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The graying of the Northland: Challenges of aging population hit region ahead of rest of state

By John Lundy, Duluth News Tribune on

Published in Senior Living Features

Minnesota is getting old.

The Northland is getting older faster.

Since the oldest members of the baby boom generation started turning 65 in 2011, 10,000 Americans have reached that plateau every day, according to the Pew Research Center. That rate is projected to continue through 2030.

In Minnesota, the 65-and-older population is expected to double,

from nearly 700,000 to 1.4 million, between now and 2030, according to the Minnesota Board of Aging.

But not all regions of the state are aging equally.

"Out in the year 2030 the Northland region is projected to have 31 percent of its population age 65 and older," said Craig Helmstetter, senior research manager for St. Paul-based Wilder Research. "That same year the state as a whole is projected to have

20 percent of its population 65 or older."

The Northland's percentage of senior citizens will be "very

dramatically larger" than the state as a whole, he said.

One of Helmstetter's graphics shows the state's over-65 population pulling even with its school-age population by 2030. In the Northland, the over-65 population passed the school-age population before 2010.

The 'Age Wave'

Helmstetter leads Minnesota Compass, a project using data to track and analyze statewide trends. He produced maps of the state for 2012, 2020 and 2030, showing a darker color for counties with more than 1 in 5 residents 65 and older.

On the 2012 map, fewer than half of the counties were darkened, although they included Lake, Cook, Aitkin, Itasca and Koochiching counties in the Northland. The 2020 map showed the majority of counties darkened, including the entire Northland and most rural counties.

In the 2030 map, every county was darkened.

But what the Minnesota Department of Human Services calls the "Age Wave" is hitting the Northland first, bringing a fresh set of challenges. That's exacerbated by the effects of the Great Recession, said Mark Nelson, division director of adult services for the St. Louis County Public Health and Human Services Department.

Many people are working later into life than they had planned, Nelson said, because the recession eroded their savings.

"There's going to be challenges," Nelson said. "Will there be enough housing? The housing options are limited. The cost of care, especially supportive care, can be expensive. It's not a smooth path for many people just because they're coming into it with limited savings."

"It's a little hard"

Delores Williams-Tucker wishes she had come into her senior years with more money.

"It's a little hard to save money," said Williams-Tucker, 71.

She was part of a group who gathered one day last week at the Rainbow Center in Duluth to discuss issues related to aging. The center is a place for meals, programs and activities attached to the 15-story Tri Towers apartment building operated by the Housing and Redevelopment Authority of Duluth.

One issue that kept coming up: transportation.

"You have to depend on somebody to drive you or depend on the bus service," Williams-Tucker said.

When seniors use buses for grocery-shopping trips, "the issue is carrying it back on the bus," said Cathie McGovern, who has been coordinator of the Rainbow Center for 27 years. "Transportation is a huge issue here."

Paying for food on a fixed income also is a challenge.

"People get tired of rice and pasta all the time," Williams-Tucker said.

Security in their downtown location is an issue as well, residents said.

"We've had drunks come in and squeeze in behind us," Williams-Tucker said. "We'll open the door and they brush past us."

Added Violet Scharp, 70: "They don't care if you're in a walker or in a wheelchair, or anything. They'll just barge their way in."

But senior citizens in Duluth find themselves in the midst of a relatively youthful population.

St. Louis County was the 55th-oldest of the state's 87 counties with 17.2 percent of residents 65 or older in 2014, according to Minnesota Compass, the project managed by Helmstetter. Within the city of Duluth, only 13.8 percent of the population was 65 or older in 2013, according to U.S. Census data.

Aitkin County

But the wave already has hit Aitkin County.

The rural county of small villages and 365 lakes has a population of 15,742 -- just over 30 percent of whom were 65 or older as of 2014, according to the Minnesota Compass data.

That gives Aitkin County the highest percentage of seniors in the state by almost 5 percentage points.

The average age of an Aitkin County resident is more than 49. That's more than the next-oldest county by two years, said Matthew Hill, executive director of Aitkin County CARE (Coordinating Area Resources Effectively), a nonprofit formed four years ago to coordinate services to senior citizens.

