Ex-Council Member Now Helps Elderly

Helping women turn longer lives into better lives is the goal of Ventura’s Pati Longo, a statewide advocate for elderly women.

Longo, 67, is one of 39 representatives across the country for the Women’s Initiative, a decade-long effort of the American Assn. of Retired Persons to address the economic, social, health and long-term care needs of elderly women.

The former Ventura city councilwoman travels throughout California and the United States lecturing and presenting workshops on issues such as economic security and breast cancer. A volunteer, she receives no pay but does get reimbursed for expenses.

Poverty among women prompted Longo to become involved with AARP nearly 11 years ago. According to the group, women represent nearly three-fourths of the elderly poor, with one-third of older single women relying on Social Security for at least 90% of their income.

Longo said women of her generation in particular believe that their husbands will take care of their financial futures. She said very few older women know the details about wills, pensions, credit, taxes and other money matters. And many work in jobs that don’t offer benefits or work part time and thus have little to save toward retirement.

Illness exacerbates the situation, Longo said. Since many women are unable to afford supplemental health insurance they avoid going to doctors or don’t take the prescribed dosage of medication. “Many times it is a choice between medicine and food,” she said.

Such concerns led Longo and other community volunteers to organize the Women’s Financial Information Program several years ago. The eight-week seminar, held at Ventura College, gives older women information on topics such as investing, care-giving, Social Security and drawing up wills.

A gubernatorial appointee to the California Commission on Aging, Longo also serves as chairwoman of the Area Agency on Aging and with the Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program of Ventura County and the Elder Abuse Council.

Through her work on the council she has found abuse to be a critical problem in Ventura County.

“Seniors are abused not only physically but financially and mentally,” Longo said.

She said that while nursing home abuse has been well publicized, seniors often as not face abuse from family members who deprive them of food or medical care or try to coerce them to sign over their assets.

Longo said local advocates for seniors would like to establish a home where abused seniors can go “for a cooling off period”--similar to a battered women’s shelter.

Though the problems of elderly women concern her, Longo has a refreshingly positive outlook on aging in this society where many women try to conceal their years.

“Growing old is really a wonderful experience,” Longo said. “All this wisdom, all this experience, all these things you can apply to your daily life.”