Ethnic Seniors Lost in America

Included in the event was a roundtable discussion hosted by AARP for about a dozen ethnic media reporters from New America Media’s network to see how AARP could reach into the immigrant communities and better serve them. NAM health care editor Viji Sundaram covered the event.

LOS ANGELES – When a 57-year-old man with a bad knee and no health insurance approached the American Association of Retired People President Dr. Erik Olsen some time ago to ask if there was anything the non-profit could do to help him, Olsen said his first reaction was anger, not because the man had sought his help but because he seemed so “resigned” to his lot.

“It enraged me to see his resignation,” Olsen said at the opening session of the three-day conference here June 19 to 21 on “Diversity and Aging in the 21st Century.” “In any other developed country he could have got his knee attended to. In every European country they have a national health care service.”

The inaccessibility to health care for America’s seniors figured prominently in the discussions at the plenary sessions and workshops at the conference that drew more than 700 attendees from all across the country. A broad range of other issues affecting seniors was also explored, including hardships faced by family caregivers, aging gay men and lesbians and the elderly population in prisons. An impressive roster of panelists shared their expertise and fielded questions from the audience.

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