Orange County NC Website
Browse       Search
9 <br />allow aging in place,. This will come from Planning and the restrictive covenants and broadening <br />these to include service providers, etc. Transportation for elders in rural areas has been talked about <br />under transportation, The seventh issue is identify volunteers and others in the community who are <br />able and willing to do repairs on homes and to upgrade structures to accommodate the increase in <br />disability. He said that there will be baby boomers that will be looking for things to do and this <br />could be one of those things that will help seniors who need repairs or upgrades to their existing <br />residence. The last issue deals with a lack of incentives by and for developers..Iack said that we <br />need to make it worth while for developers to provide senior housing which is affordable. <br />Ann .lolmson asked .Jack to expand the third issue to include specifically the activity <br />related to planning for Senior Friendly Communities. She feels that this is another thing that will be <br />part of what the State will be doing across North Carolina, She would like this to be included in the <br />State plan for areas which are already developed, <br />TRANSITIONAL CARE <br />Florence Soltys said that this is a new area because there are needs which are not <br />being met. The first issue deals with creating a database for those people who are frail within the <br />County. The second issue deals with the development ofa P.A.C.E. (Program of All-Inclusive Care <br />of the Elderly) Program and support from the County to do it. There are no P,A.C.E. programs in <br />North Carolina at this time and only 3.3 in the country.. It is a Medicaid and Medicare waiver and <br />basically those people who qualify for this are at great risk for going into nursing homes. There <br />would be a team of doctors that would be employed that would provide all the services for that elder <br />person and they would have contracts with different agencies. There is one program like this being <br />worked on in Wilmington at this time. They hope to have this program in this area within a couple <br />of years. The next issue deals with the "blue and pink sheets". They, at one time, had a blue sheet <br />for going into the hospital and a pink sheet for leaving for hospital and nursing home transitions.. <br />These sheets help clarify the situation. This needs to be reimplemented. The next issue deals with <br />information resources to improve transitions from hospital to nursing home or nursing home to <br />hospital. Many times these people cannot speak for themselves and information is vague,. Someone <br />who has a knowledge base of what is happening with a person needs to be available to help through <br />the transition process.. The fifth issue is to implement the mental health reform recommendations <br />which Kate Barrett previously discussed. We are seeing young chronically mentally ill people put <br />in rest homes and nursing homes with people who are frail and don't understand what is going on <br />and are terrified.. There are rest homes that only serve young chronically mentally ill males and it <br />works very well. This is an area that really needs to be reviewed, The next issue deals with <br />expanding adult day health as a transitional service. This would help people stay in their homes and <br />is one way we can care for elders in this state.. The adult day health program will be the basis for <br />the P.A.C.E. program as mentioned above. The other part of this would be to promote the <br />alternative for the CAP/DA Program and V.A. The last issue deals with expanding assessment and <br />care planning using home setting. <br />Alice Gordon said that she feels the transitional process is fragmented, especially <br />while a person is in the hospital. She feels that what a person really needs is an advocate. <br />Nancy Coston said that the demands for in-home care services are more than CAP <br />can handle and they are removing people off the program. She has concerns about this program. <br />Florence Soltys said that she serves on the Aging Study Conunittee and ]snows that they have <br />thousands of people across the State waiting for in-home care services.. No one is prioritizing these <br />people and don't laiow where they are. The Aging Commission has asked for a review of this <br />program. The available money needs to be matched with the needs.. Kate Barrett said that people <br />are still calling for "Chore" services which is not available. We have a huge population that want to <br />stay in their homes, <br />