislation also put in place Administration on Aging (AoA) to help in administering the grant programs as well as to serve as the central point on issues regarding the elderly at the federal levels. Even though the elderly receive services from several federal programs, the Older Americans Act is known as the main vehicle for the many programs and delivery of nutritional and social services to the aging group. The legislation has authorized many service programs via national networks of more than 56 state agencies dealing with aging, about 629 area agencies, about 20,000 caregivers and 244 tribal organizations (Moffitt, 2015). The Administration of the Aging helps in maintaining the aging programs categorized under Home and Community Based Long Term Care, Health Prevention and Wellness, Elder Rights Protection and special projects.
State Level
At the state level, the National Association of States United for Aging and Disabilities represents the 56 agencies on disabilities and aging and promotes visionary leadership, promotion of systems across states as well as the articulation of the national policies which work to implement community-based projects for the elderly and individuals with disabilities. The elderly together with their families find services that can help them through several states website like Long Term Care Choices Navigator for Minnesota and information about housing such as the Massachusetts Department of Elder Affairs (Durand & Taylor, 2016). Different states have established different programs dealing with the elderly in the society. One such program is Texans Feeding Texans which is based in Texas and which deals with home delivered meal grant program. Georgia State has also excelled in their service delivery to the elderly. For example, in 2011, Georgia State won Administration of the Aging excellence in Action award for its outstanding performance through several programs the state initiated to help improve the lives of the senior citizens and individuals living with disabilities (Fetter & Lockwood, 2018). Several programs in Georgia State have attracted attention from several organizations which monitor activities and shape processes which give the elderly and individuals living with disabilities control over information and services. Programs which have attracted more attention at the state level include Community Living Program (CLP), Aging, and Disability Resource Connection (ADRC), as well as the new veterans, Directed Home and Community Based Services Program (VD- HCBS) (Fetter & Lockwood, 2018).
Local Level
At the local level, there are several programs which reach directly to the elderly. The Elder Death Review Teams, for instance, give authorities to counties to help in establishing death reviews for the elderly at the local levels as well as to facilitate communications amongst the organizations involved in managing cases of neglect or abuse of the elderly.
The New Hampshire Bureau of Elderly and Adult Services helps in the intake, investigation as well as management of cases for the elderly group. The workers involved in the decision-making process of the cases gather information about several reports and cases touching on the senior citizens. They use the gathered information to categorize cases depending on the incident types and the exposure of the victims as well as the risk of any impending harm (Moffitt, 2015). The bureau helps in deciding whether or not the reports are factual and if they require an immediate response. The caseworkers also use the information to determine whether or not the identified victims are safe. The caseworkers use the reports to know if in case there are elderly people who have dangerous things which the elderly may possess but are no longer in use such as huge furniture which can make them fall.
References
Durand, R. M., & Taylor, J. L. (2016). Magazine and television exposure patterns of the elderly. In Proceedings of the 1979 Academy of Marketing Science (AMS) Annual Conference (pp. 364-364). Springer, Cham.
Fetter, D. K., & Lockwood, L. M. (2018). Government Old-Age Support and Labor Supply: Evidence from the Old Age Assistance Program. American Economic Review , 108 (8), 2174-2211.
Moffitt, R. A. (2015). The deserving poor, the family, and the US welfare system. Demography , 52 (3), 729-749.
Mitchell, D. J. (2016). Pensions, Politics and the Elderly: Historic Social Movements and Their Lessons for Our Aging Society . Routledge.
