From the Director
New Year brings hope
By Robert P. Dean
The year just ended was a busy one for Elder Services. Among our many activities: Our Home Care, Meals on Wheels, and Caregiver programs continued to grow throughout the year. We applied for and received funding from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development to convert the remaining portion of the old Lee Central School in Lee into additional units of affordable low-income housing for seniors. In collaboration with the North Adams Housing Authority, we introduced Residential Service Coordination to the residents of their North Adams locations. We refurbished and updated the Richard and Rita Gallagher Alzheimer’s Resource Center located at our 66 Wendell Avenue address. We were the proud recipients of Pittsfield Community TV’s annual “Annie Award” given in recognition of Elder Services’ excellence in the use of television programming to improve the quality of life in the community. And, we hosted a reception in honor of newly appointed Secretary of Elder Affairs Michael E. Festa, who visited us this past month.
We are pleased that Secretary Festa is the new Secretary of Elder Affairs. While in the legislature, he was a strong proponent of home and community-based services, and was the lead sponsor of the 2006 “Equal Choice” legislation, which provides that seniors and individuals with disabilities, who are eligible for Mass Health, are entitled to receive their long-term care services in the least restrictive setting including their own homes if that is their choice. During his first three months. Secretary Festa has been active and engaged, and has indicated his desire to create a more active, vigorous, and visible Elder Affairs.
As we look to the year ahead, it is imperative that funding for home and community based services keeps pace with the growing need. The Home Care programs provide essential in-home assistance with personal care needs such as dressing, bathing, and bathroom assistance that allow frail Berkshire seniors to continue to live in their own homes with dignity and independence. Appropriate funding must be made available to meet the need for these services and to avoid waiting lists. No one should have to wait to receive services for which they are eligible. The Meals on Wheels program provides a hot, nutritious, noontime meal and a wellness check to frail home-bound seniors. The Meals program has been dangerously under funded for years even as the cost of preparing, serving, and delivering the meals has continued to increase.
Another area of concern is the rate of depression and mental illness among seniors. Almost two thirds of seniors with a mental health disorder do not receive the services they need. Seniors have the highest suicide rate of any age group, with persons 85 or older having a suicide rate that is almost double the general population. The stigma surrounding mental health treatment is disproportionately higher among older people, many of whom do not want to be identified with the traditional mental health system. Depression is not a natural part of the aging process. Mental health services should be a basic in-home service, as important as personal care, so that seniors can have access to mental health services in their own homes.
A new year offers new hope, and new opportunity. How well we are able to take advantage of that hope and opportunity remains to be seen.
On behalf of Elder Services, I would like to wish each and every one of you a happy, healthy New Year.
Robert P. Dean is Executive Director of Elder Services
