Senior moment

When I tell people that I’m studying gerontology, some people will look puzzled, “What are you studying?”  After I explain that gerontology is the study of aging, they continue to look puzzled, “Why?”

Gerontology program representatives recruit students with dazzling statistics about career opportunities to prepare us for the Silver Tsunami:  since the baby boomers began turning age 65 last year, 10,000 people will turn 65 every day for the next 20 years.  By 2030, almost 20% of the U.S. population will be age 65+ (http://www.agingresearch.org/content/article/detail/826,
http://www.careersinaging.com/careersinaging/why.html & http://www.un.org/en/development/desa/news/nocat-uncategorized/un-urges-countries-to-address-needs-of-ageing-population.html). 

My reasons for studying gerontology are more personal:  growing up the youngest in a multi-generational household, I’ve always valued the “been there, done that” wisdom of elders and enjoy their company.  Our lives are enriched when everyone can “age in community” rather than be sent away to institutions (nursing homes) where they become invisible.

I think my defining senior moment (“aha, I want to work with seniors”) came to me just a little over a year ago after I attended this inspiring rally with senior advocates to urgently save Adult Day Health Care (ADHC). 

  ADHC rally:  “We won’t go to a nursing home!”

Thanks to “fiscal conservative” Mayor Jerry Brown, a 71-year old senior, Adult Day Health Care (ADHC) will lose its funding as a Medi-Cal benefit, effective December 1, 2011.  Statewide, this funding loss would impact 310 ADHC centers that serve about 37,000 fixed-income seniors and adults with disabilities (AWD), who would be forced into costly institutional care (nursing home) or staying at home alone until their health deteriorates into emergency room visits or hospitalizations.  San Francisco, which has the highest proportion of seniors and AWD in the state, would see the closure of ten ADHC centers affecting thousands of current and future patients without personal choice to safely continue living in their homes (“aging in place”).

Rally to stop elimination of ADHC

On Thursday (October 20, 2011), I attended a noon rally at City Hall to Save ADHC.  It was a well-organized event, almost theatrical, that started on time, provided seats and refreshments for elders and AWD, featured the requisite sound bites by local politicians (including four mayoral candidates), followed by powerful personal narratives from ADHC participants and caregivers, and covered by TV stations.  Like members of a studio audience, we applauded louder when signaled by peppy conductors positioned at each side of the stage.

Politicians speak first

Department of Aging and Adult Services (DAAS) Executive Director Anne Hinton introduced Mayor Ed Lee, who spoke about ADHC serving our most vulnerable population—elders and AWD—and how taking away ADHC would also burden working families who rely on ADHC so they can go to their jobs to support their elders.  Then he announced plans for consideration at next week’s Board of Supervisors meeting to release funds (undisclosed amount, but later revealed in press release to be $3.4 million) from a reserve to cover ADHC effective December 1.

Afterwards, Supervisor Eric Mar stepped up to declare this memorable sound bite:  “We are an aging City! We are a City that ages friendly!”  Next came Supervisors John Avalos and David Chiu, both mayoral candidates.  Then Bayview ADHC Director Cathy Davis led a rousing chant, “We won’t go to a nursing home!”  We heard from an aide to Supervisor Jane Kim (no-show due to illness) followed by Senator Leland Yee, who reminded us that he previously worked at On Lok and was the only Democrat who voted not to cut ADHC funding. 

ADHC women & caregivers

Then finally we got to hear from the real stakeholders:  ADHC participants and their caregivers – all women (who tend to outlive men)!  Caregivers did double duty as translators for three elderly immigrants from Philippines, Ukraine and China.  Each spoke about how ADHC helped transform their lives by offering health care, meeting place for socialization, exercise therapy, social services, etc. after experiencing depression, isolation, multiple chronic health problems from the loss of a spouse and accidents that limited their ability to perform ADLs (activities of daily living).  

