Age-Friendly Buncombe Community Blog
Please help us get the word out about the Active Aging Center! Here are some talking points. Let our County Commissioners and other leadership know how important this project is to you, your friends and family, your clients and colleagues!
Click here to download and print
Click here to contact the Buncombe County Commissioners
The winter holiday season can be a joyful and celebratory time of the year. Yet, for many elders and adults with disabilities, this time of year can be especially lonely and depressing. For many years, Buncombe County Health and Human Services has held a special holiday gift drive -- the Senior Wish Tree -- to help meet the needs of our most isolated and vulnerable adults.
The Department of Aging and Adult Services works with many agency partners to identify individuals who don't have access to a support network to help with their basic needs and are going to go through the holidays alone. Each of these individuals creates a wish list and then community members are invited to select someone they would like to shop for.
Requests often includes basic items such as food, toilet paper, postage stamps, cleaning supplies, bed linens, towels, slippers, winter caps, gloves and coats, pet food, and gifts cards to Ingles or Walmart. One year a gift requested was for a roll of quarters for the laundromat. Gift requests sometimes also include special items such as a crossword puzzle book, chocolates, or a cookbook.
Social Work Supervisor, Roxann Sizemore, who coordinates the Senior Wish Tree, writes, “I personally find such enjoyment coordinating this program and look forward to it each year. It not only brings joy to me, but to the agencies who submit names, the people who select names and the recipients of the gifts.”
She continues, “I remember the first year we had the program we were unsure if the adults would think it was silly or if they would like the gifts. We were so pleased to see the excitement when the gifts were delivered. Some wanted to open their packages immediately, while others were determined to hold on to them during the holiday and open them later. All recipients were surprised that someone cared about them enough to purchase them a special gift.”
This year’s Senior Wish Tree is electronic and is available here. Please consider selecting an individual (or more!) to shop for.
Once you sign up, you will receive a confirmation email with additional information, and a reminder email before the drop-off period. Wrapped gifts will be collected at the Buncombe County Health and Human Services building at 40 Coxe Avenue December 8, 9 and 10 between the hours of 8am and 5pm.
For more questions, or to schedule an alternative drop-off time, please contact Roxann Sizemore at 828-250-5721 or roxann.sizemore@buncombecounty.org
The Senior Wish Tree has a long track record of success because of our many Age-Friendly partners and the generosity of our Age-Friendly community. Let’s help keep that record going this year. Click here to sign up.
National Family Caregivers Month is celebrated every November. A report recently released by the Rosalynn Carter Institute for Caregivers (RCI) found that one in five full-time workers is a caregiver, providing care on a regular basis for a family member or friend who is aging, has a serious illness, or has a disability.
Caregivers who work experience conflicts between competing responsibilities. Decades of research document the significant emotional, physical, and financial toll caregiving takes.
One 2016 study found that income-related losses sustained by family caregivers ages 50 and older who leave the workforce to care for a parent are $303,880, on average, in lost income and benefits over a caregiver's lifetime.
These negative effects have been exacerbated during the COVID-9 pandemic. A report from the University of Pittsburgh shows that caregivers are more likely than non-caregivers to be experiencing social isolation, anxiety and depression, fatigue, sleep disturbance, financial hardship, and food insecurity.
The RCI report shows that at some point in time over the course of caring for their loved one, 44 percent of family caregivers who are employed full-time said they had to cut back their work to part-time because of their caring responsibilities, and roughly 20 percent said they had to quit working altogether. As a result, a tremendous amount of talent, loyalty, and institutional knowledge leaves the workforce every day - either temporarily or full time.
Coordinated support services can reduce caregiver depression, anxiety, and stress, and enable them to provide care longer, which avoids or delays the need for costly institutional care. The benefits employed family caregivers report using most or say they would have used if available are benefits not being offered by most employers:
Perhaps some of the benefits that employed family caregivers most need are to be found within the silver lining of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Age-Friendly Buncombe has lost a great friend and champion in Gene Knoefel, who passed away on October 18, 2021. You can read about Gene's life and many contributions to our local community here. You may also enjoy this recording of a celebration of his life, which took place on October 24, 2021.
