Homebound, Frail : L.A. ‘Invisible’ Seniors’ Needs Described

City programs for the aged should focus on transportation and the homebound elderly, seniors and social service workers said Monday at a public hearing in Reseda.

The hearing, which drew about 125 people, was the last of six public hearings held throughout the city of Los Angeles since January. Information from the meetings will be used in a proposal for a grant under the federal Older Americans Act.

The Los Angeles city Department of Aging was awarded $8.5 million for fiscal year 1988-89, which ends June 30, said department General Manager Faye Washington. For 1989-90, the department is hoping for at least the same amount, she said.

The San Fernando Valley received about $2.7 million from the grant for 1988-89. Social workers estimated that the Valley has about 200,000 residents over age 65.

Staff members of the Valley Senior Service and Resource Center in Reseda, where the hearing was held, emphasized the need for services for frail, homebound senior citizens. “They’re the invisible seniors,” said homebound meal coordinator Rochelle Steres.

One man who relies on a walker is trying to care for his wife, who has Alzheimer’s disease, said Herold Sanders, 66, a center volunteer and member of the Council on Aging, which advises the city Department of Aging.

Seniors need rides to the supermarket and help with laundry, gardening and other chores, he said. And if they can be lured to a seniors’ center for a hot meal, they can also get their blood pressure checked and mingle with other people their age, Sanders said.

Another little-seen need is that of elderly American Indians, said Rudy Ortega of the San Fernando Valley Intertribal Council. He estimated that there are 2,000 elderly Americans Indians in the Valley, but because of historical distrust and cultural differences, they do not go to the existing senior centers, he said. Ortega and other American Indian community officials called for a center that would cater to them.

Speakers also asked for expansion of day-care programs. Donna Sheanin of Tarzana said the Reseda center’s day-care program was a relief to her family after her mother, 70, developed a disease that affects the brain.

Day-care coordinator Judy Wolfe estimated that the program costs $12.65 per senior per day, or $379.50 per month if it were available every day, as compared to the $2,000-a-month cost of a nursing home or other institution.

Washington said the issues of transportation and needs of homebound elderly had been raised at the other hearings. The results will be reported to the Grants, Housing and Community Development Committee of the city council and then to the full council for approval.

The plan is due May 1 to the state Department of Aging.