Protecting the Rights of Long-Term Care Residents, November 16, 2022
This briefing, hosted by Ethnic Media Services, CDA and the California Department of Public Health/VA58 looks at how the right to vote is only one in a long list of long-term care residents' rights, including the right to healthcare and the right to quality of life. With the highest COVID-19 fatality rates of any group, and the toxic effects of prolonged isolation due to pandemic quarantines, older adults, people with disabilities, and their advocates are working with the Office of the Long-Term Care Ombudsman to make sure those rights are met. In this meeting we hear from Blanca Castro, State Long-Term Care Ombudsman, Jerry Kirouac, Coordinator, PSA 2, Area 2 Agency on Aging/Long-Term Care Ombudsman, Hagar Dickman, Staff Attorney, California Justice in Aging, two long term care residents, storytellers, and Dr. Anna Chodos, Associate Professor of Medicine, General Internal Medicine, Zuckerberg San Francisco General, UCSF and Geriatrics, Medicine, UCSF.
Older Adults Still At High Risk for COVID-19 - June 29, 2022
This briefing, hosted by Ethnic Media Services and CDA covered the most effective measures for older adults who are still at high risk for covid-19 including discussions on boosters, family caregivers and care centers. The panel of speakers included Susan DeMarois, Director of the California Department of Aging, Denny Chan, Directing Attorney for Justice in Aging, Roberto Velasquez, President & CEO of the Southern Caregiver Resource Center and Dr. Sara Tartof, an infectious disease epidemiologist
Isolated By Pandemic - Older Adults Regain Social Life with Vaccines and Reopened Day Health Centers – April 12, 2022
The re-opening of adult day health centers happened only because of effective vaccines and boosters, and now those most vulnerable to the virus can safely reconnect with their families and communities. Hear the personal impact stories from older adults, as well as our expert panel, who review the statistics associated with COVID-19, as well as the important resources and services available to older adults through the California Department of Aging and other agencies.
- Ethnic Media Services (EMS) recorded zoom in English and provided simultaneous interpretation in Spanish and Mandarin.
Fear, Hesitancy, Lack of Access - Overcoming Barriers to Vaccines in the African American Community – September 21, 2021
Hear from speakers who discuss how mistrust in the healthcare system (not vaccines), and how that impacts low vaccination rates in Black communities, and what approaches are working to increase vaccination rates.
Vaccinating the Unvaccinated: Success Stories & Challenges in Reaching Low-vax Latinx Communities – August 11, 2021
Hear from three front line community organizers about how and why their highly personal, 1:1 approaches in California’s urban, rural and small-town regions are working to build trust and convince people to get their vaccines.
Vaccinating the Most at Risk and Hardest to Reach Older Adults, People with Disabilities, and Communities of Color – June 8, 2021
This briefing is a call to action to support community-based efforts to reach this population. In California, one-quarter of people 65 years and older are not vaccinated, and older adults, people with disabilities and communities of color are at greater risk of contracting COVID especially if they live alone, lack technology, or speak languages other than English.