wyldwynd
10-16-2007, 07:51 PM
Services in the community enable hundreds of thousands of older persons to maintain dignity and independence within their homes and communities. Community resources available for the elderly include:
Transportation- Drivers transport seniors to doctor appointments, grocery store, hair appointments and local errands.
Escort- Escort service provides support for older people with limited mobility to obtain needed services. Escort service is often provided by volunteers. It might mean picking up an individual at their home, accompanying them to a doctor's appointment or spending the afternoon together running errands.
Senior Centers- There are thousands of senior centers operating in the United States. Senior Centers offer programs of interest to active and independent older people. Seniors can choose to attend based on their interest in the offered programs.
Legal Assistance- Legal services help older persons experiencing problems in civil matters to obtain advice, counseling, information or representation. Services are provided either by a licensed attorney or trained paralegal. Types of matters for which help is typically sought include health care, income, public benefits (Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, SSI, food stamps), employment, consumer complaints, nursing home resident rights, utilities, guardianship/conservatorship, wills and estates.
Minor Home Modifications(MODS)-the provision and installation of certain home mobility aides (e.g., ramps, rails, non-skid surfacing, grab bars, and other devices and minor home modifications which facilitate mobility) and modifications to the home environment to enhance safety. Excluded are those adaptations or improvements to the home which are of general utility and which are not of direct medical or remedial benefit to the individual, such as carpeting, roof repair, central air conditioning, etc.
Personal Emergency Response Systems (PERS) - PERS is an electronic device which enables certain individuals at high risk of institutionalization to secure help in an emergency. The individual may also wear a portable "help" button to allow for mobility. The system is connected to the person's phone and programmed to signal a response center once a "help" button is activated. The response center is staffed by trained professionals.
Home Delivered Meals (HDM) -A hot, nutritionally balanced meal is delivered five days a week to individuals who are unable to prepare their own nutritionally well-balanced meals.
Respite Care (IR) - Services provided to individuals unable to care for themselves, furnished on a short-term basis because of the absence or need for relief of those persons normally providing the care. May be provided inpatient or in-home.
Assistive Technology - Assistive device, adaptive aids, controls or appliances which enable an enrollee to increase the ability to perform activities of daily living or to perceive or control their environment. Examples include, but are not limited to, “grabbers” to pick objects off the floor, strobe light to signify the smoke alarm has been activated, etc.
Pest Control - The use of sprays, and traps, as appropriate, in the enrollee’s residence (excluding NF, ACLF) to regulate or eliminate the intrusion of roaches, wasps, mice, rats and other species of pests into the household environment thereby removing an environmental issue that could be detrimental to a frail elderly or disabled enrollee’s health and physical well-being.
Personal Care Assistance/Attendant - Intermittent provision of direct assistance with the activities such as toileting, bathing, dressing, personal hygiene, eating, meal preparation, budget management, attending appointments, and interpersonal and social skill building to enable the enrollee to live in a community setting.
Homemaker- Homemaker service is extended to individuals who are unable to perform day-to-day household duties and have no one available to assist them. Services include light housekeeping, laundry, limited personal care, grocery shopping, meal preparation, and shopping assistance.
Chore Service- Chore service is available to persons who are physically unable to perform tasks, such as heavy cleaning, minor repair or yard work, and unable to secure assistance from family or friends nor have the means to pay privately.
Adult Day Care - Community-based group programs of care lasting more than three (3) hours per day but less than twenty-four (24) hours per day provided pursuant to an individualized plan of care by a licensed provider not related to the participating adult.
Assisted Living Facility - Personal care services, homemaker services and medication oversight provided in a home-like environment in a licensed Assisted Care Living Facility.
Home Health- Home health care is recognized as an increasingly important alternative to hospitalization or care in a nursing home for patients who do not need 24-hour day professional supervision. Many people find it possible to remain at home for the entire duration of their illness or at least to shorten their hospital stay. In many cases readmission to the hospital can be prevented or delayed. A variety of health services are provided in a home health care program in the patient's home, under the direction of a physician.
Physical Fitness/Exercise. Programs are designed to assist older people stay physically active and healthy. An exercise expert, for example, might come to a senior center, nursing home, hospital or other facility in the community to lead exercises geared especially to older people. Transportation might be provided to the local YMCA/YWCA or other community venue for older persons to attend special exercise classes.
