As celebrants ring in the 2014 New Year, a retrospective look at 2013 shows that the aging of western North Carolina’s population, together with retirement relocations, has resulted in a rise in the numbers of individuals who may need specialized care during serious illness or at end of life, according to Four Seasons Compassion for Life.
“This upward trend in the Asheville metropolitan
statistical area is expected to continue for the next 25-30 years as Baby
Boomers and their parents age,” says Chris Comeaux, CEO.
By some estimates, 42.8% of Buncombe County residents are
already either baby boomers or older, according to the Buncombe County Aging
Coordinating Consortium in its 2013-1017 Aging Plan. The awareness of this increasing need for hospice and
palliative care is not new, says Comeaux.
Since 2007, Buncombe County remains under a directive in
the form of N.C. Senate Bill 448 as one of six counties statewide with the
particular need to place emphasis on the best ways to serve a rapidly changing,
aging population. And by 2013,
population estimates for Buncombe County grew from 217,000 to approximately
285,000, and the numbers of individuals aged 60 and over was expected to nearly
double.
“Western North
Carolina’s efforts to meet the needs of its aging population may be put into
perspective by the backdrop of the state’s situation,” says Comeaux.
“North Carolina’s residents are also aging and experience
higher mortality rates than the national average.”
In 2009, the most recent year for which figures are
available, 1.1 million, or 13 percent, of North Carolina’s 9.3 million
residents were aged 65 or older, according to the 2011 County Health Data Book
of the state Department of Health and Human Services. This upward trend
suggests a significant increase from the 10 percent, or 602,762 residents, in
this age group in 1980.
As an additional consideration, the state experiences
higher unadjusted mortality rate than the rest of the country, says Comeaux.
“The need increases daily for quality hospice and
palliative care models, like those implemented by Four Seasons in western North
Carolina, to become standard practice across the state.”
According to the
Guide, 820 residents died in North Carolina per 100,000 persons compared to 794
nationally in 2009. Additionally, North Carolina’s overall age-adjusted death
rate of 800 deaths per 100,000 was also considerably higher than the national
rate of 741 per 100,000 persons in 2009.
For more information about care during serious illness or
at end of life in western North Carolina, contact Four Seasons Compassion for
Life, Flat Rock, at http://www.fourseasonscfl.org.
Four Seasons serves Buncombe, Henderson, Macon, Jackson and Transylvania
counties.
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