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Supportive-living
options ease seniors' transition from home Costs
gov't less than long-term care The Edmonton Journal, July 21, 2003
EDMONTON
- Leaving her house after 47 years wasn't an easy decision for Nina
McClary. But
the reality of being an 80-year-old widow with two hip replacements, a bad
knee and arthritis finally convinced her it was time to go. Fortunately
for McClary, she had a range of choices unknown in the Edmonton area until
recently. No
more are the frail elderly faced with the single option of leaving their
house for a long-term care centre, with its loss of independence and
privacy. Seniors
who meet Capital Health's criteria for supportive living -- people whose
health problems mean they can't live on their own -- can live in a regular
apartment, or a group home staffed 24 hours, or with a family paid to care
for them. McClary
chose a two-bedroom suite in the Churchill, the snazzy 23-storey seniors
apartment building across from city hall, when she made her move this
spring. "I
feel I'm living in the lap of luxury, but my family says, that's what Dad
would want for you," she said. Through
Capital Health's supportive-living program, McClary has her housekeeping
and all meals supplied, although she prefers to make her own breakfast and
lunch. And
she gets the use of the building amenities which other Churchill tenants
enjoy -- exercise classes, barbecues and other social events and the
high-rise patio. Ironically,
all this costs McClary less than what she would be paying for a shared
room in a long-term care centre, once the provincial government's
long-term care rate increase takes effect in August. Capital Health has
capped rates apartment block owners can charge supportive-living tenants. It
also costs the government a lot less, said Joanne Mueller, who runs the
supportive-living program for Capital Health, in an interview. And,
she said, it offers a better life to seniors. "My
ultimate goal is to look at serving people so that they never have to go
into a continuing-care centre," said Mueller. The
suite McClary chose is part of the newest option in the supportive-living
program, Designated Assisted Living. Since
2001, Capital Health has struck a deal with eight seniors' residences to
designate a number of suites for people who need special help to live on
their own. The residences provide an on-call personal attendant and
licensed practical nurse to residents in the designated suites. The
arrangement is ideal for people who need help several times a day, but not
24 hours a day, said Mueller. "It's
a way that people can stay in the community a long time." Many
of the first tenants came from long-term care centres. Today there are
200, a number Mueller hopes to double. Among
them are people with dementia who live in two special units, one at the
Churchill and the other at the new Terra Losa seniors' residence in the
west end. These
units have extra staff and they're locked so that residents with a
tendency to wander can't get out. Despite
the controlled setting, the 31 people in the Terra Losa dementia unit
participate in residence events, use the gym equipment and go on bus
trips. "They
went out to bingo at West Edmonton Mall, and one lady won $180," said
Terra Losa spokeswoman Renate Sainsbury. Family-care
homes, where a senior moves in with an approved family, have been around
since 1995. Caroline
Potter, 88, has lived with Ken and Maxine McLeod in their five-bedroom
home for six years now. "As
long as I can stay here, I'm happy," said Potter. She views the
McLeods' two teenagers like her own, and takes in stride such family
activities as young Drew's trumpet practice. "This
isn't for everyone," said Maxine McLeod, who cares for two seniors. The
important thing, she said, is to give people a choice. Copyright
© 2002 Global Action on Aging |