This is National Pharmacy Week (October 18-24) so it seems like a good time to talk about the risks associated with taking too many medications. The past few decades have seen a tremendous jump prescription drug use. In 1994, just under 14% of older adults were taking five or more drugs. Today, more than four in ten older adults today fit this profile. If you include over-the-counter medications and supplements, the number rises to 67 percent.
Scientists call the use of five or more prescription medications a day polypharmacy. Of course, medications improve many people’s lives, and for those who have more than one chronic disease, multiple drugs may be necessary and beneficial. However, taking multiple medications increases one’s risk of suffering serious, sometimes life-threatening side effects.
Medication Overload is the term for the use of multiple medications for which the harm to the patient outweighs the benefit. There is no strict cutoff for when the number of medications becomes harmful, but the greater the number, the greater the likelihood of experiencing harm, including serious adverse drug events. In fact, the risk of an adverse drug event increases by 7-10% with each medication one takes. Every day, 750 people age 65+ in the US are hospitalized due to serious side effects from one or more medications.
Falls, delirium and death all increase with medication overload. Taking ten or more medications or more is associated with a 50% higher risk of falls, a 2.5 times greater likelihood of experiencing delirium compared to those taking fewer than five drugs, and a 96 percent greater chance of death!
We reached out about this topic to Age-Friendly Buncombe partner, Dr. Tasha Woodall, a Board-Certified Geriatric Pharmacist and Co-Director of for MAHEC’s Center for Healthy Aging. “Thankfully,” she said, “there’s a solution. Health care providers can partner with their patients and their families to create a plan for “de-prescribing” medications that can be harmful or have outlived their usefulness.”
Experts generally agree that older adults who take one or more drugs on a long-term basis should have an annual review of their medications, or prescription checkup. A prescription checkup involves reviewing a patient’s list of medications and the reasons they were prescribed and reducing the dose or stopping or pausing those that are ineffective or harmful.
To learn more, check out www.deprescribing.org
We wish to acknowledge the Lown Institute and their work on medication overload for this blog post.
A few posts back we shared the vision for a new Active Aging Center in Buncombe County, expected to open in January 2024. Well today is the first day of International Active Aging Week! This celebration of the positivity of aging today was first held in 2003. It showcases the capabilities of older adults engaging as full members of society.
Active Aging Week encourages all of us to raise our expectations about aging so that, regardless of age or health conditions, all adults over can live as fully as possible in all areas of life —physical, social, spiritual, emotional, intellectual, vocational, and environmental. Our Active Aging Center will be a place for engagement in each of these areas. We envision offering exercise classes and outdoor activities, support groups, mental health counseling, healthy food, classes and book clubs, volunteer, and employment opportunities, and much, much more!
Meanwhile, you can take advantage of many local and virtual offerings this week and beyond to expand your wellbeing in many areas of life. Here are a few ways to get started:
So go forth and get active!
Before we say goodbye to September, which is Dementia Awareness Month, we want to consider once again what it means to be a dementia friendly community. Today we’re featuring local programs, resources and activities that are helping to build a Dementia Friendly Community in Buncombe County.
Dementia Friendly WNC (DFWNC), which started as a small grass roots group in 2015, is made of up community members and organizations committed to the well-being of people living with dementia and their families. They work with organizations to create opportunities for engagement for people living with dementia. DFWNC provides free, interactive educational programming for individuals, businesses, and organization that want to engage in dementia friendly practices. They include up-to-date information and teach skills to help make communities more dementia friendly.
Through its programming, DFWNC aims to decrease dementia’s negative stigma, ease people’s fears, and increase their comfort levels for those interacting with people living with dementia. They encourage and support program’s participants to take concrete actions to reach out to those living with dementia. They also partner directly with individuals living with dementia, involving them as members of their steering team and as featuring their voices in the awareness sessions they provide.
DFWNC has worked with local faith communities to help congregants with dementia feel welcome and remain engaged. They have trained docents at the Asheville Art Museum to offer monthly “Connections” docent-led tours for adults with memory loss and their care partners. Recently they worked with Asheville Rides Transit (ART) to train 57 bus drivers and 6 transit trainers, supervisors, and dispatchers on how to understand, interact with, and assist people living with dementia who use City bus services.
The Alzheimer’s Association of Western Carolina offers education and support to all those facing Alzheimer’s and other dementias. Programs are offered monthly (virtual) and online on demand. The provide support groups and advocacy and volunteer opportunities.
