According to Traditional Chinese Medicine and permaculture principles, one should live in harmony with the natural cycles of the
environment. Spring is the time for
growth, renewal and regeneration.
Following winter’s hibernation stage, it’s now time to get out of bed,
stretch and move!
Transit Justice
One challenge of aging
is the loss of mobility due to chronic conditions, loss of a driver’s license,
safety or cost of transportation. Older
adults and persons with disabilities may feel stuck in their homes unless they
have access to safe and affordable transportation options. This
month I joined Senior & Disability
University for Transit Justice (Transito
Justo) advocacy training at Valencia Gardens , which was attended mostly by seniors from
nearby Centro Latino de San
Francisco Community Center
Senior & Disability Action's Pi Ra (aka PiRaTransit
when he worked for Paratransit Services) noted that San Francisco Silicon Valley clog Muni stops and drive up the price of
nearby housing. Long-time residents,
mostly seniors, have experienced a high rate of evictions and rent increases,
with the majority taking place within two blocks of the Apple/Google/Yahoo
shuttle stops. San Francisco
Community organizer from
POWER inspired us with 5 strategies that worked for Free Muni for Youth campaign: 1) build base by organizing at
and on bus and schools, 2) build
coalition, 3) develop champion
(Supervisor David Campos dedicated staff person), 4) build strong case with fact sheets, personal stories about problem,
and 5) build pressure against the
target at public events to get media attention.
He explained strategy to start small and gain something, so they started
with youth who have no money of their own. Free Muni for Youth pilot program that began
last year will be permanent.
City workers seek fair pay to live in the communities they serve, and
enough staffing to keep San Franciscans safe and healthy. They say ending the tax break for Twitter and
other tech companies in the mid-Market area would reduce the City’s deficit and
free up funds for staffing and pay.
Though I missed the MTA hearing, I learned that the hearing room was packed and the MTA Board decided to revisit funding Free Muni for Seniors and Disabled in January.
Walk SF Executive Director Nicole
Schneider and District 6 legislative aide Sunny Angula provided an overview of
City and community responsibilities (SF MTA, SF County Transportation Authority, SF Police Department, SF Board of Supervisors, Walk SF, California Walks, Pedestrian Safety Advisory Committee,
etc.); engineering, enforcement and education for pedestrian safety; Vision Zero plan to eliminate traffic deaths within a decade, which includes Walk First initiative
to improve safety at 170 high-collision corridors in the City. Top causes of collisions are speeding, red
light running, not yielding to pedestrians in crosswalk, unsafe turning, and
not coming to a complete stop at stop signs.
As of this month, 7 pedestrians have been killed in vehicle collisions
in San Francisco
Pi talked about lobbying
strategies: letter writing, phone calling, public speaking (at hearings,
rallies/demonstrations, community meetings), media (press conference, press
release), petition, events, and visiting public official (do prep work—know
issue, elected official, role-play presentation; and follow-up after
presentation).
Buck Institute: Science of Aging
Aging is a complex process
influenced by biological and psychosocial factors. I advocate for behavioral justice, or empowering
individuals with access to resources in their environment to support healthy behaviors and reduce
health disparities. This month, the
Brookings Institute released its study showing that life expectancy gap between
the rich and poor is growing in America,
with life expectancy gaining most among the rich who live longer. Millions of dollars have gone to San Francisco
Bay Area institutions for research to “stop the aging process” and potentially increase healthspan, but I wonder if everyone will benefit or
just the well-to-do who can afford cutting edge treatment?
Gerontologist
Hope Levy and I carpooled with my SFSU classmate Gabriela to visit Buck Institute for Research on Aging, which
offers free, docent-led tours to the public on Thursday mornings. Established in 1999 in Novato
(30 miles north of San Francisco
I want to extend help towards the problems of the
aged.--Beryl Hamilton
We
viewed Scientist as Artist exhibit
in semi-circle shaped atrium with fruitless olive trees in planters. Hope (at left) examines Chubby Angry Fat
Cells, by Regina Brunauer, PhD, who researches the regenerative potential of
adult stem cells from mice by staining fat tissue in red dye and cell nuclei in
purple dye. Gabriela (at right) stands
in front of Astronomy of a Cell, by Shona Mookerjee, PhD, who studies insulin-secreting
cells.
