Reporter Community Forum: Seniors on Shelter Island and the challenges of aging
It’s a destination everyone is going to, if they’re lucky, and everyone before us has gone to if they were lucky enough. And many of us in the community have now arrived.
The challenges of aging on Shelter Island will be the subject of the latest Reporter Community Forum — sponsored by Suffolk Security Systems; Sandra V. Saiegh, Attorney at Law; Mattituck Environmental Services; and Jernick Moving and Storage — coming on Oct. 1 from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at the Presbyterian Church’s Fellowship Hall.
Charity Robey, the Reporter’s feature writer, will once again be the moderator of a panel of experts on the subject. As she will note when she opens the evening’s event, according to the census, the median age of Shelter Islanders is 50, which is 20% higher than Suffolk County as a whole, and 25% higher than New York State.
Home care for seniors can be difficult to arrange, there is currently no full-time doctor on Shelter Island and the pharmacy that has dispensed medication for our fevers, infections and heart problems has closed after serving our community for over a century. Conditions or injuries that involve highly sophisticated equipment or methods may require an ambulance trip to a hospital up-Island.
Our Island has no public transportation, one grocery store and affordable dining options are scarce, especially in the winter. There is no movie theater, and indoor recreation is limited.
It’s not just Shelter Island that has a growing senior population with all the challenges associated with old age. According to Oxford Academic, “In 1900, older adults formed approximately 4% of the U.S. population, less than 1 in 25. In the past hundred years, the older population increased twelve-fold, compared with a threefold increase in those under age 65; older adults now comprise approximately 35 million or 13% of the total population. Moreover, the number of people over age 65 is projected to double to more than 70 million by the year 2030, approximately 21% of the U.S. population.”
The Reporter Forum will examine the statistics and what they can add to our understanding about this key societal demographic, but will go beyond the numbers and key in on Island seniors and their quality of life here.
Ms. Robey will open the forum by asking the panel to discuss the resources we do have, some of which are under-utilized by Island seniors, and where there are gaps in services and resources, how we can fill them.
Our panelists will include:
• Director of Shelter Island Senior Services Kelly Brochu, who oversees the Town’s Senior Center and related programs for older adults.
• President of the Shelter Island Senior Foundation Joanne Sherman, a nonprofit that supports the Town’s Senior Center and Senior Services, and partners with other Island organizations.
• Town Councilwoman Meg Larsen, who is Deputy Town Supervisor, with liaison duties to the Health & Wellness Committee, Comprehensive Plan Task Force, Planning Board, and related land use and environmental bodies.
• Emily Needham, manager of the meals programs for seniors at the Senior Center. Her work began during the COVID-19 pandemic, initially preparing and delivering food for local nurses, frontline workers, and other community members.
• Dr. James Hinsch, a chiropractor on the East End, with patients in Mattituck and Shelter Island. A 1987 graduate of Palmer College of Chiropractic, he has provided chiropractic care in the local community since 1988. His practice emphasizes gentle care for patients of all ages, including low-force and no-force adjustment techniques.
• Chief Medical Officer at Stony Brook Eastern Long Island Hospital Dr. Alison Madden. Dr. Madden was chief medical officer at St. Joseph Hospital in Nashua, N.H. for six years before accepting the position in Greenport. Prior positions include leadership roles at St. Vincent Hospital in Worcester, Mass., and UMass Memorial Medical Center. She is board-certified in obstetrics and gynecology, earning her medical degree from Cornell University Medical College.
All are welcome, free of charge, to the Reporter Community Forum at the Presbyterian Church’s Fellowship Hall on Thursday, Oct. 1, from 5:30 to 7 p.m.
