At 80, Mary Bambeck has kept the healthy look that distinguished her as an Estée Lauder model in her younger years. That's because the Camarillo resident takes good care of her health.

Included in Bambeck's regimen is an annual visit to Angela Glover, a nurse with the Preventive Health Care for the Aging program.

The program, funded by the county and state, offers health counseling and screenings free to county residents whether or not they have health insurance and regardless of their income. In July, the age for eligibility was lowered from 55 to 50.

First-time participants spend an hour to 90 minutes speaking with one of two public health nurses who visit 18 sites each month across the county. (For a list of all county locations, see the accompanying chart.)

"The whole idea is to empower them to know what they need to know to keep themselves healthy," Glover said. "Everybody has the right to know what their care is. People tend to give all their power to their physicians."

Earlier this month, the California Commission on Aging-an independent advisory group to the governor and legislators-held a Ventura forum on senior matters and gathered public input on the health program.

Commissioner Henry "Hank" Lacayo of Newbury Park thinks the service should be expanded but wonders where funding would come from.

"That's the big question, where to find the money," Lacayo said.

He said the public should put pressure on state, federal, city and county lawmakers to fund such programs. Though taxpayers may balk at paying, it's cheaper in the end than not doing so, Lacayo said.

"I'd rather pay taxes than be hearing about all these horrible things that have been happening to folks because of failing to meet their health needs," he said.

Examining and listening

At a patient's first visit, Glover goes over their medical, family and surgical history; notes all their medications and their nutritional habits; and learns whether they smoke and how often they drink alcohol.

She also discusses elder abuse and will help a patient find a doctor if they don't already have one.

Wearing more than the usual nurse's hat, Glover is part social worker. As a public health nurse, she knows of community resources, services and programs where people can go for help. Some of Glover's patients have discovered they were eligible for Medicare, thanks to her urging.

This visit is Bambeck's second. She and Glover develop questions she'll ask her doctor at her next visit. Glover goes over protocol with Bambeck, reminding her not to hand the list to the doctor but to read each question one at a time. That way patient and doctor can discuss each concern.

"I think it's great that it's available for people," Bambeck said of the preventive program. "It's helpful to just get information. . . . It gives you confidence and just makes you feel as though you're well looked after."

California launched Preventive Health Care for the Aging in 1973. By 1990, around the time the state last increased funding, almost 30 counties were participating. But by 2005 there were only 11. Some say the one-to-one funding the state requires of counties could account for the low level of participation.

"Dollars are only stretching so far and boards of supervisors have really hard decisions to make," said Carol MotywskiLink, an official with the center of gerontology, a part of the California Department of Health Services.

"We are hoping in the coming years with the advent of the baby boomers that aging issues will take a front seat," she said.

Ventura County was an early participant in the program but stopped in the 1990s. The county reestablished the program last year and the board of supervisors recently committed funds for the next three years to the program.

"Ventura County and its board of supervisors are to be commended for this," Camarillo Health Care District spokeswoman Kara Partridge said. "And it is a commitment; it's an investment in the future of the cities and residents."

The health care district, at 3639 E. Las Posas Road, is one of the program's sites.

Although more than 130,000 Ventura County residents were eligible to participate in the program, coordinator and public health nurse Susan Loring said only about 600 people did so during the first six months of last year, the latest figures available.

The county is spreading the word about the free service by notifying senior centers and through public service announcements on cable TV.

Loring, who splits her time between seeing patients and overseeing the program, said they especially want low-income residents, people with a family history of heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure or high cholesterol to come in.

She'd also like to see those who are medically underserved-people without medical insurance or who have insurance but don't know the best way to use it. Or they may not realize they should have certain medical screenings at a particular age.

"We try to empower the client to what they're entitled to so they can be better served by their medical provider," Loring said. "Early assessment and screening can help prevent long-term medical problems and complications."

She said some people may be reluctant to come in, thinking that a public health nurse isn't a bona fide registered nurse.

A public health nurse must hold at least a bachelor's degreeA registered nurse, on the other hand, need only have an associate's degree. Moreoverpublic health nurses focus on preventive measures and a healthy lifestyle.

An appointment with Loring or Glover, however, isn't a substitute for regular doctor visitsThe nurses do not diagnose patients. They give patients a thorough health assessment and from that gather medical information that patients can use when speaking with their doctors.

For more information on Preventive Health Care for the Aging, call Ventura County Public Health at (805) 654-7600. For more information about the Camarillo Health Care District, call (805) 388-1952.