Yeah, create crazy rules. Because someone told you a story about a senior that you now think all seniors struggle with these issues. Yeah. So I think that is


I think the coordination has to happen at the community and the county level. Yeah. Not only just the county's responsibility needs to be a community level a level of hurt.


I don't think we're in a crisis. I think we're close to one


think we're close. I think there are some factors that we talked about today that are more prevalent today than they were yesterday. And if we ignore them, we're going to have a bigger issue.


Economic, you know, inability to maintain housing. Huge. I think we, I think we see that is continuing to grow. And if we don't do anything, we're we're going to be responding to the outcome of lack of interventions.


Yeah, yeah. So really, we have an opportunity to do prevention. Prevention is a big one. I think we have some a segment of this population that's in crisis today. Yep. Right. So we need to we need to do that while we invest on prevention activities for those who may be in crisis tomorrow. Yeah. But that's not how government that's not how it works. We address those in crisis today. We never want to invest in prevention, because we've given so much money to the symptoms that we think we don't have enough money for prevention, because we don't realize, because you know why everyone wants to come today. When I give you $1, I want to see what you do with $1. Today, yeah, I don't want to invest in prevention, that I may not see the outcome of my results for five years. Yeah.


Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So they do the intervention work.


Without looking at the prevention work, that has to be done. Yeah. Because what you should be doing is shrinking this population and avoiding this population from becoming this population. So eventually, you you hit a ground zero. It's like, it's like that the housing situation, right. If we had done a lot more in prevention, we wouldn't have a crisis today.


We all moved away from supportive housing, because well, no one wanted an affordable apartment building in their neighborhood. Yeah. Right. So yeah, we're a lot of this stuff is very big. Katie. I mean, it's just a big problem. But I don't think I don't think the majority of this population is in crisis. I think there is a segment of this population that is feeling the pain more today than others. Yeah. And we need to intervene in those lives. But I think it's, you know, we need to also start preparing the others as they continue to age and prepare their support systems and how best to support this population.


I'm just curious. Yeah. I think I think what they're thinking is that


is that we are so far behind the eight ball. Yeah. That a crisis is inevitable, is what they're feeling. Yeah. I don't I don't you know, what, we are falling behind the eight ball. But we're not we're but so is everybody else That's the problem. Yeah. So it's sort of a ticking time bomb, basically. Right. That'd be the title of my report, a ticking time bomb. Let's not do that. That won't make you any friends.


Well, hey, leveraging what we do well, and building on the things that we do well, and trying to see where we can customize, and how to be better partners, with the community organizations that do this work more effectively than, you know, like SSA has their piece. They have their piece, but they don't have it all, and then are responsible for it all. Yeah. Which ca has their piece.


But they don't do it all and are responsible for it all. Yeah. So how do we bring the pieces


I'm sure you're talking to like all the big partners, I'm sure you're talking like to the Alzheimer's Association, you talk to United Way. So you got the big players. So I'm sure they've covered the big player ticking, you know, group that we identified when we did the Senate bill for shared information, probably. I'm sure they just gave you that list. So


they didn't give me that list. But we do have like, we have 100 stakeholder interviews slated.


So I think we have like the big ones United Way calafell Alzheimer's Association, right. All of them. Yeah. Yeah. You're you should be good then. Yeah, yeah, that's a good group. Yeah, yeah. So um, well anyway, if you ever feel the need


that you're like oh, I didn't tell Katie this please feel free to reach out and call me or send me an email. I'm happy to jump on the phone again with you. Thank you thank you so much for your time you have any no worries and if you have any follow up just give me a call. I will I will and whenever you they make that official I will be the first to welcome you. Back.


We try let's all keep that you know, because


I didn't say anything. I didn't say anything. Okay, thank you so much. Okay, take care. Bye bye.


Um, no, not really. Yeah. Happy to help.


Okay, thank you. So the primary goal of today is to identify what needs you think are most important to the older adults population that you serve. So that's defined as 60 or older. We want you to think as broadly as possible, taking into consideration the older adults, caregivers, families and their community. I'm going to share my screen so you can see a list of common issues and concerns impacting older adults. And please take just a few minutes to read through the list. And let me know when you're ready to begin. Sure. So I will share that list right now.


So yes, please take a few minutes to look over and let me know when you're ready.


Yeah. So a little later on, I will ask you to list the top three. But I have just before that,


go over that list, as well. So be able to look at this. Okay. Yeah. Yeah, definitely.


Definitely. I'm the regional manager at Braille Institute in Laguna Hills. So we see seniors, our average age of our students are usually 80 to 90 year old.


Just due to where we are in Laguna right next to Laguna Woods village. Yeah, so we help individuals that are either losing their sight or they've gone totally blind. So we help everyone from, you know, has cataracts, glaucoma to total vision loss.


Thank you. Thinking about Orange County and looking at the list of common issues and concerns impacting older adults.


Um, no, everything that I've seen is on this list. Okay, thank you. And of the needs on the list, please rank your top three that you feel are most important.


Yeah, no particular order. Okay. Definitely transportation would be one of them.


from our seniors, I would say personal care management.


Okay, so the next set of questions will just be going through the three needs that you identified.


Definitely due to vision loss, so for their safety and the safety of others on the streets, they no longer can drive. So you know, if they're not living in a community, such as like, Laguna Woods village that offers transportation, and they're still living in, you know, a family home and you know, if people are going off to work during the day, and they're there by themselves, they don't have a ride.


COVID. I know that kind of put a kink in things. I know a lot of transportation kind of slowed down, I guess if it's just the lack of drivers being available, and the costs. I know if there's a cost, usually seniors are less likely to take advantage of the service.


I would think so. Yeah, if they have the resources and they're able to


To, you know, look up things on the internet, they have that digital, you know, background, they know how to use technology, then they are more likely to find transportation and see what is available. And like, you know, individuals that are either speaking English that is difficult for them at some time. So if they're not, you know, they don't have a second language is English, it's it's a little difficult.


Um, mostly the lack of wanting to learn new things. It's they see it as being challenging or difficult. And they don't they feel like they don't need it. Or if they don't have the funds to buy technology, that's another one.


memory issues would be one thing, definitely. So if they have any cognitive issues,


that can always interfere with learning new devices. So that's always a big one.


I think so. I mean, I've seen people that are, you know, in their 90s. And they're better than technology than I am. So if they have the will, and the urge to learn something, and they have that drive, I think it's a little easier on their end to do that.


Offering classes and workshops, I think that's always a good thing and offering it in different languages. And free, of course.


Definitely, for us, since we have individuals that are losing their sight, personal care can be hard at times. We teach independent living skills here. So we're always teaching someone you know how to mark and label their washing machine. So they can actually use the washer. So they have clean clothes. We teach them how to mark and label their clothing. So they, you know, have matching clothes, so they're not wearing mismatched things. Yeah, just not being able to see to like, you know, for females, if they want to do their hair and makeup, it can be challenging at times. So that's always a hard one. But yeah, just self care, being able to, you know, clean up after yourself. You're, you know, cooking in the kitchen and you leave crumbs behind that could be an issue that can cause insects that can come into your house.


Thank you for sharing what barriers exist to seeing improvements in this area.


Um just the lack of wanting to learn how to do things differently. I know some people struggle with change. So some people are embarrassed to have they're called bumped dots to like mark their appliances. They feel that if someone sees it, it's embarrassing. And they feel like that. They're, you know, not what they used to be. But yeah, I think it's just


I think so I think if you're, you know, you grew up cooking cleaning for someone and you know, you're starting to lose your sight and you're getting older, and you want to continue doing that you want to and you have a passion, usually you will learn the different ways adaptability.


Teaching them different ways. Because even you know, when I started working at Braille Institute, I had no idea with all the different ways, you know, we're losing our vision, how to go about, you know, pouring a cup of water when you can't see, you know, how much water you're pouring into something so it doesn't overflow. So just learning different ways and different tools that people can use.


Thank you So that is it for the list. There are some more questions following, but I will stop screen sharing at this point.


Yeah, so geriatric care would just be any doctors that are specifically catered towards older adults.


Yeah, I think there's a surplus of that, especially in South Orange County, since it's more of a retirement area. I think that is definitely a specialty down this way.


That can include any, like retirement centers, nursing homes are any services that help medical and non medical needs of those who cannot care for themselves. Gotcha. Yeah, definitely, I would say more in South Orange County, they are, I mean, from what I've seen everywhere, especially down this way. Unfortunately, it does cost more to live down in South Orange County. So that does price a lot of people out from retiring and living down this way. So that's the only downside.


From what I see, yeah, there's a lot of resources.


Okay, great. Oh, gosh, I would have to look it up. I know that Hoag offers it. I've seen Kaiser, pace, I want to say is another one.


VA right here, the Laguna Hills VA. It's like a small branch. So yeah, there's definitely options.


