SESSION ABSTRACT: Golden years in the golden state

In California, the elderly population will double to nearly 8 million by 2026 and Latinos will comprise the largest group of older adults by mid-century. Yet California is a costly state for the elderly to live in and faces a budget crisis that has restricted or eliminated many programs and services that support a dignified old age. Is "the golden state" prepared to meet the challenges brought by its large and diverse aging population?

In this session proposal, four leading California researchers identify effective strategies that increase uptake of clinical preventive services among older adults in a community; compare measures of economic security among paid Medicaid caregivers and unpaid caregivers in California; examine the concordance between Latino caregivers and care receivers' perceptions of social support and aging; and discuss the Elder Economic Security Standard™ Index (Elder Index), an alternative to the Federal Poverty Level that better reflects California's high costs of living.

The presentations on caregivers and clinical preventive services use data from the California Health Interview Survey (CHIS), the nation's largest state health survey and the most comprehensive source of health information on Californians. CHIS is conducted on a continuous basis by the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research with support from the California departments of Public Health and Health Care Services.

The Elder Economic Security Standard Index is also a unique data source that provides a better indicator of economic security for California's seniors; its recent incorporation into state law provides a better planning tool for policy makers.