Proposed bill aims to better serve Georgia’s growing aging population during police calls

The number of people over years old in Georgia is growing faster than the bulk other groups Georgia gained an additional seniors from to according the latest input available from the U S Census Bureau s population estimates by state Comparatively in the same time frame the number of adults between and years old grew by only half that and there was a decline in the number of minors those under years old Nancy Pitra with the Alzheimer s Association of Georgia announced it s time for state lawmakers and agencies to really consider what s best for its aging population These are going to be the majority of people that are retiring in our North Georgia mountains and in our coastal areas and who are going to make up those communities Pitra declared As those communities grow it s expected that so will the number of people with cognitive decline We sought the law to codify that Georgia is making this a priority Pitra disclosed The Alzheimer s Association along with the Georgia Council on Aging have advocated for House Bill which would expand training for officers on identifying and responding to situations to aid someone with Alzheimer s the the greater part common form of dementia or other degenerative diseases The bill passed the state House by the Crossover Day deadline last Thursday Pitra reported there are hundreds of families that can relate to watching a loved one be diagnosed with a degenerative ailment But early signs of memory loss are not reliably easy to spot until maybe one day when a loved one goes to run an errand She gets in the car and she goes to the Walmart where she unfailingly goes Pitra mentioned Except this time that loved one forgets why they re there and gets confused or frightened And maybe if people are approaching her she s getting agitated she declared And so someone calls the police People with conditions that cause cognitive decline are also prone to wandering one estimate from the Alzheimer s Association suggests in people diagnosed with dementia will wander at least once As as of now written HB would establish a mandate for the Georgia Residents Safety Training Center GPSTC to create and maintain a training class on at-risk adults with a focus on training for response to people with Alzheimer s and or dementia The training center in Forsyth is where cadets from around the state attend various programs they are required by law to complete before becoming officers That includes Predicament Intervention Training or CIT Kevin Angell residents information officer for GPSTC disclosed that -hour training includes scenario-based practice that prepares officers to respond to calls where people may be emotionally disturbed and need to be de-escalated Any new training approved by the state legislature would offer a more focused approach on older adults in cognitive decline and add on to training they already offer for At-Risk adults Angell announced We try to be ahead of things like that Angell stated The existing lesson is hours long and taken online Angell explained just over officers took part in it over the lesson of last year There wasn t much ordinance introduced this session centered around aging people One bill proposed creating a Georgia Adult and Aging Services Board a group of appointed older adults who would advise on the coordination and availability of aging services It failed to pass through its origin chamber Another a resolution that failed to make it to a vote suggested adding caregiving to the list of eligible qualifying programs under Georgia Pathways the Medicaid activity for people who make up to of the Federal Poverty Level and can complete hours of work coaching or other programs per month The post Proposed bill aims to better serve Georgia s growing aging population during police calls appeared first on Rough Draft Atlanta