Um, I, from what I've seen, it's a little bit more difficult. Just due to county issues, I know, there's always you know, a waitlist, or it's kind of hard to actually talk to someone to get a hold of a human in the social service department. So that is a little bit more difficult.


Oh, gosh, I would say the cost of living. I mean, everything's gone up. So yeah, just paying for living expenses, food, transportation.


Oh, gosh, I would say definitely, you know, price point, making sure that, you know, rent stabilization is there. You know, they're always talking about Social Security won't be there for people that are, you know, younger, so making sure that's going to be available in the future. So, yeah, I would just say, price point of actual actually being able to retire and live somewhere. Especially in California. It's kind of expensive.


Yeah, and thinking about all the older adult residents in Orange County, who is getting the least amount of attention.


I would say, the individuals that don't speak English or Spanish, I know, you know, there's always you know, Spanish brochures, the English brochures, but I mean, there's so many other languages, especially in southern California that are being spoken. So yeah, I think those individuals. Thank you.


I, oh, gosh. I mean, food is always a big one, food insecurities. But I know for a lot of people they don't want to admit to it. So that's always a big one. Especially after the pandemic being lonely and the whole mental health. I think that's been overlooked as


You and in addition to what we've already talked about, let's dig a little deeper into your area of expertise. So we have Braille Institute


under the category of bridging the digital divide, would you say that's pretty accurate to your area of expertise.


Definitely, as we've actually been offering more virtual classes and workshops for the past three years, we never offered that before the whole pandemic. But yet individuals are comfortable doing that now from the comfort of their home, they don't have to worry about transportation, since transportation is huge for seniors. It's, you know, to go down the street, 10 miles, it could take an hour. So you know, just to go for a class for an hour's you know, three hours of your day. So, that's definitely been huge.


Um, it's been pretty good working, it does take, you know, a few one on one sessions with some students, for them to get a hang of, you know, using technologies such as Skype or Microsoft Teams and getting them logged into the class or the workshop. But yeah, it just, it just takes practice and patience.


Oh, gosh, I just say, more information on technology and what it can do for an individual.


Being able to offer you know, services or even like cities, local, like senior centers, being able to offer that to the community. I think that's that would be huge.


Well, what did you I didn't hear you Sorry, you cut out.


probably just seeing how far the student has come from being able to use, you know, their iPhone independently. I think that's huge. Using different apps on the phone, just showing that not just being able just to make a phone call or send a text actually being able to use all the different apps.


Thank you. And is there anyone else that you think we should


Maybe anybody at the VA, they have some great services as well. So yeah, we always recommend those two. Okay. Thank you. And final question. Yeah, definitely. Okay, great. Thank you. So, that concludes our interview. Thank you so much for your time, and you've been incredibly helpful for our research. And if you find that you have anything else that you want to share, feel free to reach out to us. Our contact information will be available on our website, which is www dot advance oc.com. And you can also feel free to leave an anonymous voicemail on our telephone line at anytime. So I will Yeah, and I will stop the recording now.


Good morning in learning. My name is Ron Barnes, and I'm a part of the research team at advanta, you'll see a local nonprofit conducting the county of oranges older adults needs assessment. Thank you for your willingness to take part in this interview. And the purpose of the interview is to identify the needs of older adults, and to gather insights from your expertise and experience. The information provided will be used for the development of the Orange County Master Plan for aging. This interview will last about an hour and with your permission, our discussion will be recorded only for transcription and note taking purposes, the recording will not be shared with anyone and after the transcription, the recording will be deleted. If you do not feel comfortable being recorded, turn off your camera and change your name attached to the picture. Your responses are confidential, meaning that you will we will remove identifying information in our report. Please note that your participation is voluntary. You may choose to answer any question in part full or not at all. You may also withdraw from the interview at any time. If you're unfamiliar with any of the terms used, please let us know when we'll provide you with a description or example of what we mean.


Yes. And I already I already indicated that with the notation that came up on the on the Zoom.


I don't I think I again, just identifying each other here at the top of the recording is helpful.


Right. And so again, I'm Turon Varnes, part of the research team at events OC. Excellent. So the primary goal today is to identify the needs of the older adult population, those 60 and older. And we want you to think as broadly as possible taking into consideration the older adults, caregivers, families, and they're coming in to community. I'm going to share my screen. And so you can see a list of common issues and concerns impacting older adults.


Please take a few minutes to review this list. And let me know when you're ready to begin.


It's a little small Mr. T. I mean, I that's what I'm that's what I've been doing is trying to adjust my screen. Oh,


I think just make the type a little bit bigger that that's gonna help a little bit. I mean, I can see it and read it. But little bit, there's going to be much more helpful. I think


Yeah, and I keep moving my screen as well. So yes, I do see the representative of common issues or concerns impacting older, older adults. So but I only see down you know, right, just about half the page. So go ahead.


Sure. So thinking specifically about older adults in Orange County. For the record, could you please tell us your name, role and how you interact or engage with older adults.


Hi, my name is Dr. Kathleen Greiner. I'm the director for the Center for Entrepreneurship here at North Orange County Community College District that includes two colleges, Fullerton College and Cypress College, neither of which fall under the older adult moniker. But our third entity or campus is called North Orange continuing education. And that specifically serves a vast array of people returning to upskill, to the workforce, and so forth. And it does include adults over the age of 60, who are gaining skills, maybe acquiring language skills, or updating or re re, regaining language skills, as well as small trade and business programs. So that attention to the plus 60 crowd is something that is a large focus on the North Orange continuing education unit or N. O C. E, all in caps.


Thank you. And thinking about Orange County and looking at the list of common issues impacting older adults.


I think behavioral mental health certainly comes to the top of my list, as well as healthcare access and delivery. That would be right there at at number two. And then I think I'm just looking at I would say economic security would probably round out the top three.


Okay. Thank you. So you can quickly note. Now, when you think about the behavioral health, and I want to say exactly how I was listed here, think.


emotional well being also behavioral mental health. Thank you. So um, when you're thinking about that, how, and why are older adults struggling struggling with this issue of emotional well being no behavioral mental health,


Because of I think, well, three things, housing security, plus or minus, getting it, keeping it holding on to it, maybe re assessing it as health needs, you know, the downsizing syndrome and those sorts of things. Along with that goes economic security and economic viability. And then I think the third thing is just community engagement, and mental health viability and behavior, mental health, are tied into all three of those housing security, economic security, and personal engagement for mental and physical health.


I think just access to services, I mean, many people, you know, 60 Plus, they certainly can drive around, I mean, my gosh, 60 60 is the new 40. Ergo 80 is the new 60s. So most people in Orange County, and certainly in the 60s, their 60s and 70s. Enjoy, you know, broad capacities for everything from shopping, to visiting to traveling and et cetera. So there is that level of engagement. This seems to be focusing kind of on, you know, what are the barriers to continuing that very healthy and positive quality of living. And those barriers do include access to being able to drive I mean, the highways are very, very dense. And I know increasingly of people who are a little bit nervous about getting on the freeways. So as that that circle of access decreases on the alternatively, is I think, a transportation system as well as access to services. That is, is much more, I'll call it boots on the ground that is much more accessible, rather than people going to a central place to get those services that lets use interaction as one of those, how do we bring those services, maybe to a community center so that people don't have to drive as far if that whole little continuum makes sense, transportation, access to services, again, community engagement, but to make that much more local, if you will, as opposed to centralized in larger pockets that requires additional transportation


and other different experiences for different groups of older adults from different backgrounds. That means where they live disability status, income education.


Okay, and just before we begin, I do have to remain as neutral as possible. So I will not be responding to a lot of your answers, although I'm sure they will be very insightful. Yeah.


In that case, so the primary goal for today is to identify what needs you think are most important to the older adult population you serve. That's identified as those who are 60 years and older. We want you to think as broadly as possible, taking into consideration the older adults, caregivers, families and their community. I'm going to share my screen so you can see a list of common issues and concerns impacting older adults. Please take a few minutes to read through the list and let me know when you're ready to begin. I will share that list now.


would be where it would be helpful to have it on the computer. Oh, oh, yeah, I


blow it up enough so that I can make it out. Okay. Great.


I have a few questions on those later, but for now, you can just read through the list and familiarize yourself with it.


Yes, thank you. Okay. So, starting off for our records.


Oh, sure. So, my name is Mark Lowry. I work for the Community Action Partnership of Orange County. Among our other programs, we operate the Orange County Food Bank. I'm director of the Orange County Food Bank. We distributed 26 million pounds of food last year, some of that to the people directly and others to other nonprofit organizations. Many of the customers served by the nonprofit organizations to whom we supply food, our seniors, including a number of senior centers that are food distributors for us. In addition to that, we operate three family resource centers that provide services to seniors. And within the food bank. Our single, single largest direct service program is a senior food box program where we provide food boxes not indirectly, but directly to 1400 people each day on an average workday. So we are a major senior service provider in that regard. And in addition to my professional work, I have helped to care for an aged a grandmother and an aged parents, all three of whom I've lost, but I've certainly saw you know the challenges they faced in in aging.


