The Hawaii County Office on Aging recently completed its newest area plan on aging, laying out goals and priorities for the next four years of providing services and support for the Big Island’s senior citizens.
The Hawaii County Office on Aging recently completed its newest area plan on aging, laying out goals and priorities for the next four years of providing services and support for the Big Island’s senior citizens.
Area plans are a required component of federal funding for aging services under the Older Americans Act. The act was established in 1965 and updated in 2006.
People are considered senior citizens once they turn 60 years old.
The county’s last area plan was written in 2011 and was set to run through September of this year. When COA executive director Kimo Alameda started his job this spring, much of the work already had been completed on writing the new plan and assessing the achievements of the previous one.
“When I first got in here, it was perfect,” Alameda said in a recent interview.
“A lot of the focus groups were already completed.”
While the new plan was being written, feedback from the Big Island’s Aging Network and committees on disabilities and aging were constant.
“They were always keeping us in check asking about the plan,” Alameda said. He later went through the document and reworked it to be more user-friendly by adding charts and diagrams, so anyone could pick it up and understand the county’s goals for the next four years.
An ongoing project is the development of the Hawaii Aging and Disability Resource Center, a one-stop shop for older adults and people with disabilities — as well as caregivers. Hawaii County is the only county in the state to have this type of umbrella program, where people can come to learn about everything from nutrition to independent living.
The 2011-15 plan established ADRCs in East and West Hawaii, and Alameda is trying to create centers in Ka‘u and Kohala.
Funding for these services comes from a mix of sources. Between $1 million and $1.5 million —about 40 percent — of the COA’s annual budget is from the federal government, with roughly $1 million, or 35 percent, from the state Kupuna Care program. The county contributes $700,000 annually.
Ultimately, the COA’s goal is to help seniors remain active and in their own homes (aging in place), as long as possible.
That’s something Alameda expects to become challenging in the future as more baby boomers begin to need services — federal funding from the Older Americans Act has remained flat for the past 10 years.
It’s a matter of providing care with available resources, Alameda said: “I think every other county’s asking that exact same question.”