PA Secretary of Aging on Master Plan Exploration
Pennsylvania Secretary of Aging Kavulich talked about challenges, not solutions.
Elderly people—in their 60’s, 70’s, 80’s and up— are living on the street and couch surfing in Pennsylvania cities, said Pennsylvania Secretary of Aging Jason Kavulich, in an interview last week, when asked about big challenges for the Pennsylvania Master Plan for Aging now being developed.
“It’s everywhere. You see it in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. It’s trending up in Scranton and Wilkesbarre,” said Kavulich. “Their apartments are sold. They get priced out. It’s a broad challenge for people in their ‘60’s to the end of life.”
As 10,000 people turn 65 every day in the U.S., with the aging of the Baby Boom generation, five states, beginning with California, have created “master plans for aging”—California, Colorado, Texas, Minnesota and Massachusetts. Pennsylvania and New York are following suit, using strategies similar to California’s, launched in 2019, gathering local perspectives county by county in town hall meetings.
Kavulich declined to provide his ideas for the Pennsylvania Master Plan for Aging.
“It’s hypocritical to have a plan while listening to 67 counties,” he said. “We can’t get to solutions until we listen. It’s what Pennsylvanians tell us they want.”
The “listening tour,” begun in May, will continue through mid-fall.
He did say that affordable housing is a top priority. In Pike County, about seven people in their sixties have notified Pike County Area Agency on Aging that they were in need of shelter in the past year, said Executive Director Robin Soares. But she also said that others would likely have called 211 for emergency social services and been connected with assistance.
Meanwhile, Pennsylvania Department of Aging Shared Housing and Resource Exchange Program (SHARE) has successfully housed 91 seniors since it began in 2017. Pike, Monroe and Wayne Counties have been the trial locations, since 2017, for SHARE, in which at least one person age 60 or older shares a home with others 18 and over in an arrangement assisted by a SHARE counselor. Participants pay no more than 30% of their income, and their contributions may also include household help. The program has expanded to ten more counties, recently including Bucks, Lackawanna, Montgomery, Northumberland and Philadelphia Counties.
“It’s a win-win situation,” said Soares. “It helps with isolation and loneliness and participants get help with chores and rent.”
Such opportunities may be valuable for the nine in ten Pennsylvanians who, Kavulich said, say they want to live independently as they age. Asked about the future of nursing homes, some of which, in Pike County, continue to be the target of significant complaints, he said that they are not overseen by his department, although the Department of Aging does provide ombudsmen and protective services.
“The challenge is getting workers,” he said.
Asked about the possibility of training immigrants for nursing home jobs, although some local officials resist their arrival, Kavulich said, “I don’t think it’s about citizenship. It’s whether they’re willing to work with older adults, helping with their daily needs.”
Kavulich acknowledged the importance of volunteer activities for cognitive and physical health, noting the state's 485 senior centers offering meals and social programs.
“Many from the 60 and over population help implement the programs,” he said. “People being connected and in contact is important.”
Other priority issues that have emerged from the town hall meetings so far have included needs for transportation, support for caregivers, including unpaid caregivers; and developing age-friendly communities, where seniors feel supported, have services and social interactions.
Kavulich noted the “crossover between information from academics, Alzheimer organizations, AARP and systems gathering data about needs, transportation, in home structures” and other aspects of the issue. “But we can’t get to solutions until we listen,” he said.
Community focused news can only succeed with community support. Please consider the various subscription levels.