Thank you for sharing. Sorry to hear that. Thank you so much. Moving on for the next question. Thinking about Orange County and looking at the list of common issues and concerns impacting older adults.


Oh, nothing that I see missing. Several are of course interrelated, but I don't see anything missing.


Please rank the top three that you feel are most important.


And I think just in terms of how it affects seniors, disability, economic security, and personal care.


Thank you. So the next set of questions will be going through each of these needs that you have identified.


Oh, yeah, in, I think probably all of our experiences, we see that seniors not always, but often lose mobility. You know, both the and disability leads to an inability to work and either provide income or supplement their income, disability can affect your transportation, mobility, um, social interactions. I've just, you know, I've certainly experienced it with my grandmother, you know, both parents and any number of seniors that I've known, both professionally and personally, where, you know, that leads lead to isolation that can lead to depression, that can lead to financial challenges if people are unable to work or supplement their incomes. So, you know, just as broad ramifications,


I mean, of course, we want to, you know, see that there's both quality, quantity and quality of life. Prior to COVID, you know, the average age of Americans was increasing. But sometimes the quality of life wasn't keeping pace with that, and it was decreasing. Yeah, that, that we want to, of course, we want people to leave live as long as possible, you know, but to address quality of life issues, along with them. So that any supports we can offer in terms of diet, physical activity, anything to keep, help keep people, seniors mobile, and active and participating members of society, as opposed to simply people that have to be cared for, you know, better for them, and better for all those around them.


Oh, I think absolutely. I mean, they say that your zip code in terms of your health outcomes is more important than your, your genetic code. You know, there are certain populations, particularly those living in poverty, that don't have same access to the resources that others do. And that affects, again, both their quality and quantity of life.


Yeah, I mean, you know, the big picture stuff is more economic equality, is that, that, you know, the people that don't have as many resources as those that do, you know, can have comparable life expectancies. And, and, and similar quality of life, that sometimes then gets a little bit away from capitalism and into universal health care and other broader issues.


Many people in part because of the increase life expectancy, outlive their savings. I start with my grandmother, you know, she ran out of money before she ran out of life. And, and the same thing happened with the care of my mother as well, where we did not want to sell the family home. But when she moved into assisted living at $10,000 a month, yeah, we burned through the remainder of my parents life savings, you know, quickly enough, that even though we didn't want to sell the family house, we had to sell the family house, to have the income to for my mother to be able to stay in a $10,000 a month assisted living facility. And in my, my family was the fortunate ones, you know, not everybody owns a home that they can sell, you know, to keep them in assisted living. You know, so, you know, when when people are economically stable, you know, they have the ability to afford for things and care and gravel and indulgences, you know, that that can add to their quality of their lives. And when they lack financial resources. They not only sometimes, you know, struggle for the niceties, but struggle for the basics. We always hear people having to make choices between food or medicine. And you only have to drive around our cities to see that some of the homeless population in our communities are people that have aged


Economical equality and getting the big social issues about economic equality. And I don't know the actual statistic, but we've heard numbers like see huge number like 64% of all Americans don't have access to $400 in fluid cash to, to help address an emergency. So yeah, a little bit of that is planning, you know, I will meet with my financial planner, you know, June 29. So, you know, some of that is planning. But, but you can't plan to save if you're living paycheck to paycheck and really in subsistence mode. So, it's economic equality, its economic opportunity. And, and for those that are provided, you know, those benefits, it's your good financial planning, you know, I spend an enormous amount of money personally on insurances, including long term care insurance, realizing that that's probably the most likely thing that you know, that we, as seniors need, yeah, will be long term care. And many people don't have long term care insurance or some of those protections, in large part because they see them as unaffordable.


Yeah, we clearly go back to the, your, your quality and quantity of life is often more determined by the zip code in which you live, then you have the genetic code that you inherited. So we know that there are great disparities in any health care and in communities.


Again, and those are the big broad social issues, you know, the living wage, affordable housing, universal health care, you know, the really big, expensive social issues that, you know, that we as a country really haven't tackled, aren't willing to address. So we dance around the borders of those issues, and try to make sure that, you know, people are provided some benefits, you know, that, you know, whether it's food assistance through congregate meals, senior centers, or Meals on Wheels, home delivered meals, programs, whether it's Obamacare, you know, we were trying to address those and auxilary ways, yet, because dealing with them directly, just seems too big a bite, too huge issues for us to tackle as a country.


Yeah, and, and that's might have picked something different, because that would be related to disability, again, same time, where we're seniors get to a point where they simply can't live independently. And, and, and the sometimes. Again, I keep sharing personal rather than professional stories. But you know, my, my grandmother experienced pretty rapid weight loss. 15-20 years ago, we took her to a doctor fearing that she was ill. And it turned out she had simply lost her mobility. She was unsteady on her feet. So she used to be a big cook. But she didn't feel like she could manage cooking anymore, because cooking required that you use your hands and she needed her hands to hold on to things so she didn't fall. So she had without us knowing because she lived independently, she had gotten in the habit of going to the grocery store, buying things like three burritos, microwave burritos for a buck. And, and she was just microwaving something quick and easy. And instead of sitting at a table and eating a full meal, she was just leaning up against the, you know, the kitchen countertop and eating this microwave burrito. So she was getting some nutrition, but she wasn't getting the nutrition that she had previously. And that was almost all related to her lack of mobility. And you see you don't always, you don't always see the consequences of those little changes in the health of seniors. But things like instability, lack of balance, lack of mobility, you know, can have dramatic effects, you know, you and I just hop on our car and drive wherever we go, want to go wherever we're gonna go there. But, you know, sometimes seniors lose that ability to drive or drive safely as well. And that just wants access to everything.


So personal care, you know, part of the family. You know, parents would sometimes have a lot of kids, and for a lot of reasons, but some of those reasons were they needed children to help out on the farm, and they needed children to help take care of them in their older years. So it was the case that just a couple of generations ago, family members took care of one another in their later years. And yet government programs and institutions started to, I'm not sure if it was a chicken or egg, which happened first, you know, but, but government programs and institutions like assisted living facilities have, to some degree taken the place that was once filled with loved ones and family members. I don't know how you do that. But but somehow humankind did that for generations before we had government programs and assisted living facilities.


Thank you. And I know you already touched on this a little bit, but what do you suggest is the best way to address this issue.


And almost all of that is really related to economic stability. And, and that's, and that starts from, you know, early on quality, education, quality, opportunity, you know, jobs that we value, such that we're willing to pay a living wage, you know, that for people that make a living wage, that they're able to plan and save, and invest in their senior years. So they are not people who wind up homeless or destitute or having to make difficult choices between food and medicine.


Yeah. So there are a few more questions, but that is it for the list. I will stop screen sharing.


Yep. Just very or not very, is, is fine.


Yes, I think it's very available. I know that your scan is based locally, we have a number of health care providers that actually emphasize care to seniors. And, and there are other providers like Kaiser, which is just huge and Orange County and Cal Optima, that also provide care to seniors. So I would say that, it's very, very good in Orange County.


Yeah, I think available, you know, but, but stigma on almost all the issues that you addressed, you'll often keep people that need that help away from the help that could be available to them.


Yeah, I'd say somewhat available. You know, I work at a food bank. And, and we have, you know, so there's not a lack of food in Orange County. But in a community like ours, hunger is a symptom of poverty. You know, they're just too many people that live here that don't have the necessary resources to meet their basic needs. So whether they struggle with paying rent or mortgage or food or utilities or transportation or health care, whatever it is, again, just too many people with too many bills and too few resources. So It's available, but I can kind of affordable for. So, I'm sorry, back to social services that just often that demand exceeds the available resources. So available, but insufficient resources to meet the full needs of seniors in our community. Thank you.


So the next question is, what do you think will be the biggest challenge older adults will face in the next 10 years.


And, and I clump it but it's probably the is probably those issues about disability which you can clump in together and to personal care and caregiving and transportation and lack of mobility. But, but if I put it under the big umbrella of, of disability, it's, you know, the inability to, to care for themselves physically, and financially, the growing inability for them to independently care for themselves, physically and financially.


I do think and I'm a huge proponent of like, the federal nutrition programs. So I take my Sacramento trips, and my Washington, DC trips, and we do our advocacy work. So I feel very clearly, you know, that government has a role. And, and, and the, I've got some great quotes up on the wall of, you know, leaders from human history that talk about, you know, the, you know, the role of society, in terms of meeting the needs of the less fortunate. And having said that, you know, the government has a major responsibility, and helping support its citizens. Yeah, I do to think that family, and community and faith communities all play a role as well. And it is, and there's personal responsibility, right. So you clump all that together. So I'd say it's a shared responsibility with, with government, you know, playing a major part in that.


