Vida Senior Centers services address a wide range of compounding demographic and social factors- low income, inadequate housing, and language barriers- that have detrimental effects on the ability of elderly Latinos in the District to live independently, maintain a healthy lifestyle, access health care, and self-manage their chronic conditions.  Below are some statistics that best explain the community we serve.

The percentage of both the U.S. and the District Latino population is predicted to increase from 13% today to 22% by 2040;[1]

Legal Latino immigrants are much more likely to live in poverty than the general U.S. elderly population;[2]

In 2005, eighty-eight (88%) percent of Latino elderly in the District had monthly incomes of $500, which is sixty-three (63%) percent below the stated poverty threshold for that year;[3]

In D.C., over sixty-five (65%) percent of the Latino seniors live alone compared to forty-five (45%) percent of the District’s total senior population;

Thirteen (13%) of Vida Senior Centers’ seniors need assistance performing at least 2 Independent Daily Living Activities;

Approximately seventy-five (75%) percent of Latino seniors depend on Medicare and Medicaid for health insurance and thirteen (13%) percent do not have any health coverage;[4]

Thirty-two (32%) percent had not seen a doctor in over two years; one-third of which reported that the main reason for not accessing healthcare services was cost;[5]

Language barriers act as a functional impairment to accessing needed services for nearly all Vida Senior Centers participants.

[1] Centers for Disease Control, Office of Minority Health and Health Disparities. (2008). Hispanic or Latino Populations. Retrieved February 19th, 2008, from the World Wide Web: http://www.cdc.gov/omhd/Populations/HL/HL.htm#Statistics.

[2] National Alliance for Hispanic Health (2008). Hispanic Health and Aging in a New Century: Report of the Second Conference on Aging in the Americas (SCAIA). Retrieved February 19th, 2008 from the World Wide Web: http://www.hispanichealth.org/resources/

[3] McClure, H. Jerger, K. The State of Latino Health in the District of Columbia. 2005. Washington, D.C.: Council of Latino Agencies. Retrieved February 15th, 2008, from the World Wide Web: http://www.latinofederation.org/documents/stateOfLatinoHealth.pdf

[4] McClure.

[5] McClure.