Bay Area Senior Groups Help Immigrants Find Health Care

Senior services in the Bay Area have begun to adapt to an influx of immigrants to the region who need help locating health care providers and other services, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

In 2004, Fremont and the Tri-City Elder Coalition created "Pathways to Positive Aging," a program designed to help seniors find "culturally enriching and affordable services and opportunities."

In March, an offshoot of that program, the Community Ambassadors Program for Seniors, began training volunteers from local ethnic groups to help seniors who recently have immigrated to the U.S.

Mary Anne Mendall, director of the ambassadors program, said "[W]e realized our traditional services weren't reaching all our ethnic groups -- or were not necessarily culturally appropriate for them."

Health care is a central concern for the various senior services, but each group might address the issue differently because of cultural and ethnic differences (Benson, San Francisco Chronicle, 9/20).