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JF&CS
home-care workers help elderly stay home By
Barbara Bayer Kansas
City Jewish Chronicle August 15, 2003 "This service
enables people to stay in their homes longer than they would normally,
saving the financial and emotional burden of a move to an assisted-living
or nursing facility," said Todd Ephraim, executive director of JF&CS.
"Programs and services such as this one are committed to
strengthening the quality of life for both the elderly in our community
and their families." Sandra Waldschmidt,
a registered nurse and JF&CS's coordinator for in-home services, said
that once a person calls JF&CS requesting services, a nurse or a
social worker will come to that person's home and assess the situation.
The visit will help determine what type of assistance is needed and
whether it should be provided on a long- or short-term basis. The home care staff
consists of nurses - either licensed practical nurses or certified nurse
assistants - and home-care aides. Currently there are about 50 homemakers
and a handful of nurses on staff. Waldschmidt stressed that each person on
staff undergoes a thorough background check and drug testing. In the area of
personal care, JF&CS homemakers can provide assistance with such tasks
as bathing, shampooing and hair care, dressing, shaving, mouth care and
getting to the bathroom. They also provide help with medication reminders,
eating, walking and moving or changing the position of a client.
Waldschmidt points out that JF&CS staff will not actually distribute
medication. "JF&CS is
not licensed to dispense medication," Waldschmidt noted. Basic
home-maintenance services include vacuuming, dusting, changing bed linens,
cleaning the kitchen and bathroom, cleaning out the refrigerator, carrying
out the trash and laundry services. Home-care aides can also assist with
planning and preparing meals, grocery shopping, medically related errands,
reviewing mail and checking the home for safety hazards. The home-care
service entails any non-medical service that maintains a safe living
environment and improves the client's quality of life. "One of the
things we will do during the assessment and continue while we provide
services is check for things that could be hazardous to the client. We
don't actually fix anything, but we will call the emergency contact for
the client and sometimes we can even make the arrangements to have the
hazards corrected," Waldschmidt said. JF&CS has
established a relationship with Lifeline Referral Service and encourages
any frail client to sign up for that service. This allows a client to wear
a bracelet or other device that may be activated in case of an emergency. If the client can't
make it to a phone to answer a call, the service will contact a person on
the client's emergency list or emergency personnel. "Whenever any
of our clients use this service, we get a full report," Waldschmidt
said. There is a
sliding-scale fee for JF&CS home-care services, ranging from $18 to
$22 per hour. Some services may be eligible for reimbursement through
Medicare, Medicaid or private insurance. The number of visits the service
provides a client each week depends on the client's needs. Waldschmidt said
that a lot of JF&CS' home-care clients couldn't remain in their own
homes without the service. "This is often
the last step before a nursing home," Waldschmidt said. "With
us, clients often never have to take that last step." Not all of JF&CS'
home-care clients are elderly. "We don't have
any clients under 18, but we have some clients in their 30s. Some of our
clients have progressive diseases, and others are stroke patients or
cancer patients," Waldschmidt continued. Some families of
clients use home-care services as respite care. "Anyone who
cares for an elderly or a convalescing person needs someone to provide
respite," said Waldschmidt. "Our care is available to help the
caregiver as well as the client." For further
information about home-care services, call JF&CS, (913) 327-8250. Copyright
© 2002 Global Action on Aging |
