Just Enough

The ability to age in one’s home is an appealing concept to most of us. The comfort of familiar surroundings and longtime friends and family make living at home attractive. Thankfully, state legislation over the last several years has made it possible for more people to stay at home by increasing the amount of home care services available. Programs like Community Choices help put home care on equal footing with nursing homes, offering clients a range of complex services right in their homes.

MVES wants to offer clients as many services in their home as possible. After all, our mission is to help people remain living safely in their homes with dignity. But, what about those people in the community who don’t need the bevy of services that can be offered in programs like Community Choices? What if they need just a little assistance to remain in their homes? Fortunately, MVES has the ability to help these people as well.

An example might best illustrate how a little help can allow elders to remain living in their homes.

Recently, a 78-year-old man contacted MVES. Severe arthritis caused him difficulty with dressing and preparing meals. Because most, but not all, of our funding comes from the federal or state governments, our Care Options Consultants asked the man his income. The man received Social Security and fell within the state’s income guidelines. MVES was able to provide a personal care attendant several days a week to help the man dress. The man also began receiving home-delivered meals each day. The help was just enough to allow the man to stay in his home.

As you can see, the client wasn’t particularly disabled, but he did need a small amount of help. Our basic home care program can and does provide many elders with the help they need to remain in the community. Does everyone qualify for help? Yes and no. Yes, everyone—regardless of age, income, or need—can call MVES for information about aging. But no, not everyone will qualify for the services received by the clients in the examples above. Why? A client needs to be over 60, must be within the state’s income guidelines, and must have an unmet critical need. And, that can be confusing to explain in an article. I strongly encourage elders or their caregivers to call us and ask us about services. Our staff will give a clear explanation and recommend next steps. Callers may be surprised what services they or their family members can receive.

Call us and learn if we have a program for you or your loved one. Sometimes elders need involved service plans to stay in their homes…and we have that. At other times, elders may simply need a helping hand to make their lives much easier. MVES offers that too.

Just enough help can make a big difference.