Q&A
Council Member Schulmann inquires about Healthy NYC initiative and accessibility of city services for older adults
1:07:34
·
3 min
Council Member Lynn Schulmann questions Commissioner Lorraine Cortés-Vázquez about how the Community Care Plan aligns with the mayor's Healthy NYC initiative and the accessibility of the city's one-stop portal for older adults. The commissioner explains the department's collaboration with the Department of Health and the city's approach to integrating services for older adults.
- The Department for the Aging partners with the Department of Health on initiatives promoting health and longevity, including health fairs.
- The city's one-stop portal aims to provide comprehensive services without creating silos, with plans to include auto-enrollment where possible.
- Emphasis is placed on making city services accessible to all, including older adults who may have difficulty navigating online platforms.
Lynn Schulmann
1:07:34
Thank you very much, chair.
1:07:36
And thank you for everything that you do, commissioner.
1:07:39
Really appreciate it.
1:07:40
So I have a couple of questions.
1:07:42
One is, you know, that the mayor launched a year ago, healthy NYC, to increase life expectancy to the age of eighty three by the year 2030.
1:07:52
So how does the care plan fit into that that we were talking about?
Lorraine Cortés-Vázquez
1:07:57
One of our strong partnerships is with the Department of Health around that.
1:08:03
And we have 2 initiatives.
1:08:05
One one is we're doing a health fair.
1:08:09
We did groove.
1:08:10
We work very much with the Department of Health.
1:08:13
On coming up with city wide initiatives that promote health and longevity.
1:08:20
We're having a health fair in a few days, again, around that, is the messaging that we do together.
1:08:27
And
Crystal Hudson
1:08:32
David?
Lorraine Cortés-Vázquez
1:08:35
Thursday 26th is our health fair, but some of the other initiatives that we do directly
Lynn Schulmann
1:08:40
with the department of health centered around longevity issues.
1:08:45
As well as healthy living.
1:08:47
Alright.
1:08:48
K.
1:08:48
And and another question I have.
1:08:52
So the mayor launched his one one portal, like, for all services and everything else.
1:08:59
Is I know it's for everybody, but is there a specific section maybe for older adults?
1:09:06
Because I know, like, for a screen.
1:09:09
And and also, I I I will say, as somebody who just got my sphere card from the MTA that that's, you know, we should be able to, like, go up and do that.
1:09:22
So the the
Lorraine Cortés-Vázquez
1:09:24
goal of the city is one city.
1:09:27
So that we couldn't do what the mayor calls it upstream approaches rather than downstream approaches.
1:09:35
NYCAG and services for older adults are part of that, and we are starting with the tree and the tree is one of the first ones that we're starting up.
1:09:45
And we're looking at other services like down the road that we will do.
1:09:49
So it is very, very clear that older adults are part of that plan.
1:09:55
It is not like a separate plan for older adults.
1:09:58
It's really looking at it comprehensively.
1:10:00
If we do a separate plan for older adults, we're creating silos.
Lynn Schulmann
1:10:04
Right.
1:10:04
No.
Lorraine Cortés-Vázquez
1:10:05
What is the full range from housing, to write to counsel and all of those making sure that people know.
1:10:12
And the other piece that we're looking at is auto auto enrollment as much as possible.
Lynn Schulmann
1:10:18
I mean, you know, I I I understand about the silos and everything else, but I just wanna make it's navigable for older adults who may not necessarily know how to navigate the Internet or, you know, on the computer, all of that stuff.
1:10:32
So I just wanted to No.
Lorraine Cortés-Vázquez
1:10:34
The commitment is to make it accessible for all.
Lynn Schulmann
1:10:36
Okay.
1:10:37
Thank you very much.
Crystal Hudson
1:10:39
That's it.
1:10:40
Great.
1:10:40
Thank you, Council member, Council member Zwane.
