2000 Monthly News
December
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2000 Monthly News
December
Gout
is more than a rich man’s disease!!
State awards Long
Term Care Ombudsman recognition
Dear Reader:
Elder Services Hails Older
Americans Act Reauthorization
From the
Director
It’s storming!
Will my meal be delivered?
From the Director
By Catherine R. May
Executive Director’s Annual Report - 26th Annual Meeting - October 25, 2000:
The year just concluded has been remarkable for Elder Services. We are aggressively working to be more present in the community – to be "where the elders are". We have made progress towards this goal, while also dealing with an unprecedented homemaker/personal care worker shortage among our contracted providers that has left some elders without the care that they need - and are indeed eligible to have !
We now have an Elder Services hospital liaison casemanager working daily at Berkshire Medical Center , so that current and potential clients can know before they leave the hospital what assistance they can count on from Elder Services. A goal for this year is to establish the same staffing at North Adams Regional Hospital.
Since August, under contract with the building owners, we have placed a Residential Service Coordinator at St. Joseph’s Court senior housing in North Adams, and at the same time, initiated Supportive Housing at the Pittsfield Housing Authority’s Providence Court residence in Pittsfield. These two different models are geared to bringing more social services into elder housing so that those who live there can indeed "age in place". At Providence Court we are now serving meals each weekday at noon; in both places we are seeing more residents come forward to talk with the now familiar Elder Services staffer who is there every day, to inquire about assistance with their particular needs, and find yes, that they are eligible for services.
Partly because of this increased Elder Services presence in the hospital, and in these two large housing buildings, we are seeing caseload numbers higher than they have been in five years, with Meals on Wheels numbers growing at the same rate. We also think some of the growth results from the agency’s constant outreach efforts, (Invite us and we will come tell you what Elder Services can do!), from the visibility of the monthly Berkshire Senior newspaper, and from our now twice monthly new shows on Berkshire Senior TV.
Several programs are not growing, congregate meals here and across the nation are not attracting new participants, but we are fully expending all the nutrition monies, plus some fundraising resources, serving the growing Meals on Wheels recipients. We continue to avoid waiting lists for any services -- with the help so generously given by hundreds of wonderful volunteers. Congregate apartments for elders, mostly in Pittsfield, have space for newcomers. Adult Family Care seeks new hosts and Medicaid enrollees, people of all ages who might live happily and well in these private homes.
Volunteers who received special recognition this year include John Powell, who received Elder Services’ Tom Kelly Excellence in Volunteering Award for his dedication to elders as shown in his work in several volunteer programs. Claire Roy, who just received the Money Management Regional Outstanding Volunteer Award, Margareta Iverson, a fifteen year Long Term Care Ombudsman who was cited for Best Documentation, and Jean Tyler, who won the statewide Mary Casey award as Ombudsman of the Year for her tireless advocacy for resident rights, and her efforts on behalf of Alzheimer’s victims and their caregivers, and lastly, Mabel Sherman who was named one of eight statewide SHINE Volunteers of the year based on her tireless efforts on behalf of those she counsels. Former Board President Robert Hamilton leads Elder Services’ Caregivers Support Group, which continues to draw more members.
Elder Services’ membership in the Williamstown Community Chest, the Northern Berkshire United Way, and the Berkshire United Way, and assistance offered through Pittsfield Human Services Funds help us serve those who don’t fit the very specific and regulated criteria for state and federal programs, yet who nonetheless need help to stay independent. Through these partnerships, we have created our own Berkshire elder safety net.
Support from the Berkshire legislative delegation is critical to Elder Services mission; without the state and federal programs they support and advocate for, this agency would have little to offer. The elder presence has long been noted and supported in this region, but much remains to be done, and inequities need correction.
Attempting to provide state funded home care services without adequate funds to enable our contracted providers to hire homemakers and personal care workers, means that some eligible elders will not be able to remain at home. Targeted funding of $35 million allocated for this state fiscal year to help nursing homes hire and keep their front line workers will benefit those already in nursing homes, but there is no comparable finding increase to hire and keep workers who go into elders homes. This funding difference will force elders into nursing homes, because no one is available to help them at home. This perpetuation of the institutional bias towards funding nursing home care, which costs more than $3,000 per person per month, while continuing to under-fund elders’ home care at $225 per month, is neither penny wise or dollar wise, and does not respect the wishes of the elder consumer.
We at Elder Services are not without challenges. We take our mandated elder advocacy role and the achievement of our mission very seriously, and yes, we all work very hard to offer Berkshire elders the opportunity to live in dignity and independence, with the best possible quality of life. Our 136 committed and hardworking staff strive to deliver high quality and cost effective services to Berkshire County’s elders, to support them and their caregivers, and to offer the greater community the education and information that elders and those who care about them need. Read in your Annual Report about all we have accomplished this year, how many we have assisted, and join me please in thanking the organization’s greatest asset, our committed, knowledgeable, and very capable staff!