The highlight was listening to a woman, standing beside her silent mother who was holding Avalos for Mayor campaign lit.  This daughter described each morning’s routine at home when she prepares to send her mother to “school” (what her mother calls Bayview ADHC) so she can go to work.  From the time her mother wakes up until the 9 am bus arrives to pick her up, the mother continually asks, “What am I supposed to do today?” though the daughter repeatedly responds, “You’re going to school today.”  The daughter told us, “You see, my mom has Alzheimer’s disease.  Can you imagine a day with my mom at home by herself or at a nursing home?”  She said that her mother could do all the things she didn’t know how to do, and she remembered all the times her mother stood strong for her, so now she was going to stand strong for her mother.  At this point, I got all choked up at this model of Confucian filial piety and wanted to excuse myself from the masses so I could bawl out in private, but then . . .

ADHC anthem

Hene Kelly, who represents 900,000 seniors from California Alliance of Retired Americans (CARA), told us that other cities won’t pick up ADHC, but San Francisco is different because we care about all; Governor single-handedly cut ADHC and can reverse it; instead, he proposed a “transition plan” but nothing to date, and December 1 is coming soon.  Then, Hene broke out into the following song, which we sang back to her line by line in People’s Mic fashion:

Everywhere we go
People want to know
Who we are
So we tell them
We are the seniors
Mighty seniors, mighty seniors
Fighting for health care

Fighting for respect

Watch out, we’re going to win health care
Adult Day Health Care is a right

Get out of our way

Give it back to us!

Jaywalking & wheeling to Governor’s office

About 25 of us (including a Bay Citizen reporter and photographer—separate positions, while I assumed both roles for this coverage!) followed James Chionsini of Planning for Elders, who led a march to the Governor’s office to present a 3” stack of signed petitions.  As we made our way from City Hall to Governor Brown’s office, many held up eye-catching STOP signs that served a dual purpose to declare our message and STOP traffic when the red light suddenly came on while we were still crossing McAllister Street!

“STOP ADHC Elimination”

“STOP Dissing Grandma”

“STOP This is not how we treat our elders”

Winning signs

State Building Security wouldn’t allow us to bring in signs so we left them planted outside.  While waiting in line to go through security check, I judged the signs as contestants and decided on the following winners:

Most effective message to support cause:

“Honk to save ADHC”

“NO ADHC means taking Independence & Dignity away from our frail, Elderly and Disabled”

Most informative signs:

“Gov. Brown: Adult Day Health Makes $ense . . . “

“Average Daily Cost Assisted Living $153 Nursing Home $308-435 Emergency Room Visit $1200+++ ADULT DAY HEALTH $79/day YOU DO THE MATH”

15 minutes of fame: Occupy Governor’s Office!

James explained that we didn’t have an appointment so we weren’t all that surprised when the receptionist behind a glass window told us that the Governor was not in San Francisco to receive us and the signed petitions.  Hene made a cell phone call using speaker phone to the Governor’s Office in Sacramento, listened to a recording of menu options before reaching a constituent affairs representative named “John.”  The Governor was not available to come to the phone so Hene said she would send a letter with the petitions; “John” said the Governor’s office would respond in 90 days; some shouted, “We need a response in a week!”   Hene said we would follow-up in one week with “John.”

Then we politely exited and vans were waiting outside to escort the senior and AWD activists.  Not quite the Power of 504 demonstration (when AWD occupied the old San Francisco federal building for 26 days in 1977 until the fed agreed to implement regs to enforce the 1973 Rehab Act), but I walked away with a “Power to the People” feeling. 

Postscript:  Prior to December 1, 2011, the State reached a settlement with advocates to allow ADHC centers to provide services until the launch date of the new Community-Based Adult Services (CBAS) program (http://www.californiahealthline.org/articles/2011/11/18/state-reaches-settlement-to-establish-new-version-of-adhc.aspx, http://www.californiahealthline.org/capitol-desk/2012/10/program-launches-for-seniors-disabled.aspx)