The Many Areas of Need of Older Adults

     Atchley (2000), suggests areas that older adults require and

further suggests that government should consider making policies to

cover these elder needs: 

          "Rehabilitation, furniture and equipment design, housing,

          inflation protection, transportation, homemaker services,

          taxes, recreation, protective services, mental health,

          alcohol abuse [counselors], consumer protection, visual

          impairment, referral services, hearing impairment,

          independence, poverty, education, activity, dental care, 

          long-term care, employment, nutrition, research and

         development, building design, clothing design, and

         protection from age discrimination. (Atchely, 2000)

      Many of these needs are a part of legislation put forth for the

benefit of the older population. Yet it must been noted that the

funding sources to the Older American’s Act, for an example, have

been declining and many programs have had to be cut in size, if

not cut out altogether.  It appears that the vacuum that is opening up

would be a good niche that “for-profit” case managers could help fill.

                         Ideal Case Management

     Case Managers for older adults must deal with their clients in a number of ways.  Harris and associates (2004) list the thirteen important areas that a human services professional must be skilled in to properly serve their patients/clients.

1-      An administrator within the agency that employs the human services worker. Even if the case manager has their own business, there are many records to be kept and regulations to keep up on. Most case mangers, however, work as employees in an agency setting. As such, Harris and associates (2004) stresses that case managers need to help each other avoid dualism, discuss possible therapy for a given client, check assessment work, take care of office needs, meeting with new clients, an otherwise be a team player in the agency. Continuing education and self-assessment are areas that the case manager will be receiving and giving to other case managers in the agency.

      The case manager must keep growing in the field, even after they feel that they have mastered the work, if for no other reason than the continuing changes brought about by new legislation or court cases.    

2- An advocate for the Older Adults and their needs. Although older people were seen as more deserving in the past (especially in the 1960s), there has been demographic shifts that have changed some concepts of the moral superiority of the aged. Since so many people are now living to older ages, and since the resources of America are finite, there is a movement that is looking into the fairness of government wealth redistribution efforts. Some younger people are beginning to note that there is a significant generation gap in the income that they will have in their retirement, as opposed to their parents and grandparents. This and other modernization effects are creating a decrease in respect for a person being able to grow to a rip old age. In effect, a prejudice of ageism may be rising and may boil over in the 21^st century.

      In Becca Levy's (Levy, 2001) article on ageism, the concept of "implicit ageism" is defined and elaborated. She asserts that

1- Ageism operates "without conscious awareness or control,"

2- Society socializes each member with in its stereotypes of aging, and

3- Most ageism is negative.

       She also quotes from the research of her colleague, M.R. Banaji (1999), that "95% of the participants had negative views of old people."

       Many corporations, governments, and age groups vie for the

money that they may be able to get back from the federal

government tax coffers. There are many needs that are not being

fulfilled. To understand how these funds may benefit one group over

another, a look at how the government makes public policy out of

social policy:

      Social policy change usually is a direct response to social

movements and special interest groups. Ageism is no exception as

generations are beginning to fight over scarce resources. The

following illustrates how a social concern becomes policy:

--People have concerns, which are formed by their attitudes, priorities and values. The people form special interest groups, join a given political party, which represents their views, and/or affect outcomes by their voting.

--These actions on the part of the people bring the issues to the attention of the elected officials.

--The issues and priorities are then presented as bills by the elected officials.

--Policy-making Institutions, (which include the President, Congress and Courts on the Federal level; Governor, Legislature and Courts on the State level; County Commissioners and Courts on the County level; and Mayor, City Council and Courts on the city level) then go through the process of modifying, compromising, and accepting or rejecting the bill, which then becomes policy if accepted.

--The policy goes to bureaucracies, who come up with "how" the policy will be put into effect. (Congress passes laws, but bureaucracies make the policy that puts those laws into effect.)

--After the policy is put into effect, the people judge the usefulness and impact of the policy.

      Depending upon the outcome of changes in public policy,

ageism may become a greater  factor this century. Already there are

younger groups calling for the immediate abolition  of Social

Security. Nick named “Age Wars, “ intergenerational inequality may

be the  most divisive issue of the century.