And thinking about all older adult residents in Orange County, who is getting the least amount of attention,


I would say, the Latino community. And they are underrepresented on the roles of many public assistance programs, largely around the public charge issue and issues related to immigration. You know, at least in our programs, we do not see that in the the AAPI Asian Pacific Islander community that are actually over enrolled in our programs based on, you know, their percentage of the general population in Orange County. But, but fairly consistently, what what we see in a number of the public assistance programs is Latinos are underrepresented in those roles. Again, sometimes, oftentimes, because of immigration issues, whether they're your undocumented, or whether they're even here illegally, but not yet citizens, and worried about concerns about issues related to public charge.


Thinking back to your list, wanted to jump to transportation, but there are some transportation programs for seniors. I know that's an issue for our seniors, you know, we have the senior food box program, but you need to come pick up your food. And, and we do though, allow proxies up to, for people to be listed a friend or a neighbor or relative who's willing to pick up your food for you. But you still have to have a friend or neighbor or relative who's willing to pick up your food for you. So I know that for the seniors that we serve, transportation is often an issue. But but there are accommodations, such as us allowing proxies and another Abrazar and several programs out there that help with transportation. So I'm trying to think of the affordable housing. I mean, housing is the single largest expense that any of us experience. And to the degree that housing eats up a larger percentage of the budget of seniors on fixed income, that simply leaves less money available to meet all of their other basic needs. So I'd say from a financial perspective, at least the lack of affordable housing for for low income seniors, you know, probably ranks near the top of the list.


Thank you. So in addition to what we've already talked about, we can dig a little deeper into your area of expertise, and that would be protection from poverty and hunger.


You know, there are a lot of resources out there, but adequate. And if we and I just had this conversation with a funder a couple of hours ago, if we think of a continuum, right, you've got people in emergency situations, you got people that are stable, you got people that are thriving. And, and there are two different definitions of self sufficiency. One is that you got all the resources you need. So you can live independently, and you don't need help from anybody. The other definition of self sufficiency is that you don't have everything that you need. But we have successfully connected you with all of the resources and commitment to the community for which you're eligible, such that in piecing those together, you are able to meet your basic needs, and you don't find yourself in an emergency situation where you're not able to do so. And, and even though I work for a charity that hands out boxes and bags of groceries to people, that's a really hard way to feed a family or feed a senior on a continuous basis. And that's where often the government programs, again, like the federal nutrition programs, so you know, for seniors, there are things like the congregate meals at senior centers, the home delivered meals for younger homebound. There are our seniors food box program, and the CalFresh, or formerly food stamp program. So, those, so I think, you know that the challenge for us is to make sure that that seniors are are accessing all the resources for which they're eligible. And, and if we're successful in doing that, we're far less likely to find seniors in emergency situations where their basic needs go unmet. And then, but there's just no place you can go, right, it's a hodgepodge. A patchwork.


Yeah. And what new or revised policies are needed.


Okay, well, and I like what you're doing. Because, you know, if you don't have a goal, you'll What's the expression, you'll hit it 100% of your time, if there's no plans, there's no plans. So I think to have a roadmap that describes how it is that we're going to help, you know, seniors age in place, and age, well, and maintain a quality of life. To describe what success looks like, and a plan for getting there. I think everything kind of starts with having a plan and having a goal. So to add credibility to to the exercise you're involved in


you and who or what entity is best suited to address this issue.


And unfortunately, fortunately, or unfortunately, the government has far more resources than any of the rest of us, you work for a private charity, I work for private charity, you and I can ask people to consider writing that check to us once a quarter, once a month, once a year. But the government takes 33% of my salary every two weeks, when I get my paycheck. I don't have a lot to say on that, you know, a church can pass a plate, you know, once a week, and people can choose to put something in or not, it's the government takes 33% of my paycheck every two weeks. So the government just has far more resources, you know, then then all of us combined, so that from that perspective, they just have to be a major player in providing services, because they have far more resources than any of us to be able to do so.


I work in the hunger fields. So there's some national organizations Feeding America and organization called FRAC Food Research and Action Center, our California Association of Food Banks and nourish California. So when I need data that I don't have, just readily know, you know, those are the sources that I turn to for for information. And oftentimes, it's lagging you know, anecdotal information is readily available, you know, but, but hard in resource data is takes time. So, you know, people are always, I mean, like during COVID. And other times, people are asking, you know, wanting to see hard firm data, but but, you know, harm firm, harm, firm, hard data only comes from your credible sources. And credible sources take a lot of time to collect and analyze, and vet and release data. So, it often trails, you know, two or three years going any of the credible sources that we usually rely on, you know, that data is at least three years old. So it's there's not a lot of good stuff. real time information.


I mean, in the senior space, they're all probably people that you know better than I do. Because they get a lot of those calls from seniors and others that are looking for resources, the senior meal providers, certainly Meals on Wheels in Orange County. And then there's some comparable organization in South Orange County. Yeah, they're providing many of the congregate meals for seniors at the senior centers, as well as the home delivered meals. Orange County Department of Social Services, you know, because they are, they run the CalFresh program. That is, from a food perspective, at least that's America, America's largest anti hunger program, seniors are historically underrepresented in the CalFresh, or food stamp rolls. So what is it that, you know, the federal government, the state of California, in Orange County can do to help address that, and that worsened April 1, because yes, seniors who were receiving 100 or 200, upwards of $283 a month, some had their benefits reduced just April 1 to $23 a month. So that's a public policy that's working contrary to your goals. So you know, I think of some of those big providers Abrazar in Westminster, that does a lot of fine work with with seniors. And I think probably connecting with not just the administrators of some of these programs, but the policymakers. I don't know if she's still around and alive. But there was a and I'm not on social media, but there was a woman, Lynn Boucher. She's from Orange County. She was an assembly woman for a number of years, and then turned out at the California State Assembly. And then, and then she was director of the Department of Aging for the state of California, and Orange County residents. So she came back to Orange County. And last I knew, but even this was six, 8, 10 years ago, she was I think, serving on the board of directors for, you know, for what is now Meals on Wheels, Orange County, but just a real advocate and champion for seniors, and somebody who had been in in substantial roles, and an Orange County resident. So if, if she's still around and accessible, you know, she would be a person that would have a unique perspective. We have a couple state senators, Senators Newman, and Senator men are on the Budget Committee, you know, at the state of California. And so, you know, they decide where they help decide where dollars are spent. So I think, you know, connecting with some elected officials, who, again, set policies and priorities would be helpful and, and helped put this issue helped put this issue on their radar screen as well.


Great, thank you. Oh, sure. Of course. Great. Thank you. So this concludes our interview. Thank you so much for your time, and you've been incredibly helpful to research. And if you find that you have more to share, please feel free to reach out to us. Our contact information is available on our website, which is www dot advanced oc.com and you can leave an anonymous voicemail on our telephone line at any time. So I will stop the recording now.


So once again, today's goal is to identify what needs you think are most important to older adults, particularly the ones that you may come across so that you serve at the Apartment Association. And for definition purposes, our definition of an older adult is those are those who are 60 years and older. So we want you to think as broadly as possible, taking into consideration the older adults, their caregivers, families, and as well as the community at large. Okay, so I'm going to share my screen with you now, you're going to see a list of common issues and concerns impacting older adults. Just take as much time as you need to review the list and read it through and then let me know when you're ready, I will be referring to this list in our interview. So take your time, please. Okay.


You don't have to memorize it, I will keep it up.


Sure. So I am the executive director of The Apartment Association of Orange County. We're a trade association that represents rental property owners and operators in Orange County and parts of Riverside County as well. As far as my role in interaction with older adults. A lot of our members have been longtime investment property owners and so they have been affiliated with the association throughout their lives and many are retired at this point. And this is a supplemental income for them if not, you know, a business that they look to hand off to their children or grandchildren as they pass away. And then of course, from a service standpoint, our members oftentimes provide housing to older individuals and you know, issues that they deal with with the aging community certainly will impact them in the rental community that they're operating.


No I think those are pretty much issues that anyone would know make priorities as they look at the area where they live. Great, great,


great so of the things that you see here on the list please rank for us the top three things that you feel are most important


I think transportation mobility is one this is no no particular order I'm just giving you the top ones I see


housing for sure health care access and delivery economic security.


Disability I think those be the top ones.


Okay, great. So you name for me five things. Of those five things.


health care access and delivery would be one. Transportation of ability two, and housing three.


Okay, great. Thank you. So for the following questions, I'm going to ask you a series of questions. And I'm going to take them one at a time with three that you listed.


Well, I think combination of, you know, people who are either reaching retirement age and either are not in a position to be able to retire, because of, you know, cost of living, as well as just being on fixed incomes moving forward dealing with increasing health costs, in particular, insurance, and certainly, you know, medicine, other things like that. And rising costs of, you know, looking here at the list, you know, in home services, nursing home availability, all that it, there's a major cost consideration. And given the, you know, the wide, wide range of incomes within Orange County and cost being what they are, I think this is certainly one of those things where it can be concerned looking ahead and having some uncertainty about whether or not they're in a position to be able to sustain themselves as costs rise, and they don't have enough long term savings and income to meet those expenses.


