Types of Help Available: Through Family or Friends
First make a detailed inventory of any assets individual family members and friends can contribute, including the assets of the impaired elderly person needing the care. Assets include available time, skills, space, equipment, the strengths of the person in need care, and most important money.
Sit down with all the family members (or at least as many as are agreeable) and work out a plan for giving help. This involves defining and agreeing upon what tasks will be performed, by whom, on which days, and so forth. For example, Aunt Martha can cook, Uncle Peter can mow the lawn and Mary can check on Mom twice a day.
Care-giving Exchanges:
Some situations may allow for exchanging support services such as the Caregiver Exchange through Area Agency on Aging. A friend who has similar caregiver responsibilities may care for both impaired individuals one day a week in exchange for your providing the care on another day. Another exchange situation might include making a spare room available to a college student for his/her help with care of the care-receiver, in return for free room and board.
When Community Agency Help in Needed:
When family or other volunteer help is not available or cannot meet your needs, caregivers or care-receivers may wish to seek help from agencies.
A wide range of help may be available. Some may be covered by private insurance, Medicare (and/or a supplemental program of your State). All of it can be purchased. Sometime the service costs may be based on the income of the care-receiver. Each agency has its own fee structure; you may want to ask about their arrangements before ordering the service.
Types of Services Available to Impaired Elderly
Adult Day Health Care: This is for people who are physically and/or mentally frail. It offers a range of therapeutic, rehabilitative, and support activities, including nursing, rehabilitation, assistance with life activities, social work services, meals, and possible transportation, provided in a protected setting for a portion of the day, one to five days a week, usually during weekdays.
Chore Workers/Handypersons Services: Includes heavy-duty housecleaning, minor home repairs, yard work, installing safety devices, and winterizing homes.
Companionship Services: Companions visit isolated and homebound individuals for conversation, reading, letter writing, and general light errands.
Escort Services for the Elderly: These services provide personalized accompaniment to service providers as well as personal assistance.
Geriatric Assessment Units and Special-Care Units: Specialized geriatric units, both inpatient and outpatient, exist in some hospitals and medical centers; e.g., SOCARE, API They provide coordinated multi-disciplinary diagnostic services to older patients.
Home Delivered Meals: Some nutritional programs as well as well as specialized meals-on-wheels programs offer home delivered meals to the frail, homebound aged. Subsidized programs ask for voluntary contributions, while others may require full payment cost for delivery of a hot, well balanced lunch, and sometimes cold evening meal.
Home Health Aides: Provide personal care to individuals at home (These services may be covered by health insurance if ordered by a physician.) Aides assist with eating, dressing, oral hygiene, bathing, colostomies, administering medications, etc., as well as light household tasks.
Home Health Care: Organized programs of nursing, social work, occupational therapy, physical therapy, and other rehabilitation services to individuals in the home.
Homemaker Services: Provided by non-medical personnel, services include shopping, laundry, light cleaning, dressing, preparation of meals, and escort services on medical visits.
Homemakers can be of great help in supplementing help provided by family members, or providing relief when family caregivers need a break. Homemakers can be secured through in-home health care agencies, the Area Agency on Aging, the Department of Social Services, and religious groups and organizations.
Some agencies provide bonding and training for their homemakers while others provide only a registry of homemakers' names and phone numbers, in which case you must thoroughly check references and draw up a contract for the required services.
Hospital and Surgical Supply Services: Supply houses rent or sell medical supplies and equipment like hospital beds, canes, walkers, bath chairs, oxygen and other equipment. Consult your Yellow Pages.
Housekeeping Services: These usually include cleaning, shopping, laundry, and meal preparation.
Housing Assistance: Housing assistance programs exist to help in the search for senior housing, shared housing, and finding emergency shelters, such as Heartland Human Relations and Area Agency on Aging.
Nutritional Programs: Congregate meal programs feed many older adults as a group in a senior center, community center, or school. A noonday meal is provided, containing one-third of the recommended USDA dietary allowance, usually for a voluntary contribution. Additionally, some centers provide recreational and educational activities.
Occupational Therapy: Occupational therapy, or OT, is restorative, to enhance or restore skills necessary for daily living. It should be provide by a qualified occupational therapist who is referred by your doctor.
Physical Therapy: Physical therapy, or PT, is rehabilitative therapy to maximize mobility. It should be provide by a qualified physical therapist, usually recommended by your doctor or hospital.
Respite Care Services: Respite care programs provide temporary and in some instances up to twenty-four hour care to give relief to primary caregivers. The care may be provided in the person's home, at an adult day care center, or other facility.
Senior Service Teams: Regional/County Mental Health teams working together to provide mental health screening, needs assessments, and short-term counseling services to seniors.
Skilled Nursing Services: These specialized services are provided for specific medical problems by trained professionals through local home care agencies. Your doctor must prescribe nursing services.
Speech Therapy: Speech therapy is provided by a qualified speech therapist to overcome certain speech and communication problems. The doctor usually recommends this.
Social Day Care: Provide supportive but not rehabilitative services in a protected setting for a portion of the day, one to five days a week. Services may include recreational activities, social work services, a hot meal, transportation, and occasionally, health services.
Telephone Reassurance: Friendly telephone calls are provided by agencies or volunteers offering reassurance, contact and socialization. Telephone reassurance can be a lifeline for older people who must be left at home alone during the day.
Transportation: Transportation services provide travel by automobile or specialized vans to and from medical care. Community agencies and service providers such as Dial-a-Ride, Red Cross Wheels, Cancer Society, and Life Line are but a few.
