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Treatment of Elderly in Disaster to Be Topic at Session
By Diane C. Lade, South Florida Sun-Sentinel
USA
September 13, 2005
The winds of Hurricane Katrina may end up being felt as late as December, and as far away as Washington, D.C.
That's when the White House Conference on Aging will convene. Held once a decade since 1965, its policy recommendations have helped shape Medicare, Social Security and other landmark programs for seniors.
Now, the conference may change the way disaster relief organizations deal with the aged and disabled, if testimony at a preconference session in West Palm Beach on Monday is any indication. Planners always intended the session to focus in part on disaster response, but stories of seniors dying together as Katrina's floodwaters filled their nursing home gave the presentations an edge.
"I hope we do everything possible so that fragile and impaired elders are not left behind, and that they do not get pushed aside in wheelchairs with blankets covering their heads because they have expired," said Mary Barnes, chief executive officer of Alzheimer's Community Care in West Palm Beach.
She told the conference's Policy Committee that there should be a tracking system to ensure Alzheimer's patients and their families followed mandatory evacuation orders.
Dr. Al Aparicio, a Chicago geriatrician and committee member, said disaster response may play a bigger role in December than originally anticipated, when the 1,200 delegates from around the country gather. They will come armed with a list of 100 resolutions from the Policy Committee, which has been gathering suggestions from similar forums nationwide since last year. The delegates' job will be to draft 50 resolutions and a clear plan how to implement and finance each one, with the final report to be sent to the president and Congress.
More than 200 people attended the forum, hosted by the Area Agency on Aging of Palm Beach/Treasure Coast, which coordinates services for a five-county area. Bob McFalls, the agency's chief executive officer, spoke about a proposal that would give local agencies money to plan for the 78 million Baby Boomers, the first of whom are about to turn 60.
U.S. Rep. Clay Shaw, R-Fort Lauderdale, came to the forum to push what he thinks should be at the top of the White House conference to-do list: changes in the Social Security system that would allow workers to privately invest part of their payroll taxes. Shaw and several other Republicans have proposed using Social Security's trust fund to finance personal investment accounts.
But Policy Committee Chairperson Dorcas Hardy cautioned: "This is called the White House Conference on Aging, not the White House Conference on Social Security."
With the highly political Social Security question already before Congress, Hardy said she hopes delegates will concentrate on other pressing issues: a comprehensive national policy on long-term care, ways to encourage seniors to live healthier and stay fit and housing options for Boomers.
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