For people living with dementia, adult day and group respite programs provide socialization, nutritious means, exercise, and community. MountainCare provides adult day and adult day health services. Jewish Family Services of WNC offers the Elder Day Club group respite program, and DayStay Adult Day Services is a certified adult day care program in Candler. Not only are these programs excellent ways for people living with dementia to remain engaged in their community, but they also provide respite and support for caregivers.
Speaking of caregivers, MemoryCare provides comprehensive services for people living with dementia and their caregivers. Specifically, MemoryCare consists of a team of physicians, nurses, social workers, and volunteers all dedicated to the goal of helping individuals living with Alzheimer’s Disease and other cognitive disorders live as fully as possible for as long as possible at home or in their preferred setting. For caregivers, they offer monthly virtual peer support groups, virtual caregiver workshops, a 6-part Caregiver College program, and virtual caregiver education programs. They also offer Move for Memory, an engaging exercise program for people living with dementia and their caregivers. This program is provided in a virtual format and is led by a licensed physical therapist. One recent caregiver participant shared “Whether sitting or standing, my wife and I get exercise, have fun, sing along, and drink our water. This program is a Godsend!"
Project C.A.R.E. (Caregiver Alternatives to Running on Empty) is part of the Land of Sky Area Agency on Aging and assists caregivers of people with dementia by providing a Family Consultant to help resolve caregiving issues. The Family Consultant can connect caregivers with community resources and arrange funding (currently very limited) to help pay for temporary "respite" care. Project C.A.R.E. helps reduce caregiver stress and exhaustion so that people with dementia can remain at home for as long as possible.
Also at the Land of Sky Area on Aging, is the Family Caregiver Support Program, which provides information, assistance and support to these family members and friends who are caring for a frail elderly person or someone with Alzheimer’s disease. Caregivers receive information about services and programs available to help them keep the person they care for at home. Limited financial assistance is available for caregiver respite, which allows caregivers to take a short break from their caregiving responsibilities.
Support groups as well as workshops and training programs are available to help caregivers take better care of themselves and the person they are caring for. In particular, in partnership with AARP Mountain Region, the Family Caregiver Support Programs periodically offers Powerful Tools for Caregivers, an interactive workshop is designed to empower family caregivers to take care of themselves while caring for a relative or friend.
Today’s blog featured programs for people living with dementia and their caregivers. Check out the links and tap into these resources! And, stay tuned for future posts featuring many of the other wonderful programs and services making to our community Age- and Dementia Friendly.
How should Buncombe County spend our $50 million American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) dollars? What investments would help Buncombe County become more Age-Friendly? Please consider attending one of the upcoming Listening Sessions and share your ideas with our Commissioners! Consider:
In North Carolina, one in seven adults age 65+ has Alzheimer’s Disease. There are over 50,000 adults age 65+ in Buncombe County, which means over 7,000 Buncombe County residents are living with Alzheimer’s Disease. In fact, Alzheimer’s Disease is the fifth leading cause of death in Buncombe County. Considering that Alzheimer’s accounts for only 60-80% of dementia cases, the number of people in our community living with dementia is substantial.
People living with dementia can continue to live a full life for years following their diagnosis. Yet fears and misconceptions about dementia persist, often leading to individuals being excluded, looked down on, dismissed and even discriminated against. Age-Friendly Buncombe County recognizes that September is Alzheimer’s and Dementia Awareness month, so this month, we will focus this blog on what it means to be a Dementia Friendly Community.
One of the most powerful ways to debunk the stigma associated with dementia is to ask and listen to those who are themselves living with dementia. The following quotes and ideas were shared by members of the Cheers Group, a support group for people with a dementia diagnosis. The group is facilitated by the Family Caregiver Program at the Land of Sky Area Agency on Aging and these quotes are being shared with permission.
Last year Buncombe County’s Board of Commissioners declared that racism is a public health and safety crisis. Earlier this summer, the Board voted unanimously to pass a Racial Equity Plan that calls for measurable improvements in the health, education, income, criminal justice outcomes, and other life experiences of Black residents. In her letter introducing the plan, Buncombe County Manager Avril Pinder wrote, “The success of this plan is contingent on Buncombe County leadership, employees and residents connecting to this work…together, we will grow as champions, teachers, and connectors for equity.” It takes a village, right?
