|
|
Aging, Disability Center Reaches Out to Rural Areas
By Elizabeth Putnam, Wausau Daily Herald
December 18, 2004
Thousands of elderly and disabled people in Marathon and Wood counties could soon get the same top-notch care available to Wausau-area residents.
Right now, Wausau-area residents have access to respite care, transportation for medical appointments and 24-hour access by telephone to professionals, among other services, through the Marathon County Aging and Disability Resource Center.
Older or disabled people in Wood County and parts of Marathon County, however, must travel to get certain care or participate in programs, such as nutrition and consumer awareness sessions. Wood County residents must go without the care or programs if they are not offered there because county agencies don't provide assistance to residents from other counties.
Marathon County's Aging and Disability Resource Center and Wood County's Aging Center, the agencies that provide public assistance to the elderly, want to join forces to expand programs in the Marshfield and Wisconsin Rapids areas with the help of state dollars.
The goal is to duplicate Marathon County's aging and disability services in Wisconsin Rapids, where programs are limited for seniors and don't exist for the disabled, and in Marshfield, where Wood County provides only a part-time branch for seniors and Marathon County residents in the city are far from the services in Wausau.
"As we look at the aging population and the fact that people with disabilities are living longer, a need for people to have these services are vital," said Deb Menacher, director of Marathon County's Aging and Disability Resource Center. "Especially southwest Marathon County, the Marshfield area, would be able to access services if we did this regionalized plan."
In Marathon County, about 16,321 residents are over the age of 65, and about 4,000 seniors and disabled residents are served by the county's aging and disability center.
About 15,000 Wood County residents are over the age of 60. In the past year, the county's aging center served 3,107 of those seniors, or about 20 percent.
Joe Kain, 76, of Marshfield is eligible for services offered by Wood County's Aging Center, although he himself does not use them. He knows the services available in Marshfield are stretched thin, he said.
If Marshfield expands its part-time services for seniors, "it would absolutely be a great thing," Kain said. "There needs to be more people providing services."
It has been a struggle to provide adequate services to people in Marshfield, said Rosemary Felice, director of Wood County's center.
"We have limited staff and limited funds. Working with Marathon County would help us expand our services and help build on that," Felice said.
But the plan for the counties to work together isn't set in stone - it could be a struggle to get money from the state.
State officials have said they want all 72 counties in Wisconsin to have aging and disability centers within the next five years. Right now, only seven counties provide those centers. To meet the goal, the state has pooled money to give to counties willing to start an aging and disability center.
But these counties must apply for cash, and it's a competitive process, said Donna McDowell, director of aging and long-term care for the state.
"It would be the first county partnership for something like this, and the state would welcome a proposal from a regional consortium, but the funding is not guaranteed," McDowell said.
The plan is not without some critics. Margaret Franckowiak, president of the Senior Community Center Association in Marshfield, said the state should spend less time worrying about the elderly.
"They should spend more time worrying about the state debt," Franckowiak said.
Marathon and Wood counties are working on a proposal to be submitted to the state in January. Expansion of the programs could begin as early as January 2006.
"This is about a change in how we do business," Felice said. "We want to make sure every senior and disabled person in Wood and Marathon counties knows that there are services available to them. We really want to make this happen."
|
|
