Speeches
2004
Assistant
Secretary Carbonell Remarks from 2nd National Steps to a HealthierUS
Summit - April 30, 2004
Welcome everyone!
I’m Josefina Carbonell, Assistant Secretary for Aging
at HHS, and I’m very pleased to be here today to moderate
this discussion on Healthy Aging.
The aging of America is going to require every sector of society
to rethink the way it does business.
This includes the business of Prevention.
As the baby boom ages, we need to do every thing we can to reduce
both the incidence and severity of disease and disability during
the later stages of life.
As Secretary Thompson has said, “As life expectancy increases,
we need to make sure we’re adding quality to those added
years of life.”
We are very fortunate to have a growing body of science in the
area of prevention as it relates to older people. This science
clearly shows that it is not too late for older persons – even
for older persons with impairments - to obtain substantial health
benefits by making lifestyle changes. The science also provides
evidence that we can achieve substantial savings by targeting
prevention programs at older people.
We have with us today a very distinguished panel of experts
representing various sectors to discuss some of the exciting
developments that are occurring in this area, including:
- Dr. Richard Hodes, Director of the National Institute on Aging
- Robin Mockenhaupt ( Mock-en-hop ) from the Robert Wood Johnson
Foundation
- Susan Snyder, from the Seattle Wellness Program, and
- Phillip Page with Benchmark Physical Therapy
Before I turn the “mike” over to my colleague Dr.
Hodes, I want to take just a few minutes to talk about what the
Administration on Aging is doing to advance the Secretary’s
Prevention initiative for older people.
As some of you may know, AoA’s mission is to promote the
dignity and independence of older people, and to help our society
prepare for the aging of the population.
We are also charged with promoting the development of a comprehensive
and coordinated system of care at the community level that will
help older people to remain active and healthy and, if they need
of help, to be able to remain in their own homes for as long
as possible.
We carry out our mission by working with and through a nationwide
network - known as the Aging Services Network. Each year, we
channel about $1.4 Billion in federal funds through the states
and tribes to support a wide array of home and community-based
social service programs and interventions.
At the community level, our funds support over 29,000 service
provider organizations such as
- senior centers,
- meals on wheels and congregate nutrition programs,
- specialized
transportation services,
- home care agencies,
- adult day care centers,
- programs in senior housing projects, and the like.
Our community providers reach over 7 million people each year,
including 500,000 family caregivers.
Having run a community provider organization for almost 30 years,
I can tell you first hand that the Aging Services Network has
been in the prevention business since it’s inception in
1965.
Many of the programs we fund include traditional health promotion
and disease prevention services, such as those shown on the slide.
But we also provide older people with opportunities to continue
to feel valued by society and to remain engaged in their communities
through part-time employment and volunteer opportunities
– these programs are often important for maintaining one’s
own sense of worth as well as one’s mental health in old
age.
And we help people learn about and access health programs they
are entitled to but may not realize they are eligible for, such
as Medicaid – and the new prescription drug benefit and
preventive services that have been added to Medicare.
One of our Network’s greatest assets in prevention is
its ability to reach people of all income levels while they are
still healthy – where the opportunities for realizing the
benefits of prevention are the greatest.
We also have the ability to reach low-income, hard-to-serve,
minority populations – where the need for prevention is
critical, especially given the health disparities that exist
in this country.
In support of the Secretary’s Steps initiative, I have
made Prevention one of my top priorities.
My goal is to strengthen the capacity of our community service
providers to deliver interventions that have proven to be effective
in reducing the risk of disease and disability as people age.
I’m also committed to raising awareness among the senior
population about the importance of prevention and small steps
that older people can take to maintain and improve their health.
To advance our prevention agenda, last year we launched an Evidence-Based
Prevention Grants program to demonstrate how we can translate
the Department’s research into practice through our community
service provider agencies.
This program involves a public/private partnership with
- NIA
- CDC
- The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
- The John A. Hartford Foundation,
and others
We have funded 12 community demonstration projects, and a national
technical assistance center at the National Council on the Aging.
The projects are focused on the 5 areas noted on the slide.
I should point out that one of our projects is using the results
of research conducted by Mary Tinetti at Yale that NIA funded.
This research has giving us an intervention that has been shown
to be effective in reducing the risk of falls among the elderly.
Under our grant program, we hope to demonstrate how we can deliver
this intervention at a reasonable cost through senior centers.
We’re very excited about this initiative and the potential
it holds for improving the lives of large numbers of older people
in this country.
We are also making Prevention a key element of our overall strategy
for long term care.
Last year, we launched a $20 Million grants program in partnership
with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid to help states set
up “one stop shop” programs to help people with long
term care needs.
This is our Aging and Disability Resource Center Program. It
is designed to empower consumers by giving them objective information
on all of their care options, and a single point of access to
programs. We have funded 24 states so far under this initiative.
As you will note on the slide, we see these centers as places
where older people can learn about – and be linked to – not
only long term care services – but to health promotion
and disease prevention programs as well.
Finally, this year, we are launching a national outreach and
public awareness campaign to get the Secretary’s prevention
message about eating better and exercising more out to seniors
all across the country.
This campaign will be the aging component of the Secretary’s
Steps initiative. We’re calling it the YouCan! Steps to
Healthier Aging Campaign.
I call this the “2-2-2” campaign – because
our goal is to mobilize 2,000 community organizations to reach
2 million seniors within 2 years.
Today I am announcing three “steps” we’re
taking as part of the initial roll out.
First, I’m pleased announce that NIA, CDC and the President’s
Council on Physical Fitness will be joining us as partners in
this campaign.
Second, we are launching our YouCan website as a resource for
community organizations who are interested in becoming community
partners.
And, I am awarding mini-grants to 10 aging services providers
across the
Country to support YouCan projects at the community level.
More information on these three steps can be found in the back
of the room after the session.
Now, onto our panel presentations.
Disclaimer:
This text is the basis of the oral remarks of the Assistant Secretary
for Aging. It should be used with the understanding that some
material may be added or omitted.
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