Hospice care provides support for terminally ill people and their families. There are several misconceptions about hospice, due to misunderstandings about what hospice is and a common reluctance to think about end-of-life realities. Clearing up these misunderstandings can help families better decide if, how and when to incorporate hospice into the care plan for a loved one.

Hospice care consists of a team of doctors, nurses, nursing assistants, pharmacists, social workers, spiritual counselors, companionship volunteers and bereavement specialists. The patient’s family, caregivers and physician are also members of the team. The purpose of hospice is to help patients spend their last days in as much physical and mental comfort as possible.

Hospice is not a specific place. Rather, it is a service that can be provided anywhere that the patient calls home—a house, apartment, assisted-living community, skilled nursing facility, hospital or any other location. Anyone who is terminally ill can receive hospice care, and he or she does not have to be bedridden.

Hospice costs are covered by Medicare and private insurance. The Medicare hospice benefit never expires, so the care can be continued for as long as the patient needs it. The benefit also covers the patient’s medication and medical equipment.

Many people view entering hospice as giving up. Michele Oblak of Senior Independence Hospice offered a different view: “The patient is not giving up when they enter hospice care. Rather, they are taking control. They decide what assistance they would like to have and when.”

Senior Independence Hospice recently assisted a Cleveland Heights woman whose terminally ill father was in a nursing home. They helped move him to the daughter’s house, and got him the medication and equipment he needed. He was able to die in the comfort of a family environment “The purpose of hospice is to maintain the patient’s quality of life for as long as possible,” said Oblak.

Laurie Henrichsen of Hospice of the Western Reserve agrees. “Many people don’t realize that hospice care can actually help prolong life, if it is started early,” she said. “It also reduces a lot of stress on the family.”

In order to receive the greatest benefit from hospice care, it should be started as soon as the patient is eligible, rather than waiting until the last few weeks of life.

Not all hospice care providers are alike, so Henrichsen recommends beginning a search early and evalutating the differences. “Ask for recommendations from family, friends and your doctor,” she said, “and put your end-of-life wishes in writing while you are still able to do so. This way your family will know how you prefer to spend your final days.”

Contact Senior Independence Hospice at 440-953-1256, and Hospice of the Western Reserve at 800-707-8922.

Click here to read the full article in the Heights Observer.

For senior adults and people with physical or mental challenges, simple tasks like shopping and cooking can be difficult to perform. The Meals on Wheels program (MOW) offers a helpful solution, providing nutritious meals delivered right to the door.

MOW volunteers package and deliver two meals a day, five days a week, to people in need throughout our community. The food is prepared fresh each morning at the A.M. McGregor Home, divided into individual packages at Fairmount Presbyterian Church, and delivered to clients between 11:30 a.m. and 1 p.m.

Each client receives one hot and one cold meal at a cost of $6.25 per day. The hot meal consists of protein, starch, vegetable, salad, dessert, and milk. The cold meal consists of a sandwich and fruit. Meals are low-sodium and suitable for people with diabetes. Clients choose how many meals they wish to receive per week.

Coordinated through the Cleveland Heights Office on Aging, this program is available to anyone temporarily or permanently unable to shop and cook for him- or herself due to age, illness, disability, or accident.

MOW volunteers check on clients when they make deliveries, and alert the family if they suspect a problem. Sometimes the volunteer is the only person the client sees throughout the week.

Volunteers provide a critical safety net for their clients. On more than one occasion, a volunteer arrived for a delivery and discovered that the client had fallen or was in need of medical assistance.

MOW receives no government subsidies and relies on volunteers to keep the program going. Unfortunately, in recent months, the number of volunteers has declined.  To avoid cutting back meal delivery from five days to three, additional volunteers are needed.

If you are able to volunteer your time to this critical program, even for just a couple of hours a week, contact Hazel Haffner at 216-382-5697.

Anyone wishing to receive meal assistance should call the Cleveland Heights Office on Aging at 216-691-7377.

Click here to read the full article in the Heights Observer.

When senior adults make the decision to move to a smaller home, move in with their children, or relocate to assisted living, the tasks involved can be overwhelming and time-consuming. Seniors are often physically unable to take care of moving on their own, and their children are often busy with work or live far away. Senior relocation services can help take much of the burden off of their shoulders.

