Funding Elder Care is Getting Tougher. Why the Medical Community Needs to Care, with Karen Webb of WRAAA

 

One thing that’s true no matter who you are is that we’ll all get old one day. The choice should be yours as a senior citizen what your care is; and fortunately, there are people in the medical community advocating for and assisting members of our older generations to be able to stay in their community and age within the comfort of their own homes. But what happens when the funding for programs under the Older Americans Act dwindles or goes away entirely, and how does it impact not only our communities but the medical industry as a whole?

On today’s podcast we sat down with Karen Webb, director of program development and planning at the Western Reserve Area Agency on Aging, to discuss the rewards and challenges of helping seniors stay within a community and age in their homes, and what it takes to allow them to receive those services.

Obviously, it’s wonderfully rewarding to be able to give back to generations who led the way for us, but it’s not easy, especially with a trend of flat funding over the last several years. As the Baby Boomer generation continues to get older in droves, there are more and more Americans crossing the age of 60; unfortunately, the funding is not increasing along with the dramatic increase of new seniors.

Tune in to this podcast to find out more about the Older Americans Act and the people it protects–those with low income, minorities, and residents in rural areas. We discuss the ways that Webb and her team are trying to raise funding, not only to find and send service providers to small towns, but to keep their professionals happy and passionate about their work; when work is stretched too thin, the creeping issue of caretaker burnout joins the equation.

For the latest news, videos, and podcasts in the Healthcare Industry, be sure to subscribe to our industry publication.

Follow us on social media for the latest updates in B2B!

Twitter – @HealthMKSL
Facebook – facebook.com/marketscale
LinkedIn – linkedin.com/company/marketscale

Follow us on social media for the latest updates in B2B!

Image

Latest

vitro
Analyzing the Suppressive TME in In Vitro Based Assays
April 19, 2025

In the rapidly advancing field of cancer immunotherapy, accurately modeling the tumor microenvironment (TME) has become essential to improving the predictive power of preclinical drug testing. As immune-modulating therapies surge forward, with over 4,000 immune modulators in development globally, scientists are refining assay technologies that maintain the complexity of patient-specific tumor biology. In vitro platforms…

Read More
cancer
Targeting T Cells Within the Cancer Immunity Cycle
April 19, 2025

As cancer immunotherapy continues to reshape treatment landscapes, fine-tuning T-cell responses has become a critical frontier. Recent advances in 3D organoid models and high-content imaging are enabling scientists to closely mimic patient-specific tumor environments—unlocking insights into how T cells behave, respond, and falter under immune checkpoint blockade. With over 4,000 immune modulators in clinical…

Read More
cancer Immunity cycle
Advanced In Vitro Technologies to Investigate Therapeutic Impact on the Cancer Immunity Cycle
April 19, 2025

As immunotherapy revolutionizes cancer treatment, the need for physiologically relevant preclinical models becomes more urgent than ever. Despite the success of immune checkpoint inhibitors, a large majority of patients fail to achieve long-lasting responses, prompting researchers to explore more complex and predictive assays. The cancer immunity cycle, first described in 2013, remains a central framework…

Read More
resistance
Inside Oncology Drug Development: Overcoming Resistance with Science
April 19, 2025

In the last two decades, oncology has undergone a transformation with over 300 new cancer therapies approved by the FDA—many offering novel mechanisms of action. Despite these innovations, resistance to treatment remains a critical challenge, with cancer cells evolving or adapting to evade even the most advanced therapeutics. This issue is particularly pressing given that…

Read More