|
|
White House Ponders Aging
By Meg Heckman, Concord Monitor Online
October 26, 2005
National conference held once a decade.
In December, hundreds of people will gather in Washington, D.C., for the fifth White House Conference on Aging, where they'll figure out how the government should best serve its oldest citizens over the next decade.
Yes, policy wonks will abound. But New Hampshire's eight delegates - a group that includes a state representative, a geriatrician, social workers and an insurance broker -promise that the four-day event will help improve life for local seniors now and in the future.
"There are a lot of resources out there for our seniors, but many of them don't know where to find them. It needs to be networked," said Juliana Bergeron, a delegate who sells long-term care insurance in Keene. "I hope to bring back some program that doesn't just end with the conference . . . something that we will continue to work on."
The conference, which runs from Dec. 11 to 14, is the fifth event of its kind. The first, held in 1961, is credited as the birthplace of Medicare, Medicaid and the federal Agency on Aging. More recent conferences have been stages for debates about Social Security, health care and other social policies.
Delegates will also grapple with how 78 million baby boomers, who begin turning 60 next year, will change the way Americans view aging. Social service programs will have to adapt as well, becoming flexible enough to serve clients in their 60's and 90's at the same time.
"How can we create a society where everybody is aging well?" said delegate Stephen Gorin, a professor at Plymouth State University and the executive director of New Hampshire's chapter of the National Association of Social Workers.
Already the delegates have chatted with hundreds of seniors and social service providers across the state, amassing suggestions to bring to Washington. The list includes offering tax breaks for people who house older relatives, building more affordable housing and shrinking government bureaucracy.
"We basically go wherever we're invited," said Barbara Salvatore, a delegate from Bedford. "I think after this conference, we'll have a much better sense of what priorities will be set on a national level."
Salvatore, a consultant on aging issues, cautioned that many of the conference's suggestions may take years to put into practice - but she hopes the wait will be worth it.
"It's going to be impacting all of us as we age in the next 10 years," she said. "It will impact us whether we're talking about older members of our families, as we plan for our own old age. It will certainly impact us as taxpayers."
Gorin, who attended the 1995 conference, expects Social Security to again dominate the debate, as many delegates try to digest President Bush's bid at privatization.
"There's much more widespread disagreement about Social Security and Medicare today then there was then," he said.
As an instructor at Dartmouth Medical School, Dr. Steven Bartels is predictably concerned with retooling health care to better serve older patients. Nursing homes need to be as humane as possible, he said, and elderly people should have the option of living out their final years at home. He'd also like to see the government funnel more money into researching Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia.
"Mental disorders in older people are really the number one epidemic," said Bartels, a geriatrician. "Many older people can live with arthritis or physical disability . . . but the thing that often scares them the most is that they're going to lose their minds and their ability to think."
Rep. Mary Griffin, a Windham Republican and delegate, hopes the conference leads to programs that will help seniors stay independent longer through affordable housing and better public transportation.
"No one wants to be a beggar," she said. "A lot of people have the wrong attitude. Seniors can be very helpful in life."
|
|
