Cindi Thorell’s father had never shown signs of depression.
But
when her mother died, and he progressed into his 80s and 90s, Thorell’s
father lost interest in the activities he used to love. Even getting up
in the morning became a difficult task, she said.
Thorell, of Pembroke, said this is an issue that many adults face as they get older.
“They’ll
have no issue with mental illness, and all of a sudden, they start
having it, because of loss, because of not working anymore, because of
being isolated,” she said.
And while Thorell’s father had her for
support before he died, many aging people have no one to turn to when
they start feeling that way, she said.
“It’s scary. People who have never dealt with it before, and
all of a sudden they’re having an issue with it, there’s still a stigma
out there,” Thorell said. “They don’t want to have to tell people, ‘I
think I’m depressed, or having some problems.’ ”
Thorell was one
of about 100 people who came to the GoodLife Programs & Activities
building in Concord on Wednesday to discuss the state’s four-year plan
on aging.
The state’s current plan, put in place in 2015, expires
next year and the Department of Health and Human Services is hosting 13
two-hour listening sessions across the state to get feedback on what to
include in the new one. The state plan, required for every state that
receives Older American’s Act funds, is due in July 2019.
Feedback
from the listening session, along with a 29-question survey that the
department has been circulating, will be some of the most important
building blocks for the new state plan, facilitator Jo Moncher said.
“Instead
of us giving you a plan, ‘Hey, we put this plan together, what do you
guys think? Why don’t you edit it?’ – we haven’t started writing the
plan yet. We are in the very early stages of this,” Moncher told the
crowd in Concord. “The beginning of this starts with all of this
feedback. It starts with you.”
Attendees of the listening session gave detailed – and often personal – critiques.
Thorell
said she’s experienced her own challenges with depression – which
peaked when she retired at age 61. Thorell had support, but even then,
her illness was hard to manage. She said she was one of the lucky ones,
with good resources, great insurance, and the knowledge to get help.
Even so, it was hard to find a doctor who could
diagnose and help her.
“It took me six months – it was ridiculous,” she said.
“Getting
older, it kind of scares me, I don’t have kids and I need to be able to
have people that are going to be there for me,” she added.
One
topic of conversation that came up was the need for increased support
for older adults who want to continue to live at home as they age.
Marc
Lacroix, of Concord, said he travels up to Berlin – where he grew up
and his 92-year-old father still lives – at least once or twice a week
to drive him to doctor’s appointments, or make safety adjustments to his
home. He said many of his dad’s friends have medical conditions and
have no one to care for them.
“There are basic things that keep
people in place. Like, I just put a rail in the shower for him to hold
onto to keep him safe. I pick up his rugs so he doesn’t trip,” he said.
“I do that for my dad, but there are people who don’t have that. And
that’s really problematic.”
In April, Lacroix’s dad was
experiencing shortness of breath, and having trouble climbing stairs. A
doctor said it was simply a symptom of aging – but Lacroix thought it
was something more. He pushed the doctor to investigate further, and it
turned out he was right.
“My father would have never advocated for
himself in that way. But I was able to, so we were able to get a
diagnosis and we were able to treat that,” Lacroix said.
A few
attendees expressed concern about the lack of adult day care options in
the state. Denise Clattenburg, 74, of Chichester, said daycare can be a
less expensive alternative to
assisted living – and a lifeline for caregivers on a tight budget who need to keep working.
“That
kind of service seems to be very, very limited. There are all kinds of
organizations, but to have something that is as centrally located in
Concord area would be great,” she said. “The availability of people who
need to take a loved one to be bathed, or to be babysat for the day, or
any of those kinds of things – that is lacking.”
TLC, Concord’s
only adult day care center announced it would be closing its doors Nov.
21 due to lack of funding, leaving no other options.
Attendees were asked to list things they like about aging in Concord.
Claudia
Rein, of Concord, said she likes events put on by GoodLife and AARP.
She said this fall she went on a fun trip to Diamond Hill Farm in
Concord with
AARP.
“Getting
people together to communicate with each other and take trips and to
exercise, to learn about aging, that’s amazing,” she said.
Maryanne
Hammond, 72 , of Hillsboro, said those kinds of services don’t really
exist outside the city. She started an organization, Greater Hillsboro
Senior Services, to help with some of that – but it has its limits.
“We’re
in a quandary because we don’t have a building, we do have a bus, our
bus was a second-hand bus, and we’ve been able to offer shopping trips
for people, and fun trips and things like that, but we’ve struggled for
funding,” Hammond said. “We’ve struggled to provide our monthly
luncheon.”
“We don’t have what you have here in Concord,” she said.
Joan
Marcoux said hearing loss is one of the most common health conditions
facing individuals over 70, and many service providers and senior
centers don’t provide accommodations, like using microphones or
on-screen captioning.
“I see people not be able to go or
participate because they cant hear what’s going on in bingo. They’re
afraid to ask what the numbers are,” she said. “There is so much easy
technology to help people be engaged that don’t cost that much.”
“Service
providers have no excuse as to not being able to provide communication
access for hearing so that people can feel included and not feel like
they need to stay home because they’re embarrassed about not being able
to hear,” she
added.
Moncher said the department is approaching
this new plan on aging differently than pasts plans in that the
committee wont be considering funding when they
create it. They’ll create the plan entirely based on need, and then see what the state is able to provide.
“Are we going to be able to handle whatever comes forward?” Moncher said. “We’re going to see.”
Published in The Concord Monitor December 1, 2018
