Description of Population

The elderly people in the society are those that above 60 years of age. According to Bogue et al (2010), persons who are aged 60 years or over are older people (2014). Most of these people have retired from active employment and are therefore living their sunset years. However, despite the fact that they should be enjoying their lives, most of them face the risk of homelessness as they lack places where they can live decent lives until the time they die. Most of them have no relatives, those that have them are unwilling to accommodate or take care of them, and they opt to live in care homes that can assist them (Gerland et al., 2014). Homelessness is the lack of necessities that human beings need, as they have no access to shelter, clothing, and food. Other secondary needs include medical care, which is paramount at that old age. The elderly peoples development and psychosocial issues are unmet since most of them have long-term diseases that need proper care and medication. They also lack the company from their age-mates who they can connect and lack avenues through which they can get support from others in taking care of them.

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On average, the homelessness issue affects more than 28% elderly people and locally, about 12% of the aged people need support and housing options (Gerland et al., 2014). The main intervention to address this homelessness issue is through organised, registered, and recognised home-care options where the aged can live comfortably. New Jersey has a number of home-care options that house the elderly in the society. It is worth noting that the homes give priority to the elderly people in the society and commit to ensuring their comfort (Bogue, Anderton & Barrett, 2010). New Jersey has a number of home options for the elderly in Somerset. Notable care homes include Somerset Woods Rehabilitation and Nursing Center, Senior Helpers, Care One at Somerset Valley, amongst others.

How many impacted?

Many elderly people have accessed the help from the care homes. In addition, people also request to place their ageing relatives at the home and pay a fee as the shelter homes take care of them on their behalf (Bogue, Anderton & Barrett, 2010). Statistics available to understand how many people are in this population are found with the local authorities in Somerset as they record the number of people living in the shelter homes. In addition, the nursing homes also have the records of the important details about the people who live with them as control measure (Shin et al., 2012). On average, homes report about seven cases on the higher side per month and three on the lowest month. It indicates that there is a growing need for the elderly, as most of them are found homeless and without an option of where to live. Most of them have terminal diseases like cancer and need specialised care so that they can live well in their last sunset years. Numbers neither increase or decrease and have maintained in the number of reported cases. New Jersey has also opened more homes so that they can provide options for the elder people instead of making them live in one crowded area.

How are they impacted?

The major issue concerning this group is homelessness, which leads to more social problems and issues for them as well as medical care facilities (Shin et al., 2012). Being elderly puts the people at a high risk of dying due to the dangers they face at that age. For instance, some who are mentally unstable may need medication on the regular and may need the intervention of a third party to assist them in taking the medication. They may also need people around them that can prepare them healthy food and remind them to eat on time and take the medication. The primary intervention programs are doing a good work by providing the elderly homeless people an option for living and accessing the necessities of humans (Bogue, Anderton & Barrett, 2010). They are also offering them a chance where they can meet with people in their age group and can form friendships that can help in the social skills. It gives them comfort when they see that they are not the only ones at the homes.

Agency: Senior Helpers

Website: http://www.seniorhelpers.com/somerset

The agency of interest is Senior Helpers, which specialises in taking care of the elderly in the society and extends their care to those who need medical attention through specialised care to them. Their mission is providing care and comfort to the elderly in the society without disregarding anyone irrespective of their needs.

Funding

The facility gets their funding from the insurance firms like Medicaid and Medicare, that cover the patients as well as the donations from the public and the well-wishers. Families that place their loved ones in the homes also pay some fees, which is a source of finance for the firm in running its operations. The reverse mortgages are also part of the funding programs as veterans who wish to place their homes back to the market can earn the facility some income (Hurtubise et al., 2009). The government sometimes steps in by providing the elderly some life settlements as a way to support the home.

State and federal regulatory bodies

The government oversees the home care facilities as they confirm that the agency is doing their job through the social services department. The social services workers visit the home unannounced to do regular checks on the conditions at the shelter and confirm that the elderly are looked after.

References

Bogue, D. J., Anderton, D. L., & Barrett, R. E. (2010). The population of the United States. Simon and Schuster.

Gerland, P., Raftery, A. E., Sevcikova, H., Li, N., Gu, D., Spoorenberg, T., ... & Bay, G. (2014). World population stabilization unlikely this century. Science, 346(6206), 234-237.

Hurtubise, R. O. C. H., Babin, P. O., & Grimard, C. A. R. O. L. Y. N. E. (2009). Shelters for the homeless: Learning from research. Finding Home: Policy Options for Addressing Homelessness in Canada. revised edn. Toronto: Cities Centre, University of Toronto, 1-24.

Shin, S. J., Choi, K. S., Jeong, S., Kim, S., Park, H. K., & Seok, J. E. (2012). A job analysis of care helpers. Journal of educational evaluation for health professions, 9.