Symposium--Delivery of Geriatric Community Care Issues of Leadership and Models of Delivery: Professional Roles in the Maintenance of the Disabled Elderly in the Community: A Forecast

Abstract

The nursing home receives a disproportionate amount of our attention, considering the fact that 95% of the elderly live in the community. Eighteen per cent of aged family and 47% of aged single community-residing elderly are at or below the poverty level. The combination of “agedness” illness and poverty make it quite difficult, often impossible, to obtain adequate care and treatment. Inadequate care in the community or somewhat adequate care in the nursing home are often the choices. The goal of this symposium is to focus on the issue of health care for the elderly in the community, with particular attention to (I) responsibility for developing new health care systems, i.e., leadership by public or private sector, and (2) models of community-health care for the elderly.