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TextCommission on Aging Issues Annual Report
Fairfax County Office of Public Affairs
12000 Government Center Parkway, Suite 551
Fairfax, VA 22035-0065
703-324-3187, TTY 703-324-2935, FAX 703-324-2010
Feb. 18, 2004
Commission on Aging Issues Annual Report
2003 Report Highlights Commission's 30th Anniversary Year
The Fairfax Area Commission on Aging recently released its 2003 annual report, which also highlighted the commission's 30th anniversary, having been established by the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors on March 19, 1973.
The commission's 2003 annual report enumerates the commission's workplan for the year in three sections: special projects and events, interest areas and presentations or site visits. The report also noted that during this decade the number of older adults in our community is expected to increase by 53.4 percent, while the general population will increase by 15 percent -- a rate more than 3.5 times faster than the overall population.
Among the accomplishments noted by the Commission on Aging were coordinating events and increasing visibility of the annual Older Americans Month in May, a significant focus on partnerships with nonprofit agencies, and initiatives in the areas of affordable and visitable housing and pain management for the elderly.
Visitable housing is a home that can be entered without using steps, has an accessible first floor bathroom, and doorways and pathways that are accessible throughout the first floor. The benefit to seniors is that they can return to or remain in their homes even with some physical limitations, their families can bring seniors to live in their own homes without the major costs -- both time and money -- of additional construction or relocation, and that friends can visit each other even if one or both have physical limitations.
Last year, the commission sponsored an event focusing on pain management in nursing homes. This was followed in 2003 by a survey of all nursing homes on the approach they are taking concerning the assessment of pain. Pain management legislation is now part of the Northern Virginia Aging Network Legislative Platform for the 2004 General Assembly. Bills are currently under consideration by the 2004 General Assembly to better address pain management in long term care facilities throughout Virginia.
Another role of the commission is to act as a catalyst in the development and expansion of services for seniors. During 2003, commission members met with a number of community organizations to educate them about the needs of seniors in the community and offered assistance in the development of services for seniors within the community.
The commission's annual report includes informative attachments which demonstrate two focal areas in 2003: "A Message to Community Groups - Fairfax County and Community Organizations Working Together to Serve Older Adults" (9 pages) and "2004 State Legislative Platform of the Northern Virginia Aging Network" (2 pages). Copies of the 2003 annual report are available by mail. Requests should be made by mail to the Fairfax Area Commission on Aging, 12011 Government Center Parkway, Suite 708, Fairfax, Va. 22035-1104 or by calling 703-324-5403, TTY 703-449-1186. The report is also available online at www.fairfaxcounty.gov/service/aaa/COA.htm.
The Commission on Aging was mandated to identify and promote better
understanding of the problems of the aging, and to plan, promote and,
where it is found necessary, conduct activities to contribute to their
well being. This includes planning, oversight of the Area Agency on Aging
Area Plan of Aging Services which determines local use of federal and
state funds from the Virginia Department for the Aging, being a liaison
with the county and other governmental, public and private groups
concerned with aging, informing the community of needs and resources,
being a catalyst for public and private programs to serve older adults,
and proposing and recommending legislative and budgetary actions to
achieve these goals.
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