For our part, Age-Friendly Buncombe aims to ensure aging services demonstrate respect, equity, and inclusion for all older adults, regardless of race, gender identity, sexual orientation, or any other protected status (Age-Friendly Buncombe Action Item 8.3). One exciting opportunity to do this work is the YWCA of Asheville’s upcoming 21-day Racial Equity and Social Justice Challenge, which will begin next week, on Monday September 6th, and continue (Monday—Friday) through October 1st.
The challenge is designed to create dedicated time and space to build more effective social justice habits, particularly those dealing with issues of race, power, privilege, and leadership. Participants who sign up for the Challenge will receive daily tasks via email to help foster their understanding and awareness, with activities such as reading an article, listening to a podcast, or reflecting on personal experience. I signed up and encourage you to do the same! Furthermore, as you take the 21-day Challenge, I challenge you to consider the role aging plays in this work.
According to the 2020 Census, 16.6% of Buncombe County residents are Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) and 20.1% are over age 65. While informative, these data beg further questions: What percentage of our older adult residents are BIPOC? How does aging intersect with race and ethnicity in our community? When we talk about respect, equity, and inclusion does that include older adults?
To begin to understand some of the answers, Age-Friendly Buncombe has established the Buncombe BIPOC Elders Study Group. This project aims to study the experiences of BIPOC Elders (age 50+) in Asheville/Buncombe County. Specifically, we aim to gain understanding of the unique health and aging concerns, and experiences with the healthcare and community service systems with this population. This knowledge is critical to being able to effectively close health disparities gaps for BIPOC elders and create accessible, equitable, and inclusive services. The result of this project will help identify priorities and strategies for this work.
For more information or to become involved with the BIPOC Elders Study Group, email age-friendly@buncombecounty.org.
This coming Saturday, August 21, 2021, is National Senior Citizen’s Day. Senior Citizens Day was first declared by President Ronald Reagan in 1988 to recognize older adults who have spent their lives contributing to society. The Proclamation stated: “For all they have achieved throughout life and for all they continue to accomplish, we owe older citizens our thanks and a heartfelt salute. We can best demonstrate our gratitude and esteem by making sure that our communities are good places in which to mature and grow older — places in which older people can participate to the fullest and can find the encouragement, acceptance, assistance, and services they need to continue to lead lives of independence and dignity.”
Buncombe County is certainly one of those places, and yet, many older adults in our community are socially isolated. In 2019, prior to the pandemic, 28.7% of adults age 65+ in Buncombe County lived alone. This is higher than the estimated national average of 25%. Nationally, approximately 43% of those age 60+ report feeling lonely, more than have diabetes or use tobacco. North Carolina ranks higher than the national average on four of the six most common risk factors for social isolation in older adults: disability, divorced/separated/widowed, independent living difficulty and living below poverty level.
Social isolation has been found to negatively affect physical and mental health. It is a major driver of depression, anxiety, and substance use or addiction, and is equivalent, health wise, to smoking 15 cigarettes per day! Older adults who are lonely have a higher risk for early death, dementia, and functional decline.
Pandemic-related shelter-in-place and stay-at-home orders and related public health measures that were adopted to slow the spread of the virus have further exacerbated social isolation and loneliness in older adults. Although smartphone and internet use among older adults have increased significantly over the past decade, the widespread use of technology to remain virtually connected during the pandemic was not as easily adopted by older adults.
One of Age-Friendly Buncombe’s affiliated initiatives is the Social Bridging Project, a collaboration between UNC-Asheville, the North Carolina Center for Health and Wellness, MAHEC, and Healthy Aging NC. The project’s aim is to reduce the impact of social isolation and loneliness on older adults. Volunteers, who are often UNC-A students, make social wellness check-in calls to isolated individuals and offer conversations, training on the use of technology, and referrals to resources such as transportation and home-delivered meals.
The project has successfully helped numerous people with computer, tablet, or cellphone troubleshooting, and has connected people to video chat programs and social media outlets. This is enabling older adults to connect socially with friends and loved ones, to remotely access online fitness classes and faith communities, and to use tele-health to connect with medical providers.