God, there's so many possibilities here. I think if you look at the, the immigrant and non English as a primary language, population, you know, you certainly have different health care, you know, you know, third party party providers and advocates, but I think the group, you know, increasingly older population, there's just gonna be an increased demand, and perhaps not enough of those individuals and services that are gonna be available to point them in the right direction and and provide resources they need to access it. I think just the cost of living within Orange County is such that you know, it for many, it will provide some financial barriers, where, you know, choices have to be made, and that that's not a new issue. But I think it is one of those that is an ongoing problem that we need to, you know, to look at and figure out, are there different ways of delivering services, you know, different third party providers or other resources that they can turn to.


Oh, absolutely. I mean, I think those that have been able to save and put money away for retirement are going to be in a much better position to have access and have choices that other individuals probably would be in a more difficult position to, to access simply because of the actual economics involved in, you know, their own backgrounds leading up to that point as they are reaching 60 years and older.


Well, I mean, I think, you know, as far as that the county is involved, you know, having a, you know, a primary resource where, you know, older individuals can go for information and, and resources that are available to them and making it in a way where they can, you know, sort of identify what they might qualify for within these different services that are out there. You know, multilingual is certainly going to be important. If there are financial resources that are available to, you know, certain, you know, groups of people that that need maybe financial assistance or other resources, you know, places where they can go to to get that assistance. I think that would be helpful. You know, baby, even, you know, looking at, you know, nursing home availability and in home services, you know, maybe a website where they can go and search for these different types of services that they may need, where it's all in one spot, instead of having to spend the time searching a lot of different places. I think that might be something that can be helpful.


And I think as far as you know, health care, you know, agencies, I know Cal Optima certainly does a lot for certain segments of the Orange County community. I don't know what specifically that they have to offer. But I'm pretty confident that they already have very robust offerings, but maybe just looking at ways that they can, you know, do more outreach to the populations that they serve, and perhaps others who may at some point, be eligible to receive those types of benefits as well. And I think really, that could be all the different health care providers and medical groups that are out there, and, you know, trying to make things more clear when it comes to health insurance and how they can access benefits.


Great, great. So now I'm gonna move on to the second thing that you named, transportation, mobility, I'll ask you the same set of questions. But this time, we're going to focus on transportation and mobility.


Well, again, I think it does come down to economics, and the, the financial resources, they kind of already have available to them for transportation, and if they have their own vehicles, but I know there's obviously still many who as they get older, maybe have never needed a car or had a car previously, and they found other ways to get around. And certainly as their own personal mobility may begin to be impacted, they're gonna have to find new ways to get to the places they need to be medical appointments, or, you know, grocery runs or anything like that. Obviously, we've got a great, you know, public transportation system, but, you know, the the OCTA. I know, at one point, you were seeing a lot more of like, the smaller shuttles that were available to, you know, get people around them, which doesn't seem to be quite as accessible any longer, not maybe the way I perceive it to have once been available. But, you know, it's, I think, having those additional options for people who need to get around, and maybe from an affordability standpoint, having some sort of a program in place to maybe you know, defray some of those out of pocket expenses, maybe could be tied to insurance, you know, to help, you know, allow them to get where they need to be, you know, more often and make it more affordable.


Probably just, there's not going to be enough availability of those resources, when they're going to have the highest amount of need during the day. Yeah, just looking at the aging community having medical appointments or needing to go to the pharmacy or anything like that, you know, as the aging population grows, the demand is going to grow. And if we don't have the bandwidth to accommodate that growing need, it's going to create some significant problems for those people who need the services.


Um, prediction options, you know, owning a vehicle of your own, being able to drive still versus not, you know, the public transportation availability, certainly is gonna be important, I think those who, from an economic standpoint, maybe don't have the same flexibility and available resources to them from savings over over time, or, you know, other areas. So, yeah, I think again, it comes down to economics, first and foremost. And, you know, what they've been able to save put towards retirement costs that they would have. Yeah.


Don't really know, that's not sure what else will help to address the issues. I think it's just, it's having access and flexibility to be responsive to those needs, when they when they have a need. It's just, I don't know how I don't know how you really make a pencil out, it's it's obviously very expensive, and there's only so much money that could be made available to provide support for it. Given all the other, you know, needs that we have here in the county, it's probably that's probably where, you know, a lot of these, you know, charitable organizations and, you know, third party service providers that, you know, exist. And, obviously, they receive, you know, grant funding and support through state and local government budgets, you know, it's just a matter of being smarter in the delivery of services and stretching of those dollars as far as they can go. And and, you know, directing it to where they identified needs really are.


Yeah. Well, that's an interesting question. As far as for like market rate, apartments that are being built, I haven't heard so much. As far as like medical clinics being on site, or little mini pharmacies or anything like that, I would imagine that senior communities may have those, you know, types of services that are being factored into, you know, current and future development. But I really, I don't have any data to, to know for sure if that's happening, or is being planned. But certainly, as far as I think, you know, maybe mobile services where they can come into a community, that might be something that, you know, could eliminate some of those transportation barriers, in particular, for those that maybe can't get rides or don't have the access on, you know, at the times when they need it.


Great, great. So now on to your third chosen topic, which is housing.


I'm just, I mean, when you look at from the the rental side of things, you know, rents continue to increase as the demand increases. You do have a lot of individuals, we're now becoming, I'd say, a majority rental County, you certainly see certain cities already that are majority renter cities. And I think yet, that is what you're going to continue to see. But you do also have a lot of, you know, older individuals who are as we're talking about aging in place, they've been in their homes for multiple decades at this point. And, you know, they may not necessarily be planning to, to leave, they want to stay where they're at, and totally understandable. But, you know, the cost for those that rent is going to continue to, I think be an issue, and how they are going to keep up with those rising rents. That's certainly a concern for everybody that's involved. Again, it's the luxury of planning and savings is great if, if you're in that position, but there are a lot of people who have throughout their entire working lives have been, if not paycheck to paycheck, they don't really have much in the way of being able to put money into savings, given all the other expenses they already have. And if they don't have a, you know, a family, the support network, or people that they can live with in the future. Again, you know, they may financially not be able to keep up with with the direction that rents are going. But I will say and this becomes the only argument that we hear a lot of times for rent controls. So how rent control is going to stop that. But, you know, as we have always advocated, you know, when it comes to trying to control, the amount of prints can increase, they're still going to increase and it creates this new barrier or a new obstacle for the housing providers where, where they had flexibility before to not, you know, go for, say a maximum rent increase every year, now they find, well, if I'm only gonna be capped at a very small number, it's going to basically force them each year to do a rent increase, that doesn't serve the interests of the renters, and especially those that are older individuals. It's, you know, it sounds good, until you really started looking at what the actual impacts are. And that's one of the things that, you know, we are trying to always educate, but it becomes a very emotional issue when people are struggling. And I think we need to look at other ways to perhaps bridge those gaps, especially for older individuals, within the communities, and again, you know, charitable groups and others that can provide, you know, gap funding, if you will, for whatever shortfalls may exist now and then down the road.


Well, no, it seems like a lot of housing in communities today, or is being faced with, you know, sort of NIMBY opposition, they don't want to see more housing being built in their communities, they don't like change. And whether it's market rate apartment, you know, high density communities or even, you know, trying to get a senior housing community approved, there are hurdles that come because there's community opposition, and they people simply just don't want new stuff being built, because of a fear of, you know, insert, you know, concern at the moment, whether it's traffic or crime, or you name it, it's just they they find something to oppose. And as long as that becomes the default reaction within communities, we're not going to be able to keep up with the demand for additional housing. And for the housing that does exist. You know, again, I think it's just it's, it's highly competitive, and trying to find someplace that's affordable. And, you know, if you're gonna be a long term renter, you've got realities that you're gonna face down the road.


Um, yeah, I mean, similar. So I'll do the other things, you know, barriers to housing is I think, just the affordability factor over the long term. And what's going to happen, as these adults aren't able to continue to work, as you know, as much as they once did, as they are starting to deal with, you know, mobility issues, personal mobility issues, physical issues, where they're not able to work any longer. You know, how are they going to sustain themselves financially. And that's what it comes down to when it comes to housing, the cost of housing being what it is. And I mean, it's, I don't think this is a unique issue to to Orange County, it just so happens that the cost of living here is significantly higher than what you might find in you know, other parts of the country.


it could be, I mean, I think Orange County is getting close to being built out as it is. So it's going to be I think, for new future housing, finding those, you know, those pockets of areas where they can be redeveloped into new housing is probably where you're gonna have the greatest amount of success. And it could, you know, it all depends on sort of the the composition of the city council's because ultimately, they're the ones who have to approve, you know, major new developments, and if, if they're unwilling to approve or they erect barriers or or makes or make it too costly. To do business in the city, you're going to lose that potential to meet the existing or the growing demand within that community.


