Programs and Services
Apprise •
Attendant Care
•
Domiciliary Care
•
Family Caregiver Support
•
National Family Caregiver Support - Grand parenting
•
Information and Referral
•
Enhanced Nursing
Home Transition •
Nutrition
Services •
Ombudsman •
Options •
PDA
Waiver •
Primetime Health •
Protective Services •
Retired and
Senior Volunteer Program
The
APPRISE Program provides free face-to-face or telephone
assistance with understanding Medicare and Medicaid eligibility
benefits, Medicare supplemental insurance, Medicare HMOs and
long-term care insurance. Trained volunteers and staff assist
in filing appeals and grievances for denied services and quality
of care in Medicare HMOs.
The Attendant Care Program provides in-home personal care
services to help mentally alert, physically disabled persons who
cannot perform daily living tasks by themselves to remain
independent in their own homes.
The Domiciliary Care or “Dom Care” program provides a homelike
living arrangement in the community for adults age 18 and older
who need assistance with activities of daily living and are
unable to live independently. Dom Care providers open up their
homes to individuals who need supervision, support and
encouragement in a family-like setting.
For more information on the Dom Care program, please call the
Smethport Office, Area Agency on Aging at (814) 887‑5672.
The Family Caregiver Support Program recognizes the needs of
caregivers who look after frail family members living with them
in their homes. Assistance for the care receiver and services to
support the
caregiver are specially designed to allow the care receiver to
continue living at home.
The
Family Caregiver Support Program is designed to reduce caregiver
stress and reinforce the care being given to frail family
members. The program is intended to help caregivers who are
caring for older (60+) functionally impaired relatives living
with them in the same home. The program also assists caregivers
of 18-59 year-olds who have a
medical diagnosis of an irreversible dementia.
The program offers a free assessment, care management, benefits,
financial and resource counseling, caregiving skills training
and education, support and financial assistance with expenses in
purchasing caregiving related services (including caregiver
relief), supplies, durable goods, home modifications and assistive
devices.
Family Caregiver takes a cost-sharing approach; income-eligible
families may receive assistance with out-of-pocket expenses
ranging from respite care to adult briefs. In addition, one-time
grants may be given to qualified families to assist in modifying
the home or to purchase assistive devices to accommodate the
frail relative. Such adaptations might include installing a
stair climb or modifying a bathroom.
Caring for a child in the home of a
grandparent or older relative can be stressful. Many older
adults do not know where to go to get the help they need.
The National Family Caregiver Support
Program is a service that helps older adults take care of
children whose parents are unable. Sometimes the children are in
the legal custody of the older adult or the older adult through
an informal agreement is raising the child. Support for the
older caregiving adult is the primary focus. In addition to the
basic services offered at no cost to families, money assistance
is provided on a cost-sharing basis to help families with
out-of-pocket expenses. Family income and actual expenses are
used to determine how much money may be provided.
Program requirements are:
ü
The
older adult (caregiver) must live in the same home and be a
relative of the child.
The
child must be younger than 18 years
ü
of
age.
ü
The
older adult must be 60 years of age or older.
ü
The
older adult must have legal custody of the child, be the
guardian of the child or be providing care to the child through
an informal agreement with the parents.
Information & Referral Services consists of the provision of
information about services and facilities to all older persons
or their families requesting it. Service activities include:
1.
A brief assessment (screening) of the inquirer’s problem
and situation to make possible appropriate referral.
2.
Provision of relevant information and referral to
community resources.
3.
Follow-up as appropriate.
Enhanced Nursing Home Transition
A
program designed to help people of all ages return to their home
or back into the community if they are able and want to go home
from a nursing home.
This free transition service includes:
ü
Information about free home delivered services that are
available to help get you back into your own home or into
community living.
ü
Setting up in-home services to help with bathing/personal care,
light housekeeping, medication management, and obtaining a
personal emergency response system.
ü
Helping arrange family, friends or others to play a role in your
care, if you wish.
This program helps you set up a plan to
get back into the community if that is where you want to live.
Home delivered meals are provided for homebound persons.
Frequency is determined with an assessment by the care manager.
Meals served in a congregate setting, such as our 14 area senior
centers, provide for socialization and promote better health and
well being for older adults through improved nutrition.Home
delivered meals are provided for homebound persons. Frequency
is determined with an assessment by the care manager.
The word OMBUDSMAN is a Swedish word and means “citizen
representative.” An Ombudsman serves as a mediator who seeks
to resolve complaints made by, or on behalf of, people who are
residents of nursing homes, personal care homes and domiciliary
care homes. The Ombudsman provides a way for people to voice
their concerns and have their complaints addressed. Once the
Ombudsman receives a complaint, the complaint is investigated
and the Ombudsman works with all parties to resolve the
concerns. Through problem resolution, the Ombudsman promotes
the highest quality of life and care for the older long-term
care consumers.
