Latino Elder Initiative for Caregiving

Article by Buffy Gilfoil

In July 2014, Catalina Gonzalez, 83, was in a tough situation: A paperwork glitch left her without Medicaid and without benefits through the Medicare Savings Program, which helps income-qualifying seniors with their premiums. Her daughter, Wendy Evangelista, tried to get the coverage reinstated, but online applications were rejected twice.

Later that year, with help from the Colorado Latino Age Wave initiative, the Colorado Gerontological Society hired Leslie Ojeda, who not only has a solid background in human services but also speaks Spanish.

About the same time, Gonzalez, who speaks little English, heard about the society through a friend. She contacted the organization and was put in touch with Ojeda, who visited Gonzalez at her home and completed a hard-copy application in less than a week. Evangelista hand-carried the application to the county, and Gonzalez’s coverage resumed weeks later.

Gonzalez is typical of the quickly growing group that the Colorado Latino Age Wave initiative seeks to help.

The initiative was begun in 2011 after national research by Hispanics in Philanthropy identified unique needs and challenges facing older adults. With past support from the Colorado Health Foundation, the initiative currently relies on a partnership among Hispanics in Philanthropy, the Rose Community Foundation and the Latino Community Foundation of Colorado.

The first action taken by the initiative was to conduct a community assessment. It found the number of Latino elders in Colorado increased by 76.9 percent between 2000 and 2010, compared with a 51.9 percent increase for all residents in the same age group. By 2030, the Latino population of all ages is expected to grow by 174 percent compared with a 31 percent projected growth for the white non-Hispanic population.

“We’re the fastest-growing minority elderly group – nationally and in Colorado,” said Cec Ortiz, project manager of the Colorado Latino Age Wave initiative.

Compared with other older Denver adults, Latino elders face additional challenges, according to the assessment. But “they also possess cultural values and assets that can enrich the aging experience for Latinos as well as enhance the new narrative of aging that is currently being written by all older adults at this time in our nation’s history.”

The initiative was organized into two groups with five caregivers each. All received resource kits with books on caregiving, resource lists, chocolates and blank care plans. For one group, all the help they received was in the kit; the second group received support from caregiver mentor Josephine Bachicha, who cared for her now-deceased mother and continues to care for her adult son Dominic, who has Down syndrome. Bachicha had initial and ending visits with members of her group and a few phone calls in between. They talked about care plans, which included identifying challenges. She also administered before and after assessments of the caregivers’ ability to access resources.

Results of the pilot are not yet available, but Bachicha observed that caregivers are fully dedicated to caring for loved ones but minimize their own needs and pressures. “(Caregivers) almost feel selfish if they feel a need to ask for services for themselves,” she said.

Ortiz said the initiative will build on its successes to date to further develop models that help Latino elders thrive in their communities with the support of family-centered care. It will also continue to focus on the needs of caregivers.

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Article provided by The Colorado Health Foundation. Photo courtesy of the Alzheimer's Association of Colorado