I think what you need to look at is projecting ahead, you know, looking at your community demographics. Now look at your census data for your city, and project ahead, you know, where you see things headed and identifying what changing housing needs they may have. Probably not. But as their need for care increases, it may you may see, you know, that transition from ownership into, you know, the need for a skilled nursing care facility. And having those types of facilities being built close to where they call home now, I think is going to be important, because I familiarity for, you know, individuals is is important, they don't want to go move someplace that they are unfamiliar with. And if you can build more senior housing, with the ability to expand care as need increases, we hope, I think that will be very important as we look at the future.


Okay, great. Well, we're done with this list. I'm going to move on and continue to ask you questions about other things. So now it's around health. So first is geriatric care. Better Care would be for


I think it is. Oh. I think my my perception would be it's available out there, but probably not at the levels that I I would think are necessary. I think there's more of a demand for and probably not being able to address the needs as quickly as they probably should be. But try to gauge how well I have no, no way of knowing.


What about long term care. And this is care for older adults as they progress in age.


I know there are a lot of facilities that are out there, and you know, they quality is going to vary depending on again, how much you have to be able to put into the you know, the rent, or if you're living there. Quality of care, I think at these facilities is going to have a pretty wide range. And having no people who have lived in these facilities, some not so good and some very good. You know, it's it is concerning, because, again, cost living being what it is, I think you're gonna find more individuals who are going to be on the, the lower end financially of what they can afford for these facilities and probably won't get the level of care that is going to keep them you know, at a health level that they probably should be at.


Um, I think in general, not even the aging community, but just, you know, all ages, there's probably not enough available out there. Just looking at mental health services that you try to access through your your insurance plans. I know there's a backlog of individuals that are trying to get in for appointments and you know, coverage is going to range depending on the type of health insurance you have. And I don't see that demand diminishing. So I would say the availability and accessibility for mental health services is inadequate.


You know, specifically of any services or programs in Orange County that provide mental behavioral health to


So these are services unrelated to health, so they'd be services like transportation or housing, food insecurity, that kind of thing.


no how, in your opinion, how accessible and adequate are they um,


I mean, I know it's available. And I know that second harvest Foodbank in, for instance, I mean, they've, they have a lot that they make available. And I don't know how broadly, people are being able to tap into that availability and get the resources that they need. I would think like anything else, the demand in Orange County is probably higher than most people would anticipate it to be, myself included. I just I hear anecdotally about, you know, the need increasing, and they're not being enough. But I do know, there's a there are a lot of providers of those types of services that are out there. I just I don't know, if I were just trying to gauge how you know how successful they are in meeting the overall demand. Again, probably, the knee is much higher than what they are just able to do currently. On if they could do more, I'm sure they would.


I think they're accessible. You know, one of the challenges that we face with the housing voucher program is, for the most part, the the amount that they cover in say, rent isn't necessarily realistic of what rents really are going for here in Orange County, the payment standards are there's always a delta between what what's available at the price point that it will cover and you know, where they're located. and things of that sort, I think it's just, again, the cost of living in Orange County is particularly high. And the rental market analysis continues to be very tight. I mean, you've got a lot of demand that you don't necessarily have a lot of availability. And as soon as you have openings, you're getting the double double digit applications within just a matter of a couple of days. And so trying to get a voucher holder into one of these units. There's just down I think the demand is so high that it makes it very challenging.


Adequate provision of care, the availability of care for what the demand is at that point.


Being like in home services, meal deliveries, again, transportation, for those who need it, I think it's just it's Orange County's inability to keep up with the demand that's going to be, you know, be here 10 years, I think it's already a challenge. And I don't know how it's going to improve in 10 years time, unless we really like what you're working on a comprehensive plan identifies and it figures out, you know, funding streams and can tap into funds that are out there and available on top of whatever new funding programs might might be created.


primarily, I think the government should be in the role of facilitator and identifying existing available resources and and creating opportunities to meet the demands that we have here locally. And eliminating potential barriers that may exist to getting those types of programs. And the funding up and running and implemented is efficiently as possible. I think as far as the delivery of services for people in different socio socio economic levels, you know, those that, you know, simply cannot afford, I think there needs to be a systematic look at the taxpayer funded programs that exist and figure out how do you improve the delivery of those services and the funding, utilizing that funding is smartly as possible. The problem is what we do maybe here locally, we're dependent on things that are happening at the state and federal levels, too. And I think that this government dysfunction, and inefficiencies that exists at all levels of government, make it hard to really get the most money into the delivery of these programs and services that are really necessary. But I don't, I don't see how we ever really fix that problem. And I think that's then where it is, you know, it's going to fall on to other service providers that are through, you know, again, charitable organizations and, and others that can step in, and maybe fill gaps. And, you know, perhaps do differently at the very least, and maybe better than what government might do, if it was, you know, providing it directly. But ultimately, you know, government is there to help, help direct things, it doesn't necessarily have to be the one doing it themselves, but creating those opportunities and, you know, stepping in where it needs to, but otherwise try to just facilitate other solutions that would meet those needs that exist.


I think you get the political answers that are really intended to justify programs that already exist, but maybe don't deliver services as effectively as they probably could. It's always gonna be the, you know, the the underserved communities. But you look at programs that are already out there. And, you know, whether it's homeless housing up in Los Angeles, and the millions of dollars that have been put meals put through, you know, taxpayer programs that aren't really getting results. It makes, it makes it hard to get behind those programs that do exist, because you have such a level of skepticism. I don't have an answer. You know, it's, for me, personally, it's a lack of confidence in government doing things the right way. Waste, bureaucracy, again, money that if it wasn't being, you know, I don't want to make it too political. But if it wasn't being spent on things that are core to the mission of serving the people that they're trying to serve, you could probably get a lot more out of it. And yeah, I don't know. It's just it's, it's a hard question to really answer. I'm not, I would say, I'm just I'm not a big government guy to begin with. And I don't have high levels of confidence. There's a role to play. But yeah, I just, I don't have solutions that are, I think, going to work unless all the different parties are willing to really examine within themselves and make tough choices to, you know, change. So let me I just in this case, I, you know, I hope this orange county program is one where we're very reflective and we can make recommendations, but there's only so much I think that we can recommend for other governmental entities. The Orange County way and make it as efficient and keep it focused on the people that really need it. And not get caught up in Government speak and characters, the characterizations of situations and


trying to get into politically driven decision making. You got to do real assessments have real numbers and report it for what it is.


Yeah, yeah. And thinking about all the issues that we had covered today, but also other issues that, you know, maybe not one, two or three for you, but you know, maybe further down the road, what issue is being overlooked,


Lack of connection with the community. I mean, especially those that are in assisted living facilities, a lot of times, their family just sort of checks out. Now, they don't stay connected with their older family members, as regularly as they should. And I think that leads to, you know, you talked about earlier about mental health services and impact on on older communities, I think that contributes to some of that, that mental health issue, you know, they don't have a real strong sense of community, but their family members, and, uh, you know, depending on where they live, they may have a sense of community within the area where they're living. But I think there's a lot that society can still, you know, benefit from having connections with older individuals, and that they have to offer, you know, society today. And I think, giving, giving them purpose, as they may not be, you know, out in the workforce any longer, but connecting them and giving them something that they can contribute. And that will help to make them I think, continue to feel like they're making a difference as well. We can serve them but they can also, you know, stay active and contribute as well. Absolutely.


Okay. In thinking about your own work, right, and housing, and those that you the members that are part of your association. So on the topic of housing, what do you think is working for Orange County. Um,


despite the cost of, of rent in Orange County, we have options, we do have an assortment of available rental housing, that's available to meet differing price points and different segments of our overall county population. It's out there. But again, like I said, demand is high, pretty much across all classes of rental properties. It's highly competitive, but it's there.


No, oh, sorry. You know, she's a little early. So let me Vitale, hi. I just put her in. She's really


kind of like we're saying I'm saying earlier about having a place where they can access, you know, a compendium of resources available, when it comes to housing, you know, finding a way for individuals who are looking for housing and certain areas to find it, you've got multiple different, you know, rental websites that exist, but it's not always going to be for, you know, the most affordable housing that's out there, it's usually geared more toward, you know, not necessarily luxury apartments, but higher end market rate housing. You know, I think for people who are looking for housing that is more, you know, more affordable, you know, finding a way to connect them with a source or multiple sources focus just on that that might be helpful. And that might be something that we can even as an association, you know, work to facilitate. Down the road.