The
atrium skylight resembles I.M. Pei’s steel and glass pyramid at the Louvre.
Architect
I.M. Pei designed 5 structures, but only 3 have been built to date for 550
capacity. Buck campus sits atop a rock foundation sturdy for scientific instruments, and surrounding
land in deer-friendly natural state.
At
Buck Learning Center
Buck
staff kept referring to our gerontology group as the “UCSF group” so we had to
repeatedly correct them that we’re from SFSU Gerontology Program!
When
adults ask Julie about the latest scientific cures for diseases, she explains that science is more
about making connections and building information as illustrated in this poster, Systems Biology of Human Aging, from http://legendarypharma.com/chartbg.html.
Art of Aging Gracefully: Heart Advice
This month’s JCCSF’s Art
of Aging Gracefully featured speakers who were all women with topics on Sexual
Health and Aging Woman, How to NOT Have a Heart Attack, Sleep in a Society that
Never Sleeps, and Evidence-Based Look at Popular Dietary Supplements.
Anne Thorson, MD from UCSF Center
- Total cholesterol < 200 mg/dL
- Blood pressure < 120/<80 mm Hg,
untreated
- Fasting blood sugar < 100 mg/dL, untreated
- Body mass index < 25 kg/m2
- Abstinence from smoking (never or quit > 12
months)
- Physical activity at goal
- DASH (Dietary Approach to Stop Hypertension)-like diet (or Mediterranean diet)
On Lok: Experience Matters in Senior Care
Joined Hope Levy’s Encore
Adventures for field trip to On Lok Lifeways Rose Center,
with On Lok shuttle service arranged by Daniel Frias-Vidal so we could
experience what it’s like to be an adult day healthcare client for a day.
Our group participated in
Fit & Fun exercise led by a recreational therapist. We also toured the physical therapy room, medical
clinic (on-site optometrist, doctor, dentist, podiatrist, etc.), swimming pool with
jet massage, laundry room, kitchen (“largest woks outside of Chinatown ”),
SRO housing and garden. To respect
client privacy, I was not allowed to take photos showing client faces, which
was challenging so not many photos taken.
We enjoyed Asian lunch
of almond jelly, white rice, baked chicken, bok choy, tea and cranberry juice. Though federal nutrition standards provide
for at least half whole grains, older adults may have a harder time digesting
brown rice (chewed by the mouthful 200 times by Macrobiotic
practitioners)
and heavy metals (arsenic, cadmium, mercury) tend to accumulate in bran and
husk, which are polished off in processing white rice. After lunch, there was a slide presentation on Italy, which I missed because I had to leave for another appointment.
LGBT Aging
Sigma Phi Omega, our gerontology honor society, hosted LGBT Aging talks by graduate Loren Meissner and Professor Brian de
Vries.
Loren presented
his study on HIV and Aging
SFSU Graduate Showcase
As part of our culminating
experience, 25 classmates and I participated in SFSU Graduate Showcase
presenting posters summarizing our research papers. My subject, Chronic Disease Self-Management
Program (CDSMP) and Behavioral Justice, was based on applying a systems
approach to my work organizing CDSMP workshops. My 123-word abstract:
As
an intervention to provide older adults with the tools to remain independent
and “age in place,” the U.S. Administration on Aging funded the nationwide
delivery of the evidence-based Chronic Disease Self-Management Program
(CDSMP). CDSMP is based on self-efficacy
theory, which assumes people have individual responsibility and control over
how they manage their health. Behavior
and the environment have a greater impact on health than genetics and medical
care, yet low-income persons may not have access
to resources in their environment to engage in health-promoting behaviors. This paper explores the need to connect
low-income participants in CDSMP with access
to community resources to support their weekly action plans, based on a
behavioral justice model for health promotion, aimed at potentially reducing
health disparities.
