Try: 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 carereceiver each agency has its own fee structure; you may want to ask about their arrangements before ordering the service services available for seniors who need support 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 provided 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 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 lifeline are but a few information references "caregiver’s handbook" by the caregiver education and support services seniors counseling and training case management services of the san diego county mental health services no date available at www acsu buffalo edu

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Categories: Sage, Topic, Caregiver Needs&Support, Communication, Emotional Psychological, Maintenance, Medical Physical, Mobility, Needs Some Assistance, Needs Much Assistance, Immobile, Independence, Some Supervision, Maximum Supervision, Verbal Communication, So-So Verbal Comm, Poor Verbal Comm, Cognitive Awareness, Somewhat Aware, Unaware, Long-Term Memory, So-So L T Memory, Poor L T Memory, Short-Term Memory, So-So S T Memory, Poor S T Memory

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Keywords: Community resources respite care adult day care speech therapy occupational therapy meals on wheels transportation services housekeeping housing assistance physical therapy help at home home health care home health aide staying in own home

*This information is listed as a Fact Sheet and is not explicitly medically licensed