Hui-Zhen Li doesn鈥檛 speak English, but here she can speak freely. She鈥檚 standing amid more than 150 Chinese seniors, all perched on metal folding chairs or slouching in wheelchairs, packed wall to wall in the main lobby of the .
Li is 89 years old, she knows her own mind, and she鈥檚 not afraid to speak it.
鈥淒on鈥檛 think you are useless because you鈥檙e old,鈥 Li tells the group, admonishing them with a raised finger. 鈥淚 am 89, and I am not useless. It鈥檚 important to always think about your health. You have to always use your brain or you will start to lose memory.鈥
The gathering at this low-income housing project in downtown Oakland, California, is called Neighbors Helping Neighbors. It鈥檚 part of an ambitious plan to help elderly residents, many of them Asian immigrants, take control of their health 鈥 in part by joining at least one of 14 groups intended to enhance their physical and mental well-being.
This particular meeting focuses on improving memory and warding off dementia. Other groups range from healthy eating to karaoke singing.
The residents also get extensive coordination of care and personal 鈥渨ellness plans鈥 through the Hook Fong Community-Based Adult Services center next door to the hotel. Services provided by the center are funded in part by Medi-Cal, the state and federal insurance program for low-income Californians.
Program managers said the integration of medical care, assistance with daily living tasks and participation in the groups has helped keep Hotel Oakland residents out of the ER and the hospital.
This is the only health project of its kind in any low-income housing development subsidized by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Hotel Oakland administrators said. They hope eventually to spread this model of care to other senior centers across the state and the nation.
State health officials have expressed strong interest in melding housing and health projects, but haven鈥檛 made much headway so far. The success at Hotel Oakland could lay new groundwork for the concept in California.
Nancy Lu, the facility鈥檚 assistant director, said the large gathering of elderly Chinese people shows just how much seniors 鈥 even wary and insular non-English-speaking seniors 鈥 want to improve their health.
Qi Yu Xiao speaks to a group in the lobby of the Hotel Oakland about how to maintain and build memory. (David Gorn/California Healthline)
鈥淲e have about 280 of the 400 residents participating in one or more of these groups,鈥 Lu said. 鈥淭he first goal is to get them to participate, to get out of their rooms, because that ends their isolation.鈥
She motioned to the crowded, broad lobby. 鈥淭hey are part of all this,鈥 she said.
The property is privately owned but qualifies for federal subsidies, known as section 8, from HUD. The federal agency doesn鈥檛 pay for any of the health services; it just subsidizes the low-income housing.
Tom Azumbrado, a HUD director at the agency鈥檚 , said what Hotel Oakland offers is more complete than other federally subsidized residences that provide some of the same services.
鈥淭his is a full-blown medical situation,鈥 he said. 鈥淭here are others that offer meals or have some adult day care, but this one is integrating doctor support, helping you figure out how to buy a walker, all kinds of things.鈥
Azumbrado said he is convinced the program at Hotel Oakland is improving seniors鈥 daily lives and outlook.
鈥淲hen people are connected that really helps them,鈥 he said. He noted that a key factor in longevity is 鈥減eople鈥檚 connection to others. Someone else loves them and makes them feel valued. 鈥 Because usually at these places, people just sit in their rooms.鈥
Azumbrado added that HUD would like others to incorporate such a program in the housing projects it subsidizes.
鈥淭his is on the cutting edge,鈥 he said. 鈥淚f this could play out with other seniors, it would be very beneficial.鈥
Bill Langelier, the owner of Hotel Oakland, sees his place as a model others can follow. He ponies up an additional $250,000 a year to finance some of the health care components of the facility, but he expects that cost will decrease over time.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 our goal, to create a model where other senior communities might scale this in some fashion,鈥 said Langelier, a real estate investor who bought the hotel in 1979 and has developed a personal attachment to the place and its residents.
He said the health program at Hotel Oakland, including coordination of care, personal wellness plans and resident-run health groups, has reduced emergency room visits by 25 percent over the past year, while cutting hospital admissions and readmissions by 17 percent each.
鈥淭his is repeatable in senior properties that are affordable,鈥 he said. Most senior facilities across the country have program directors and it would be a relatively simple matter to retrain them as wellness directors, he added.
In the Hotel Oakland lobby, after the presentation on building memory, group co-leader Qi Yu Xiao asked residents to give their own perspectives. She offered a small prize as an incentive 鈥 a magenta plastic flashlight.
Hsiao-Lan Kung Ting stood up. She didn鈥檛 have much interest in the flashlight, but she definitely wanted the microphone.
鈥淢y husband has dementia,鈥 Ting told the group. 鈥淗e was admitted last year to a nursing home.鈥
Ting explained that her husband had been a resident at Hotel Oakland, but by the time anyone figured out what was wrong, his dementia was too far advanced.
鈥淚t was sad for me to see my husband losing his mind,鈥 Ting said, trying to keep her voice level. 鈥淲e must improve our memory. Every day. We don鈥檛 want to wait till it鈥檚 too late.鈥
After the gathering, Ting, who also speaks English, said her life would not be what it is today without Hotel Oakland.
鈥淗otel Oakland is a big family. The attention to health education for鈥 seniors, that is so important,鈥 she said. 鈥淲e need help. Without it, we don鈥檛 live. We don鈥檛 live at all.鈥
This story was produced by , which publishes , a service of the .