My text-rich poster and I stood at
the edge next to Gerontology, Engineering and Public Health so I could easily slip away to visit other posters. I believe the permaculture principle, “Use edges and value the marginal:
The interface between things is where the most interesting events take
place. These are often the most
valuable, diverse and productive elements in the system.” I was commonly asked, “What is gerontology?” and
I thought how the gerontology poster topics made aging seem like a host of
problems: chronic disease self-management & behavioral justice
(from yours truly), dementia, crisis of type 2 diabetes, elder abuse, problem
gambling, medication adherence with major depressive disorder, reducing
antipsychotic drugs in nursing home residents, sex in long-term care, etc. Then I remembered the philosophy of
permaculture: “The problem is the solution.” I love systems thinking
Smiling
classmates Maryann and Brittany
In my paper, I acknowledge Edna who first told me about adapting CDSMP for cultural relevancy; Kay Strawder and Sheila James of San Francisco Office on Women’s Health for hosting Women’s Health Leadership Institute training last summer that led to my partnering with Aging & Disability Resource Center (Lolita Kintanar) for my Community Action Project; San Francisco Department of Aging & Adult Services and Administration for Community Living (ACL) for funding this invaluable work. I was happy that Edna and my ACL internship mentors came to Showcase!
Gerontology dining table: note two men in our graduating class of 2014!
Careers in Aging
Aging Baby Boomers Becoming the Roommate Generation
ReplyDeleteBy ALAN FARNHAM | ABC News – May 4, 2014
There was Felix-and-Oscar. There were The Golden Girls. Such arrangements--adults living with adult roommates--are about to get less comic and more common, say experts on housing and on the aging of the Baby Boom. . . .
Rachel Caraviello, vice president of Affordable Living for the Aging (ALA), says that nationally there are about 130,000 households where the cohabiters are aged 50 or older, and where they have no familial relationship or romantic connection.
Caraviello views these arrangements as one more manifestation of the “sharing economy”: Here, one party typically is house-rich but cash-poor; and the other has money or services to contribute.
Rodney Harrell, PhD, a specialist on housing with the AARP’s Public Policy Institute, tells ABC News the range of agreements struck can include one party’s helping the other with shopping, transportation, cooking or informal care-giving. He believes there will be more demand for roommate and other sharing programs as the Baby Boom ages.
By 2030, according to the Federal Administration on Aging, one out of every five Americans will be 65 or older. The sheer size of the Boomer cohort, says Harrell, plus its declared desire to age “in place,” rather than in a nursing home, means having a roommate will be what he calls a growing niche option. “Few do it now,” he tells ABC, “but more could, or would, if that option were made more easily available.” . . .
She’d never had a roommate before. Her friends, when she told them she was going to get one, told her they themselves would never do it. But her sharing her home with Venable, she says, has paid benefits that go beyond the rent money that he contributes ($625).
If she wants company, he’s there, she says. If she wants privacy, he’s good at keeping to himself. “When I go to sleep at night, I know there’s someone in the house.” That’s a major plus, she says: Some years ago, living alone, she fell and broke her shoulder. “I could have been on the floor for weeks—and that’s when I was younger.”
Affordable Living is non-profit and charges clients nothing for its matching services. It thoroughly vets both the housing-provider and the housing-seeker. Caraviello says the review process includes a visit to the provider’s house, the getting of two personal references, and a cross-check of the potential housemates’ names against the national registry of sex offenders.
Loper says that level of due diligence was one of the facts that persuaded her to try living with a roommate. Asked what advice she has for other seniors thinking of sharing their home, she says to make sure the matching service performs an equally thorough background check.
Might there be a business opportunity here? For a for-profit company matching elderly roommates? Both Caraviello and Loper think not, and for the same reason: There’s not enough money in it, given that the clients would include many living on fixed incomes.