Transportation- Drivers transport seniors to doctor appointments, grocery store, hair appointments and local errands.
Escort- Escort service provides support for older people with limited mobility to obtain needed services. Escort service is often provided by volunteers. It might mean picking up an individual at their home, accompanying them to a doctor's appointment or spending the afternoon together running errands.
Senior Centers- There are thousands of senior centers operating in the United States. Senior Centers offer programs of interest to active and independent older people. Seniors can choose to attend based on their interest in the offered programs.
Legal Assistance- Legal services help older persons experiencing problems in civil matters to obtain advice, counseling, information or representation. Services are provided either by a licensed attorney or trained paralegal. Types of matters for which help is typically sought include health care, income, public benefits (Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, SSI, food stamps), employment, consumer complaints, nursing home resident rights, utilities, guardianship/conservatorship, wills and estates.
Minor Home Modifications(MODS)-the provision and installation of certain home mobility aides (e.g., ramps, rails, non-skid surfacing, grab bars, and other devices and minor home modifications which facilitate mobility) and modifications to the home environment to enhance safety. Excluded are those adaptations or improvements to the home which are of general utility and which are not of direct medical or remedial benefit to the individual, such as carpeting, roof repair, central air conditioning, etc.
Personal Emergency Response Systems (PERS) - PERS is an electronic device which enables certain individuals at high risk of institutionalization to secure help in an emergency. The individual may also wear a portable "help" button to allow for mobility. The system is connected to the person's phone and programmed to signal a response center once a "help" button is activated. The response center is staffed by trained professionals.
Home Delivered Meals (HDM) -A hot, nutritionally balanced meal is delivered five days a week to individuals who are unable to prepare their own nutritionally well-balanced meals.
Respite Care (IR) - Services provided to individuals unable to care for themselves, furnished on a short-term basis because of the absence or need for relief of those persons normally providing the care. May be provided inpatient or in-home.
Assistive Technology - Assistive device, adaptive aids, controls or appliances which enable an enrollee to increase the ability to perform activities of daily living or to perceive or control their environment. Examples include, but are not limited to, “grabbers” to pick objects off the floor, strobe light to signify the smoke alarm has been activated, etc.
Pest Control - The use of sprays, and traps, as appropriate, in the enrollee’s residence (excluding NF, ACLF) to regulate or eliminate the intrusion of roaches, wasps, mice, rats and other species of pests into the household environment thereby removing an environmental issue that could be detrimental to a frail elderly or disabled enrollee’s health and physical well-being.
Personal Care Assistance/Attendant - Intermittent provision of direct assistance with the activities such as toileting, bathing, dressing, personal hygiene, eating, meal preparation, budget management, attending appointments, and interpersonal and social skill building to enable the enrollee to live in a community setting.
Homemaker- Homemaker service is extended to individuals who are unable to perform day-to-day household duties and have no one available to assist them. Services include light housekeeping, laundry, limited personal care, grocery shopping, meal preparation, and shopping assistance.
Chore Service- Chore service is available to persons who are physically unable to perform tasks, such as heavy cleaning, minor repair or yard work, and unable to secure assistance from family or friends nor have the means to pay privately.
Adult Day Care - Community-based group programs of care lasting more than three (3) hours per day but less than twenty-four (24) hours per day provided pursuant to an individualized plan of care by a licensed provider not related to the participating adult.
Assisted Living Facility - Personal care services, homemaker services and medication oversight provided in a home-like environment in a licensed Assisted Care Living Facility.
Home Health- Home health care is recognized as an increasingly important alternative to hospitalization or care in a nursing home for patients who do not need 24-hour day professional supervision. Many people find it possible to remain at home for the entire duration of their illness or at least to shorten their hospital stay. In many cases readmission to the hospital can be prevented or delayed. A variety of health services are provided in a home health care program in the patient's home, under the direction of a physician.
Physical Fitness/Exercise. Programs are designed to assist older people stay physically active and healthy. An exercise expert, for example, might come to a senior center, nursing home, hospital or other facility in the community to lead exercises geared especially to older people. Transportation might be provided to the local YMCA/YWCA or other community venue for older persons to attend special exercise classes.