Great. Yeah. And what are the some of the things that are not working


In general, we're not building enough housing in Orange County. And not only not enough, but not enough variety. And like I was saying a moment ago about, you know, you have what government does here, but it's impacted by what's happening at the state or federal levels. So many of the challenges that we face are the result of what Sacramento is insisting we do. Because of its belief of how housing should be done, and forcing that down on the locals. And the problem is, local government isn't doing its job to facilitate new housing in its communities, the state is forcing things upon local government, which they're bristling at, neither of which is really going to solve our solution, we just need to build and meet that demand, and eliminate some of the more costly steps in the development of new lanpher for housing, you know, nothing unnecessary, in particular, but I mean, you look at just, you know, environmental regulations, and the time, you have to go through all these different studies on time is money. And that drives costs up, the more, the more time you spend, in blood alone, you know, potential lawsuits and dealing with, you know, local opposition, it shows just, nothing moves quickly enough. And I don't know you, again, it's like so many issues where we need to get everyone at the table and really find ways to fix the problem. But no one's doing that. Everyone's got their special interests, and they refuse to, to budge and really talk to each other and work through. So it's just, you know, a battle of wills that we seem to face when it comes to addressing the housing needs we have. And until we get past that, and we find ways to eliminate some of the more costly aspects of getting projects approved and the community opposition that oftentimes, because I think we're going to continue to struggle to really address the overall housing needs that we have.


I mean, I think the, the conversation has to begin with the cities here in Orange County, first. I think the data is out there, we can do it here. The problem is you invest the time and resources that that may not be something that the state ultimately would accept, and probably wouldn't, because it's not being done in accordance to the mandates through state law. But I think that is where you can begin to tackle future senior housing needs. Affordable housing needs. homeless housing, you know, finding out what types of facilities do need to be built into communities to meet the direction that we're heading demographically. If we start talking just amongst ourselves locally here in Orange County, that might be a step in the right direction to eliminating, you know, the challenge that we're facing here. And I think that's where the county come in, as far as working through the field, the five supervisorial districts with their respective cities to bring them to the table and, you know, have the kind of filter up into a county wide plan. Similar to what you're working in here for the county for the aging situation.


Right. Right. Right. Well, great. Oh my gosh, just there's so much information here you gave me today. I really eloquent I'm sorry. But you know, it's just, it's perfect. It really is. And again, it's really coming from all kinds of different perspectives. So I super appreciate that.


Okay, great. Okay for the opportunity. And yeah, I will I will get that information on chip for another interview. And then when you're ready for the focus group, let me know and I'll see help to facilitate that as well


thank you so much All right Have a great day Thank you Katie you too okay bye


The primary goal today is to identify what needs do you think are the most important for the older adult population you serve those that are simplified and older, we want you to think as broadly as possible, taking into consideration the older adults, caregiver, family and their community. I'm going to share my screen so you can see a list of common issues and concerns impacting older adults.


Please take a few minutes to read this through.


And let me know when you are ready to begin. Okay.


okay, yeah, I've read it now. I understand all those.


Well, I am a registered nurse. But I'm also masters prepared gerontologist, I have worked with ah, well Senior Services as a consulting to a grant program, which is a band provided for probably 1617 years with a combination of Monarch health care, and H will senior services grant. So I'm not an employee of AgeWell.


I am a private care manager that has a private practice. But I help the care management department at Agewell,


as far is keeping up with the seniors and what's going on and doing some of their home visits for them.


Especially when the workload is more than they can get done in a timely fashion, the county. So I do like I say I do home visits for Agewell Senior Services, I have my own private client that I do not only home visits for monarch patients, but private clients that I have, and that I sometimes can't take care of for many years, when they don't have families to look after them.


So and that happens to be one of my families that I'm working with right now on a private basis. I do sometimes I take care of families


and helping them get through the system, helping them find


living facilities, whether they should be on their own be in


assisted living be in born care or whatever their needs are. So that that's my primary role. Is those two.


Oh, pardon. Yes. Thank you for sharing. Thinking about Orange County and looking at the list of common issues and concern impacting older adults.


You don't have either I miss misters you Yeah, there's a transportation transportation major issue here in Orange County. But I see you do have it on there.


I think one of the things that is missing


Hang on I'm looking to make sure I didn't miss it


is you don't have anything in relation to some of their senses.


says their needs, their hearing aids, their glasses, that kind of thing. There's no reference to that.


And that's a major need for our seniors to have help with that. Because if they can't hear they that will follow and cause more increased dementia.


So it's really, really important. But there's, I don't see anywhere on there that you're including that.


It's good. Thank you for letting us know and sharing that.


You do have affordable housing. That's the main major issue. I'm sure you know.


So of the needs on the list, include those that you have suggested, Please rank the top three that you feel are the most important.


Top three, I actually have, I can tell you that I actually have more than top three that are equally important. Yeah, it's like share


affordable housing. I think you've got caregiving, but it's not paid care giving paid in home support.


People can't afford it anymore. So almost $40 an hour. So they're going without


that's a major issue. So there's not enough in home support. I already mentioned the glasses and hearing aids, and reliable transportation, all of those things are the some of the top issues we deal with, as far as going into the homes. And it is not necessarily means tested completely. And other words, it happens to all segments of the population.


When you think about affordable housing.


I'm sorry, I didn't understand the question. So you mentioned affordable housing as one of the top issues that you feel are the most important. So when you think of affordable housing, how or Why are older adults struggling with this issue, because they don't have the money to pay for it.


It's as simple as that. Their unit they cannot they're on limited incomes, the income, many, many of the ones that are alone are single women who have the smaller amount of Social Security coming in that does not meet


affordable housing at all. And there's just not enough housing for these people to move to they can't afford $7,000 a month. So they stay in their homes, and and struggle.


The barriers is financial, whether the the the


county wants to build more senior living in affordable homes or not, whether there's locations for them.


Are there different experiences for different groups of older adult from different backgrounds, for


example, like where they live disability status, income or educational level.


It's all of the above, there isn't one group that's different than the other. Again, it goes back to


you can be a very well educated person and had a good education, but your money is going to start to run out the lives. They're living longer. The money runs out, and there is and they can't take care of their homes. They need to downsize and there's not locations to go and downsize at a reasonable cost to them. Yeah, thank you for sharing. What do you what do you suggest is the best way to address this need or issue I don't have an answer for


so now we can talk about another important issues that you mentioned earlier is there's not enough pay caregiving in home support services. So when you think of this issue, how or


it has gotten so expensive to have somebody come into the home, whether we have to figure


some kind of more available, county employees and have them well trained to go into the homes, because when you go to private caregiving agencies, it is not affordable for families who need anywhere from eight to 24 hours care with family members. So there has to be some system of adequately paying caregivers, to an assistance program somehow, that are interested in doing quality care for these people.


We don't have caregivers that are well trained, they're not paid enough from the county to want to stay at a job and have private caregiving go in is costing people up to $14,000 a month that the average even the middle class person cannot sustain that kind of, you know, caregiving expense.


Are different experiences for different group of older adults from different backgrounds. No


I know you're I can tell you're going through the same questions through a list.


I don't have an answer to all of it. But if I don't see it, on what the county's thinking about and considers important, nothing will change.


Yeah, yeah, I am going through a list. So I apologize if I do save a repetitive but for the transcription and, you know, ratio purposes, we kind of have to ask the same question. Yeah. Yeah. So got a third issue that you mentioned, is the glass and hearing aid for the older adult, how or why older adults struggling with this issue.


Hearing aids can cause sometimes as much as $4,000. The fact that now they do have across the counter ones that are helpful. That is helpful. There is not a Medicare does not pick up hearing aid cost. I think the government or counties need to work with Medicare to provide subsidies for both glasses and hearing aids. When people can't see and they can't get out. Because there's can't hear what's going on. They become home in home isolated, and then their health deteriorates.


What barriers exist to see improvement in this area.


Are there different experiences for different groups of older adults from different backgrounds.


Well, I think I just said it, that the counties and cities need to work with the federal and develop a way that some of that is paid for so people don't struggle with hearing and blindness.


So I do want to go over the last issue that you mentioned as well because we want to hear from you. And that issue is transportation. How or why older adults struggling with this issue.


Well transportations difficult in Orange County, and especially when you get into South Orange County, you have very limited number of ways of transportation. We don't have a central we don't have a good bus system. We don't have a train system or a subway system any way like that. We have to again rely on a small amount of


like access buses or something like that through the city.


if they need to go to a doctor's appointment, it can take all day long because the buses have to pick them up and go to several other people at the same time. So it is time limiting.


Again, if they need help getting out their front door, to get to the bus at the curb, does not help on much of your transportation. So that that blocks it.


Yeah. Well, somehow, the transportation system in Orange County needs to take a look at what they can provide and get subsidized. Fast forward course, it'll probably go to the taxpayers. But I think that might be something that could happen.


Are there different experiences for different groups of older adults from different backgrounds. No, they're not.


