During a television interview in May 2015, Dr. Maria Torroella Carney brought national attention to a group of elderly who are unknown, vulnerable and ignored. Dr. Carney refers to them as elder orphans. For the most part, they are men and women 60 years old or older who have no children or siblings to help them handle the effects of aging. Dr. Carney is the medical director of Post-Acute Services at Northwell Health and also serves as Northwell’s chief of geriatric and palliative medicine.
Dr. Carney related the experience of 81-year-old Clarence Blackmon who had just been returned to his home after spending several months in a hospital being treated for cancer. The Fayetteville, N.C., man was restricted to a wheelchair, did not have fresh food in his refrigerator and was unable to leave the house. Since he was without family and friends, he resorted to calling 911. Blackmon’s plea could be heard in a recording of the call asking if someone could go to the grocery store for him.
According to the SeniorCare.com website, using census.gov as its resource, there are approximately 115,637 seniors living alone in Arkansas. Of these, 71 percent are female. More than 7,200 live in Little Rock, 3,563 in Fort Smith, 1,869 in Fayetteville, 832 in Bentonville and 1,512 in Bella Vista. How can we find them and help them? I believe it is the responsibility of local churches.
Not all elder orphans are without family, many are just neglected, either intentionally or family members just don’t think about staying in touch with their parents. The problem is compounded because elderly parents feel guilty about interrupting the lives of their kids who are focused on caring for their own needs.
Consider the case of “H.B.,” a 76-year-old man living alone who was admitted to a New York hospital after a failed suicide attempt to end his pain and suffering. The report says that H.B.’s case “was complicated and prolonged by delirium, unclear decision-making capacity and lack of social support. He was discharged to a nursing facility for likely eventual long-term placement.” The truly sad, almost unbelievable part of the H.B. story is that he had “family” living across the country in California.
Dr. Carney, who oversees geriatric health care in 21 New York hospitals, has ensured that her medical staff provides the special attention patients need when they are identified as elder orphans. She also is taking the initiative to organize a foundation designed to create national awareness of the issue and to locate and serve the needs of elder orphans.
My question is will Arkansas churches help to locate elder orphans in their communities? I believe churches could be the most effective conduit to the elder orphans who obviously populate every community. Some may even be part of a church-family without the congregation knowing it.
There are some churches that do have plans in place to serve their communities. For example, Adventist Community Services is a division of the Seventh-day Adventists denomination that has established a network of more than 1,200 church locations in the United States set up to help folks in their communities. Some, like the Phoenix location, provide everything from medical care administered by licensed doctors to free food and bus passes. Although other churches provide more limited service, they all represent a contact point for support that is important to folks of any age, including elder orphans, when they know who and where they are.
The needs of the lonely elderly go beyond just heath care. Many, especially those older than age 85, are not internet savvy, lack communication skills and find it difficult to complete forms such as applying for Medicare or veteran’s benefits. Transportation is often an issue, just as deciding when and who to call for assistance. Churches can fill the gap and exercise discipleship at the same time.
Dr. Carney says that many elderly living alone have no one to help them make decisions about their own care and should have care plans, including advance directives in place; they need an advocate, someone who can help them create a strategy. I believe that our churches are in the best position to advocate for the elderly, especially when they lack family support.
Finally, the revelation of elder orphans should be an alert to pay more attention to recognizing the needs of our own families … it begins with consistent communication. My personal experience as a caregiver and studying the statistics about aging and the dramatic changes in health care during the last three decades has me convinced we can no longer rely on the system — we need to be active in caring for our own.
Studies from the Alzheimer’s Association and other groups tell us that elderly parents are reluctant to talk about their health-care issues and that their children live an average of 480 miles away focused on their own lives while assuming everything is fine with Mom and Dad because they haven’t heard otherwise.
A church planting eldercare seeds and families creating personal prevention plans will avoid the misconception that everything is fine with the folks when it is not. Once the church provides the incentive and the tools, it is up to families to implement their own caregiving plans that utilize available resources coupled with information found through their own initiative. Virtually all the components a family needs to create a plan can be found with an internet search or working with resources from commercial providers.
A care plan should include basic components like a personal identification card that includes information important to first responders in an emergency, advance directives, comparing medications for compatibility as well as health, cognitive and home safety assessments.
Our churches can be the catalysts to raise awareness of our responsibility to care for our own. That should include elder orphans along with others in the community who need help regardless of their age. Making those connections also provides the opportunity to introduce the love of Jesus Christ to many who may not know him.