The Social Bridging Project’s reach extends beyond just Buncombe County, but it sure contributes mightily to Age-Friendly Buncombe’s vision that our older adults are safe, well and engaged. To learn more about the Social Bridging Project, or to request a phone call, please leave a message at (828)771-3445 or send an email to Tasha.Woodall@mahec.net with your phone number and preferred day and time for a phone call.
P.S. In case you missed our last blog post, plans are also underway to provide in-person social bridging opportunities at the future one-stop-shop Active Aging Center, which we hope will open in January 2024. Click here to learn more about it.
Picture this:
A centrally located active aging center, accessible by public transportation and with sufficient parking, and with the following:
The month of July marks the arrival of many things: high summer, vacations, fireworks, and the start of the state fiscal year; in this case, FY22 (July 1, 2021 -- June 30, 2022). For those in the world of community-based services, this is the time when new funding begins, and end-of-year reporting comes due. For aging services, the North Carolina Home and Community Care Block Grant (Block Grant) and County Supplemental Aging Funds are designated to assist older adults in leading independent, meaningful, and dignified lives in their own homes and communities for as long as possible.
The Block Grant includes state funds as well as federal funds that are authorized by the Older Americans Act. This year, Buncombe County’s Block Grant amount was $1,546,337 to which the County added $500,000 for a total of $2,046,337 to be used to support community-based services, opportunities, and protections for older adults. The funds are allocated based on recommendations from the Home and Community Care Block Grant Advisory Committee. The Buncombe County Age-Friendly Action Plan helps inform priority areas for this funding.
Here’s what this year’s funding will support:
Council on Aging of Buncombe County, Inc.
In 1989, the NC General Assembly enacted legislation (H.B. 69) directing the Division of Aging (now the Division on Aging and Adult Services) to submit a regularly updated plan for serving older adults. In response to this, the Division established processes for counties to a) document the services they provide for older adults, and b) identify service priorities and issues affecting older adults. The following year Buncombe County developed its first 5-year Aging Plan.
Today, we are introducing the Buncombe County Age-Friendly Action Plan. This is an update for the 2018-2022 Buncombe County Aging Plan, but with a few changes. First, it shifts away from a 5-year static plan, to a rolling 3-year plan, which will be updated as needed but at least every 2 years.
The Action Plan has eight goals organized into three focus areas:
Older Adult Safety
The third change is that the Plan reflects Buncombe County’s affiliation with the World Health Organization and AARP's Network of Age-Friendly States and Communities with goals and activities across eight domains of livability.
Fourth, this Plan aligns with the County’s 2025 Strategic Plan. This alignment makes apparent the fact that the actions and activities described in the Age-Friendly Action Plan will benefit Buncombe County residents and visitors of all ages and abilities. For example, incorporating age- and dementia friendly principles into public buildings, outdoor spaces, businesses, and offices ensures that everyone can access and utilize spaces such as libraries, parks, and shops regardless of whether they are in a wheelchair or pushing a baby stroller, living with Alzheimer’s or Autism.
When the Commissioners resolved in 2017 that Buncombe County would join the Network of Age-friendly States and Communities, the resolution called upon “all our citizens, business leaders, elected and staff government officials, philanthropists, educators, civic groups, advocacy and service organizations,
The Age-Friendly Action Plan reflects and echoes this call. There are currently fourteen committees and working groups engaged in Age-Friendly Buncombe, and over eighty organizations and agencies that are contributing to this work! If you are interested in learning more or would like to become involved, email age.friendly@buncombecounty.org
To read the Age-Friendly Action Plan, click here.
In 2019, SeniorAdvice.com named Asheville as among the nation’s best cities in America for LGBTQ seniors. There are many aspects of our community that contribute to this ranking. At their June 1, 2021 meeting, the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners recognized Pride Month with the adoption of the County’s first-ever Pride Month Proclamation.
According to recent estimates from Gallup Surveys, the national population of LGBTQ older adults is expected to double by 2050, to 88 million people aged 65 and older. It is therefore essential that communities such as ours capitalize on the unique opportunities and address the challenges presented to the LGBTQ older adult community.
These challenges include the fact that, 3 out of 4 LGBTQ adults age 45+ are concerned about having enough support from family and friends as they grow older (AARP, 2018), and the same proportion (3/4) is less likely to have children than their heterosexual counterparts (Boston Foundation, 2018). Because so many aging LGBTQ adults don’t have children, a partner or a spouse, and live alone, their chances of experiencing loneliness increases, which can trigger mental health and physical problems.
