Seniors Look to Available Housing Options

By: Nancy Royden, The Sentinel Newspapers

If health is wealth, then figuring out how best to keep it when we’re older is worth a small mint. And it is no small task in these tough economic times.

The natural progression for a senior who is unable to care for himself is to sell his house and move into a facility that can care for him.

However, these days it may take several months for a senior to sell a house. In the meantime, senior will need some level of at-home care, forcing family members to consider all the county options available.

In Prince George’s County, the Department of Family Services has many programs and services for the county’s residents. According to the agency, the county has approximately 106,000 senior citizens over the age of 60.

Dottie Stewart Blount, program coordinator for the county’s Area Agency on Aging Assisted Living Program, said the assisted living program’s services help keep people in community settings and allow people to age in a non-nursing home atmosphere.

“One of the fastest-growing industries is assisted living,” she said.

Assisted-living facilities often offer 24-hours of care, congregate meals, housekeeping, laundry service and have staff who help residents with daily living skills, such as bathing or getting dressed. Blount said prices will vary greatly for assisted-living care, but they range from $1,200 to $4,000 per month.

Blount said there are three levels of care regarding assisted-living facilities. Level 1 residents don’t require as much intervention as Leve1 2 residents. According to The Maryland Department of Aging, Level 3 residents would be expected to need a higher level of care, including intensive supervision.

Elmquist said in the summer he is able to walk outside close to the building and he enjoys going to a senior center to play cards.

Blount said the facility where Elmquist lives has private and semi-private rooms.

Blount said the Medicare Waiver for Older Adults is given to people who are at least 50 years old. Plus, they must meet eligibility criteria regarding their income.

The goal of the waiver is to allow older adults to remain in a community setting even though their advanced age or disability would warrant placement in a long-term care facility.

The waiver allows services that are typically covered by Medicaid only in a long-term care facility to be provided to eligible people in their own homes or in assisted living facilities, Blount said.

The Senior Assisted Living Subsidy program provides financial assistance to qualified low to moderate income senior citizens living in assisted living facilities. This is a program that could help someone who still has a home but needs more care than he or she can get there. Recipients must be at least 62 years old, she said.

Blount said the program could help people fund $650 per month of care costs for assisting living, but there are limits on assets for couples and individuals.

This funding could help someone for one year; then the money is no longer allocated.

Blount said there is a waiting list with 51 people who would like to become part of the program, and she expects demand for the program to grow.

Another service to be considered is respite care.

Respite care services are services provided to individuals unable to care for themselves. They are provided on a short-term basis because of the absence or need for relief of people normally providing the care, according to The Maryland Department of Aging.

For some people, paying someone to provide home health may be the answer. Right at Home is one such firm.

When Warren Miller’s grandmother-in-law fell and broke her hip, the family was not pleased with the choices of care for her. He said that’s one reason he decided to found a home health agency.

“We ultimately help seniors maintain their independence and give families peace of mind,” he said.

Miller is president and chief executive officer of Right at Home. The firm has local offices in Rockville in Montgomery County and Bowie in Prince George’s County.

Sometimes, people are very hesitant to leave homes they may have had for decades to move to a place that is mostly, or totally, unfamiliar, such as an assisted living facility or nursing home. Miller said the services home health agencies provide could fill the need for assistance without seriously disrupting people’s lives.

“People love to stay at home. They’re familiar with it,” he said.

At Miller’s firm, there are different categories of client services, and the first one includes duties such as running errands, checking mail, meal preparation, cleaning a residence, doing laundry and helping someone get to and from appointments with doctors.

In the second level of care, clients are helped with different types of day-to-day living. Some of the caregivers’ duties may include sitting with clients in a hospital or nursing home and personal care, such as reminding clients to take medication or possibly taking their vital signs. Sometimes turning clients in their beds is necessary to prevent bedsores, and typically, this type of care is administered by certified nursing assistants.

The third type of care is provided by healthcare professionals, usually a registered nurse.

Miller said some senior citizens have been trying to sell their homes to move into an assisted living facility, but can’t sell them easily. So, they end up using home health as a way to stay in their homes, but get the care they need.

One of his clients has been trying to sell her home for several months, but has not been lucky enough to do so.

Miller said his company’s services vary according to how often services are needed. The types of services provided to someone also are an indicator of cost. He said the business aims to accommodate low-income families and be available to people, even if they don’t need several hours worth of care.

“Medicaid has programs that can help pay for the services. They’re (clients) removed from billing,” he said. “We do the paperwork, tracking, filing and billing.”

Right at Home works in collaboration with the Prince George’s County Respite Care Program and they are contacted to provide services, Miller said.

His employees are licensed, bonded and have malpractice and liability insurance, along with workmen’s compensation insurance.