Caraviello says Affordable Living for the Aging is not alone in the matching service it provides. Some 60 other organizations with related services can be found via the National Shared Housing Resource Center.
http://gma.yahoo.com/aging-baby-boomers-becoming-roommate-generation-164125441.html
http://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-c1-old-roommates-20140502-dto,0,1655654.htmlstory#axzz30oM1lxCv
Hawaii leads senior pedestrian death rates among states
ReplyDeleteReport: Fatality rate may be skewed due to Hawaii being a tourist destination
Published 11:44 AM HST May 20, 2014
HONOLULU —Hawaii has the highest pedestrian death rate for seniors in the U.S., according to the Dangerous by Design 2014 report by the National Complete Streets Coalition released on Tuesday.
The report says, between 2003 and 2010, Hawaii had 6.81 pedestrian fatalities per 100,000 people age 65 and older. California came in second with 5.03 pedestrian fatalities per 100,000 people age 65 and older.
When the study looked at people ages 75 and older, pedestrian death rates in Hawaii jumped to 9.75 per 100,000 people. California was second, again, with 6.40.
The report says the fatality rate in Hawaii may be somewhat skewed because Hawaii is a tourist destination.
The report says, "The CDC data on fatal injury rates does not take into account the residence of the victim; if an older pedestrian from another state is killed in Hawaii, that fatality is counted against Hawaii's resident population of older adults."
While people 65 and older account for 12.6 percent of the total population in America, that age group accounted for nearly 21 percent of the pedestrian deaths in the U.S. between 2003 and 2010.
http://www.kitv.com/news/hawaii-leads-senior-pedestrian-death-rates-among-states/26081792
When Planning for Retirement, Consider Transportation
ReplyDeleteBy HARRIET EDLESON
OCT. 17, 2014
According to the American Journal of Public Health, Americans are outliving their ability to drive safely — a woman, on average, by 10 years, a man by seven. Over all, the ability to drive safely as one ages depends on health. Some people can drive into their 90s while others begin to cut back at 65....
“When people make retirement plans, they make no transportation plans because they assume they’re going to drive forever,” said Katherine Freund, founder and president of the Independent Transportation Network, a nonprofit organization that provides rides for older adults, with 27 affiliates throughout the country. Nationally, for those over 65, 2 to 3 percent of what distance they travel is on public transportation, 8 percent on foot and the rest by car, Ms. Freund said.
Not driving by choice is different from realizing you are no longer fit to drive. Deciding to drive less typically happens incrementally. People might decide to stop driving at night to unfamiliar places, for instance. But regardless of the reason, not driving can limit your autonomy, even your social life, depending on where you live...
When planning ahead, think about whether you prefer to stay in your community, plan to downsize or will relocate. According to a 2014 AARP study, by age 65 and older, 87 percent of people want to remain in their current community as they age. Financial and family considerations play a role in decisions about where to live.
“If you’re 55, you have to project out into the future,” Ms. Bonilla said.
In car-oriented areas like San Diego, people often rely on a network of family and friends for transportation. But there aren’t always younger family members available to drive those in their 80s and 90s. Sometimes, family members live in another city or state.
Transportation is the second highest household expense after housing, according the Office of Planning, Environment and Realty, which is part of the Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration.
Those living in households that are car-dependent spend 25 percent of income on transportation. By living closer to work, shopping, restaurants and other amenities, households can reduce transportation costs to 9 percent of their total income. . .
Whatever decision you make about where to live and transportation, here are some guidelines from experts:
ANALYZE your current neighborhood in terms of where you typically need and want to go, and determine how you might reach those places if you weren’t driving. Include leisure activities like classes, entertainment and simply meeting friends...
LOOK AT the social support where you live.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/18/your-money/when-retirement-planning-consider-ransportation.html
S.F. offers free Muni rides to some seniors and disabled persons
ReplyDeleteBy Michael Cabanatuan
Updated 5:38 pm, Tuesday, January 20, 2015
Low- and moderate-income seniors and disabled persons are next in line for free rides on Muni.
Beginning in March, those groups will join disadvantaged youths in being able to legally climb aboard Muni without paying a fare. The Municipal Transportation Agency Board of Directors approved the free pass program Tuesday. It is expected to cost $4.5 million a year.