One Cleveland Heights senior was having trouble climbing stairs in her two-story house, and was afraid of falling when walking to her garage in the winter. She worked with North Coast Residential Relocation (NCRR) to sell her house and move into an apartment building. They helped her determine a reasonable price for her home, and rearranged her furniture to make it more appealing to buyers.

NCRR helped a family in University Heights clean out unwanted possessions by working with an auctioneer who purchased the valuable pieces, donating the remaining items to charity, and arranging for the home to be cleaned, organized and sold. NCRR President Lee-Ann Spacek acts as an advocate throughout the relocation process, protecting the best interests of the senior and the family until he or she is safely moved into a new home and the old home is sold.

Caring Transitions, another local company, helped an out-of-state man relocate his elderly aunt from a Cleveland Heights rehabilitation center to assisted living. Caring Transitions staff drew a floor plan of the new home to determine what furniture would fit. They packed, moved and unpacked the possessions that the aunt was able to take, and held an estate sale for the rest.

Gayle Chillious, president of Caring Transitions, works with seniors and families to develop a relocation plan to fit their needs and timelines. Her team documents the process with photos and keeps families informed along the way. They unpack and arrange everything to recreate the feeling of the old house as closely as possible, so that the senior feels at home.

It is important to hire a competent and reputable relocation company. Interview each potential company and ask for and check its references. Reputable companies will also pre-screen cleaning, home repair, decorating, moving and real estate companies.

North Coast Residential Relocation can be reached at 440-248-5281. Caring Transitions can be reached at 216-339-3787.

Click here to read the full article in the Heights Observer.

For senior adults who are unable to live safely on their own due to physical or mental challenges, and for independent seniors who are seeking new activities, adult day centers offer daytime programs for people with all levels of physical and cognitive abilities.

Seniors can spend the day engaged in classes and programs that provide education, skill development, social interaction and therapeutic benefit.

Adult day centers are a helpful option for families who have an aging relative living with them but are unable to stay home with them during the day. They are also very beneficial for seniors with mental challenges such as dementia or developmental disabilities. The programs are designed to meet each person at their level of ability, so that they provide both a healing benefit and personal empowerment.

The programs at adult day centers are designed to support seniors on a holistic level. Educational programs engage their minds, exercise programs engage their bodies, and art and music therapy classes engage their spirits. They also provide opportunities for seniors to interact with others, eliminating the loneliness and isolation that can occur when they are home alone all day.

The Mandel Adult Day Center at Menorah Park in Beachwood provides day activities for both independent and dependent seniors. Programs are divided into “clubs” that serve specific needs, such as peer interaction, dementia and physical disabilities.

“Activities are provided for many levels of cognition and illness,” said Shawn Biese, director of activities. Staff members, including an on-site nurse and social worker, also assist seniors with therapeutic care, personal care needs, activities of daily living, and they distribute medicine.

The Benjamin Rose Adult Day Program in Cleveland Heights assists seniors who have cognitive and functional impairments, such as dementia. The programs are designed around each individual’s particular interests and include storytelling, folk art and cultural festivals. Clients refer to the program as “school” or “class” rather than “day care,” because of the educational benefit they receive. The program also hosts caregiver appreciation events several times per year to provide support, education and stress relief to family members.

The Benjamin Rose Institute also offers a day program for seniors with mental illness such as depression, schizophrenia, and bipolar disorder. The Partial Hospitalization Program offers seniors individual counseling and group therapy sessions that teach coping skills, medication management, conflict resolution, and behavior management.

“Our goal is to help our seniors live as independently as possible and to build communication skills to be able to advocate for themselves,” said Linda Elliott, director of the programs.

The Jewish Family Service Association’s Ascentia Adult Day Support Program in Cleveland Heights offers daily recreation-based activities for adults of all faiths who have developmental or intellectual disabilities. Programs help teach socialization and daily living skills, as well as provide exercise and recreational outings.

All activities are adapted to the individual’s level of ability and function.

“We help to challenge people to their level of ability without frustrating them by challenging them too much,” said Ashley Palm, day support supervisor.

Most adult day centers offer breakfast and lunch programs, as well as transportation to and from the center. For more information, contact: Mandel Adult Day Center, 216-831-6500; Benjamin Rose Adult Day and Partial Hospitalization Programs,216-373-2000; JFSA Ascentia Adult Day Support Program 216-906-6570.

Click here to read the full article in the Cleveland Heights Patch.