According to the article by Voit and Vickers (2012), the Population Resource Center (PRC) estimates that presently one American in an assemblage of eight individuals is of age sixty-five years and above as compared to one person in a group of ten people during the 1950s. PRC also stipulates that one individual in five Americans will be of age sixty-five or older by 2030 as it is already happening in Florida. According to the PRC estimations, the population of such people is expected to increase steadily and even double by 2030. The increasing figure of the senior members of the society will require assistance as they continue growing old so as to uplift their living standard and enable them make wise decisions as they approach the end of their life. The type of assistance that such people get and the people who provide it requires the implementation of policies that can ensure that caregivers, their families, and the responsible government organizations are brought on board.
Federal resources such as the National Institute on Aging (NIA) was formed to make it possible for the government to conduct and support research about aging as well as the well-being and health of the people who are of age sixty and above (Sokolovsky, 2009). The institute’s role is to comprehend the process of aging and its nature, conditions and diseases that relate to getting older so as to extend the active and healthy years of life. NIA also has its branch called Health and Aging Initiative that researches on women’s and men’s health, cognitive and memory health, financial and legal planning, healthy aging and longevity, doctor-patient communication, Alzheimer’s disease, disability, and care-giving. Additionally, the National Association of States United for Aging and Disabilities (NASUAD) supports the expression of the policies at the national level that support community and home based services for the older individuals.
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The SSL Alzheimer’s Disease Task Force of 2009 was put in place to bring together state officers, families affected by dementia, social service agencies that serve individuals living with dementia, and the representatives from the industries that provide long-term care to the aging persons (Sokolovsky, 2009). The core objective of the policy is to identify gaps in service delivery and come up with recommendations that are date specific, including the legislations that have been suggested so as to fill the service gaps.
The SSL Senior Alert Program of 2009 develops a program for the statewide, regional, or local notification of an aging person who has gone missing. The bill provides the definition of a missing aging person as an adult who has reached the age of sixty years and above, has a cognitive impairment that makes him incapable of caring for himself without any help, encompassing a dementia or Alzheimer’s disease’s diagnosis ( Campbell, 2011 ). The persons are said to have gone missing if nobody knows there whereabouts. Their disappearance must also pose a serious threat to their safety and health. The law also stipulates that no department that belongs to either the sheriff or the police shall maintain or create any policy that demands for a waiting duration before accepting the report concerning a senior adult who has gone missing. The departments are also needed to enter descriptive and identifying information about the missing aging persons into the National Crime Information Center Systems and the state Criminal Information Network in a period of two hours. The departments are then required to forward the report to the state police, start an investigation, and notify other agencies within the region that are responsibility for law-enforcement.
The SSL Elder Death Review Teams of 2003 provides counties with the authority to develop an interagency team that reviews the death of adults (Sokolovsky, 2009). The policy’s core objective is to assist the local organizations in the identification and review of suspicious deaths of the elderly and to enhance communication among the individuals who carry out autopsies and the investigators, or those who report the neglect or abuse of the elderly. Additionally, the policy specifies that the team that reviews the death of the elderly shall be made up of certain private and public entities. It also stipulates the manner in which the processes for the disclosure or sharing of information by the review team will be conducted.
The New Hampshire Adult Protective Services Structured Decision Making System of 2011 is a policy that assists the individuals who work on cases to prioritize their response of abuse and self-neglect that is directed on the senior adults and the ones who are incapacitated. The focus of the caseworkers is on the individuals who stay with their caregivers and relatives, as well as those who live alone ( Campbell, 2011 ) . The system is operated by the New Hampshire Bureau of the Elderly and Adult Services whereby, the staff of the Bureau uses the system for the intake, management, and investigation of the cases. The system that is mainly for making decisions is composed of a sequence of basic queries that are of importance to the caseworkers during the gathering of information concerning their reports. The information that is gathered is used in the prioritization of situations based on the incidents’ severity, the victims’ vulnerability, and the possible risk of any harm to the victim in the future. The system assists the staff of the bureau to make decisions if there is any truth in the reports concerning neglect and abuse of the elderly that need immediate response. After verification of the validity of the report, the caseworkers will commence their investigations on the issues that are presented before them by the victim.
The system is also very significant to the caseworkers who use it to process data that they get when they visit the victims at their homes. The system is used in the provision of judgment if such individuals are unsafe, conditionally safe, and safe (Gilleard & Higgs, 2005). Such a determination is vital in structuring the services that the caseworkers come with to help the victims, and the necessity of more visits. For instance, caseworkers work alongside the individuals who are considered conditionally safe to remove or move the possibly risky items like big furniture that pose a threat to their lives yet they no longer use them. They can conduct their investigations for a period of two months and visit the elderly whenever it becomes necessary.
When finalizing their investigations, the individuals who work on cases use the New Hampshire Adult Protective Services Structured Decision Making System of 2011 usually have to categorize the victims as high, moderate, or low risk of harm in the future, and if it is necessary to commence cases. The organization normally does not provide services that are ongoing or proceed with investigating persons who are categorized as facing low risk. However, the system offers various types of services as caseworkers pay visits to the elderly who they categorize as facing high or moderate risks of being harmed in the future. The system is also used by the staff to examine the needs and strengths of the victims, and to create information into a formal and a continuing case.
To conclude with, the U.S government cares for its senior adults. Therefore, the already discussed policies in this paper are imperative at ensuring that the elderly are well taken care of by the members of their families and the government agencies.
References
Campbell, A. L. (2011). How Policies Make Citizens: Senior Political Activism and the American Welfare State . Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Gilleard, C., & Higgs, P. (2005). Contexts of ageing: Class, cohort and community . Cambridge: Polity.
Sokolovsky, J. (2009). The cultural context of aging: Worldwide perspectives . Westport, Conn: Praeger.
Voit, B. & Vickers, N. (2012). Policies and Programs to help America’s Senior Citizens. The Council of State Governments . Retrieved from http://knowledgecenter.csg.org/kc/content/policies-and-programs-help-america%E2%80%99s-senior-citizens