The idea of giving financially struggling seniors and disabled persons free passage had been discussed since a similar program for students was approved about a year ago. Dozens of supporters, including four supervisors, spoke in favor of the program, saying it would ensure access to public transportation in a city that is becoming increasingly unaffordable.
“We’re here to provide transportation for the entire city,” said Cheryl Brinkman, a board member. “This is a great step forward. If there is a person who can’t afford it, it’s our job to step forward and provide access.”
Several people told the board that seniors and disabled persons living on fixed incomes are squeezed by the increasing cost of living in San Francisco. They often can’t afford a Fast Pass, they said, and end up sitting at home instead of getting out and socializing.
“It’s really difficult” to live on a fixed income, said Mary Ellen White, 76. “You’re paying your rent, paying your food, paying your prescription drugs. There’s not a lot left over.”
Another man said many couples can’t afford the $23 monthly cost of a senior Fast Pass so they buy one and share it, taking turns at running errands or visiting friends.
Supervisor David Campos, who started the free Muni movement about two years ago, characterized it as an important tool in the fight against income inequality.
“We will be sending a clear message to seniors and the disabled community that we want them to stay in San Francisco,” he said.
Muni riders 65 or older and disabled persons who qualify will be able to apply for free passes beginning Wednesday. The free Muni programs define low and moderate income as less than $67,950 for a one-person household to $97,100 for a family of four to $128,150 for a family of eight.
Applications and details will be available on the MTA website — www.sfmta.com — or by calling 311. No proof of income, such as tax returns, is required.
Most major transit agencies offer heavily discounted fares for seniors and the disabled. With Tuesday’s approval, Muni becomes the only large agency in the country to offer free rides to low- and moderate-income youth, seniors and the disabled.
That, said board member Malcolm Heinicke, should be a source of pride.
“What strikes me,” he said, “is how far ahead we are of other cities.”
http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/S-F-offers-free-Muni-rides-to-some-seniors-and-6028440.php
Making San Francisco Streets Safer for Seniors
ReplyDeleteBy Marcy Adelman
Walk SF, a San Francisco nonprofit pedestrian advocacy organization, is working to make San Francisco a safer, more walkable city for pedestrians. Seniors and lower income communities are presently more at risk for injury or death from pedestrian traffic collisions. In 2014, seniors accounted for nearly half of all traffic deaths, even though they represent only 20% of the city’s population. Regardless of age group, people are more at risk when walking in San Francisco than in almost all other cities in the U.S. Approximately 60% of traffic deaths in 2014 were people walking, which is four times the national average.
I recently got a chance to speak with Nicole Ferrara, Executive Director of Walk SF, to discuss the problem. She said, “San Francisco is a city where people can age in place with great access to transit, close proximity to services and activities for seniors to engage in. Our transportation system, however, has not kept pace with other community resources.” Ferrara added, “It’s not safe for seniors to walk when seniors account for approximately 50% of all pedestrian deaths.”
In the recently released report, Street Score 2015: Annual Report Card on Walking (http://bit.ly/WalkSFStreet Score2015), Walk SF documents how well, and not, San Francisco is meeting its goals for increasing pedestrian safety. Ferrara explained that “the report is our way of keeping the city accountable.” It’s important to note that the report card shows no decrease in serious injuries and fatalities, despite new safety projects.
Mayor Lee in 2013 committed to reducing by half, by the year 2021, the number of pedestrians severely injured and killed in San Francisco. In March of 2014, the Mayor revised that commitment to a goal of zero traffic deaths by 2024. He also secured $17 million to improve pedestrian safety over the next 5 years. The Mayor additionally rolled out WalkFirst, a ground-breaking pedestrian safety initiative. It is the first of its kind in the country to identify where and why pedestrian collisions occur, with the goal of developing and delivering the most effective safety improvements.
