To receive our monthly eNews as well as event notices and other updates, just enter your email address.
Take a moment to learn more about NYAM's activities and events.
Senior Brunny Jonquera wishes for cheaper Medicaid co-pays. Her friend Tereza Frank, 77, yearns for cleaner streets while 72-year-old Dorca Soba hopes for safer housing.
The golden girls, living independently, might finally have their voices heard after all.
They stopped by the Sue Ginsberg Center at Pelham Parkway Houses on Friday, October 4 to hear Councilman Jimmy Vacca talk about the Bronx’s first-ever Aging Improvement District designed to enhance the lives of senior citizens. There are four aging district’s scattered outside the borough.
“We have to make life better for senior citizens,” said Vacca, addressing the aged.
The program rests fittingly within Pelham Parkway Houses, a Housing Authority complex densely populated by seniors referred to as a naturally occurring retirement community. But instead of simply improving health care and housing needs, the effort tackles several areas, including transportation needs and business services.
To get a clearer picture of senior’s needs, Vacca has enlisted the help of over twenty organizations around his district to seek input from the aged community. Groups like The Bronx Chamber of Commerce and Einsten College of Medicine plan to share their expertise in improving seniors lives, and later in implementing changes. They’ve already met at Vacca’s office recently for an informational gathering. They’ll meet regularly to bounce ideas.
“All these agencies are working together for you to get around,” said Vacca. “We’re here to make our centers more programmatically attractive.”
Vacca was joined by City Council Speaker Christine Quinn and the winner of 80th Assembly District’s Democratic primary, Mark Gjonaj. The city council partnered with The New York Academy of Medicine to jump-start the program, eventually becoming part of the World Health Organization’s movement to create “age-friendly cities.”
The council turned to the New York Academy of Medicine to lead the effort, soliciting input from the senior community.
So far aging districts are working, according to Quinn. Among the changes were special swimming pool hours for mature adults, and in some cases, free laundry delivery for seniors who live in walk-up apartments.
“None of these ideas came from me or Jimmy,” said Quinn. “They came from the seniors in the neighborhoods.”
Contact:
Andrew J. Martin
Director of Communications
The New York Academy of Medicine
1216 Fifth Avenue
New York, New York 10029
212-822-7285
amartin@nyam.org
Reporters: to arrange interviews with NYAM medical and urban health experts, contact
Andrew J. Martin, Director of Communications
212-822-7285 / amartin@nyam.org
The 2012-2013 Duncan Clark Lecture - The Affordable Care Act: An Insider’s View
Featured Speaker: Sherry Glied, PhD, former Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
November 19, 2012 - The NYAM Section on Health Care Delivery welcomes Sherry Glied, PhD, former Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, who will deliver the 2012-2013 Duncan Clark Lecture on "The Affordable Care Act: An Insider's View."
Learn more »
The New York Academy of Medicine with support from the New York State Heath Foundation released a new report, Federal Health Care Reform in New York State: A Population Health Perspective.
This report identifies opportunities that build on both the Patient Protection and Affordable Health Care Act (ACA) and New York’s ongoing efforts toward improving the health of its 19 million residents.
Read press release
Read report