Despite these challenges, in our community, there are some efforts and organizations committed to promoting and supporting LGBTQ older adults. Age-friendly Buncombe partner Blue Ridge Pride offers Generation Plus, a program that seeks to enrich the lives of LGBTQ+ and allied community older adults.
Here are a few of the programs Generation Plus offers:
• Pride Time is a fun and supportive virtual social hour, typically held the second Wednesday of each month at 6pm. Registration info is here.
• Rainbow Inspiration, co-sponsored by AARP Mountain Region, is a series of spotlights on our LGBTQ community leaders and influencers that typically take place on the first Wednesday of each month at 12:00 noon. Find out more about this Facebook Live event here.
• Lunch and Learn and other in-person social events are currently being planned. To learn more, visit Generation Plus here.
Blue Ridge Pride also hosts a Virtual LGBTQ Community Center, which includes a searchable database of welcoming community services, businesses, churches, and social and professional groups and programs.
While June is Pride Month, Age-friendly Buncombe is looking forward to celebrating our LGBTQ senior community at the 2021 Blue Ridge Pride Festival and Welcoming WNC Procession, which will take place on Saturday, September 25 in Pack Square Park. The Procession is at 10am and will be followed by the festival from 11am to 7pm. We hope you'll join us!
Happy Pride Month Y'all!
Photo Credit: https://www.citizen-times.com/story/news/2019/04/09/asheville-named-no-14-city-lgbtq-seniors-and-retirees/3409381002/
Last week, the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners proclaimed June 2021 Elder Abuse Awareness Month (as well as Pride Month). In doing so, they have encouraged us all to educate ourselves, support our elders, and raise awareness of elder abuse in our community.
Elder abuse takes many forms: physical, emotional, sexual, financial. It can take the form of neglect, including caregiver neglect and self-neglect. And it can involve exploitation, including financial fraud and scams. Elder abuse is perpetrated by family members, neighbors, caregivers, or strangers. Unfortunately, elder abuse is hard to track due to the lack of reporting. The World Health Organization estimates that as few as one in 24 cases of elder abuse is reported. Last year in Buncombe County, Adult Protective Services received 1,794 adult protective services reports alleging elder abuse, neglect, and/or exploitation.
North Carolina state law mandates that “any person who has reasonable cause to believe that a disabled adult is in need of protective services must make a report to the county department of social services (DSS).” That means all of us. It is critically important that we all educate ourselves, and each other, about the signs and symptoms of different forms of elder abuse, neglect and exploitation. We also must take our responsibility as mandated reporters seriously. In Buncombe County you can make a Protective Service referral or report by calling (828) 250-5800 anytime, day or night. No appointment is needed.
Several years ago, the US Department of Justice and the US Department of Health and Human Services issued “The Elder Justice Roadmap: A Stakeholder Initiative to Respond to an Emerging Health, Justice, Financial, and Social Crisis.” In it, they state that awareness is the No. 1 priority critical to understanding and preventing elder abuse.
Locally, one of the original working groups of the Age-friendly Buncombe Initiative is the Elder Justice Coalition (EJC). EJC is a community-wide collaboration that includes older adult volunteers and professionals from various disciplines, including social work and human services, elder law, law enforcement, criminal justice, healthcare, care/case management, aging services, and many others. EJC’s mission is to strengthen our community’s capacity to prevent and address elder abuse, neglect, and exploitation. And to do so quickly, effectively, and with respect. They accomplish this mission through four areas of focus:
World Elder Abuse Awareness Month runs from Mother’s Day to Father’s Day, with a culmination of activities typically held on World Elder Abuse Awareness Day (WEAAD), June 15, 2021. This year, due to COVID-19, we will not be holding the WEAAD Walk at Carrier Park. Instead, on June 15, the County Department of Aging and Adult Services will have an informational table outside at 35 Woodfin. Please stop by for a purple ribbon and educational resources from the County and other partner organizations.
I'd also like to share with you an assortment of local, regional, and statewide resources. Please explore, learn, and share…together we can make our community safer for everyone.Roadmap to Elder Protection Lean about how Adult Protective Services works in North Carolina works through this excellent, interactive presentation.
