Cuando Elisa se levantó de su silla en la sede de Mujeres Unidas y Activas, un grupo activista de mujeres latinas e indígenas, buscó un bastón para apoyarse. Hace unos años, de camino al trabajo, Elisa se resbaló en unas escaleras y sufrió una fuerte caída. El accidente le dejó lesiones permanentes y agravó las deformidades con las que había nacido en ambos pies. Las secuelas han tenido una grave consecuencia toda su vida. De repente, ya no podía trabajar. Sus ingresos desaparecieron, lo que la obligó a abandonar su hogar.
Aging
非營利組織稱:保護華埠長者免受氣候災難影響 需更多資金
極端天氣事件近年來造成許多嚴重破壞和人員傷亡。2022年,歐洲熱浪及南亞、西非和中非的洪水導致數千人死亡;2023年,夏威夷茂宜島發生的野火是美國有史以來死亡人數最多的火災之一,奪走了100條人命;加拿大野火造成成千上萬人流離失所,迫使美國對超過1億2000萬居民發佈空氣品質警報。
儘管全人類都受到自然災害的影響,但美國環保署警告,因為既有疾病、免疫力低下、行動不便和其他健康問題,包括老年人在內的部分人口面對的風險比其他人要高。
Aging
Protecting Chinatown’s Older Adults From Climate Disasters Requires More Funding, Nonprofits Say
Community organizations say the systems in Chinatown to protect older populations during extreme weather are not enough to meet the needs that could arise. Without sufficient financial backing, the health of many older residents in the neighborhood could be threatened during extreme weather disasters. Similar scenarios could transpire in San Francisco’s other climate-vulnerable areas.
Aging
For Chinatown’s Older Residents in SROs, Climate Disasters Pose Greater Risks
Chinatown faces higher threats during periods of extreme weather due to a range of socio-economic factors as well as the built environment. Within the neighborhood, older adults living in single-room occupancy buildings are among the populations at heightened risk. Reasons for this include physiological changes related to aging and financial barriers associated with making climate-resiliency adaptations to older buildings.
Environment
Brightline Defense Takes on San Francisco’s Air Pollution and Environmental Justice Concerns: Q&A With Executive Director Eddie Ahn
As climate change exacerbates droughts, wildfires, floods, storms and other catastrophes, community organizations in the city are racing to put systems in place to both measure its impacts on residents and to provide the tools they need to support themselves during disasters.
Aging
Climate Change Can Harm Mental Health of Older Adults: Q&A With Dr. Robin Cooper
Mental health experts based in the San Francisco Bay Area are exploring the ensuing physical, mental and emotional effects of climate change, particularly on the lives of older adults.
Aging
Research on Climate Change and Health Reveals Risks for Older Adults: Q&A With Dr. Andrew Chang
Dr. Andrew Chang, an attending physician specializing in cardiology at the Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System and postdoctoral research fellow at the Stanford Cardiovascular Institute, is investigating how the biological mechanisms of aging and a warming world will affect the health of older adults.
Health
Laguna Honda Hospital Has to Self-Destruct to Survive
Administrators are overhauling policies and procedures to regain federal funding that is set to expire following the issuance of multiple damning inspection reports at Laguna Honda Hospital. They have until Sept. 13 to implement changes, which include a requirement to transfer or discharge all patients, before they can apply for recertification from the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
Aging
Legacy Film Festival Delves Into the Triumphs and Challenges of Aging
Aging is often obscured from movies, or portrayed in ways that perpetuate stereotypes about what aging is. The films at the Legacy Film Festival on Aging counter that by exploring more fully what it means to get older.
“Civic” Podcast
Long-Term Care Residents Need Visitation to Thrive, Advocates Say
On the sidewalk in front of the San Francisco Department of Public Health on Thursday morning, a dozen or so activists stood holding yellow signs reading “Isolation kills, too!” Julie Schneider, the field service coordinator for the Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program, was one of these advocates for residents of facilities like nursing homes, who have been calling for in-person visitation in long-term care to resume promptly. “Civic” spoke with Schneider and volunteer ombudsman Richard Correia at the demonstration. “If you spend enough time around people that are in the end stages of their life, there are things that keep them going. And then there are times when, you know, they lose the will,” Correia said. One of those things is seeing loved ones, he said.
Coronavirus
Nonprofit Brings COVID-19 Vaccines to Seniors
Self-Help for the Elderly, has stepped in not just with advocacy for improved access to vaccines, but by bringing doctors who can administer vaccines to the seniors who need them at community centers they already visit. President and CEO Anni Chung joined “Civic” to share how the organization has been vaccinating the seniors it serves.