Health is a lifelong journey. To age well, all county residents need access to both health care and healthy communities. California leads the nation in health care coverage for all ages and abilities. The recent expansions of Medi-Cal and Covered California, California’s health exchange, are notable.
Services beyond health care are essential to maintaining health. Over half of older adults will need long-term care services and supports to assist with daily activities. California’s In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) provides in-home care to eligible residents enrolled in Medi-Cal; however, there is a shortage of IHSS workers, and a majority of older adults do not qualify for Medi-Cal and many of them cannot afford to pay out of pocket for long-term care.
All older adults and residents with disabilities will have access to information and resources about long-term care and mental health services.
Senior community centers, family resource centers, home health care providers, senior housing facilities and other community-based organizations will offer accessible and affordable preventative health care interventions.
Sacramento County is home to a number of world-class health care centers, including Kaiser Permanente, Dignity Health, Sutter, and UC Davis. UC Davis’ Healthy Aging Clinic is a one-stop medical clinic for older adults and is the only clinic of its kind in the region to be nationally recognized as an Age-Friendly Health System.
Sacramento County Public Health provides services and targets resources in alignment with its five-year Community Health Improvement Plan to address the root causes of health inequities across the county. The County’s Department of Health Services administers CalAIM, a State initiative that supports counties to advance and innovate Medi-Cal to create a more coordinated, person-centered, and equitable health system for members.
Sutter Health’s SeniorCare PACE complex provides preventive care, medical care and support services that help older adults remain in their homes. The City of Sacramento offers Triple-R Adult Day Centers to meet the social and care needs of people with dementia, while their family members get respite from round-the-clock caregiving.
California Health Collaborative’s Multipurpose Senior Services Program (MSSP) provides care coordination, case management, and advocacy services to older adults on Medi-Cal whose physical or cognitive limitations put them at risk of nursing home placement. In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) is another alternative to out-of-home care for Medi-Cal members, by providing payment for in-home care provider services.
Agency on Aging Area 4 facilitates two critical health and wellness programs: the Health Insurance Advocacy & Counseling Program (HICAP) — administered by Legal Services of Northern California — that helps consumers navigate Medicare, health insurance, and long-term care insurance decisions; and Program to Encourage Active Rewarding Lives (PEARLS), an evidence-based, in-home counseling program, that can help aging adults reduce depressive symptoms and improve their quality of life. ACC Senior Services and El Hogar Community Services also offer the PEARLS program.
From our community needs assessment, we heard from county residents that they need affordable long-term care and mental health services.
There is also a need for:
Easier-to-navigate public health and welfare programs and benefits.
Wage growth and increased recruitment of paid home caregivers.
Sufficient access to home visitor programs and wellness checks.
Access to healthier foods at housing developments and food banks.
High quality, affordable dementia and memory care.
A sufficient health care workforce trained in geriatrics.
A health care workforce representative of the county's diversity.
Aging & Disability Resource Connection (ADRC) case managers will have resolved 90% or more of calls related to the social determinants of health — the non-medical factors that influence health outcomes — with 85% client satisfaction, as indicated through post-call surveys.
Prioritize and expand innovative strategies for raising awareness and connecting people with disabilities and older adults to health care services.
Proposed strategies include, but are not limited to, preventative care campaigns; programs providing food access; training of front-line workers and first responders in dementia care; policy advocacy opportunities for paid caregiver wage growth and recruitment and to address other gaps in the current IHSS system; information campaigns for affordable long-term care and mental health services; and the streamlining of public health and welfare programs and benefits.
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