Demographic Profile of Senior in Wayne County, Michigan

Percentage of Seniors (65+) Reporting Disability, by Type, 2000
No
Disability*
Persons Reporting One Disability
by Type
Total*
Physical**
Gooutsidehome**
Persons Reporting More Than One
Disability
Total* Includes
Selfcare**
Does not
include Selfcare**
Michigan 57.7 20.6 49.0 25.2 21.7 42.6 57.4
Wayne County 53.1 21.8 48.3 30.9 25.1 45.6 54.4
1-A 47.8 22.6 48.4 34.1 29.6 48.6 51.4
1-C 57.6 21.0 48.1 27.9 21.3 42.2 57.8
* Percent of all Seniors (65+) within the designated geographic area.
** Percent of Seniors (65+) within specific disability category (one disability; more than one disability)
Even more significant is the large share of Wayne County seniors (particularly in PSA 1-
A again) who reported more than one disability, and for whom a self-care disability was
included as one of those disabilities 3 . These results clearly point out a significant need for
in-home services for a large segment of the elderly population who cannot be expected to
travel to a “central” location.
These results clearly show the contrasts facing the agencies serving seniors in Wayne
County. While the population in PSA 1-A becomes older and needier, based on
disability, poverty and other characteristics, numerical losses signal decreased funding. It
is important that services be targeted to the areas of most need. The PSA 1-A report
documents such need by dividing the region into 12 Sectors – 10 in the City of Detroit,
one covering Highland Park and Hamtramck and one covering the five Grosse Pointes
and Harper Woods. The results clearly show the ranking of need, as the downtown
corridor (Sector 4) and Highland Park/Hamtramck (Sector 11) lead in poverty, living
alone and multiple disabilities. The analysis of PSA 1-C provides a roadmap for
targeting resources by analyzing the individual communities in the region. Such an
analysis shows that the communities with the highest shares of minority population –
Inkster, Ecorse, River Rouge, etc. – also tend to have the higher rates of need, based on
the same variables of poverty, living alone and multiple disabilities.
The issue of providing comprehensive services to a smaller, but older and needier, senior
population in light of diminishing resources is one that all of Wayne County must tackle.
Innovative solutions will require both PSA 1-A and PSA 1-C working together to analyze
need and develop innovative solutions. These reports are designed to provide some of
the baseline data necessary to begin the dialogue.
3 The Census Bureau only documented self-care disability as a component of a multiple disability response.
While totals for the other disabilities are reported in general, they are not differentiated as being reported
singularly or as part of a multiple response.
Executive Summary to Senior Analysis
xvi