A savvy advocate for Utah elderly

"The agencies do as much as they can, but their resources are going to continue to be stretched," Matheson said.

Just how far government resources will be challenged — and ultimately modified — is part of the focus of the newly created Utah Commission on Aging.

The two-year effort, which will include 21 members from the public and private sector, will study, evaluate and report on the projected impacts of the aging population boom, especially examining how government will have to change how it conducts business.

The changes could be something as simple as modifying the letters on roadway signs, to make them larger and more readable, to combating already severe shortages in some segments of the health-care industry, such as nurses.

Experts say the aging population will have financial impacts on everything from the already cash-strapped Medicaid budget to the cells in prison, which remain overcrowded.

Ron Stromberg, assistant director of the state Division on Aging and Adult Services, said some states are already contemplating the location of nursing homes on prison grounds to deal with the needs of aging inmates.

"What are you going to do with inmates who are now in their 80s?" Stromberg said. "We saw a lady in her 80s clearly using drugs and who may have been involved in the sale or manufacturing of drugs. These are things we have never seen in society before."

In the personnel sector, state agencies predict that 50 percent to 75 percent of their management teams will retire over the next decade, causing a "brain drain" or loss of expertise difficult to replace.

At the same time that Utah's senior population is expected to dramatically increase, the number of the state's school-age population is anticipated to grow by more than 21 percent by 2011.

Experts say no other state in the nation will experience such dramatic increases in population at both ends of the spectrum, creating extraordinary stress on government and community resources.

"This aging boom is going to affect every aspect of our society," Stromberg said. "I think the piece of it many people don't understand is that it affects more than just aging services and health care."

The commission's aim, Stromberg said, is to get everyone thinking about the aging boom before its challenges become too overwhelming.

"We'd like try to make sure Utah is on the cutting edge and prepared for this."

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Coming Tuesday: the complexities of falling.

E-mail: amyjoi@desnews.com