Access to health care for the elderly also depends on the skills of health educators, said Dr. Hargrave, Gero-Psychiatrist. Despite great improvement in promoting health care to the elderly population, Dr. Hargrave argues that health promoters are not targeting all populations. Most information is targeted to the well educated healthy population. For example, Dr. Hargrave notes that those who subscribe to magazines will learn a lot about health education. But for an elder person in a minority, who will seldom read a magazine written in English, this form of education is not adequate.
Language can also be a barrier to access to health care.
Many elderly people who are Hispanics, for instance, do not want to visit a doctor because they feel they are unable to communicate. Educating the elderly population about health care, according to Dr. Hargrave, also includes correcting misconceptions. For example, many minority groups do not seek health care because they believe that dementia and depression are part of the normal aging process. Dr. Hargrave stressed the importance of promoting health care education to target appropriate populations. Ms. Lara argued that as a social work her job is to supplement what a doctor does, not replace that role.