I asked Ferrara why she thought that, despite such efforts and engineering improvements, the city did not meet benchmarks for a reduction in injuries and deaths. She replied, “Injuries are strongly tied to dangerous street design—streets like Harrison in SOMA, Golden Gate in the Tenderloin, or Geary in the Richmond. These are among the 6% of streets that account for over 60% of severe and fatal traffic deaths.” …
“Seniors are more vulnerable to severe and fatal injuries in general. Seniors are less able to recover from collisions. They are more likely than younger pedestrians to sustain a serious injury, or suffer a fatality. For instance, when a senior is hit by a car traveling 30 mph, that person has a 38% chance of survival. Compare that to 15–59 year olds, who have a 93% chance of survival. I hope that stat alone encourages everyone to slow down.”
She added, “Seniors need longer crossing times, leading pedestrian intervals that give people on foot a head start before those in cars can proceed, new signals at dangerous intersections, and most of all, slower traffic.”
She and her team at Walk SF are advocating for a comprehensive Safe Streets for Seniors program that would combine more aggressive imple-mentation of senior zones, enforc-ement of those zones, and public education about them. This program, as well as the non-profit’s other work and Ferrara’s words here, provide hope.
http://sfbaytimes.com/making-san-francisco-streets-safer-for-seniors/
FRIDAY, JULY 8, 2016
ReplyDeletePlease Don't Talk About Aging!!!
by: Ken Covinsky @geri_doc
A colleague of mine, who is chief of the Geriatrics Division at a major medical school, recently relayed to me the following story about a conversation with with a leader at their University when discussing plans to promote the University’s work to potential donors. I found the report kind of discouraging. The interaction went something like this:
University Leader: We are having a wine and cheese reception to show some of our donors the great work that is being done at the University. We thought it would be great to give them a talk about successful aging. Would you be willing to talk to them?
Geriatrics Chief: Gosh. Thanks for inviting me. I would love to tell them about all the great work we are doing! We have some really innovative clinical programs to help seniors who are becoming disabled. We also have a new initiative to help stressed out caregivers. I bet your donors will be really excited to hear bout a new program we are developing to help caregivers of our patients with Alzheimers Disease. And we have some really great research too. We are learning about how it is possible for older people to maintain a great quality of life, even when they have major physical or cognitive problems.
University Leader: Oh no no no! Please don't talk about that. Our donors don't want to hear about all the problems with aging. They want to hear about how they can avoid all that stuff. Can you talk instead about how to l live a long life and avoid all the diseases of aging?
I have heard similar stories over the years, and each time my immediate reaction is .... well lets just say probably unconstructive.
These are of course tough things to talk about. But when we avoid talking about the problems of aging, we devalue and disrespect our patients who are dealing with these problems.
The societal unwillingness to confront the problems of aging is major contributor to a health system that utterly fails to address the needs of vulnerable elders, subjecting them to an overly medicalized approach that often does more harm than good, while failing to provide social and palliative solutions that would help and cost less.
What is the right response to the "don't talk about aging" request?
http://www.geripal.org/2016/07/please-dont-talk-about-aging.html
Tue May 31, 2016 2:41pm EDT
ReplyDeleteWhen seniors stop driving, social isolation looms
By Lisa Rapaport
(Reuters Health) - When elderly drivers have to stop getting behind the wheel, they run the risk of social isolation, especially if they don’t have an alternative transportation plan, a recent study suggests.
The study looked at driving habits and social activities, like visiting friends and family or going out to dinner or the movies, for more than 4,300 adults over age 65.
With wheels, older adults were much more likely to be out and about than their peers who never drove, the study found. But after elderly drivers lost the ability to hit the road, their participation in social activities declined to match their peers who never drove at all.
“Social participation in old age is linked with both physical and mental health benefits,” said study author Teja Pristavec, a sociology researcher at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey.
“Older adults who remain engaged in social life report being in better health, experience lower mortality risk over time, and have lower rates of depression, dementia, and other cognitive impairments,” Pristavec added by email. “Transportation mobility is often crucial for such continued social participation.”
Pristavec looked at survey data collected in 2011 and 2013 from people enrolled in Medicare, the U.S. health insurance program for the elderly.
