Where to turn
A multitude of services are available to aid seniors
For
50 years, La Grange-based Aging Care Connections has helped older adults with a multitude of services ranging from special-diet meals to transportation.
Executive Director Debra Verschelde says, while Aging Care Connections is well-known to professionals in the communities it serves, seniors and their families aren’t always so aware.
“That is one of the biggest challenges,” she adds. “Sometimes people have referred to us as the best-kept secret in the western suburbs.”
Aging Care Connections is one of numerous community organizations that partner with area agencies on aging to help adults 60 and older be safe in their homes.
“Our main goal is to keep people safe in their homes as long as possible, if that’s what they want,”Verschelde says.
Multiple services
Typical of other organizations that work with the 13 area agencies on aging in Illinois, Aging Care Connections offers programs that include adult protective services, in-home assessments of services needed, assistance with obtaining benefits, caregiver support, meals, help for grandparents raising grandchildren, options counseling for long-term care, transitional care for seniors returning home from a hospital or nursing home, transportation, and education on health and aging well.
Some programs such as assistance in paying energy bills or in-home housekeeping are limited to those who meet income or asset requirements, but most are open to any adult 60 and older and adults with disabilities.
With a staff of 50, Aging Care Connections serves more than 9,000 older adults, their families and caregivers from 38 communities in Lyons, Proviso, Norwood Park, Riverside and Leyden townships.
Verschelde says home-delivered meals and assistance with tasks such as shopping and laundry are among the services most in demand. Other adults who are still working may simply need information about benefits or Medicare. Aging Care Connections also is able to connect people to other agencies for services they provide.
“The demand is pretty high,” Verchelde says. “We are definitely an important resource in the community for anything about aging.”
Virtual support
Like organizations everywhere, Aging Care Connections had to find new ways to deliver its services during the COVID shutdown. For example, with congregate dining closed, in January it offered drive-through take-out meals for seniors. Support groups for caregivers were held via Zoom.
Through its Aging Well Neighborhood, which offers programs on a wide variety of topics of interest to seniors, six to eight programs were scheduled weekly. During Older Americans Month in May, Aging Care Connections offered more than 45 free virtual programs addressing the health and well-being of senior adults.
The trend toward using technology to serve seniors will continue, says Marla Fronczak, chief executive officer of AgeGuide Northeastern Illinois, the area agency on aging serving DuPage, Grundy, Kane, Kankakee, Kendall, Lake, McHenry and Will counties.
Fronczak says accessing virtual programs was a challenge for many seniors during the COVID shutdown. With the help of T-Mobile, AgeGuide was able to supply older adults with tablets and coach them on how to shop online, schedule virtual doctor visits and access programs.
“There’s a big learning curve,” Fronczak says. “Technology is one of the biggest ones we’ll be doing, and programs to combat social isolation.”
Planning for aging
As one of 622 area agencies on aging in the United States, AgeGuide acts a planning, coordinating and funding organization for community agencies that provide many of the hands-on services. For example, someone from DuPage County inquiring about services for older adults would be referred to DuPage County Community Services for in-home assessments.
DCCS and other community organizations provide the programs that include help with rent and utilities, visits or phone calls from volunteers, help with home repairs, ombudsman for nursing home residents, housing, legal aid, counseling, and disease prevention.
Fronczak says seniors or family member often inquire about services when there has been a change in circumstances such loss of a spouse, returning home after a hospitalization or loss of mobility. Services most in need are meals, transportation and caregiver support, she says.
Caregivers may be a family member, friend, or neighbor who does not necessarily live with the older person. Help available to them includes training, support groups and respite care.
“We really saw that need (for caregiver support) increase during COVID,” Fronczak says.
Dementia friendly
Like other area agencies on aging, Age Guide offers training to help businesses, law enforcement, churches and other organizations become dementia-friendly communities. Fronczak says the training teaches how to recognize signs of dementia and how to talk with someone who has dementia. For example, restaurant workers would learn not to overwhelm a customer with dementia with too many choices.
Fronczak says the training is designed to help those with dementia remain a part of their community longer and combats social isolation. Nationally recognized Dementia Friendly Communities in AgeGuide’s service area include Naperville, Elgin, Oswego, North Chicago, Highland Park, Westmont, Kankakee County and the Tri-Cities of St. Charles, Geneva and Batavia. Lombard and Barrington are in the process of obtaining that designation.
Where to begin
With so many programs available, a senior or family member might wonder where to begin to ask for help. Kenneth Genke, executive director of Pathlights, formerly PLOWS, says someone might call with a particular need but further conversation reveals more needs. A care coordinator can help them figure out what their needs are, what their resources are, and what programs and benefits are available to them.
“People know to come to us,” says Genke of the Palos Heights-based agency that has served communities in the southwest Cook County suburbs for 45 years. “They may not realize the full gambit of services we perform.”
One of those responsibilities is adult protective services, recognized this month with World Elder Abuse Awareness Day on June 15. Pathlights will investigate claims that older adults are being abused, neglected or financially exploited.
The abuse may not be immediately obvious. For example, a caregiver may feel justified in making withdrawals from senior’s bank account as reimbursement for expenses, but is doing it without the senior’s permission.
“It really comes down to are you offering the best care to that loved one,” Genke says.