Just the Facts, Man!

Ross boelling presents data on covid at a sunflower connections event in wamego. photo credit:Kelsey Pfannenstiel

Ross Boelling claims that he has spent adulthood “living every little boy’s dream.” “I’ve played with trains, firetrucks, police cars and computers,” he said.

When COVID-19 hit the U.S. in March of 2020 he noticed that news reports weren’t providing information about how the pandemic was affecting older Kansans. Boelling decided to rev up his Windows laptop and his analytical skills to provide data that would help people understand how older Kansans were faring in the pandemic.

“The numbers were horrible but they weren’t really being represented in the media,” he said. “Kansans aged 65 or older make up about 15% of the state’s population. But at the peak of the pandemic back in January 2021, they were about 58% of the hospitalizations and 87% of the deaths.”

The 65-year-old Kansan and current President of the Kansas Silver Haired Legislature (KSHL) began creating charts and graphs of the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on older Kansans. For the past year, he has provided this information to advocates with Area Agencies on Aging, Silver-Haired Legislators and Kansas lawmakers and media outlets.

His charts and presentations are compiled from data available at the Kansas Department of Health and Environment’s (KDHE) website. He invests about three-four hours to analyze data and information on the website and break it down to get and show the details on how older Kansans are affected by COVID-19. His charts include statistics on how seniors across Kansas are affected by the pandemic and also provide data snapshots on about older Kansans in each county served by the North Central-Flint Hills Area Agency on Aging (NC-FH AAA)

Boelling is quick to emphasize that the variability of the data available affects the accuracy of the reports he creates.

“What we have to work with ‘right now is the best we’ve got,’" he said. “New data is a constant and this can be hard to understand the numbers.”

“It’s like dipping a finger in the Kaw River--you pull it out and the water on your finger is the data that you have. Then five minutes from now the water has moved on and you have new data.”

He added that data varies because some counties and hospitals do a better job reporting numbers than others. “Just because a county has high numbers doesn’t mean it’s the ‘worst county’ in terms of COVID,” he said.

Boelling believes that one of the biggest challenges for senior Kansans in navigating the pandemic has been being able to make up their own minds about vaccinations and mask wearing. This is a primary reason he embraces being an independent observer and a provider of facts based on data.

“To me, every unvaccinated death is an unnecessary death.” Boelling said.

Boelling said that there are other more hidden consequences from the COVID-19 virus that affect communities that have low rates of vaccinations. These include imposing severe limitations on availability of Intensive Care Units (ICU) beds for people with non-COVID emergencies because beds are taken by unvaccinated individuals. Other emergency services are affected, too.

“COVID-19 isn’t a partisan issue--it’s a senior issue--and we have to work together to address the impact it’s having on senior Kansans,” he said.

When asked if he saw anything good coming from COVID-19, Boelling said that he has observed a heightened interest in local communities and an increased awareness of the importance of support from family, friends and neighbors.

“It’s the renewed interest in our communities, how important community is and how important it is to have people around you to support you,” he said.

A longer form of this article appeared in the latest edition of Keynotes. This edition is packed with information on Medicare Open Enrollment, SHICK Counseling, and avoiding Scams, plus our many special features. Are you on our mailing list? If you haven’t received Keynotes in the past but would like to, contact us and we will send you a copy!