Needs that Are Not Being Met: The Areas of Improvement

     The first and most obvious improvement that the Davis County Aging Network needs to accomplish is building a consistent system that can find all of the older people who need products, services, information, and help. By Federal law, the AAA already employs outreach workers in an attempt to follow up on community leads concerning these isolated elderly. But budget constraints do not allow for a full, detailed sweep of the county, let alone a series of sweeps at given intervals. Simply put, some elderly are not being reached because they either are not known or are only known by some components of the system.

     Furthermore, older adults may either wish to stay away from government programs (perhaps it helps their sense of independence), may not know about programs set up for their benefit or how to access them, or may not consider themselves deserving of the benefits available.  

    Informal systems such as the extended family, neighbors, food shelves, churches and others may be providing important services and helps to older populations in Davis County, Utah, but there is no current means of knowing if all older persons in the county are getting their needs met. There may never be a way to know this information other than the reports that currently come into the Adult Protective Services when something has gone wrong.