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For Some, Care of Elderly Better at Home
NBC News
April 11, 2005
AP Photo
Verlean Floyd of Tuscaloosa has learned a thing or two about caring for others while working as a nurse. But a lifetime of love and dedication is what prepared her for her most special job -- caring for her mother.
At 81, Floyd has been the primary caregiver for Eliza Harper for the last 13 years. Harper, who turned 100 on April 6, has diabetes.
In 1992, when the illness worsened making it difficult for Harper to care for herself, Floyd came to the rescue. The oldest of Harper's three children, Floyd retired from her job as a nurse and returned to Alabama to care for her ailing mother after living in New York for more than 30 years.
Floyd says she was simply moving home to care for the woman who had not only given her so much love over the years, but who also had cared for Floyd's six children while she went to find work in New York.
Because of her mother's unselfishness, Floyd felt it was only natural to reciprocate.
Floyd joins the ranks of elderly Americans who are caring for the even more elderly.
Like Floyd, many people believe their loved ones will receive better care and be more comfortable at home.
Ashley Adcox is the aging services coordinator for the West Alabama Regional Commission's Area Agency on Aging. She says her agency administers Alabama Cares, a respite program for caregivers.
It started four years ago and gives 12-hundred dollars a year in vouchers to be used toward respite care.
She says it's been a gold mine for caregivers, giving them such relief. Adcox says elderly caring for other elderly receive priority in the program.
Alabama Cares is funded through the Administration on Aging's National Caregiver Act and is administered on the state level by the Alabama Department of Senior Services.
Floyd said she hopes to see more elderly caring for the elderly.
She says if people would care for their parents and not just drop them in a nursing home, it will make them feel better.
As she sees it: "Old people are fit for a home rather than a nursing home."
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