Finding Effective Solutions for Seniors

CINDY SANDERS

Finding Effective Solutions for Seniors

Council on Aging Provides Links to Resources


For an agency that doesn't "do" anything, the Council on Aging of Greater Nashville certainly accomplishes a lot.

"We're not a service provider so we don't need a huge staff," explained Maribeth Farringer, executive director of the non-profit agency. "We're set up to bring in expertise from other agencies to focus on specific issues. Our mission is to find comprehensive solutions for the unmet needs of seniors and their caregivers."

The organization was founded in 1985 as the result of a study conducted by the office of Mayor Richard Fulton to look at gaps in care for seniors. Farringer said there were many recommendations that resulted from the study, including the formation of a small organization to continue to monitor service gaps and work with other agencies to address pressing issues.

While not a provider in the traditional sense of the word, the Council on Aging (COA) facilitates numerous initiatives on behalf of the community. One of the largest tasks the agency undertakes is creating a directory of services, which is available both in print and online.

"We print it every other year," Farringer said. "It's about 300 pages, and we print about 35,000 copies. What we hear over and over again from service providers is that this is their 'Bible' for helping clients."

She added the publication is written for seniors and their caregivers but is equally important in letting providers know what options exist. Chapters are divided into areas such as transportation, veteran's services, emergency assistance, mental health, in-home services, housing options, health services, legal and consumer matters and much more.

The publication is available to providers for a fee of $5, but sponsors receive a number of free copies in exchange for their financial support. The Directory of Services for Senior Citizens is free, however, for seniors and their families and is available at local library branches.

Farringer noted the information is also accessible to everyone at no charge online. Maintaining the online version of the directory, which receives approximately 50,000 hits a month, led the COA to dedicate a staff person to ensuring information is updated monthly to provide the most up-to-date information. She added the directory has broad appeal across a wide range of income demographics and includes everything from information on low-income subsidies to options with no financial qualifiers to high-end services.

"One thing we find," said Farringer, "is that about half the phone calls we get come from adult children, and they really know less about senior services than their parents. A most common misperception is that Medicare will pay for everything."

To help families better prepare for the future, the COA has recently published, "Aging & Care: Things Families Need to Know." Farringer said that while some of the information overlaps the directory, the book really offers families, friends and caregivers constructive ideas on how to begin important conversations about the inevitability of aging. For example, the publication includes red flags that signify a senior might need to stop driving. The manual also talks about what steps could be taken if those red flags are present such as having a physician intervene.

Another important service the COA offers is scam alerts. Based on the popularity of a seminar the organization hosted a couple of years ago, the COA now disseminates the "scam of the month."

"Unfortunately, there's no shortage," Farringer lamented, adding that seniors are easy targets. "They're lonely, and they really love talking to that person on the phone, and they are polite so they don't just slam the phone down."

A major focus for COA, Farringer said, is on transportation as it is so intertwined with every other aspect of a senior's life.

"If seniors can't get to where they need to go, they can't get to the doctor, whether for a real medical problem or a routine check-up. If they can't get to the grocery, they won't eat right and that will impact their health. Plus, it's a quality of life issue," she said.

Several years ago, the COA created a transportation report and came up with seven recommendations to improve options for seniors. Now the HCA Foundation and Frist Foundation have provided grant money to help stakeholders implement those recommendations.

Farringer said examples of work already done by various agencies include training modules for taxi drivers, improved sidewalks and flashing signs at street crossings that tell how many seconds are left before the light turns. Money has also been made available to conduct outreach for BusLink by MTA, which picks seniors up near their home and takes them to a major intersection to catch a regular MTA route.

A pilot program is now being launched in Bellevue in cooperation with the Senior Center, which is housed at the Bellevue YMCA. Seniors can call in grocery orders to Publix or Kroger's, and the Senior Center van will pick up and deliver the order, thereby helping eliminate one barrier to seniors receiving proper nutrition.

The next step, Farringer said, is to utilize volunteers from various congregations in Bellevue to assist with additional transportation needs.

"A big gap that we saw was a lack of escorted transportation, and this was particularly a problem for medical appointments," she noted, adding that in addition to pure transportation, the escort also provides another set of ears to hear physician instructions.

Finding innovative ways to fill gaps is a growing necessity as the nation's senior population explodes. Farringer said the Council on Aging of Greater Nashville is more than happy to serve in their role as the eyes and ears for the area's senior community and bring together providers to find effective solutions.