Hawaii's senior population, growing at more than two times the national average, could be in a desperate situation in a few years due to inadequate support services unless something is done to rectify the situation. Group seeks ways to address
growing needs of isle seniorsA conference will look at options for housing
and caring for more residents over age 65By Dave Segal
dsegal@starbulletin.comThat's the assessment of Assisted Living Options Hawaii President Cullen T. Hayashida, whose organization is co-sponsoring a conference March 1 at the Hawai'i Convention Center entitled "Affordable Supportive Senior Housing: Finding Solutions Together."
"We need to recognize what will happen if we all put our heads in the sand and ignore the pending tsunami that will hit us in a few years. We want to bring support services into the low-income housing arena and make that marriage work," Hayashida said.
The conference, scheduled from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., is expected to attract about 300 people and will feature national and local experts on senior housing and support services.
The keynote speaker will be Stephen Golant, a national senior housing expert at the University of Florida's Institute on Aging.
"What we're trying to look at is a way we can address the needs of 40 or 50 percent of our senior market that are going to be in need of low-income senior housing that's already available but don't have the sufficient linkage with support services -- health services, transportation services, meals, that sort of thing."
Hayashida said there are about 75 to 80 federally subsidized low- to moderate-income senior apartment complexes in Hawaii, housing about 6,500 people, that are managed by the state, the counties or the private sector.
Low-income residents, whose rent is subsidized by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, pay one-third of their income for rent with the balance paid through HUD.
Affordable housing rents generally range from $500 to $600 a month, Hayashida said.
The problem, though, he said, is that many of the apartment complexes lack good support services.
"When you look at the rental housing industry, they tend to be mostly focusing on collecting the rent and fixing the plumbing," Hayashida added. "Trouble calls for them is thinking about the physical facility, and they have great difficulty dealing with people with Alzheimer's. They consider those a nuisance call, and if they get too many, they prefer to evict those folks. On the other hand, we've got the elderly service providers.
"Both (the rental housing industry and elderly service providers) provide important services to seniors, but they tend to come from two different orientations. We just have to find some way we can coordinate and have a better arrangement so that housing includes support services as our senior populations become increasingly frail."
Hayashida singled out the Hale Mahaolu, which has six seniors projects on Maui, one on Lanai and one on Molokai, as one of the top providers In Hawaii but said, "We need many more of these models to exist in the state."
The number of seniors in Hawaii 65 and older in 2000 was 160,601, a 28.5 percent increase over 125,005 in 1990, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Nationally, there were 34.99 million in 2000, a 12 percent gain over 31.24 million in 1990.
Despite the state of today's economy, Hayashida said bringing together the different parties, such as what is being done in the upcoming conference, can go a long way to solving the elderly services problem.
"We realize the state is in a financial fix, and the federal government is also faced with a deficit situation right now as well," Hayashida said. "But we think this is still an important area that needs to be discussed because there's still many things that can be done by way of collaboration, by way of bringing the stakeholders together -- those who control funds, management of the facilities, providers of the services."
www.seniorscommission.gov
Conference details
The fee for the conference, which includes lunch, refreshments and materials, is $50.The deadline for registering is Friday.
For more information, call Velda Chang, 838-7965, or e-mail velda14@aol.com.