Buncombe County Adult Protective Services Learn how Adult Protective Services works locally.
Council on Aging of Buncombe County Learn some statistics and signs of elder abuse.
Buncombe Family Justice Center Learn about this one-stop-(safe)-shop where victims of domestic violence, sexual assault and elder abuse can go for help.
Long Term Care Ombudsman Program Learn about this important resource available for residents in long-term care settings.
Elder Justice Initiative Western District of NC Learn about what the US Attorney's Office for our region is doing to combat elder neglect, abuse, and financial exploitation.
Legal Aid of North Carolina Senior Law Project Learn about the free legal help that is available for adults age 60+ related to elder abuse but also much more.
Pisgah Legal Services Learn about how this organization helps older adults remain as independent as possible while working to protect them from scams and plan for end-of-life decisions.
NC Partnership to Address Adult Abuse Learn about this statewide grassroots organization and consider joining their board, there are two open slots!
NC Elder Protection Network Find many resources here, including the Legal Framework for North Carolina's Elder Protection System Manual.
Friends of Residents in Long Term Care Learn about this statewide network and how they are working to improve the quality of long term care in our state.
ncImpact broadcast on Elder Abuse Prevention in North Carolina (originally aired 9/17/20) Hear from professionals working in elder abuse prevention in North Carolina in this 30 minute program.
AARP Fraud Watch Network Learn about how AARP can help you avoid combat fraud and avoid being scammed.
And finally, learn more about World Elder Abuse Awareness Day here.
I'm writing and submitting this blog in the final hours of Older Americans Month. Tomorrow (or today, when this post will reach most of you) is June! Next week we'll be talking about Elder Abuse Awareness Month. For now, as the holiday weekend wanes along with May 2021, I share with you the remaining three interviews, produced by Kathy Maney, Senior Companion Program Support Specialist at the Area Agency on Aging at Land of Sky Regional Council.
Phyllis Hudgins
YouTube: https://youtu.be/kXrwg7hBkcQ
Earl Bryson
Today’s interview is Earl Bryson. Nancy O’Cain is Earl’s Social Worker and she volunteered to help Earl with this interview. Ginger Hill is the “Money Follows the Person - Transitions Coordinator” with the Land of Sky Regional Council. Ginger is working with Earl Bryson to get him transitioned back into the community.
YouTube: https://youtu.be/NK0Wnv2puwY
Peter Wilson
Today’s interview is with Peter Wilson and his sweetheart Julia. Peter is a full-time care giver to Julia. Listen to Peter and Julia as they tell their life stories as we honor them during our Older Americans Month.
YouTube: https://youtu.be/v0r0HC7ryDw
In celebration of Older Americans Month, I've been sharing interviews with older adults in our community. Today I want to pull back and look at the bigger picture and pose the question "Why an age-friendly community?" Instead of trying to pen my own answer, today's blog falls under the heading of “I couldn’t have said it better myself.”
I'd like to acknowledge that the following is excerpted directly from “The Case for Age-friendly Communities,” a 2016 report published by Grantmakers in Aging. The report was authored by Margaret B. Neal, Ph.D., Portland State University, Institute on Aging and Alan DeLaTorre, Ph.D., Portland State University, Institute on Aging, with contributions from: Kevin E. Cahill, Ph.D., ECONorthwest, and Boston College, Center on Aging & Work; Nicole Iroz-Elardo, Ph.D., Portland State University, Urban Studies & Planning; and Jost Lottes, Ph.D., Portland State University, Institute on Aging.
So, without further ado, I give you the Executive Summary from “The Case for Age-friendly Communities:”
“The movement toward age-friendly communities is growing, with the key impetus being population aging. In the U.S. in 1900, 4.1 percent of the population was 65 or older. In 2015, this figure was 14.5 percent. By 2020, it is expected to increase to 16.1 percent, and by 2050, to 20 percent—one in five Americans. Medical, public health, and technological advancements have led to increased longevity, with the years added extending middle age—the period when people are most productive and creative—rather than lengthening extreme old age. Beyond what individuals themselves can do to age optimally, the movement to create communities that are age friendly focuses on how the economic, physical, and social environments can be improved to address not only the needs but also maximize the assets of an aging population, for the benefit of all.
