|
|
||
|
More Elderly
and Disabled Turning to St. Vincent’s Staff
at St. Vincent de Paul Village are concerned at the expanding number of
clients who are disabled and over the age of 50. “The
increase has been especially dramatic in the last three years,” says
Village Public Health Nurse Lyla Prince. She notices more elderly clients
at the Village Medical Clinic who rely on walkers, canes and wheelchairs.
“Not only is the number of seniors increasing, but the proportion
of seniors who come to us with special needs is increasing,” agrees
Village Medical Director Dr. Margaret McCahill. “Seventy percent
of people who come to our shelter have some form of special need.” More
than 20 percent of the 2,570 clients at St. Vincent’s Paul Mirabile
Center (PMC) were 51 and over last year. “Our records show almost
600 of these clients had physical disabilities,” notes Jack Bolick,
PMC program manager. “We currently serve 60 clients who are amputees.”
The PMC provides a short term residential program for single men and women. The
rising population includes elderly and disabled clients of all backgrounds.
“We recently served two gentleman who had worked all their lives
but had recently become homeless,” says McCahill. “They were
both in their late 50s, had never abused any substance and both had advanced
cancers. Because of their age and circumstance, neither was eligible for
VA benefits, Medicare, or Medi-Cal. We were fortunate that San Diego Hospice
got involved with the men’s cases. San Diego Hospice has been very
helpful.” The
situations of these gentlemen are all too common. “There are people
with chronic illnesses who earn a little too much income for county aid
and they can fall through the cracks,” says McCahill. “Without
proper medical care, they may suffer life-threatening conditions and further
injury.” Tony
Sterzinger, program manager of the city-funded family shelter, points
to escalating rents and the decrease in affordable housing in San Diego
as another reason the Village is seeing more elderly. Several PMC clients
were quick to agree with Sterzinger. “If your government check is
$775 a month,” explains John Z., a 77-year-old veteran of World War
II, “it’s hard to pay a $100 deposit on a room that rents for
$375 a month and has no shower.” “Even
if you have someone to go in with you on a room,” says Gail M., a
58-year-old client, “getting that first and last month’s rent
is difficult. I think we need some type of low rent housing for older
women. Right now the ones in San Diego require you to pass a thorough
credit check. My credit isn’t good because I chose a lot of wrong
roommates in the past and got stuck when the rent was due.” “Many
of these clients are the ‘unnoticed elderly’ in society,”
Prince explains. “They’ve lived alone for many years and valued
their independence, but they had no support system. They didn’t socialize
or go to the library or participate in neighborhood watch programs. When
they arrive here, they disappear in the woodwork.” As a result, the
Village Medical Clinic often treats clients who have not been able to
afford medical care for quite some time. “We
recently had an elderly woman who came to us with what we believe is cancer,”
McCahill relates. “It is progressing, but she refuses to apply for
county aid because she found they are not receptive. ” “Dental
care is also a problem for seniors,” notes Village Health Services
Program Manager Jean Serafy. “By the time they have reached senior
age, their pattern is already established. Use of alcohol and drugs over
the long term is another factor that can be detrimental to teeth.” Cognitive
impairment is another factor among the seniors and disabled arriving at
the Village. Serafy recalls a recent female client in her eighties who
had dementia. The medical staff had to determine who she was. “Dementia
plays a part in how some clients wind up at our doorstep,” she explains.
Seniors
who have taken pride in being self-reliant their whole lives often shun
the help they require. “Mary” was an elderly client who also
came to the Village with dementia. Though suffering from diabetes and
heart disease, she refused to apply for Medicare. A published author,
she thought it was charity she didn’t need. Village
staff such as Prince will listen and gain the trust of seniors and the
disabled, and try to accommodate the special needs of these clients. According
to Prince, simply getting to the bathroom at night is difficult. “Another
problem for them is carrying their trays in the busy lunchroom. They tend
not to ask for help,” she observes. These
seniors also have to be pushed to make goals for what they will do when
their 120-day PMC program ends, according to Prince. Finding low-cost
housing is a major problem for them. St. Vincent’s hopes to open
a new apartment building, Villa Harvey Mandel, to help accommodate these
seniors. St.
Vincent’s offers a long-term program of education and residence for
single adults and works with other agencies in San Diego to accommodate
seniors and the disabled. Among these coalitions are the Metropolitan
Agency of Providers of Social Services (MAPS) and the Solutions Consortium. After
implementing an assessment inventory that better identifies seniors and
their needs, the Village is now looking for funds to hire additional case
management staff for the elderly. “My
family taught me to always take care of neighbors,” says Father Joe.
“My staff shares this commitment to helping the seniors and disabled.
If we can’t provide the care or assistance needed, we’ll work
with the client to find a local resource that can help. Every senior or
disabled client in need is family to someone, so we try to care for them
like family.” St.
Vincent’s and the other Villages continue to find new ways to help
senior and disabled clients. McCahill says the personal care offered by
St. Vincent’s staff is not only appreciated, but also revered. “We’ve
had patients with terminal illness who say ‘St. Vincent’s is
my home, and I want to die at home.’ ” How
you can help the seniors and disabled at the Village: •
State and federal laws do not allow the medical clinic to accept donations
of personal medications from the public, only from pharmaceutical companies.
The costs for dispensing prescriptions to clients are very high and we
rely on financial donations to help us buy them. You can designate your
donation to cover prescription costs. •
St. Vincent de Paul Village can always use donations of working wheelchairs.
“On one single night this winter, we had 48 clients with wheelchairs
staying in the centers and the cold weather shelters,” says McCahill. •
St. Vincent de Paul Village needs an elevator system that allows the disabled
to use electronic cards to request elevators. At the PMC, disabled clients
have to wait for staff to be available in order to use the elevators.
If a company is interested in donating an elevator with a card system
or an individual would like to make a donation to help us implement the
system, it would make a difference. For more information on the disabled and elderly at St. Vincent de Paul Village, please call 619.687.1066. |
||