Discussion
1 Impact of the Old Americans Act on BayPath Elder Services Impact of the Old Americans Act on BayPath Elder Services The Impact of the Legislation The OAA was implemented to essentially provide critical services to older adults and ensure that they can live independently and with dignity (Olah et al., 2019). The services are largely administered through local resources and include in-home assistance, meals, preventative healthcare, transportation, on-the-job training, and protection from abuse. The objective of the act is to address issues in older adults catapulted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The funds are 2 meant to support the health and welfare of older Americans through vaccine outreach, caregiver, and nutritional support. The budgetary support for the program more so after the pandemic is exemplary and as such, makes it easier to implement across the country. When a home-bound older adult can receive a home-delivered meal, a tribal elder has access to a wheelchair from a lending closet, then the participants in the program will advance their welfare substantially. The cost of the program is relatively high considering it places more focus on the older generation in their homes as opposed to being in care centers (Olah et al., 2019). The cost of the program considering its individual and door-to-door approach is relatively high with a high level of risk. The Biden-Harris administration in 2021 alone pumped in an additional $460 million for the program (Juckett et al., 2022). One of the major concerns of the program is that it operates within an ideal setting which is not the reality on the ground. If an older resident receives a wheelchair from the lending closet, what are the chances of the person returning the wheelchair, what happens if the wheelchair gets spoilt and is ineffective? In such circumstances, the program will spend more money trying to maintain the program than actually reaching the residents and enhancing their welfare. Often, it is older adults who live in difficult and even dangerous areas that are unable to access meals among others. What safety guarantees are there for the personnel delivering the meals to their homes and is this sustainable. The probability of sustainability of such occurrences is low and as such, the older residents were better placed in homes as opposed to the individualistic type of aid. Another concern still on the individualistic approach of OAA is the cost that comes with it. The structure of the program does not largely benefit from economies of scale in that it looks at older residents as individuals as opposed to being a cluster. The beauty of 3 creating clusters is that it allows a program to utilize economies of scale to the fullest while providing the highest form of impact. Impact on the Quality and Equity of Services Provided There are different cultural groups span across America but the OAA program pays special emphasis to the Native Americans when exploring aspects of culture and diversity (Juckett et al., 2022). Asian and Latin Americans for starters live within a setting that is highly complex and may have one or more older residents in one household coupled with a substantive number of additional individuals in the same house (Juckett et al., 2022). Providing meals within such homes may prove immensely difficult in that the older individuals receive food while the others do not. It makes the practicality of the program ineffective. The program lacks recourse on the different cultures and socioeconomic status of residents. Households differ and as such, a blanket approach to providing meals and other forms of services might prove futile in the short run. Legal and Ethical Concerns Ethical and legal issues are increasingly being reported when it comes to the care of older patients. The main ethical issues include their autonomy, wishes and values, respect for their needs, and decision-making. The OAA provides a blanket approach to the delivery of care and attention to older patients. Their likes and preferences are not taken into consideration. Aspects such as food delivery can prove challenging more so on elements such as allergies and reactions, preferences among others (Arensberg et al., 2022). It is difficult to provide standard uniform meals to individuals who are widely different. When there is an omission of allergies and meals are provided, the same can lead to numerous lawsuits. There is equally the challenge of implementing the program in a standardized manner to a population that is diverse in culture, 4 religious beliefs, and simply, way of life. What works for one group might not necessarily work for another. Home and community-based programs include household chores, transportation, and services to address social isolation among others (Hudson, 2019). How will the individuals providing the services to the older population be vetted and held accountable. These are some of the gaps that exist within the act. Improvements to the Act Overall, the OAA is a good initiative by the government to aid older residents but requires tweaking to make it highly effective and sustainable. Firstly, the act should be more institutional-centered as opposed to a general approach. The government should be able to audit the various areas that require older resident care and assess institutions that currently exist within those areas. Once this has been done, the next phase would be to provide care through such organizations to the residents. The advantage of doing this is that the program has a higher level of accountability and there is an audit trail in place to discern whether or not the services are being provided to all and the quality of services rendered. Additionally, there should be an autonomous platform or mechanism whereby the older residents can provide feedback on the effectiveness of the program. Currently, the OAA does not provide substantive data that can be utilized to improve the welfare of older residents. With such an approach, increased data will be available which in turn can be utilized to boost the program and its effectiveness. 5 References Arensberg, M. B., Gahche, J. J., Dwyer, J. T., Mosey, A., & Terzaghi, D. (2022). Malnutritionrelated conditions and interventions in US state/territorial Older Americans Act aging plans. BMC geriatrics, 22(1), 664. Bangerter, L. R., Fadel, M., Riffin, C., & Splaine, M. (2019). The Older Americans Act and family caregiving: Perspectives from federal and state levels. Public Policy & Aging Report, 29(2), 62-66. 6 Hudson, R. B. (2019). In the beginning: The near-fall and rise of the Older Americans Act. Public Policy & Aging Report, 29(2), 48-51. Juckett, L. A., Bunck, L., & Thomas, K. S. (2022). The Older Americans Act 2020 Reauthorization: Overcoming barriers to service and program implementation. Public Policy & Aging Report, 32(1), 25-30. Olah, J. L., & Harvey, D. K. (2019). The Older Americans Act: An example of bipartisan public policy. Public Policy & Aging Report, 29(2), 45-47.
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