Program offers free home visits to seniors
Fallan Patterson
Courtesy of South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Emeritus Senior Living's program has attracted seniors who wish to live at home as long as they can, but who might need assistance.
With five locations in South Florida, families can take advantage of resources offered through this complementary program, "You Don't Have to Live with Us for Us to Help!," even if they choose to place their loved ones in another senior community.
Emeritus at Springtree in Sunrise performs up to seven home visits a week for the program and has visited more than 40 people since it started in the summer, said Jennifer Forbes, community relations coordinator at the facility. Employees visit in pairs and are trained to recognize if the senior is lonely and looking for "a listening ear," she said.
"We look at the aesthetics of the home and how we can make it more functional," Forbes said.
Services offered during home visits include nurse evaluations to identify nutritional needs and possible fall risks as well as how other daily tasks, like showering alone, are performed. If Emeritus is unable to provide housing when the time comes, it refers the person to other specialized communities.
The program also helps with information about health problems such as dementia, as well as benefits like Medicaid, Medicare and Veteran Affairs.
Shari Schubauer, community relations director for Emeritus at Deer Creek in Deerfield Beach, said the program helps on two levels. It helps identify potential challenges for seniors living at home and any home-care needs that are not being met.
"Some fear losing their independence," Schubauer said. "[The program] helps us help seniors get comfortable with community living."
Susan Waring's mother, Pat Waring, has lived at Emeritus at Springtree in Sunrise for nearly two years. She was no longer able to live on her own at Pines Point Senior rental apartments in Pembroke Pines. Pat has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease.
"I've watched my mom deteriorate, and I'm always concerned where she's going to go next," Susan said. "Her income is rather limited and she had no resources."
Forbes provided Susan with literature on Alzheimer's and helped her arrange for Veteran Affairs' benefits so her mother could live at Springtree.
"They did all this before I signed any contracts," Susan said.
Forbes also helped Maria and Joe Carlo apply for Medicaid to pay for the costs of living at the community. A nurse evaluation was performed to ensure Maria could move independently with her walker.
The couple has lived at Emeritus at Springtree since June after moving from Springtree Nursing Home next door. The two businesses are not affiliated with one another. Maria had lived at Emeritus at Springtree in 2007 but was pulled out after a Multiple sclerosis attack. Multiple sclerosis is a disease that attacks the central nervous system, according to www.nationalmssociety.org.
Maria and Joe met at the nursing home and married last September. While taking a walk, Maria told her husband that she wanted to move back into Emeritus at Springtree. They took a tour and Joe agreed.
"Compared to a nursing home, it's like a hotel," Maria said.
"You Don't Have to Live with Us for Us to Help!" is part of Emeritus' Senior Living's Safely Somewhere program, where the facility will refer a senior to another community if it cannot meet the family's needs.
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