September 2018 Question of the Month
I am a senior man providing care for my wife, who has memory issues – and I am exhausted. My children help me on the weekends, but my wife seems listless and bored and I am too tired to provide meaningful or creative activities for her. Do I have any other caregiver options for her?
Beth’s Answer
Families caring for seniors often need relief from the day-to-day tasks of care. Social model day care can provide this respite.
Vastly different than senior centers throughout New York State, and on Long Island, social model day care is regulated in the care and services it may provide. It can be paid for privately by the family, or with long term care insurance or with Medicaid MLTC (managed long term care) for financially eligible seniors.
The services available include socialization activities: creative and stimulating programs; supervision and monitoring; nutrition (breakfast, snack and lunch); and limited personal care that can include hands-on assistance with mobility, eating, and, in some programs, limited assistance with toileting (including care of incontinence).
The services delivered are based on an individual care plan and assessment of the senior by the day care program. Some programs may require the senior to attend with their own aide (either approved by Medicaid or privately paid), particularly if toileting or feeding assistance is required.
To qualify to attend a social model day care program rather than a senior center, the senior must require hands-on assistance or supervision in some activities of daily living, such as with mobility, transfers from chair, rising/sitting, toileting and/or eating. This can stem from a physical disability such as a stroke or frailty, as well as cognitive and memory impairments like Alzheimer’s disease or other dementias.
To find a licensed social model day care program on Long Island, go to www.nassaucountyny.gov/4551/Social-Adult-Day-Care (Nassau County incomplete listing); www.thesenioradvocate.org (more complete privately published resource guide); and www.suffolkcountyny.gov (Suffolk County).
My law office provides legal representation for the application for Medicaid to pay for MLTC home aides and social model day care. Please contact my office for a consultation.
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