What do you suggest is the best way to address this issue


getting the county to work with the transportation system in the state of California to to consider what they can do to make it better if we're not going to have any kind of trains or buses or anything central like that. The only way to get around down here in Orange County is to have a car practically in the these people can't drive anymore. Thank you for highlighting think those issue and sharing your knowledge.


First is geriatric care. Second, is long term care third is mental behavioral health, substance use treatment. And four is human social services.


Mental health is a major issue here in the senior population.


is limited because we don't have a lot of physicians and medical people. I think, as nurse practitioners are given the ability to practice


in the state of California, many of them are willing to work with the senior population.


Not I know a lot of them that we have, but not not new ones or somebody we need to follow. We have a limited number, like I say so limited number of practitioners, as far as geriatric care


thats partially because geriatricians are paid less than other physicians.


So So young physicians don't want to come out to a practice that isn't going to, you know, support them the way they they want to. Yeah. Do you think that it's long term care is in a mess, and it was proven by COVID. And until they get their act together, long term care is one of the worst things you're going to see that and, and they if you say what can they do better, they need to pay the caregivers, more money, to be able to care for these very sick patients. They need to have the directors of those facilities be better educated, better trained and better paid. And somehow the government needs to step in, like Medicare and stuff and close down some of these places that are just out to make a buck. Yeah. Do you how accessible and adequate are those services in Orange County


is social services is is reasonable. We don't have enough social workers.


we can't get social workers or some of those people to get into a home right away to help the people. I think the services are very limited. We have it. And they mean well, but unfortunately, there's not enough of them.


Well, probably the greatest challenges is going to be the caregiving


because we're going to see more and more


one form or another of dementia, whether it's Alzheimer's, Lewy Body, brain, frontal, temporal, any of those dementias, they all fall under one umbrella there


are going to be increasing and the need for care is going to be greater. They also are living longer. So people with chronic diseases, the physicians are able to to take care of them however, they need care in their home.


Well, they need to put the older adults is start to think of it more as a priority.


I don't I couldn't tell you that. I don't know.


We have in my private practice. I have people that are rich, I have people that are poor, I have all diversities of all ethnic backgrounds, and so forth. As far as h will Senior Services is concerned, we have a very diverse group. So I don't, I can't say that one group is getting more than another.


It's on your list, but it's been overlooked. Nothing's been done about it.


We can have every list in the world, but we're not seeing


No, I don't think so. We don't agewell does not have a large staff.


I asked, I sent this to people in agewell, frankly, they didn't, they didn't really have the time to spend. And that's why because I am sort of throughout Agewell, well, you know, work with transportation work with care managers, all of that I see the people firsthand, both in the senior centers, the ones that can come to senior centers and congregate meals, also the ones that get meals on wheels, and trying to get what we can afford of grant money to put caregivers in the home. And hopefully, for a little bit is a very, very small percentage. But I see all of that. So that's why I'm the most logical person to be able to address it, or have the flexible time to do it.


You see any organization or any stakeholder gets serving older adults in the community that we should also include their input in this project.


we, we have the Council on Aging and we have agewell senior services, then we have other groups go through the various religions and so forth, you know, that take care of, of those people. But I don't have a group that I think is being missed at this particular time.


Thank you. So this concludes our interview. Thank you so much for your time, you have been incredibly helpful to our reach out. If you find that you have more to share, please feel free to reach out to us. Okay, and once that information is available on our website at advance oc.com and you can leave any anomalous voicemails on our telephone line at any time. Okay. And I will stop the recording now. Okay,


My name is Ron Barnes, and I'm a part of the research team and a member of the battle C team. And we're a local nonprofit conducting the county of origins older adults needs assessment. Thank you for your willingness to take part in this interview. The purpose of the interview is identify the needs of older adults and to gather insights from your expertise and experience. The information you provide will be used for the development of the Orange County Master Plan for aging. This interview will last about 45 minutes, and with your permission, our discussion will be recorded and only for transcription purposes. After transcription, the recording will be deleted. If you don't feel comfortable being recorded, turn off your camera and change your name attached to your picture. Your responses are confidential, and information. And all identifying information will be removed from the report. Please note that your participation is voluntary. You may choose to answer any questions in part full or not at all. You may also withdraw from the interview at any time. If you're unfamiliar with any terms that we use, please let us know and we'll provide a definition or examples for what we what we mean. I do not. Great thanks. So the primary goal of today's identify the needs you think are most important for older adults. And those are adults 60 and older. We want you to think as broadly as possible taking into consideration the older adults caregivers, families and their community. So I'm going to share my screen and you're gonna see a list of common issues and concerns impacting older adults


great so I'm gonna give you a couple minutes to look at the list and let me know when you're ready to begin


Excellent, yeah, I had a chance to look through it. Okay.


So thinking specifically about older adults in Orange County, for the record. Could you please tell us your name, your role and how you interact and engage with older adults in Orange County.


So, my name is Michael Graf Weisner, and I realized my last name was not in my in my full zoom name, but if you haven't on email, but if you need me to like for the purpose of recording in the interview, I can spell it out. No, no, you're good. Okay. Michael graph Wagner. My role here at chrysalis is Vice President of Strategy and External Relations. And so I work at chrysalis, who which is a nonprofit providing employment services to individuals with barriers to the workforce. And that includes individuals who are experiencing homelessness or housing insecurity. Majority of the clients we serve are also are have been impacted by the criminal justice system. And it's a range of working age adults. So as a relates to your question on age. We don't exclusively work with older adults, but we do work with working age adults, and among those are individuals who are older. So in advance of this conversation that was refreshing my memory of our demographics and in Orange County. We have offices in Southern California but our Orange County office the way we report our demographics has 55 and up so I don't I don't have the 60 breakdown although we could obviously I get that but not real time in this in this interview. So the about 23% was the was our percentage adage of our clients we serve that are 55 and older. So again, I could try to refine that after the interview. And so the way that we interact more broadly, not me personally, but the we chrysalis interact with those older residents of Orange County is essentially helping them get ready for a job and get a job and keep it, which is our program model, which I can go into more details, but is everything from you know, helping them, do a resume to practice interview skills, their job search skills, and then directly connecting them to work opportunities. So I can go into more details about that. But that's the that's the focus of our work around employment. And me, in particular, I work with our partners in the community help get referrals into our program. So have a sense of the other social service providers and government entities that are that are also interacting with the same population, bless you. And as well as looking for our agencies funding opportunities as it relates to government grants, and then also oversee our program data team. So working on our database and data systems, and reporting. Yeah, so I'll stop there.


Yeah, I thought, as I read through it, it's a good list. So there weren't there weren't any glaring gaps. One thing that crossed my mind was maybe it's on here. I wonder about language access issues, potentially, if I think of kind of the immigrant families in Orange County, and, you know, that kind of first generation story where the kids are maybe now out of the house, and now the adults are older, and they don't have that kid to translate as they navigate the world, if the kid has now moved on and out, so I don't know if that would, you know, that could fit into some of these buckets. But it could also be a standalone kind of issue area.


You know, I think, I think about issues like for example, poverty, which, in some ways, there's economic security, it's also housing affordability. But I think of food insecurity, which could fall into diet fitness, but so there are certain issues that I think do are represented on this list but but for example, I don't see in the in the left column food insecurity, but I do see economic security. So these things are often overlapping and interrelated, but that so my mind went to some of those some of those areas


I think about you know, things like access to parks which can obviously relate to mental health and physical health and human interaction and social connectedness. And I guess I don't see kind of parks and green space necessarily called out but again, you could you could argue it has to do with fitness or it has to do with environmental concerns, or it has to do with mental health, having places to connect, but correct me if I'm wrong. I don't see that on the list. No. Okay. That strikes me as maybe something that could be called out


Yeah, so those are a couple of couple thoughts, but otherwise, I think it's a good list of potential issues and concerns.


Thank you. Now have the means list and including the four I will tell you a list of four language access, poverty, food insecurity and access to parks. Please rank the top three that you feel are the most important for older adults in Orange County.


is maybe by us because of the role we Start around employment and within vulnerable populations, but my mind for it starts with economic security. With that in mind, it can be hard to find a job if you have to change jobs as you, you know, if you're 60 Plus if you are in the, you know, lower wage, lower income segment of the economy can be harder to find work that's physically demanding as you're older, if that becomes an issue, and then they're just, you know, hours being cut, etc. So, I think about, I would say economic security being number one. Okay, so I got two more slots.


Think it's, it's hard not to put housing second. Given housing affordability, in Southern California and Orange County, so those, I'm given the top two slots. And then with the third eye, my mind goes to more of a health related bucket, which, you know, there could be a few on here. But I'm gonna go with health care access and delivery, in some ways with, you know, public health care benefits, it's that there could be decent resources to meet those needs. But, you know, obviously, as the population gets older, it's that more health issues. And so even though there might be some insurance for older adults, it's also like, hard, hard to not list that among the top three. So I'll I'll click Submit, those are my top three. Okay.