Frail Elderly

I want to applaud Bill Boyarsky for drawing attention, in his Jan. 26 column, to the crisis needs of the frail elderly.

The good news is that we are living longer and that in-home services are now helping thousands of elderly people in their 80s and 90s to remain in their own homes and apartments.

The bad news is that disaster relief services were not designed to make special allowances for the limitations of this frail elderly population in the immediate aftermath of a crisis.

A 91-year-old woman, who manages well in her own apartment under normal circumstances with home-delivered meals and other support services, cannot stand in a FEMA line for four hours, even if she is fortunate to be provided with someone to escort her to the FEMA site. As well, shelters and cots are not an immediate adequate response to men and women in their 80s or older who cannot remain in their homes or apartments because of earthquake damage. Immediate funds, or promise of funds, must be provided so that alternative accommodations to shelters and cots can be secured for them.

The solution to this problem is less complex than it seems. The Los Angeles City and County Area Agencies on Aging, many small city human services programs, United Way, and numerous nonprofits throughout Los Angeles have an established network which daily provides services to meet the needs of these frail seniors. Using this network to provide FEMA and/or Red Cross services makes a great deal of sense and would be most efficient and effective. For example, making rent vouchers available through this network of senior services to those very old and frail clients who were displaced by the recent crisis would have avoided hours and days of misery and anxiety for them.

We are fortunate indeed, that a far-reaching disaster relief effort was put into place which met the immediate crisis needs of many thousands of displaced and suffering Los Angeles residents. Let’s complete the effort by considering the special needs of the frail elderly and thus include in our relief provisions these aged men and women who are our grandparents, our parents and our neighbors.

SANDRA KING, Executive Director, Jewish Family Service of Los Angeles