Compared with seniors who had stopped driving, frequent drivers were more than three times as likely to visit friends and family and almost three times as likely to participate in social outings like going to the movies, Pristavec reported in the Journal of Gerontology: Social Science.
Frequent drivers were also more than twice as likely to attend religious services or organized group activities, the study found.
The analysis didn’t include data on at whether seniors lived in rural or urban communities or whether they had easy access to public transportation, however, or how close they lived to friends or relatives who might be able to give them rides.
At least some people in the study may have stopped driving because they were depressed and uninterested in driving, or were physically unable to drive, noted Raymond Bingham, a researcher at the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute in Ann Arbor who wasn’t involved in the study.
Because the study didn’t account for physical or mental health impairments, it’s hard to say whether these problems caused seniors to stop driving or if the reverse is true – that losing access to transportation led to these problems, Bingham said by email.
In some instances, families and physicians will get clear signs it’s time for a driver to stop getting behind the wheel – such as when older drivers make several right turns to avoid left turns at intersections or when they insist on having a passenger to help navigate so they can concentrate on traffic, Bingham noted.
But there’s also a broad gray area where seniors may not be the best drivers on the road but they’re not doing anything that’s an obvious safety hazard.
“In that gray margin it would be important to consider how far the elderly patients have to drive to get to their destinations, how often do they need to drive, and whether or not there are safer alternatives available to them,” Bingham added by email.
“I think it would be a difficult balance,” Bingham said. “My parents decided for themselves that they were ready to quit driving, so I never had to intervene, for which I was grateful.”
SOURCE: bit.ly/1RJHuTv Journal of Gerontology: Social Science, online May 12, 2016
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-seniors-driving-idUSKCN0YM2E3
Meet the SF man responsible for more than a quarter of all tech bus complaints
ReplyDeleteBy Joe Fitzgerald Rodriguez on August 28, 2016 1:00 am
Edward Mason is on the hunt, and his target is the elusive tech bus.
…he catches the gleaming metal vehicles in the act of violating city rules on the “Commuter Shuttle Program,” repeatedly.
White haired, bespectacled and wiley, Mason stood at the corner of Castro and 24th streets on Wednesday awaiting a double-decker commuter shuttle bound with commuters…
Employees of many tech companies hire commuter buses between San Francisco and Silicon Valley, which weave in and out of city neighborhoods to pick up employees.
…There are nearly 8,500 people taking a daily trip on private commuter shuttles, according to SFMTA, with more than 17,000 daily boardings.
This has drawn ire of neighbors, who frequently complain of the shuttles’ size and abnormally murky exhaust (lawsuits allege the shuttles are far less ecologically efficient than Muni buses, for instance).
Due to the buses’ height, exhaust fumes are often level with bedroom windows — especially troubling when the buses are idle, neighbors have said in public meetings.
Yet none of these neighbors are as vigilant as Mason, records show.
The Netflix-bound bus he hunted Wednesday has Texas license plates. This is against the rules of the program laid out by the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, which regulates shuttles in The City, Mason said.
…He drew his tools of the trade: a pocket-sized notebook, a pen, a miniature snapshot camera and a stopwatch.
…Mason is personally responsible for more than a quarter — 28 percent — of all enforcement against scofflaw commuter shuttles, according to the SFMTA.
A pilot program to monitor and regulate shuttle use began in August 2014, and that’s when Mason began his hunt. He’s been enormously effective.
In an October 2015 evaluation report of the entire commuter shuttle program, SFMTA staffers wrote, “One particularly active community member, a resident of Noe Valley, provided 69 of the 296 comments, or 23 percent of the total” that were used in the report.
Overall, Mason has provided information on commuter shuttles 282 times, according to the SFMTA.
Mason’s emails detail scores of infractions, including a shuttle idling in a narrow street it’s not allowed in, shuttles staging in Muni stops, shuttles blocking access to Muni buses, incorrect permit decals, incorrect license plates and more.
“The plan says buses are supposed to avoid deep and narrow streets,” he said, “but what else is there in San Francisco?”
Mason is retired from a private military defense logistics firm and previously served in the U.S. Navy.
