Cutting Seniors’ Link to Outside World

* For our aging, few conditions are more debilitating than the depression brought on by isolation. Senior center lunch programs, community sponsored excursions, multi-generational outreach activities all attempt to address what is generally acknowledged as a horrendous, life-shortening state of mind.

By the same token, few living situations are more empowering than the ability to adequately manage living alone.

For many seniors the balance between these two, isolation and independence, is tenuous, at best. Getting to the bank, grocery store, post office, an occasional movie or lunch with a friend often means the difference between going on or giving up.

Sadly, the ability to get out and participate is not always limited by a disabling physical condition, but by a situational one: the lack of appropriate transportation. Not everyone is lucky enough to have family and or friends who can play the chauffeur.

Until now, in Orange County, Dial-a-Ride has stepped in and eased the stress of that immobility.

Now, the Orange County Transportation Authority has decided to discontinue that service. In a move, claiming to accede to the demands of the ADA (Americans With Disabilities Act), OCTA appears to have pitted the urgent needs of the frail elderly against those of the disabled and, as in the past, the result is what will undoubtedly be horribly traumatic for many seniors.

For many who lose their access to the outside world, their key to independence and the freedom it ensures, it will necessitate entering custodial care.

DALE GOODMAN

President

Placentia Chapter

American Assn. of Retired People