Thu, Nov 26 2009
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“We need to know how big this population is going to be. The growth of the senior population is bigger than anything we have ever had before. How are we going to deal with it?”
Bill Elder, with the health department, said the key indicators in the report were developed by seniors during 50 town hall meetings across the state. “We knew we needed good information about the continued aging of our population because our society is about to go through the long-awaited maturation of the ‘Baby Boom’ generation,” he said. “We needed a set of basic indicators to talk about the quality of life for seniors across different communities. Could we identify the factors where we could take steps to improve the long-term, well-being of seniors?” County scores More than 500 seniors participated in the meetings. They suggested a few key indicators from which each of 114 counties in the state would get a composite score. The seniors said household composition, economic well-being, workforce participation, transportation, health status, healthcare access, long-term care, crime and housing were key indicators. Elder said most would think that workforce participation in old age would be a negative indicator, but to seniors, workforce participation indicates they are staying engaged. “It’s continued social engagement — not the money — that’s important,” he said. In terms of health status, one might think cancer rates or heart health would be important indicators. The seniors said diabetes was far more important because it is trending in the wrong direction in the state overall. “Adult-onset diabetes is something that can be prevented through more activity and nutritional programs,” Elder said. “Diabetes also is related to other adverse health conditions. They looked at diabetes with an eye toward what can be done to improve the situation.” Local findings Findings for Southwest Missouri counties include: Newton County ranked fourth among all counties in Missouri on key senior indicators. It also had one of the highest rates of primary care physicians per 1,000 seniors in the state. Jasper County was ranked 71. One of the areas where it fared poorly was its property and violent crime rates. McDonald County’s senior population grew 5.1 percent between 2000 and 2006, and like Newton County, it had a high rate of primary care physicians, but it also scored poorly in the property and violent crime category. It ranked 36th overall. 
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State report ranks counties on important senior issues w/ link to Missouri Senior Report 
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