Program pairs caregivers, seniors
Roenea Dixon-Dean, 67, was looking for a way to fill her time after her husband died.
Rosaria Infantino, 88, also a widow, needed someone to take her grocery shopping, to the doctor and on other errands.
The retirees found each other through a program of the Osceola County Council on Aging that recruits younger seniors to take care of their elders. Each got what they were looking for and also something they didn’t expect: friendship.
“She’s just a blessing in every possible way,” said Infantino as the two sat at her kitchen table in a mobile home community near Kissimmee. “She’s just a beautiful, beautiful companion and friend.”
The women were paired through the council’s Care Companion program, now in its third year.
The caregivers are 55 and older, lower-income and receive a small hourly stipend. The clients, 65 and up, have physical maladies but can still get around, some with the aid of walkers or canes.
Anyone who uses a wheel-
“I help her [Rosaria Infantino], and she helps me. It gives us both satisfaction that we care for each other.” Roenea Dixon-Dean, a Care Companion
chair or has dementia is ineligible.
The goal of the free program is to reduce hospital visits and keep people well enough to live in their own homes.
Caregivers check on their assigned seniors in person and by phone, notice whether their homes have hazards that might cause a fall and make sure they have a ride to the doctor and take their medication.
“A lot of times, they [older seniors] ignore the little things, and then it becomes big,” program director Jennifer Cabán said.
Care Companions aim to help seniors avoid isolation, which experts say can lead to depression and poor health.
“The social aspect of our program really trickles down into everything else,” Cabán said.
According to the sponsor, Florida Hospital: 90 percent of the clients said they felt less isolated; 70 percent went to an emergency room or emergency clinic less often; and 78 percent said their quality of life had improved.
A broken collarbone led Florida Hospital to refer a then-100-year-old World War II veteran to the program, where a volunteer saw that he and his wife needed a wheelchair ramp, more air-conditioning units and numerous home repairs. The council provided everything and also arranged for Meals on Wheels to deliver to the couple.
The veteran had been too proud to tell anyone about his plight, said Warren Hougland, community services director at the Council on Aging.
“They feel like they’re a burden or they feel embarrassed,” Cabán said.
That’s why trust between client and companion is essential.
Infantino and DixonDean are from different worlds, yet they connected almost instantly because both understood what it was like to lose a husband after a long marriage. And although Dixon-Dean is there to tend to Infantino, she’s learned a lot from her, too.
Infantino, whose parents were from Italy, introduced Dixon-Dean, who grew up eating collard greens, fatback and grits in South Carolina, to romaine lettuce, kale and the notion that almost any food can be improved by sautéing it in olive oil, onion and garlic.
“I help her, and she helps me,” said DixonDean, who also is a Care Companion to five other women. “It gives us both satisfaction that we care for each other.”
During their weekly visits, Dixon-Dean checks Infantino’s blood pressure between trips to the ophthalmologist, podiatrist, family doctor and hearing specialist.
“You took all your meds?” she asks the greatgrandmother as they wait for a reading to appear on the machine.
The Care Companion program, which has 170 clients and 13 volunteers, is in jeopardy of ending at the end of 2017. Florida Hospital originally funded it for two years and granted a one-year extension in January. The Council on Aging is trying to find other ways to keep the service afloat, perhaps by charging a fee.
The program has its roots in a 2001 effort to check on patients with congestive heart failure, Hougland said. It was expanded in 2002 to any chronic disease, funded by Florida Hospital from 2002 to 2004 and revived in 2015.
It costs about $151,000 annually for stipends, training, equipment, transportation and staff, which consists only of Cabán.
For Central Floridians, such as Infantino, the program is one of the few lifelines available.
“We have so many seniors here whose families are in another state,” Hougland said. “It’s not that they don’t care. They can’t be there every day to take care of all those things.”