| On average, Americans are enjoying longer and healthier
lives, but many diseases -- such as hypertension, diabetes and
obesity -- still hit older minority and low-income Americans
disproportionately hard.
Last month, HRSA's Associate Administrator for Primary Health
Care Marilyn Hughes Gaston, M.D., announced the establishment
of BPHC’s "Healthy Aging Initiative" to promote
better health care for elderly Americans. Dr. Gaston named
Marion E. Primas, Ph.D., M.S., to direct the project, which
will focus on fighting diseases targeted by Healthy
People 2010 including heart disease, cancer, diabetes
and HIV/AIDS.
In its first year, the Healthy Aging Initiative will focus
primarily on:
- Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements;
- outreach to bring older persons into care;
- quality – making sure care fits clients’ needs; and
- adapting effective models of care for use in other communities.
People over age 65 currently represent 13 percent of the
total U.S. population. Projections indicate that this age
cohort will grow to 20 percent, or 70 million people, by 2030,
with racial and ethnic minorities representing 25 percent
of the older population.
"We must extend HRSA’s goal of 100 percent access and
0 health disparities to all older Americans in the 21st
century," said Dr. Gaston.
Nearly 12 million poor and nearly poor Americans received
primary and preventive care at over 4,000 sites supported
by BPHC funds and the National Health Service Corps. In 1999,
Bureau-supported programs served 642,609 clients who were
65 and older, or 7.1 percent of health center users.
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