Now 70, Mason has attended Save Muni meetings, numerous SFMTA meetings, and a litigant in the environmental lawsuit against the Commuter Shuttle Program, Sue Vaughan, counts him as a key ally.
“Imagine how many violations would be reported if we had more people like him,” Vaughan said.
Mason himself wasn’t entirely sure why he goes after scofflaw shuttle buses.
“Either it’s government not doing their job,” he said, or “I just feel it’s an inequity and the neighborhood is screwed.”
Later Wednesday morning, Mason walked near Edison Elementary, which is now a charter school. As shuttles pull up to pick up tech workers, they navigate a tricky milieu of running children and hurried double parking parents.
“You have to keep going. You have to complain, complain, complain until it gets fixed,” he said.
http://www.sfexaminer.com/meet-sf-man-responsible-quarter-tech-bus-complaints/
Guest Opinion: Celebration and work continues for LGBT seniors
ReplyDeleteby Ashley C. McCumber
Wednesday Mar 6, 2019
In March 2014, 15 LGBT advocates and leaders in the aging field delivered our 18-month review and recommendations to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors.… Today, this effort has produced substantial movement in the right direction. Our efforts aimed at improving conditions for older LGBT adults in data collection, cultural competency, health and social services, housing, legal services, and building "community within community."
When asked to share my reflections on this five-year milestone, the safest route was to approach the task as the head of a "mainstream" senior services nonprofit. However, this was, and is, deeply personal to me. Now at 57 and gay, I'm just a few years away from being a senior and my sense of urgency about aging grows daily. Who will be there to take care of my husband and me?
My decision to assume my current role in 2007 was, in part, a desire to impact my future as a gay man. So, having landed in the gay mecca of San Francisco, you can imagine my surprise when I asked my team at Meals on Wheels San Francisco, "How many LGBT clients do we have?" The answer; "We don't ask." Why, I asked? The answer; "Why would we ask a senior who they sleep with?" Considering the fact that I knew we served a significant number of LGBT clients with competence, care, as well as meals, I was shocked by this response and felt personally diminished. I helped our team understand that this thinking was wrong and that our aim should be to recognize all of our clients' identity (family, friends, and supports) and be seen as a trusted resource to them. We immediately began to collect self-reported LGBT status data, implemented efforts to build cultural competence, and when the aging task force was formed, I applied to be a part of the effort. Trust me when I say that my experience was not unique in the senior services field.
So, now five years after the task force outlined 13 recommendations, we have much to celebrate…Almost all of the recommendations have tangible actions to boast — mandated comprehensive, cultural competence training for nonprofit contractors, establishing legal protections in long-term care facilities, implementing improvements in dementia and Alzheimer's care, the opening of LGBT senior housing by Openhouse, and the addition of peer-support programs, just to name a few. It should come as no surprise that the area where substantial work remains is in housing — affordability and eviction protections, housing conditions — especially in single-room-occupancy hotels, and a homeless shelter system that is often unwelcoming to the LGBT community.
This underscores a basic tenant of our work on the task force — issues confronting LGBT aging are not necessarily unique to LGBT seniors per se, but that we come to these issues as a marginalized population, with a history of discrimination, and failure by institutions to include us and recognize the disparities that are manifested by our history. Housing is our number one city crisis, even more so for our LGBT aging community.
So, the work has just begun. Clearly, we are living in a time when things are better in our community — marriage equality has offered some protections, San Francisco continues to lead in social justice and equality progress, and a younger generation has, thankfully, a better life experience…The hurt, fear, and trauma of the "lived experience" of older LGBTs cannot be dismissed, or disregarded. And, in the Trump era — any of the gains we have made are clearly under attack and need to be defended, again. Hate and ignorance still exist — even within our community.
…we have to have a conversation about ageism in our own community and work together to build healthier bridges between all generations of LGBT San Franciscans.
The report for the San Francisco LGBT Aging Policy Task Force can be found
at https://bit.ly/2S8qwGz.
https://ebar.com/news/news/273171