What percentage of non-elderly American adults can’t take care of themselves

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I no idea what the answer to this question is but I am desperately curious why OP wants to know. Will you tell us, OP?

I was just reading this story and thinking that there are probably more people this dysfunctional out there than we think because their families are dealing with it privately and wondering how many people it is.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2024/04/24/housing-voucher-eviction/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I no idea what the answer to this question is but I am desperately curious why OP wants to know. Will you tell us, OP?

No doubt, DCUM's favorite topic, eugenics.

[Anonymous]

I work with HS students with various neurological disorders. We have 4 graduating this year. They age out of MCPS at 21. Some of them will go on to adult care facilities during the day or maybe even full-time eventually. We go to various parks often and sometimes see groups of adults with similar conditions at the playground with us under supervision. I do wonder what my students' lives will be like in 10-20 years.

[Anonymous]

I'd probably start by looking at Medicaid waiver enrollments for various populations and assume similar proportions of people with the relevant conditions in states that don't have waivers for those same populations. Then make an assumption about how many more people are on waiver waitlists. There's probably data or anecdotes about that somewhere.

Choose the waivers that meet your criteria. I'm not clear on whether you're counting physical/medical limitations or just mental health. Examples of waiver populations: ventilator dependent, mental health, substance abuse, institutionalized, HIV/AIDs, etc. Some of these populations may be more independent than others, but I believe most need a lot of support.

Then if including medical, I'd see how many under 65 people have Medicare for ESRD. Make an assumption for any overlap with waiver populations.

Then I'd keep thinking some more....

[Anonymous]

I guess a lot of dialysis patients can drive themselves to dialysis, so maybe that wasn't what you were looking for. I was originally thinking it was medical care you can't give to yourself (as far as I know).

[Anonymous]

I work in the healthcare field and it is probably a higher number than most would expect.

[Anonymous]

Eh, I know people who should be able to adult but can’t/don’t/won’t.

A 50 something woman who dropped out of private high school and lived a life of adventure for a decade until returning home to live with her parents. Doesn’t work. Isn’t physically disabled. Suffers from anxiety/depression like many people but basically just hangs out and travels with her UMC parents.

A 40 something woman who partied hard and dropped out of college. Traveled the world with an affluent group of friends and partied hard. As others matured and married and settled down, she became an alcoholic (largely fueled by anxiety, depression, and recognition that she pissed her life and options away). On disability. Sometimes lives with her parents, and sometimes lives at their vacation home.

If these women didn’t have parents giving them a home and coveting their expenses, I imagine they’d be homeless.

Interestingly, if you met these women, you’d never guess they aren’t self-sufficient.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'd probably start by looking at Medicaid waiver enrollments for various populations and assume similar proportions of people with the relevant conditions in states that don't have waivers for those same populations. Then make an assumption about how many more people are on waiver waitlists. There's probably data or anecdotes about that somewhere.

Choose the waivers that meet your criteria. I'm not clear on whether you're counting physical/medical limitations or just mental health. Examples of waiver populations: ventilator dependent, mental health, substance abuse, institutionalized, HIV/AIDs, etc. Some of these populations may be more independent than others, but I believe most need a lot of support.

Then if including medical, I'd see how many under 65 people have Medicare for ESRD. Make an assumption for any overlap with waiver populations.

Then I'd keep thinking some more....

I really appreciate a data person!!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t mean everyone who doesn’t work, or people who work but don’t make enough and are occasionally homeless.

I mean people who, because of disability or other dysfunction, require the care and support of others financially and also in terms of managing daily life.

So I’m not talking about SAHMs or students who are supported by someone but could go out and support themselves if that stopped.

Does anyone know of census or other research that gets at this? I appreciate that a lot of these people are just cared for by their family, so how do you get an estimate?

Why are you asking? Do you want to gas them,?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Census provides data on the number of disabled people

This is a self-report on whether the person considers someone in their household to be disabled. Not a legal definition of a threshhold under SSI whether supports are needed to carry out the activities of daily life.

SSI or Developmental Disabilities Administration decides whether someone qualifies with a condition under which they need support to carry out the activities of daily life - nursing care, adult day care, etc. The problem with using statistics from these agencies is that both agencies have an incentive to reject people and keep their figures low and make people appeal in order to get benefits.

EEOC only looks at workplace.

So, there really is no accurate percentage.

[Anonymous]

I have a brother like this. Not sure why, but he always quits jobs or gets fired. Patents give him a house to live in, a car, a phone, insurance and pay all bills and give spending money. It probably costs them $4-$5k a month. He just gave up and now doesn’t even seem to leave the house. Yes, I’m bitter. Lots of families seem to have a brother or uncle like this. So, my guess it is about 5% of the population.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'd probably start by looking at Medicaid waiver enrollments for various populations and assume similar proportions of people with the relevant conditions in states that don't have waivers for those same populations. Then make an assumption about how many more people are on waiver waitlists. There's probably data or anecdotes about that somewhere.

Choose the waivers that meet your criteria. I'm not clear on whether you're counting physical/medical limitations or just mental health. Examples of waiver populations: ventilator dependent, mental health, substance abuse, institutionalized, HIV/AIDs, etc. Some of these populations may be more independent than others, but I believe most need a lot of support.

Then if including medical, I'd see how many under 65 people have Medicare for ESRD. Make an assumption for any overlap with waiver populations.

Then I'd keep thinking some more....

I think it’s the ones with no waivers who are so hard to quantify. I think of people in my own family who are partially functional but without support of others would be homeless and maybe dead. Issues include intellectual disability, mental health issues and drug abuse. On the outside things look ok because we take care of our own. But once the older generation dies, well that’s a scary thought.