New
report identifies health care access and
economic security challenges confronting
California's aging population
SAN FRANCISCO-(Business Wire)-May 7, 2007 - A compilation of
three papers released today identify the
challenges that California's diverse elderly
population encounter when accessing health care
and economic assistance programs. The report
"Women, Health and Aging: Building a Statewide
Movement," commissioned by The California
Endowment and produced by the University of
California, San Francisco's Institute for Health
and Aging, identifies policies and practices
that help perpetuate poverty and poor health
among the state's racially and ethnically
diverse low-income older women.
In addition, the report identifies strategies that can
stimulate policy and program changes which could
result in better health and economic security
for this vulnerable population.
In an effort to move toward improved health care
access and economic security for older women,
representatives from organizations across the
state will convene in Los Angeles on May 7, 2007
at The California Endowment's Center for Healthy
Communities to begin work on building a
statewide movement among the state's diverse
population of older women. Social activist
Dolores Huerta will be the keynote speaker and
will discuss her experiences as a labor
organizer and her thoughts on how to create a
movement that focuses on the need of low-income
seniors, particularly women.
By 2030, the population over age 65 will double and the
majority of California's elderly population
will be ethnic minorities, resulting in what
David Hayes Bautista of UCLA refers to as
"the browning of the graying of the
population."
Because older women have more chronic health problems and
functional disability than older men, they pay a
higher percent of their income than older men
for out-of-pocket health care costs. Burdened by
the difficulty of accessing health care services
due to higher under-insured and uninsured rates,
low-income women ages 45 and older are three
times as likely to report fair or poor health.
"The irony in all of this is that older women are the primary
caregivers and play a pivotal role in the care
of other older Californians and their families.
They are more often than not the decision makers
when it comes to health care. But what we've
found through this research is that they are
also the most vulnerable and often face
significant barriers when trying to access
health care services for themselves," said Dr.
Carroll L. Estes, founding director of UCSF's
Institute for Health and Aging.
The report "Women, Health and Aging: Building a Statewide
Movement" consists of the following three papers
preceded by an executive summary:
— "Improving Care and Assistance Security for Vulnerable
Older Women in California"
— "The Eligibility-Benefits Gap For Aging Californians"
— "Healthy Aging for California's Immigrant and Low-Income
Elders From Diverse Ethnic Backgrounds: Policy
Issues and Recommendations"
The report can be downloaded by clicking on the following
link:
http://www.calendow.org/reference/publications/pdf/cultural/
WomenHealthAging.pdf (Due to its length, this
URL may need to be copied/pasted into your
Internet browser's address field. Remove the
extra space if one exists.)
The mission of The Institute for Health and Aging at UCSF is
to optimize the health and aging of individuals,
communities, and society through research,
education and public service in the social and
behavioral sciences. Please visit their Web site
at http://nurseweb.ucsf.edu/iha/index.shtml for
more information.
The California Endowment, a private, statewide health
foundation, was established in 1996 to expand
access to affordable, quality health care for
underserved individuals and communities, and to
promote fundamental improvements in the health
status of all Californians. The Endowment makes
grants to organizations and institutions that
directly benefit the health and well-being of
the people of California. For more information,
visit The Endowment's Web site at
www.calendow.org.
