National Center for Health and the Aging 
Quarterly Newsletter
October 2013
The National Center for Health and The Aging (NCHATA), a project of North American Management, provides training and technical assistance to strengthen the capacity of health center programs to increase access to health care, eliminate health disparities, and enhance health care delivery for the 39 million or 13 percent of the residents of the United States who are 65 years of age and older.
Understanding the Issues Older Adults Face with Health Insurance Enrollment
Meet John...    
 
John is about to turn 65 years old. He lives in a low income rural town and does not have insurance. John has been trying to take better care of his health but without insurance he finds it hard to do so. John has not visited a health provider in years due to financial hardship. 

 

John is not sure how to enroll in Medicare but has heard he can begin receiving benefits when he turns 65. He also has little knowledge of the various benefits and services he can receive from Medicare.

 

Preparing Older Adults for Open Enrollment, October 1st 
 

It is important for health care providers who serve older adults to be prepared to assist with open enrollment. Older adults may have a more difficult time understanding the changes and new provisions that will occur as a result of the Affordable Care Act. Adults ages 65 and older may be eligible for Medicare and/or Medicaid if they are low-income or disabled.   

  

To finish reading the article, please click here

Low Income Older Adults: What are the Challenges?
An interview with Portia Meachem from the Housing Authority of Baltimore City in Baltimore, Maryland revealed more about aging in public housing.
 

Health care providers may need more education on low income aging populations in order to better serve them.  Through this interview, we discussed with Ms. Meachem the concerns and challenges that she sees working with the older adult population living in public housing in Baltimore City.  One of the greatest challenges, in her opinion, in connecting with the older adult population was communication and understanding.  Also, forming strategic partnerships with other community based providers is essential for promoting positive health changes.


Click here to read the exclusive interview with Portia Meachem. 
Health Literacy and Communication Among Older Adult Populations
Health Literacy is defined as "the degree to which individuals have the capacity to obtain, process, and understand basic health information and services needed to make appropriate health decisions" (pp. 11-20) according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (2000). 

Older adults on average have the lowest health literacy. Low-income and minority older adults may be at even more risk. Click here to read the full article on health literacy. 
Older Adults and Cultural Competency

Understanding what it means to practice in a culturally competent manner is vital in today's diverse society. Healthcare professionals in particular must understand the effects of a patient's culture and beliefs on their interaction with the health care system. The needs of older adults and specifically, the needs of ethnic older adults must be addressed in a culturally competent and sensitive manner. If practitioners fail to understand cultural influences, many older adults will suffer unintended negative health outcomes.

 

To read the complete article, click here

Events
The National Center for Health and the Aging (NCHATA), a project of North American Management, is supported in part by a cooperative agreement grant awarded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA).

This publication was made possible by grant number U30CS22743 from the Health Resources and Services Administration, Bureau of Primary Health Care and its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of HRSA.