PEER Ombudsman
The Pennsylvania Empowered Expert
Resident (PEER) program is a way to train residents who live in
long term care facilities to work with their
facilities/staff/residents to enhance quality of care and
quality of life for their “peers”. The project was initiated by
the Pennsylvania State Ombudsman Office to work with long-term
care residents who have volunteered their time and expertise to
self-advocate issues that will resonate for their peers.
PEER’s are trained within their own facilities at
self-resolution and consumer empowerment. The PEER Project
offers an additional mechanism to equip residents with the
knowledge to enable them to be part of the solution. It offers
a resident dimension that has been too frequently overlooked.
Volunteer Ombudsman
Volunteer Ombudsmen are individuals specially trained to provide
information, guidance and representation, which assist
individuals with problems and concerns they may have in the
facility. The focus of the Volunteer Ombudsman is to alert
residents to the Ombudsman Program and to promote residents
rights. The Volunteer
Ombudsman also works closely with the
Office of Human Service’s Ombudsman on cases that may need to be
investigated.
The Volunteer Ombudsman’s duties include
making visits to residents in Nursing Homes and Personal Care
Homes at least once a month. During these visits to a home,
the Volunteer will talk to numerous residents to see if they
have any concerns that they may want some assistance with. The
Volunteer will work with the resident and the home’s
administrator to see if the situation can be corrected to
everyone’s satisfaction. If the problem seems to rise to the
point that an investigation is needed, then the Volunteer will
make a referral to the local O.H.S. Ombudsman.
The goal of the OPTIONS Program is to give choices to consumers
in need of Long Term Care services. The program provides a free
assessment administered by a care manager to assess a consumer’s
needs and appropriate care alternatives. The consumer’s
preference is considered along with service availability and
where possible services are provided to the consumer per their
desires. Services that are provided in the consumer’s
home consist of home health, personal
care, etc.
Consumers who receive these services are 60 years of age or
older and experience some degree of frailty in their physical or
mental health status. They range in functional need from being
clinically eligible for services in a nursing facility to
needing basic personal care services
such as help getting dressed.
The
Pennsylvania Department of Aging (PDA) Waiver program is an
alternative to nursing home placement. It provides in-home
services that enable individuals to remain in their
homes/communities. We aim to keep loved ones at home for as
long as it is sate and reasonable to do so. To be eligible for
the PDA Waiver Program, you must be 60 years of age or
older, meet Medicaid financial requirements, and require the
level of care of a nursing home. Some of the services that may
be provided through the program are:
ü
Personal Care
ü
Home
Support
ü
Respite
ü
Personal Emergency Response System
ü
Medical Supplies and Equipment
ü
Skilled Nursing
ü
Adult Day Services
The PrimeTime Health program focuses on health promotion and
disease prevention activities for older Pennsylvanians.
PrimeTime Health programs cover a wide range of topics that are
important to people, as they get older. Programs are offered
generally in senior centers and senior expos and include topics
such as aging gracefully, staying fit, coping with arthritis,
health screenings and much more.
Protective Services investigates reports of abuse, neglect
(including self-neglect), abandonment and financial
exploitation. It also provides assistance to alleviate the risk
of harm. Any person who suspects that an older adult is being
abused, neglected, exploited or abandoned may file a report 24
hours a day/7 days a week. Abuse reports can be made on
behalf of an older adult whether the person lives in the
community or in a care facility such as a nursing home, personal
care home, etc. Reporters may remain anonymous and have legal
protection from retaliation, discrimination and civil or
criminal prosecution.
Every report of abuse received by the Office of Human Services,
Inc is reviewed/investigated by a Protective Services caseworker
to determine if the reported victim needs help to protect
him/herself from abuse, neglect, exploitation or abandonment.
Once the incident has been identified as protective and it has
been determined that service is needed, the Area Agency on Aging
will do a full
evaluation of the victim’s needs and develop a care plan to
reduce risk. Victims have the right to guarantee that all
information concerning their case will be maintained as
confidential.
To report Elder Abuse/Neglect, call Protective Services at
1-800-490-8505.
Retired and Senior Volunteer Program “RSVP” is open to people
age 55 and over. RSVP volunteers serve in a diverse range of
non-profit organizations, public agencies, and faith-based
groups. It matches their interests, skills and experiences with
a non-profit human service agency that can use their talents.
These agencies recruit seniors to serve from a few hours a month
to almost full time, though the average commitment is four hours
a week.
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