Older adults increasingly say they want to age in their own homes instead of relying on nursing homes or other congregate care settings. Michigan’s 16 Area Agencies on Aging, and its network of over 1,000 service providers, deliver a wide range of home and community-based services for older adults and persons with disabilities to make that possible.
The MI Choice Waiver program provides in-home support for people age 18 and up who meet income guidelines and need nursing home level of care but want to live at home. Steve was admitted to a nursing home after surgery to amputate three toes. After several months, Steve wanted to find a way to move back to the community. He called the Area Agency on Aging. Staff assembled a package of transition support and in-home services that allowed Steve to return to community living. “They helped me find an apartment, got all the things I needed in place so I could live in my own home,” says Steve.
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a surge in demand for home and community-based services (HCBS) including meals, personal care, community living supports, caregiver programs and more for older adults.
At the height of the pandemic, Mark’s mom and dad weren’t responding to phone calls. He drove to his parents’ home in Benton Harbor. Both were feverish and confused. He took them to the emergency room and learned they both had COVID. After a lengthy hospital stay, his mom was ready to be discharged but she was too weak to cook, clean or bathe herself. Mark called Area Agency on Aging (AAA) for help. AAA care management staff collaborated with Mark and his mom to learn about her needs and preferences, then arranged for home delivered meals and a direct care worker to provide help with personal care twice a day and help with household chores so Mark’s mom could live at home. “I can’t say enough about what these services mean to us and what [the AAA Care Manager] did for us. She was a bright light in our family’s darkest time,” says Mark.
In 2020, nearly a quarter million home delivered meals were provided to seniors in southwest Michigan through AAA and its community partners. Another 33,835 meals were served at congregate meal locations like local senior centers, senior housing complexes and more.
As congregate meal sites closed because of the pandemic, more than 30,000 non-perishable food boxes were delivered to seniors around the state. Another 108,000 homebound older Michiganders received fresh fruit, vegetables, and dairy boxes through the U.S. Department of Agriculture Farmers to Families food box program.
Despite these programs, waiting lists for nutrition support and other in-home services remain in Michigan. Demand for in-home services and supports of all types continues to grow.
Direct care workers are the backbone of the support network providing care and in-home services for tens of thousands of older adults and persons with disabilities. Direct care workers have difficult and sometimes dangerous jobs. Michigan must grow and support the direct care workforce to meet the needs of Michigan’s rapidly aging population.
2.4 million adults age sixty plus reside in Michigan; 24 percent of the state’s entire population. The sixty plus population will continue to grow and peak in 2034 at 2.9 million.
As the aging population grows, so must state’s financial investment in aging services if we are to keep pace with the need. The Governor and the State Legislature are in the process of drafting the budget for the fiscal year beginning October 1, 2021. If we are to meet the needs of Michigan’s growing aging population, persons with disabilities and those most affected by the pandemic, the budget must reflect these priorities.
The Silver Key Coalition is a group of individuals and organizations committed to supporting older adults and their desire to remain living independently at home for as long as possible. The Coalition recommends adding $6.1 million in state funding to address waiting lists for in-home services for older adults and $1 million for home delivered meals. Also key is increasing capacity in the MI Choice Waiver program to allow 1,000 additional older adults and younger persons with disabilities to live in their homes and communities instead of in congregate care settings; and making permanent the boost in direct care workers’ hourly wage established during the pandemic.
To learn more about these issues and policy priorities, visit SilvereKeyCoalition.org or email advocacy@areaagencyonaging.org.