Help When You Need It Most
By Frank Demarinis
Senior Advisors of Delaware, LLC is a case management agency historically providing money management, consultation, health planning and Power of Attorney services for seniors living alone or caring for a spouse with incapacitating condition(s) such as Alzheimer’s. Their non-profit program launch “Advanced Directive” is a free program further helping women safely age at home or the spouse they are caring for in case of an emergency.
The Advanced Directive program, a non-profit 501c3 offers support to Delawareans as they maintain at home. “The Board and I maintain expertise managing senior living and assisted living communities. We often discuss how to help those without options. Many aging Americans simply can’t afford Senior Living or simply wish to maintain independence in their own home.” What began as a commitment to give back to the community has grown into a significant force.
Advanced Directive has partnered with Christiana Healthcare’s “Delaware Health Information Network” (DHIN) Through DHIN’s newest initiative, ENS (Emergency Notification System), emergency “alerts” can be sent for any enrolled clients in the Advanced Directive Program across the entire State of Delaware. “We’ve basically turned the DHIN’s Emergency Notification System into a unique emergency response system for seniors living home alone.” We receive DHIN alerts for any patient admissions, transfers, and discharges. This partnership with ENS allows Advanced Directive, Inc. to respond in a medical crisis.
This goes well beyond having a wallet card or personal pendant for emergencies, though we can provide those as well. This is not a typical emergency service. We act as a healthcare agent ensuring medical directives are appropriately maintained. We’ve found those that have taken time to plan medical directives often store documents where they are least accessible and without local family to retrieve them. Imagine a local service that can not only “step up” in case of an emergency, but also maintain the home and daily coordination of basic affairs in a medical crisis.
This partnership is a powerful tool in preventing unnecessary nursing home confinement. The most frightening question a senior can be asked in a hospital bed is “Are you home alone without supervision?” Our agency partners and volunteers aim to prevent the unnecessary roller coaster ride through the nursing home. We respond to the “what if” – Who will feed and care for my pets, how will I coordinate respite care for my loved one who depends on me at home, how will I maintain my utilities and bills? The program goal is to advocate and expedite coordination of care back to one’s home. Of close to 898,000 residents in Delaware, maintaining 340,000 homes, 87,500 live alone, (25%) of that group (almost half) are women over 65 years of age and live alone. (© Census Bureau 2016). Without an assigned Healthcare and POA proxy one can risk losing home and independence in a medical crisis. For those 85+, living alone at “at risk” for hospitalization can obtain services through our grant program and be assigned a free healthcare and POA agent as well as enrollment into the Emergency Notification System (ENS). Grant approval is not necessarily income based. Showing a strong need of risk and desire to maintain independently in one’s own home meets most of our grant funding requirement(s). Please contact us if you feel that you or someone you know can benefit from our services.
1-800-564-0173
