1
Impact of the Old Americans Act on BayPath Elder Services
Impact of the Old Americans Act on BayPath Elder Services
The Impact of the Legislation
The OAA was implemented to essentially provide critical services to older adults and
ensure that they can live independently and with dignity (Olah et al., 2019). The services are
largely administered through local resources and include in-home assistance, meals, preventative
healthcare, transportation, on-the-job training, and protection from abuse. The objective of the
act is to address issues in older adults catapulted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The funds are
2
meant to support the health and welfare of older Americans through vaccine outreach, caregiver,
and nutritional support. The budgetary support for the program more so after the pandemic is
exemplary and as such, makes it easier to implement across the country.
When a home-bound older adult can receive a home-delivered meal, a tribal elder has
access to a wheelchair from a lending closet, then the participants in the program will advance
their welfare substantially. The cost of the program is relatively high considering it places more
focus on the older generation in their homes as opposed to being in care centers (Olah et al.,
2019). The cost of the program considering its individual and door-to-door approach is relatively
high with a high level of risk. The Biden-Harris administration in 2021 alone pumped in an
additional $460 million for the program (Juckett et al., 2022). One of the major concerns of the
program is that it operates within an ideal setting which is not the reality on the ground. If an
older resident receives a wheelchair from the lending closet, what are the chances of the person
returning the wheelchair, what happens if the wheelchair gets spoilt and is ineffective? In such
circumstances, the program will spend more money trying to maintain the program than actually
reaching the residents and enhancing their welfare.
Often, it is older adults who live in difficult and even dangerous areas that are unable to
access meals among others. What safety guarantees are there for the personnel delivering the
meals to their homes and is this sustainable. The probability of sustainability of such occurrences
is low and as such, the older residents were better placed in homes as opposed to the
individualistic type of aid. Another concern still on the individualistic approach of OAA is the
cost that comes with it. The structure of the program does not largely benefit from economies of
scale in that it looks at older residents as individuals as opposed to being a cluster. The beauty of
3
creating clusters is that it allows a program to utilize economies of scale to the fullest while
providing the highest form of impact.
Impact on the Quality and Equity of Services Provided
There are different cultural groups span across America but the OAA program pays
special emphasis to the Native Americans when exploring aspects of culture and diversity
(Juckett et al., 2022). Asian and Latin Americans for starters live within a setting that is highly
complex and may have one or more older residents in one household coupled with a substantive
number of additional individuals in the same house (Juckett et al., 2022). Providing meals within
such homes may prove immensely difficult in that the older individuals receive food while the
others do not. It makes the practicality of the program ineffective. The program lacks recourse on
the different cultures and socioeconomic status of residents. Households differ and as such, a
blanket approach to providing meals and other forms of services might prove futile in the short
run.
Legal and Ethical Concerns
Ethical and legal issues are increasingly being reported when it comes to the care of older
patients. The main ethical issues include their autonomy, wishes and values, respect for their
needs, and decision-making. The OAA provides a blanket approach to the delivery of care and
attention to older patients. Their likes and preferences are not taken into consideration. Aspects
such as food delivery can prove challenging more so on elements such as allergies and reactions,
preferences among others (Arensberg et al., 2022). It is difficult to provide standard uniform
meals to individuals who are widely different. When there is an omission of allergies and meals
are provided, the same can lead to numerous lawsuits. There is equally the challenge of
implementing the program in a standardized manner to a population that is diverse in culture,
4
religious beliefs, and simply, way of life. What works for one group might not necessarily work
for another. Home and community-based programs include household chores, transportation, and
services to address social isolation among others (Hudson, 2019). How will the individuals
providing the services to the older population be vetted and held accountable. These are some of
the gaps that exist within the act.
Improvements to the Act
Overall, the OAA is a good initiative by the government to aid older residents but
requires tweaking to make it highly effective and sustainable. Firstly, the act should be more
institutional-centered as opposed to a general approach. The government should be able to audit
the various areas that require older resident care and assess institutions that currently exist within
those areas. Once this has been done, the next phase would be to provide care through such
organizations to the residents. The advantage of doing this is that the program has a higher level
of accountability and there is an audit trail in place to discern whether or not the services are
being provided to all and the quality of services rendered. Additionally, there should be an
autonomous platform or mechanism whereby the older residents can provide feedback on the
effectiveness of the program. Currently, the OAA does not provide substantive data that can be
utilized to improve the welfare of older residents. With such an approach, increased data will be
available which in turn can be utilized to boost the program and its effectiveness.
5
References
Arensberg, M. B., Gahche, J. J., Dwyer, J. T., Mosey, A., & Terzaghi, D. (2022). Malnutritionrelated conditions and interventions in US state/territorial Older Americans Act aging
plans. BMC geriatrics, 22(1), 664.
Bangerter, L. R., Fadel, M., Riffin, C., & Splaine, M. (2019). The Older Americans Act and
family caregiving: Perspectives from federal and state levels. Public Policy & Aging
Report, 29(2), 62-66.
6
Hudson, R. B. (2019). In the beginning: The near-fall and rise of the Older Americans
Act. Public Policy & Aging Report, 29(2), 48-51.
Juckett, L. A., Bunck, L., & Thomas, K. S. (2022). The Older Americans Act 2020
Reauthorization: Overcoming barriers to service and program implementation. Public
Policy & Aging Report, 32(1), 25-30.
Olah, J. L., & Harvey, D. K. (2019). The Older Americans Act: An example of bipartisan public
policy. Public Policy & Aging Report, 29(2), 45-47.