The Texas Department of Aging and Disability Services (DADS) was created to administer long-term services and supports for people who are aging as well as for people with intellectual and physical disabilities. DADS also licenses and regulates providers of these services, and administers the state’s Guardianship program. DADS began formal operations on Sept. 1, 2004.
To learn more about DADS please click this link:
www.hhs.texas.gov
Easter Seals North Texas has provided services for individuals with disabilities and their families since 1939. Each year, with their assistance, over 4,000 individuals of all abilities are able to live, learn, work and play in our communities. Easter Seals North Texas has a longstanding history in our community of providing unique programs and services for individuals with a wide variety of disabilities, including Autism Spectrum Disorder, Alzheimer’s disease, Down syndrome, Cerebral Palsy, Mental and Developmental Delays.
To learn more about Easter Seals, please click this link:
www.easterseals.com
The VetAssist® Program helps veterans, or their surviving spouses, apply for a little-known Department of Veterans Affairs benefit to pay for assistance with activities of daily living. Then, they provide home care while the VA reviews the claim. The VetAssist® Program also furnishes continuing case management and ongoing compliance monitoring – all with no out-of-pocket costs.
To learn more about the VetAssist Program please click this link:
www.veteranshomecare.com
The Alzheimer’s Association is the world’s leading voluntary health organization in Alzheimer’s care, support and research. The Alzheimer’s Association works on a global, national and local level to enhance care and support for all those affected by Alzheimer’s and other dementias. The Association is the leading voice for Alzheimer’s disease advocacy, fighting for critical Alzheimer’s research, prevention and care initiatives at the state and federal level.
To learn more about the Alzheimer’s Association please click this link:
www.alz.org/
Handicapped Accessible Van Rentals
If you need to rent a wheelchair accessible van, please click this link:
www.wheelersvanrentals.com
There are some 5,000 local Senior Nutrition Programs in the United States. These programs provide well over one million meals to seniors who need them each day. Some programs serve meals at congregate locations like senior centers, some programs deliver meals directly to the homes of seniors whose mobility is limited, and many programs provide both services.
To learn more about the Wheels on Meal Programs, please click this link:
www.mealsonwheelsamerica.org
Home and Community Based Services
Home and community based long term care services include a wide variety of personal care, health care, and other supportive services, provided to clients in their own homes, or in their community, to enable them to continue living at home, and to maintain as much independence as possible.
Many people who receive in-home long term care will require assistance from a combination of paid providers to help with some of their care needs such as house cleaning and preparing meals, and family caregivers to help with their more intimate personal care needs, such as bathing, dressing, and managing medications.
The following sections will help you understand the full range of long term care options available to you, so that you can choose the best possible care for your specific needs and circumstances.
Home Health Care
Is for people who need in-home, professional health care services, such as skilled nursing care, physical therapy, occupational therapy, or speech-language therapy, for a limited period of time, when prescribed by their physician, to treat, or aid in the recovery from, an illness or injury.
Home health care services cost $22/hour, on average, which is low to moderate, in comparison with other forms of long term care.
Home Care
Is for people who need non-skilled help in their home with the activities of daily living, such as eating, dressing, bathing, using the bathroom, and transferring from a bed or chair. Home care aides may also perform homemaker services, such as meal preparation and light household chores such as dusting and vacuuming floors.
Some home care agencies also offer homemaker and chore services for seniors who need help primarily with routine household activities such as meal preparation, cleaning, and performing heavy chores such as washing floors and windows, doing laundry, raking leaves, or shoveling snow.
Home care or personal care services cost $20/hour, on average, which is low to moderate, when compared to the cost of other forms of long term care.
Meal Programs
Provide nutritious home-delivered meals, or meals in various congregate dining areas in the community, such as in senior centers or community centers.
Transportation Services
Offer accessible door-to-door transportation to and from shopping centers, medical appointments, and various other community resources and destinations of interest, and can accommodate seniors who have mobility impairments or other disabilities.
Companion Services
Staff members make periodic short visits to seniors in the community who are frail, or who live alone, to check on their well-being, and also to provide them with some social contact and companionship. However, they do not perform personal care or home health services.
Emergency Response System
A service which allows a senior to call for help in the event of an emergency, such as a fall or sudden illness, by pressing a button on a small, electronic pendant which can be worn 24 hours a day, even in the shower. The button is monitored by professional operators who will try to determine the nature of the emergency and dispatch appropriate assistance to the senior’s home. These services can be purchased privately for a one time installation fee and monthly service charge of $20 to $40, but they are often available to eligible seniors for little or no cost at all, through the local Area Agency on Aging.
Adult Day Care
Offers a variety of health, social, and support services, during standard business hours, to adults who need assistance and supervision while their primary family caregiver is at work.
These programs provide seniors with a variety of on-site care services, including meals and snacks, health monitoring, assistance with taking medication, walking, using the bathroom, personal grooming, as well as providing opportunities for exercise, social interaction, recreation, and mental stimulation during the day.
Services are provided in a protected environment, and some adult day care providers also have programs designed specifically to meet the special needs of adults with functional, as well as cognitive impairments, due to conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease.
Some programs also offer services during evening and weekend hours, in addition to their regular daytime hours.
Adult day care costs about $70/day, on average, which is relatively low, when compared to other forms of long term care. Some private long term care insurance policies and state Medicaid programs pay for health care and therapy services provided in state licensed adult day care facilities, but Medicare does not pay for these services.
Respite Care
Is designed to help family caregivers, by relieving them of their caregiving responsibilities for a short period of time. Arrangements can generally be made to provide the substitute care either at home, in adult day care, or in a nursing home.
Senior Centers
Although they are not actually a form of long term care, senior centers are, nonetheless, a valuable resource that should not be overlooked. Available in many communities, they offer seniors free or low cost services, such as meals, recreational and social activities, educational classes, as well as information about, and referral to, other senior services and programs.
