N.E.W. Curative Rehabilitation Helps Disabled, Elderly be Independent

The Green Bay Press-Gazette

December 8, 2008 

Diana Brown is vice president of programs and services for N.E.W. Curative Rehabilitation

The Green Bay Press-Gazette visits with newsmakers each week in its Monday Conversation feature. This week, Diana Brown of N.E.W. Curative Rehabilitation talks about the nonprofit organization's programs.

Q. What is N.E.W. Curative Rehabilitation? Can you provide a quick overview of services provided?

A. N.E.W. Curative Rehabilitation Inc. is a private nonprofit organization whose mission is to assist people with their goals for independence.

We have 15 programs serving the elderly and individuals with physical and cognitive disabilities.

N.E.W. Curative employs around 300 staff members and another 300 client workers. Annually, we directly serve around 2,000 people.

However, families and caregivers would tell you that we provide them a great deal of service as well.

We serve most of Northeastern Wisconsin and our main facility is located in Green Bay.

Our vision is to be the provider of choice for rehabilitative, work training and supportive services in Northeastern Wisconsin.

Programs include, Adult Day Treatment, Job Development and Job Placement, Community-Based Supported Employment, Facility-Based Employment, Literacy, Supportive Home Care and Daily Living Skills Training, Employment for Older Workers, Day Activity Programs, Adult Day Services and access to physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech therapy.

Q. You created the Adult Day Services programs. Can you describe those programs and their components?

A. People may not understand what Adult Day Services are. It may be easier to think of the program as adult day care.

Adult day services are unique because they improve people's quality of life and allow them to stay where they live. Many people using adult day services are at risk of needing nursing home care but choose to receive their care in this lower-cost, community-based setting. This allows their caregivers/family members the ability to work or take care of themselves while the person who uses the adult day services attends the program.

Just about 30 years ago, we started our first Adult Day Service to be an alternate to placing a person in a nursing home when all they really needed was a safe place to be during the day, with an opportunity to be engaged and feel productive.

I certainly didn't create all of the adult day services programs all by myself, but I was involved in every program that we developed.

N.E.W. Curative has five adult day care settings. Our largest program is an adult day care setting for people who are frail, isolated or who have physical or developmental disabilities. This program, called In-House, can accommodate up to 60 individuals per day and is located within our main facility on Curry Lane.

We have three options for dementia-specific adult day care.We offer transportation, personal-care assistance, bathing/showers, nursing and other support services that can assist the client and their family. We also have a program in Shawano on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. This is a small social model of adult day care, and it is located at the Civic Center.

If I were to say that we specialized in any one type of service it would be in the area of adult day care for people who have Alzheimer's disease and/or other related disorders.

N.E.W. Curative Rehabilitation Inc. has been providing adult day services to people with dementia for 22 years. The need for this type of service continues to grow and we continue to make efforts to fill this need.

On average, we see about 3 percent of our participants being discharged due to nursing home placement. Most participants are with us for 26 months.

The caregiver is another customer of the day center, a customer that we need to focus on if we are going to enhance the care-giving experience for all involved.

As we know from research, families provide most of the responsibility for caring for the frail elderly and there is growing evidence that the family can no longer carry this major role without support from outside resources. We are one of those outside resources that can plan a vital role.

In some ways we become like an extension of the family.

Q. Has the Adult Day Services program been impacted by the economy?

A. Yes, like most human services programs we are reliant on county, state and federal support to help fund our programs. This support has been very limited in the past few years and has not kept up with the costs of keeping the programs in operation.

We are extremely fortunate that our local community has provided strong support for the adult day care programs in Brown County. We are funded by the Aging and Disability Resource Center, the Brown County Human Services Department, and by the United Way of Brown County.

This funding along with participant donations has made adult day care available to any Brown County resident regardless of their ability to pay. This is unique to our area, and I have not seen this level of support anywhere else in the country.

Even with this tremendous support, we still face financial hardship. The cost to operate the programs exceeds our ability to generate financial support. For 2009, we are asking that families donate more toward the cost of the day care.

We are also asking for donations from the general community to support the day care programs. We do this once a year, and it is called our Annual Appeal.
If someone would like to help us, please contact us at (920) 593-3510. All donations go directly to the adult day care programs.

Q. What are the projected future needs for Adult Day Services programs?

A. It is estimated that more than 3,500 adult day centers are currently operating in the United States. Studies are finding that physical and mental health improves in people attending adult day services on a regular basis.

A survey funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation estimates that more than 5,000 new adult day centers are needed to meet the needs of the growing elderly and disabled population.

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