Community
Neither the participants in the Listening Sessions nor Focus Groups specifically addressed the community in any significant way. However, they both raised similar issues regarding community services; most are best covered under their own heading below. Broadly speaking, the community-related issues include access to healthcare and mental health services, reliability of transportation, availability and cost of broadband services, and the physical presence of staff from PCOA and partner agencies within community centers, public housing, and other areas where older adults congregate.
Healthcare Access
Participants in Listening Sessions introduced four distinct healthcare areas of concern. First is the belief that medical appointments are becoming more difficult to come by due to perceived shortages in medical personnel and that telemedicine is being required for many appointments. The lack of technical knowledge for on-line appointment setting and participation in telemedicine are areas of high anxiety. Second is the belief that mental health providers are also diminishing and that not enough of them accept Medicare. Third is the technology associated with both physical and mental healthcare. In addition to the lack of knowledge/know-how for navigating on-line appointments and telemedicine sessions, older adults are simply uncomfortable with the technology and the impersonal nature of the medium. Fourth is the rising costs of medical treatments and prescriptions. According to participants, Social Security and other fixed incomes cannot keep up with rising costs. Participants in Focus Groups echo many of the same sentiments as the Listening Session participants. They reported that although the stigma around mental health issues and seeking services seems to be lessening, the availability of behavioral health professionals is at crisis proportions. They are also concerned about the lack of technology skills for some older adults, when it contributes to limited access to information regarding services and inability and/or unwillingness to take advantage of telehealth and other virtual services. They added that the decreasing pandemic assistance funds in general will reduce the availability of sliding scale fee programs for those who do not meet federal poverty guidelines but still live on low fixed incomes.
Caregiving
A well-recognized shortage of direct care workers (DCW) exists nationally, in addition to the lack of availability of primary care providers/gerontologists. The discussion with Focus Group participants ranged from the paucity of individuals entering the fields, training and development issues, and respective issues of how wages of DCWs and comparatively lower compensation in the medical fields of primary care and gerontology compared to other medical subspecialties. Participants in Listening Sessions brought up some of the same themes as well as their concerns about how to access care if, or when, their family caregiver is no longer available or unable to provide caregiving.
Region II: PCOA
Area Plan 2024-2027
Page 97 of 113
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