Care for elderly discussed at forum

People who want to make sure that residents of area adult-care homes are treated well should get personally involved -- and keep an eye on leadership at the General Assembly.

Those points came from panelists at a town hall meeting Tuesday night at N.C. State University's McKimmon Center.

"There's a lot of people here tonight, but think how many people there are in Wake County," said John Blackwell, a candidate for state Senate. "I still believe we need to get more people involved in this. We need to visit in rest homes."

Other panelists said older people facing the need for help with daily activities need a tax credit for long-term care insurance, more direct support for in-home care, coordination among different kinds of service and buy-in at the highest levels of the legislature. Coming up with well-intentioned programs won't count for much unless they are passed into law and get funded, said state Rep. Grier Martin.

"We politicians are very good about talking about things that cost money," Martin said, urging the public to contact legislative leaders about these issues.

Taking a big-picture approach, Rep. Nelson Dollar said people should start thinking about what is ahead when they're middle-aged.

"If we focused more on preventative health care in those middle years, we'd have better long-term outcomes and keep those health-care costs down," Dollar said.

Called "Caring for Our Elders," the event drew about 100 people to hear from Wake County legislators, candidates, industry representatives and advocates. One goal was to respond to recent media coverage -- including News & Observer reports -- that detailed problems in rest homes, including residents' deaths through facility error.

"We need to look beyond those negatives and find out what is the root cause," said Jerry Cooper, executive director of the N.C. Assisted Living Association, an industry group that helped organize the event.

Among ideas under consideration for the legislative session that begins in January are some means of separating frail elderly people in rest homes from younger people with mental illness, better transportation to help older people reach services and a long-term care insurance tax credit.

However, many older people want most to stay in their own homes, said Rep. Deborah Ross.

"It allows them to retain their dignity and their assets," Ross said. "And it costs the state less money."

The cost of residential care can put it out of reach for middle-class people who have too much money to qualify for help from government sources and not enough to pay out of pocket, panelists noted.

"There is no help for people who are middle class and in need of some assistance," said state Rep. Linda Coleman.