State 10-year plan and county 4-year plan on aging differ
BUTLER TWP — Pennsylvania’s 10-year plan on aging is based on information provided to area agencies on aging by senior citizens within their regions, but the state laid out the goals it would address before the sessions were held, leaving some local issues unaddressed.
For example, transportation and health care costs were concerns raised by local senior citizens, but the issues didn’t receive as much attention in the state’s plan as initiatives like park funding to plant more trees and special aid for election services.
“(Transportation) was an unmet need that was brought up in 13 of the 14 focus groups, but it wasn’t necessarily an area that was compatible with the state’s goals that they gave us,” said Brittany Gilfillan, program manager for the Butler County Area Agency on Aging. “Health care was also discussed in all 14 of the focus groups, and the general theme around that centered on affordability which, again, wasn’t related to one of the goals that the state gave us.”
In September, the county agency had listening sessions during which senior citizens could voice their wants and needs to the state for Pennsylvania’s 10-year plan on aging. Butler County Area Agency on Aging administrator Beth Herold said information relayed to the agency would be shared with the state for its 10-year plan, and also locally for the county to create a new four-year plan.
Herold said at a meeting of the agency’s advisory board Tuesday, Feb. 20, that some of the state’s initiatives reflect the needs Butler County residents, while others don’t have much bearing locally. She emphasized that access to reliable transportation was consistently mentioned by county senior citizens in local talks.
“What we said as a county is transportation needed to be a little more accessible, what I mean by that is not just certain days,” Herold said. “I am in no way saying our transportation system is bad, I think we just need to enhance it a little bit.”
The state refers to 156 points they called tactics in the plan, each filed under one of five categories which include unlocking access, aging in community, gateways to independence, caregiver supports and education and navigation.
Herold led the members of the advisory board through the sections of the plan, highlighting points that fit needs voiced locally, as well as some that didn’t have much relation to Butler County. Advisory board members said even though the plan didn’t exactly relate to Butler County senior citizens, many of the points they addressed locally were included by the state.
Following a breakdown of the state’s plan, Gilfillan read through the county’s four-year plan on aging. According to Gilfillan, the county’s plan was based on census date that by 2050, the number of individuals age 60 and older will continue to rise, and the number of people older than 85 and up will double by 2040.
The priorities included in Butler County’s four-year plan are protecting the safety and dignity of older adults; address social needs of isolated individuals; create an environment of diversity, equity and inclusion; empower older adults to remain in their homes and active in the community; and grow the caregiver program.
Gilfillan said the tactics within each priority will help the agency on aging address the needs of older adults in the coming years.
“A lot of our services are based off of a growing aging population and an older aging population,” Gilfillan said.
