JustCare

Tag: Transportation

  • Live alone? How to make sure you have the supports to get the medical care you need

    Live alone? How to make sure you have the supports to get the medical care you need

    Over the years, I’ve written about the importance of having a health care buddy, someone whom you can talk to about your health, who can be another set of eyes and ears at the doctor’s office, someone who can take you to a health care appointment. If you live alone, don’t have a buddy, and need help getting to a medical appointment, Kerri Fivecoat Campbell writes for Next Avenue about what you can do.

    If you’re married, you might not have yet thought about the complications that arise when you need someone with you after a hospital discharge or a colonoscopy visit. But, it’s challenging. Our government generally doesn’t have any systems in place to help. It can take a lot of effort.

    An Uber or other hired driver won’t help because you need someone to be with you for an extended period after discharge.

    Who can you count on when you’re living alone? Lots of people are in this situation. More than one in four adults between 50 and 64  (28 percent) live alone. More than one in three over 65 (36 percent) live alone. Many of them cannot afford to pay someone and so are often forced to skip critical medical care.

    While transportation issues always have posed challenges for single people, the situation appears to be worsening. Families are increasingly spread out across the country, and there are fewer social supports in most communities.

    How to find help? 

    If you don’t have family or friends who can serve as a health care buddy, look into the PACE program. There are hundreds across the country, although many have long waitlists. They are designed to help isolated older adults age in place, providing needed community supports. That said, beware of for-profit PACE programs. 

    It could be worth learning about senior centers and other local community organizations offering services to older adults. You can contact your Area Agency on Aging or you can visit the Eldercare Locator, a government service through the US Administration on Aging, which provides information on local resources.

    You might also try contacting your local community college or religious institution. These non-profits might offer volunteer services.

    Many communities offer free transportation services and have volunteers who can provide additional support. The challenge is finding them. So plan ahead!!!!

    Here’s more from Just Care:

  • Low-cost transport improves health for isolated older adults

    Low-cost transport improves health for isolated older adults

    Choe Sang-Hun reports for the New York Times on the value of low-cost transportation services for older adults in rural counties in South Korea. In these counties, taxis ferry people to town and to doctors’ appointments as far as 20 minutes away. Because of government subsidies, the taxis cost just 100-won or .09 cents. The US offers free transportation to older adults in some communities, but we would be well-served to use South Korea as a model.

    When did South Korea begin subsidizing taxi services for rural residents? Beginning in 2013, South Koreans living in one county no longer had bus services. The routes were not busy enough to be worth the government’s investment. So, the buses were canceled.

    The county decided that it would pay for all but .09 cents of the cost of a taxi ride for villagers in small hamlets who live too far from a bus stop to make use of a bus. The taxi takes them to local markets and doctors appointments.

    In 2020, villagers from 40 villages in Seocheon made use of the taxi service 40,000 times. The total cost to the South Korean government was $147,000. Throughout South Korea, the government subsidized 2.7 million rides.

    The taxi service makes a lot of sense: The taxis provide door-to-door service. And, they end up being less costly than a regular bus service. A lot of the rural villages only have a dozen or so houses.

    The taxi service also keeps older villagers socially engaged, freeing them of being isolated in their villages. It allows them to get out and about.

    The trips are subsidized heavily. The same short taxi ride would otherwise cost 100 times what it now costs the villagers. And, if they want to travel further, they pay just a little more. They can make use of the taxi service whenever they please.

    It should be easy for local communities in the US to copy the South Korean model and arrange free or low-cost transportation services for older adults. Some cities offer access-a-ride, which is a start. Contact your local area agency on aging to find out about transportation services for older adults in your community.

    Here’s more from Just Care: