♪ >> Production of Kentucky edition is made possible in part by the KET Millennium Fund.

♪ ♪ Good Evening and welcome to this special edition of Kentucky EDITION.

I'm Renee Shaw.

We thank you for spending some of your evening with us.

>> Tonight highlights from an aging and health care Akt special report.

It's part of a larger KET initiative called the next chapter which focuses on the rewards and challenges of aging.

And our special report, we explored health care in the golden years.

The barriers, Kentucky seniors face that prevent them from getting the care they need and the solutions that are helping them live better longer lives among the barriers, the high cost of prescriptions, according to the Centers for Disease Control, many Kentucky seniors report skipping or delaying medication due to cost our Laura Rogers introduces us to a Logan County woman who has rationed her prescriptions just to get by.

>> We want to break.

That's one thing.

It's scary when you cannot.

Murray is very scary.

Theresa Hudson, who's in or 6 days struggles with several health conditions COPD and asthma diabetes.

I was in and out.

Sometimes my insulin because it was so hot.

There was a time when Hudson could not afford all of her medications.

I used to go without some of my neighbors because sometimes was like 50 $75.

And that was after ensure you go without them.

If you can afford a, she would often find herself rationing her medical supplies.

I go with that one month and try to go really Aegon and higher.

>> And then I would buy one like every other month.

>> 3 years ago she had half of each long removed.

A procedure called long volume reduction prolonging what one day may become a lung transplant.

I get up and go right now.

Want to bathroom?

I'm getting out of breath.

I got to get oxygen on.

Weaving in rule.

Logan County Hudson has to travel an hour and a half each way to our heart and lung doctor in Nashville.

And I don't like to drive.

And unfortunately, they don't have and that I can get rides to doctor's.

>> But they my area, they don't have one that will take your way to Nashville.

Luckily she has an adult son who can drive her there.

But she admits she doesn't always like asking for help.

I will always good for myself.

>> I was very active.

Active person in it for myself all the time and then ask for help.

>> And now I have to ask for help sometimes and that's hard when you're not used to asking for help, they need more access to health care, affordable health care.

>> And they need better.

Weiss for transportation to get to their health care.

>> Theresa Jones manages the senior Community Action of Southern Kentuckyian Hart County.

Some of them we have have family members that live in the state are any family members at all and they can just get left behind.

Jones says she meets a lot of older Kentuckians who struggle to afford their basic needs.

We have some fat their nutrition.

It comes from us.

We have some that this is only meal they get for others.

The senior center is a place to gather and socialize to cope with isolation and loneliness.

Coming here.

>> It really helps me.

Coe at home, I get depressed.

>> Maryalice Shirley has been coming to community action for the past 20 years.

You have a full team on the advice of her doctor.

He told me that I need to reach out and be with people.

>> How are my sisters and my brothers?

Nancy Haigh Craft a widowed a couple of decades ago has a host of health issues and that may tie K and paid hard to take so pay.

Kraft says she's only able to afford her medications because of Medicare and Medicaid.

Coverage for the Almeida son, the House like one model, $50.

>> And then I'm back to school to Dak can get that Mylan medicine and the bay.

>> But there are some crucial treatments.

Not all health plans will cover.

There's places around here where they can go to get mental health.

They have to pay every visit they go.

And when you live on a limited income and you still have to pay for some of your medicine, you don't have the extra money to go get things like that.

They need more help.

I mean, you know, some of them, droughts, small checks and time they pay.

They ran away with a edge.

>> You know, it takes it up.

>> Theresa Hudson agrees she says most of the resources she's found to make her life more affordable.

She's had to scramble to find on her own.

Got a lot of digging yourself to try to find some mail to what to do because otherwise you're a tiny hands up there and do with that tremendous.

>> Where Kentucky Edition, I'm Laura Rogers.

Thank you, Laura.

Each region in Kentucky has an area agency on aging and independent living.

>> They aim to be a one-stop shop for senior information and resources.

Our Christy Dot and looks at the agency's resources that could help pay for needed care.

>> What are some of the challenges for affording health care in the Golden years?

>> Well, the first challenge is understanding the insurance that they currently have.

Medicare is the insurance program for individuals that are age 65 years old or older or for individuals that have been declared disabled and might be a little bit younger than 65.

But it's a very complicated benefit.

We have the SCHIP program or state health Insurance Assistance program and every county in Kentuckyian every state in the nation.

And, you know, our goal is to make sure that people understand their benefits, help them 8 access to their benefits and health care.

They're also a certain programs and help for seniors who may have some issues trying to afford health care.

What are some of those programs and that I you often uses part of your tool box.

So one of the most important benefits that we try to help people access is something called extra help for Medicare Extra help medications are extremely expensive.

Medicare extra help can lower those medication costs.

It's helping to pay the monthly premium for their part D prescription drug plan and it lowers that pharmacy bill each month when they're purchasing medications.

And that's a very important program.

Saves about $5,000 a year and medication for the extra help.

Give me an example of how that has helped as somebody individual.

So yes, so we had a client who this was early on in the benefit least was help people every day.

But this individual stuck with me because she was one of the first people that I was able to get connected to the program.

She received a ship, many medications that she was on each month.

She did not.

I feel 2 of her medications monthly because she couldn't afford them.

And although her out of pocket cost is relatively low and in a sense because we see medication costs into the thousands of dollars each year.

Her medicines ran her about $345 a month.

And again, she didn't pick up the other 2 medicines because she couldn't afford it.

And we got our connected to extra help.

And her pharmacy bill went down to 27, but there is another program called Medicare Savings Program that benefit lowers are actually pays for the Medicare part B Premium, which is $174.70 a month.

That's typically deducted from the Social Security check before they receive it.

If they are receiving Social Security payments and if we can get get some access to that program, then they retain their entire Social Security.

A lot meant.

So if a senior wants to find out more about these or even just about their Medicare plan, what is step one front?

>> Yeah.

So they need to reach out to their ship program.

Most ships in Kentucky are located in the area agencies on aging, which are inside the area development district.

So I know it's a little bit difficult to kind of find us, but we have a statewide a ship from numbers.

Well, and they're really good getting people down to us when there's a there's an issue, whether it's, you know, getting connected to programs evaluating their Medicare, a program or if they're having an issue.

Medicare has refused to pay for something.

Yeah, that's good to have somebody who can navigate.

That's been on your side, right?

It's very complicated.

And and, you know, our goal is to just to make sure that people leave us in a better situation.

>> And then the way they were in when they found us.

>> Our thanks to Christi Dozen and Angela, Zeke.

Now, many older adults drive less or stop driving altogether in their golden years.

The lack of available affordable and convenient transportation options, places an additional health care, a barrier on older Kentuckians, especially in rural areas.

Katie's June, last alert, Texas to Carter County where transportation can be the most difficult part of a doctor's visit.

>> Marvin and Regina Shockey live on the family farm in rural Carter County.

This is my home.

This is.

>> Where my family is.

Where waste my daughter.

>> Marvin doesn't dream of leaving his neighbors or his view for the conveniences of a big city.

>> I spent a lot of months will come down to a hospital window and said Jasper Wells.

>> Years ago, Marvin developed an autoimmune syndrome that attacked his nervous system.

>> It's called DeAndre.

It's very rare.

He was on.

A ventilator for 100 days.

He was in a hospital for 10 months.

He had to regenerate all those nerves.

Start all over again.

Learning how to speak.

Eat.

Everything.

>> The hospital, Lotus to see some give up.

And that's sad.

But I could and could not give >> Marvin is in a wheelchair.

Regina takes care of him full time.

>> It takes a long time to get ready to leave the house.

I help him with all his daily activities of living.

He transfers from his bed to the wheelchair.

And then he goes to the car.

We have to transfer out of that wheelchair into the car.

And then die.

Put the wheelchair in the car to go with us.

So going to the doctor's office, he would transfer 3 times.

And then coming home.

He would transfer 3 times.

So a lot of time we get home.

He's he's really tired.

And it's it's just a long day, but I do it gladly.

And I'm glad that I can.

>> Regina could use a vehicle with a wheelchair lift, but they're hard to come by.

>> And the new ones are.

So expensive.

They're they're probably 65 to 100,000.

>> The Shah Keys aren't always on their own regional nonprofit offers rides.

So people with all abilities can get to the nearest grocery store or a medical appointment.

Farther away.

>> It's like our own show for so I love the idea to relax.

>> When I come and take us to Lexington.

And it's just it more of a carefree, carefree tree at.

>> There's more transportation providers across the state, but social workers say the patchwork of services can be hard to navigate.

>> If you do a quick Google they're kind of hard to find >> those services are sometimes costly depended on insurance and require advance notice and paperwork.

>> Most of the time people give up at that point.

Whenever we talk time, they and they say will you need a letter?

Medical necessity from the doctor's office saying that we can take you from your house to Lexington for this appointment most the time they're like, never mind.

I'll just pay my cousin to drive thing.

>> Relying on family and neighbors support is typical.

The Marvin doesn't always want to ask for help.

>> I don't want to have to ask their by 2.

Hold the door for me.

Please.

And they are perfectly well under 8 people out there.

They've been too lax when you're in this position.

