Programs fill senior service gap

PITTSBURGH – Dot’s Family Restaurant in McKeesport, Pennsylvania, is the kind of place where patrons show up several times a week for the diner-style, home-cooked food. Some might have a beer or cocktail. All partake in the camaraderie and conversation that flow easily through a neighborhood establishment.

So owner and manager Terri Ploskina wasn’t surprised last year when a man from Tennessee called the restaurant and asked her to check on his father, a regular customer who was in his 80s, lived alone and who was not answering his son’s phone or email messages.

When she drove by the man’s home, Ploskina noticed his mailbox was overflowing. Though he was able to answer the door, she immediately realized he was sick. She asked police to conduct a safety check at the man’s house and to keep an eye on it until his son arrived and took him to a doctor, who diagnosed him with a brain tumor.

With that incident fresh in her mind, Ploskina didn’t hesitate recently when United Way of Allegheny County asked her to participate in the pilot test of I Care, a program that encourages businesses, neighborhood groups, churches, mail carriers and delivery workers to watch for signs of distress among the elderly and other vulnerable people in their communities.

“This happens to be something I really support because I’m a business owner who has a lot of people from the community that come in to my business,” said Ploskina. “People need to be more aware of their neighbors.”

Organizations that participate in I Care display posters and hand out cards that describe warning signs that indicate a person might be in distress, such as increased isolation, neglected yard or home repairs or a death in the family. The materials also include United Way’s telephone helpline, 2-1-1, which provides assistance and referrals 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

The initiative grew out of United Way’s response to an apparent murder-suicide in Port Vue, Pennsylvania, in December 2013 when 78-year-old Richard Liposchok and his 52-year-old son, Mickey, who was mentally disabled, were found in their home dead from gunshot wounds. A rifle was found with the elder Liposchok’s body. Friends and Port Vue officials speculated he was depressed and under extreme stress because he had been the sole caregiver for his son after his wife died the previous year.

Days after that tragedy, Robert Nelkin, United Way’s president and chief professional officer, convened a group including representatives from government and nonprofit agencies that provide services to the elderly and disabled, “so that we could strategize about what to do,” he said.

“The problem (the elder Liposchok) faced was not isolated or restricted just to him,” said Nelkin. “We needed to shine a light on this problem and (work toward) some solutions.”

When Allegheny County officials informed Nelkin that the family was not receiving any outside support despite the parents’ age and the son’s disability, United Way asked students at Carnegie Mellon University’s Heinz College to collaborate on research about the gap in social services for elderly caregivers of adult children.

The United Way-CMU report – shared recently with state legislators, Allegheny County officials and advocates for the elderly and disabled – found that because of the region’s high concentration of senior citizens and rising costs for services to caregivers, “The system in Pennsylvania faces greater strain when compared to other states.”

It also said state funding constraints could reduce supports and push some caregivers and people with disabilities out of the system. The report said the state needs to improve the way it provides information about what services are available and who is eligible to receive them.

The state of Washington also tracks objectives and progress for its social service programs on a website that is “easily accessible to the public,” the report said.

United Way plans to take the report’s findings to members of Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration and will continue to urge legislators to consider its recommendations, said Nelkin.

“I don’t think anyone will argue there is a growing gap in services,” he said.

I Care launched recently as a three-month pilot in McKeesport and Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania. United Way is partnering on the project with Familylinks, a nonprofit that assists individuals and families with mental health issues, addictions and other challenges.

As of a recent date, the agencies had distributed 12,000 cards and posters to 100 organizations. At the end of June, they will collect feedback, evaluate the responses and track whether the 2-1-1 helpline received a spike in calls from the two communities, said Sedlacko.