An age-friendly community is one that is a great place to grow up and grow old. It has safe and accessible public transportation options; affordable, accessible, and safe housing; pleasant and safe parks and outdoor spaces; quality community and health services; sufficient employment and volunteer opportunities; and engaging social activities and events for people of all ages. The needs and preferences of older adults are taken into account. Older adults are respected, and their knowledge, skills, resources, and contributions are sought out. They are integrated into the fabric of the community.
The reasons why creating an age-friendly community makes good sense, economically and socially, are presented in this document, supported by research conducted by academicians, government agencies, nonprofit organizations, and corporations. The reasons are based largely on two key premises:
Reasons for creating an age-friendly community can be categorized in six broad areas: economic benefits, social capital benefits, opportunities related to innovations in housing and physical infrastructure, and health and other benefits.
Economic Benefits
The economic, social, and personal benefits to be gained make clear the wisdom of taking action to create communities that are more age friendly. What we do now to make our communities good places to grow up and grow old will yield returns not only for today’s elders but also tomorrow’s—that is, for all of us.”
Much thanks to Grantmakers in Aging for publishing this important report. Readers can find the full report here.
All month long we are featuring interviews with community elders highlighting their strengths and contributions, in celebration of Older Americans Month. Today's interview is with Janie Gange. Janie raising her two precious grandchildren. She also cares for her parents who live next door to her.
Janie Gagne: https://youtu.be/LI4Kaiir2es
Thank you to the Kathy Maney and the Land of Sky Area Agency on Aging for putting together this interview series.
More than thirty years ago, leaders in Buncombe County NC had the foresight to begin planning for the (then coming) shift in demographics toward a rapidly growing aging population. Specifically, Dick Patzfahl, the then director of the Council on Aging, and Calvin Underwood, the director of the Department of Social Services at the time, recognized the need for heightened community awareness and preparation for this increase in older adults in Buncombe County. So, they held a conference entitled “The State of the Elderly in Buncombe County” in June 1988.
Out of that conference emerged the Aging Coordinating Consortium (ACC), whose mission was to provide a structure for agencies, organizations and individuals to work together to plan, promote community awareness, and advocate for public and private support for services to the older adults of Buncombe County. Over thirty+ years the ACC has developed and implemented the County’s 5-year strategic Aging Plans, has advised the Commissioners on the allocation of aging services funding, and has provided a forum for aging services providers to network and coordinate.
Beginning with the 2008-2012 Plan, the Aging Plan has evolved from its original focus on the allocation of aging services funds, to include a much broader scope that encompasses many aspects of community. Along the way, committees and working groups that share the vision of an age-friendly community, have been identified and developed. They represent a wide range of domains, from housing, transportation, and outdoor buildings and spaces; to social and civic engagement and employment; community and health services; respect and inclusion; and, information and communication.
The current Aging Plan (2018-2022) called for the County to join the WHO/AARP Network of Age-friendly Communities, which it did. In turn, the ACC was rebranded as the Buncombe Aging Services Alliance (BASA), and it continues to meet monthly for networking and capacity building among service providers and volunteers who work with older adults.
BASA’s responsibility for allocating aging services funding has shifted to a new committee, the Home and Community Care Block Grant Advisory Committee, which is managed through Buncombe Health and Human Services. The responsibility for the Aging Plan and its implementation has shifted to the Age-friendly Buncombe County Advisory Group.
The current Aging Plan has recently been updated and re-named The Age-friendly Buncombe Plan. It reflects current activities and priorities, as well as aspirations and new opportunities. Age-friendly Buncombe’s affiliated committees and working groups are aligned with the goals, strategies and tactics outlined in the plan, which itself aligns with the County’s Strategic Plan. The Age-friendly Buncombe Plan will be updated next in 2023. Beginning this fall, we will produce an Age-friendly Buncombe Annual Report.
Throughout the month of May, in honor of Older Americans Month, we are listening to the stories of some of our community members. Today's interview is with Janice Payne. Janice is a caregiver to her husband and her son.
Janice Payne
YouTube: https://youtu.be/e44EkuWzRtI
Also, Governor Roy Cooper will be speaking this Friday May 14 at 11:30am on Older Americans Month. The Zoom link for the event is below.