>> Social workers hope to better connect clients to their transportation options to give loved ones a break and support those who might not have anyone else for KET, I'm Jen Leffler.

>> Thank you.

June visits with loved ones can become few and far between when seniors can no longer drive, which can lead to social isolation and loneliness.

According to the National Institute on Aging Loneliness in the elderly has been connected to an increased risk of dementia, functional decline and even death.

Katie's Dr.

When talks and spoke with neurologists.

Doctor Greg Chica about the impact social isolation has on the aging brain.

>> But when we're talking about social isolation why we seem to be more likely to experience isolation as we get older.

>> You know, I think this is a general phenomenon because of the change not just within ourselves, but in the world around us as well.

And that to impact one another.

So, for instance, inside of each of us, we may begin to develop other chronic forms of early memory loss that make us all more residue reticent to get out there and simultaneously our friends as we get older, moved to be closer to their children and grandchildren and our social circles begin to shrink.

And so there's less opportunity.

And so that really presents a scenario where we have to work too.

Both external lead to create the opportunities to prevent social isolation and internally to push ourselves a little bit too not up be kept in the home because social isolation is a killer.

>> In what way do you find the health impacts of social isolation?

So we we recently looked at this site in the in the COVID pandemic the seniors that we care for and what to do, where we're quite worried about it.

The pandemic lockdown and the social isolation.

>> And we saw a dramatic jump in depression based on validated depression scale with as much as 90% of the senior population experiencing depression as a result of social isolation.

At that height, we certainly KET see changes in brain dynamic brain image, a little blood flow to different regions of the brain being restricted the eye in folks who are socially isolated.

Those areas of the brain that we turn on what we do, engage social, weighing essentially shutting down our institutions as sensitive to the needs or to this problem of social isolation.

You know, hopefully.

>> I think it's getting better.

I think this is something that is just really coming on into view for the majority of the aging population and for the majority of and minutes, traders political forces, business enterprises.

I'm always to actually change this.

I don't know whether or not it's you do the extension of the lifespan that the percentage of our population that's aging is increasing.

There are demands being placed on society of.

Yeah, we may be older, but we still want a good life.

We still want quality of life and we deserve it.

>> That from Doctor and Dr.

When toxin in Kentucky, we have a troubling shortage of home health care workers and personal care AIDS.

Kentucky has 29 home health care workers for every 1000 adults.

65 age and older, the national average is 61.

Our Christy Dot and talks to an expert in the field of senior care to explore why this work for struggles to KET up with demand.

>> Joining us is Doctor Sam Cotten.

She's the assistant professor for family in geriatric medicine at University of Louisville.

Thank you for being with us.

So home health care workers, they're an integral part of senior care health care.

Tell us a little bit about what they do and why they are so important.

Yeah, I would say home house workers are really one of those critical aspects to older adult care, especially here in Kentucky.

>> And in terms of individuals who perhaps want to stay at home as they get older, that also need additional care and additional support home.

Health workers tend to come in the home and help with things like day-to-day activities.

Things like helping with meal planning, helping with cleaning assistance, sometimes doing things like transference from a bed to a wheelchair or helping with other personal care type things that that person might need to say independent in their own home.

And so I would say in general, that work is just so critical for that population of individuals who want to be able to stay in their own homes, stay in the community and still be able to receive that level of care that they need.

It is critical.

But there is such a shortage of home health care workers.

So what are some reasons for that?

Yeah.

So in Kentucky we've seen a huge growth in are 65 and older population.

So we know here in the state that our population in general is just getting older.

I think the estimates right now are just a little under 20% of the population of Kentucky is in that 65 and older category.

So that's, you know, to continues to grow over time.

And we just really don't have the infrastructure for this type of support for individuals and their own home.

And that's so unfortunate because it is such a critical aspect of their care.

I would also say as well, we've not really done a great job of highlighting how needed home health aides are and home health workers are.

And so a lot of times there's often a stigma attached with those types of careers.

We've not done enough in terms of creating career ladders for individuals for them to be able to move on up in that profession.

And so a lot of individuals and up leaving the field.

So at baseline we don't have enough individuals going into those types of jobs.

And then at the end of the day, we're also not retaining that workforce as well.

And it's not easy work either.

>> Yeah, and and some say even you know, the reimbursement for that kind of work is not really at the level it needs Yeah, I would totally agree with that.

And not just the reimbursement to the health agencies who are providing that service and then paying workers.

I would say that the compensation for the actual workers not sufficient for the >> both physical and sometimes emotionally draining aspects of the care in Kentucky.

I would love to see us focus a lot more on jobs like home health aides and creating career tracks for individuals.

