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There are more older adults that live in Chautauqua County by percentage, than in New York state or the United States, and providing care will only get more difficult and expensive as that percentage increases.
That was one of the many points made by Chautauqua County Office for Aging Services Director Dana Corwin, during a recent presentation made at the county legislature's Human Services Committee meeting.
Corwin cited statistics that show in Chautauqua County 21% of the residents are 65 and older. Statewide, 17% of residents are 65 and older. Nationwide, 16% of residents are 65 and older.
Corwin also shared that the State Office for the Aging is projecting Chautauqua County's aging population to maintain, while the overall population is expected to drop. She said there are projections that in the next 20 years, Chautauqua County's older adults will make up between 30 to 32% of the population.
"We know that the tax base is reducing in the number of people living in the county and our older adults are increasing. That becomes a problematic situation on how do we do the work with our older adults to really buoy them in the community," Corwin said.
In terms of home ownership, Corwin said in Chautauqua County 79% of those 60 and older own their own homes. Of that total, 67% do not have a mortgage.
But services for older adults in Chautauqua County are not plentiful, which is one of the reasons why there's a push to keep people in their homes and in their communities.
In the last few years nursing homes and assisted living facilities have closed. "According to my count, we have four long-term care or skilled nursing facilities. We have 290 beds in the south and 256 beds in the north. That's pretty decent actually, when you look at other rural communities. ... As far as assisted living, we have a total of 486 (beds) in the south county, but only 141 in the north," Corwin said.
Combined there's only 1,200 beds in nursing and assisted living facilities, with about 30,000 older adults living in the county. "Now, will they all need care at the same time? I hope not. But we do need to know that we have a continuum of care between what happens when there's an accident, an illness, an exacerbation where they need a higher level of care. They can then coalesce between the different levels and then ultimately land back at home," she said.
To help keep older adults in their homes, Corwin noted they offer essentially housekeeping assistance called "Personal Care Support Level 1."
Those adults can dress and bathe themselves, but need help with cleaning, meal preparation, grocery shopping and laundry. "It's really important to think about this because if someone can't manage their environment, they will have to go to a higher level of care," she said.
According to Corwin, the average age of Personal Care Support Level 1 in Chautauqua County is 82.4 years old.
Personal Care Support Level 2 includes all of the tasks in Level 1, plus assistance with bathing, dressing, grooming, toileting, walking, feeding, assisting with administering medications, preparing meals with special diets, and routine skin care.
The average age of Personal Care Support Level 2 in Chautauqua County is 84.1 years old.
The largest service the Office for Aging provides is nutrition, including home delivered meals through Meals On Wheels. "We know food is medicine, so when we can provide this valuable service to them, it keeps their diabetes in control. It manages their cardiac risks. It helps them deal with other things, and it keeps them in the home," Corwin said.
Corwin also highlighted Adult Day Care Services, which she called "fantastic." She notes they can provide supervision, oversight, nutrition, medication management, activities and movement.
She said programs the county can provide to keep people in the community and out of assisted living is a benefit to all.
Those higher levels of care can be quite expensive, and older adults may need to spend down their assets and then they end up on Medicaid. "We've all heard a lot about the cost of Medicaid in New York state, so this is a little example," Corwin said.
To break down the cost, Corwin said nationally a typical assisted living facility will cost $4,500. A typical nursing home will cost nearly $12,000 a month. Those costs are often higher in New York state, including Western New York.
But the average cost of a typical Office for the Aging client who receives 10 hours a week of services, 10 meals a week and an emergency alert is around $1,500 a month.
"You can see what we're doing is cost diversion and keeping people in the community," Corwin said.