 

Hill, an Aitkin native, said one reason for the older population is that the county is a good place to retire.

"We have a lot of retirees who have had cabins up in the area, whose parents were here, and now they are getting to that retirement age," he said.

Meanwhile, many younger adults have migrated to the Twin Cities for jobs, said Tom Burke, Aitkin County Health and Human Services director.

"There are not as many technical jobs or professional jobs within the county," he said.

Demand for health care

The situation is reversed for at least some health care jobs.

"Because of the sheer number of ... seniors, we struggle to get the personnel in place to take care of them," Hill said. "Personal care attendants, in-home attendants -- these types of positions are difficult to fill."

That's not unique to Aitkin County, said JoLynn Kulhelm, administrator of Aitkin Health Services and board president of Aitkin County CARE.

"If you find a nursing home administrator who says they do not have trouble with staff, I want to know who it is so I can interview them," Kulhelm said.

Aitkin Health Services has 44 skilled nursing beds, including 19 in a skilled memory unit, Kulhelm said. Staffing is at about 90 percent.

The nursing home's administrators have emphasized a positive workplace culture so that "even those who came in at more of an entry level ... realize how important their work is," Kulhelm said.

Still, turnover is a problem.

"I have lost three employees to the local Dairy Queen," she said.

It's also a challenge to provide adequate in-home services such as skilled nursing and homemaking, said Erin Metz, the county's public health supervisor.

Seeking solutions

"We rely heavily on service providers (from) outside of Aitkin County," Metz said. "It's a tough sell when we have very rural people and the service providers have to travel a great distance."

The challenges of an aging population haven't been ignored. Aitkin County CARE is one example of how the county has responded to its aging population.

It grew out of a University of Minnesota Extension survey in 2009 that identified "very glaring" numbers about the county's demographics, Hill said.

After that "some key players came together and said: What can we do to help serve this large contingent of seniors that are retiring in this area and the local people that are aging?"

Aitkin County also is one of two communities -- the other is the city of Moose Lake -- targeted for pilot programs as part of a Rural Aging Initiative led by the Duluth-based Northland Foundation.

Aitkin County is using the program to look at "how we (can) all work together to assist the aging to stay safely in their homes as long as possible," said Kathleen Ryan, fiscal supervisor for the county Health and Human Services Department.

Two Aitkin County communities -- Aitkin and McGregor -- also are part of the Northland Foundation's Age to Age program, which fosters intergenerational activities such as reading pals, straw bale gardening and "fishing with a friend," said Zane Bail, director of development and special projects for the foundation.

Age to Age stems from research showing that senior citizens thrive if they're involved in meaningful opportunities, have a sense of purpose and aren't isolated, Bail said.

In Aitkin County, senior citizens already tend to be an active group, Burke said. Many of the county's elders enjoy bird watching, boating and other activities. They also comprise a sometimes untapped resource.

"A lot of retirees have a lot of skill, and they have free time," Burke said. "Is there a way to invest that knowledge back into the community?"

That's a point that Helmstetter stresses for the state as a whole. We think about the downside of an aging population, he said, such as increased demands on health care and pressure on taxpayers to provide public sector services.

But there's also an upside: Seniors tend to be more civilly engaged than the population as a whole, more apt to vote and more likely to volunteer.

"Some of the baby boomers are going to want to stay employed," Helmstetter said. "Others are looking for alternative ways to stay engaged. An army of volunteers is coming our way. ... It's a force for good."

Focus on elders

In the coming months, the News Tribune plans to take a closer look at the challenges and opportunities presented by an aging population in the Northland. Tuesday's Health section will offer an examination of services that allow elders to stay in their homes longer.

Potential future topics include coping with dementia, health care, housing, financial exploitation and "elder orphans" -- senior citizens living alone with no known family member or designated surrogate to act on their behalf.

Readers are invited to share suggested subjects, possible sources, questions to address or story ideas as we continue reporting on elder issues. You can email your suggestions to news@duluthnews.com. Please include "Elders" in the subject line.

(c)2015 the Duluth News Tribune (Duluth, Minn.)

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