So we retain that workforce often.

What happens is individuals go into this line of work and because there's no, you know, upward mobility for them, they end up going, you know, maybe back to school to get a different degree in a different field or maybe they into, you know, in a totally different area and just leaving health care in general, because there's just not enough promotion for them in that area.

So building up, you know, a sustainable workforce would include, you know, having different training option certification programs and an individual can go through and not just so that they have that certification, but also so that they can potentially make more money long term because what we often see is that individuals are not getting paid what they need to to really feel like they can have a career in this field.

>> Without these workers to fill these positions, some seniors are turning to each other for solution.

Our Kelsey Starks takes us to Breckenridge County where Central Kentucky's Community Action, Senior companion program is filling that gap with seniors helping seniors.

Watch years.

I'm Sydney forward.

It 5, almost 86 86 nation.

Like a big sister.

>> I'm not quite a big sister, but as senior companion, seniors helping seniors it's part of the Central Kentucky Community Action Partnership funded by America or our senior companions go out and they offer companionship in assistance.

>> To those adults, older adults who need just a little help.

Somebody checking in on with some of the day-to-day tasks that have become a little difficult.

Gayle Sturgeon prided herself on being independent and self-sufficient, living home alone since 1969.

>> Until she lost the better part of her vision a few years ago, which made it impossible for her to drive.

That's where Lindh came in.

And this is a place shop was going here first.

Okay.

A lot of time.

She's taken me to the mine.

Sure taking didn't visit.

>> Home stand out here, which is a nursing home.

>> Yeah, we did.

And we go to Taylor Pharmacy, a Walmart Walmart this week.

Is that tight race, including any word?

>> They love to go thrift shopping, but they also spend a lot of time with friends.

It's at the local senior center and going on errands, like doctor's appointments.

I've got to where I go into the dock.

>> Or with Iran cannot take note so that.

We all know what she's being taught them all.

>> A car sits asked I I have a case to dementia and afternoon.

It's those little tasks that can become big hurdles as we age.

>> And options like in home, health care or assisted-living are out of reach for most people.

>> Cost waiting lists.

>> There are so many barriers to getting into assisted living.

>> And they're just so many people who just want to stay in their home.

You know, they don't want to be forced to.

That's where they raise their family.

They have their memories.

They are.

They want their children to be able to come back to revisit on there.

>> The senior companion program lets those seniors who want to stay in their homes, do so with a little help from their friends.

The senior friends who volunteer have to be at least 55 years old and go through state and federal background checks.

But otherwise, no other experience is necessary.

Most needs help.

Buyers are looking for a friend themselves.

A look at your game.

If you like, when chance.

Yeah, the community Action senior companion program has been around in central Kentucky for more than 20 years.

And today has 25 active volunteers across 6 counties.

It's not enough to help everyone, but every little bit helps everyone lets face it.

Our older generation.

Now as the baby Boomer generation.

>> There's a large number of those seniors out there that are that are hitting the stage.

And we really just don't have the capacity.

To of of those folks and so any people that we can help.

To stay in their home.

Makes more room for people who do need that.

24 hour in-home are in out of home, assisted living experience, you know, that need to move into that situation.

And so, you know, it may benefit everybody.

>> And that includes the senior helpers to most will tell you it has given them more than just a new purpose.

It's given them a friend.

It gets people.

And of the House.

And it gives them somebody to talk to give some somebody to great to.

A lot this is not a job.

Are you?

>> This is something you volunteered to do.

It's out People look around.

You probably got a neighbor that I would get out.

Go check on him woloson while and you find that it it.

It makes you feel good to check on people to know people can.

If they need help.

Let's get out and do it.

Let's get out and do it.

You know.

To give yourself a chance to get out and do something good for somebody in it.

Now it's always comes back.

Good for yourself.

I'm telling you.

It really does indeed.

In the workforce, employers your employees problems can become your problems.

And if your employees are having, you know, they've raised their kids, but now they're having to take care of their parents.

That in that in Texas workforce chain.

So, you know, there's just a lot of ways that this program benefits the community and helps make the community stronger.

>> For KET, I'm Kelsey Starks >> Thank you, Cal say now if you want to see the full one-hour broadcast aging and health care Akt special report in its entirety as well as the other programs and find resources related to the challenges and rewards of aging.

We hope you'll go online on demand at KTVA DOT org.

Slash next chapter for all of this.

Great information.

We thank you so much for joining us.

We appreciate your time this evening.

We hope you are well and make sure you connect with us all the ways you see on your screen, Facebook, X and Instagram to stay in the loop and send us a story idea.

Email address on your screen as well until I see you again soon.

Take really good care.

So long.

♪