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Aging Services Access Points

Old Colony Elder Services Outlines the Signs of Dehydration and Shares Recommendations

Diana DiGiorgi, Executive Director

Should dehydration concern elders?

Yes, according to Old Colony Elder Services (OCES), the Brockton based regional elder services agency serving seniors, individuals with disabilities and caregivers throughout greater Brockton and Plymouth County.

“Dehydration is a major cause of elders being hospitalized. Many infections in elders have been linked to dehydration and, if not diagnosed early enough, the mortality rate can be as high as 50 percent. One of the factors that can cause loss of fluids is hot and humid summer weather,” states Diana DiGiorgi, Executive Director of OCES.

Seniors have about 10 percent less fluid content in their bodies than younger adults. When the body doesn’t have enough water and electrolytes to carry out normal functions, dehydration is a health risk. If the body becomes dehydrated, there is a decrease in total blood volume, which causes constriction of blood vessels, resulting in an increase in the heart rate. Without sufficient blood the heart is unable to pump efficiently, resulting in a decrease in the amount of blood to the brain, liver, and kidneys. Left untreated, dehydration will eventually result in failure of multiple organs and ultimately death.

Dehydration can also be caused by side effects from medications such as diuretics and laxatives. Other medical conditions like high blood sugar, heat exhaustion, and sometimes exercising, can cause dehydration. Some elders develop swallowing disorders which will greatly impact their intake of fluid. Some may even decrease their intake of fluid because of the fear of incontinence.

DiGiorgi explained, “The signs of dehydration can be very similar to dementia and Alzheimer’s symptoms, such as confusion, muscle weakness, constipation, sunken eyes, dizziness, pneumonia, low blood pressure and increased heart rate.”

A good way to monitor dehydration of an elder is to monitor his/her body weight on a daily basis. Dehydration is mild if the weight loss is reduced by 2 percent; it is severe if there is a 5 percent (or more) loss of body weight.

OCES shares these recommendations for detecting, avoiding and treating dehydration:

· If an older person shows minor signs of dehydration, provide water and encourage the person to drink it. Also encourage replenishment of electrolytes, found in fruit juices, sports drinks, milk, and many fruits and vegetables, like potatoes and avocados.

· In case of severe dehydration, the person should receive medical help. Some complications of dehydration are kidney failure, coma, shock, electrolyte abnormalities, and other heat related diseases.

· Older adults should drink 8 glasses of water per day. Juices and soda do not count—just plain drinking water. Seniors should also choose foods that have high water content such as fresh fruits, vegetables, watermelon, yogurt, or Jell-O. They should be encouraged to drink often during the day, even though they do not feel thirsty.

· If you believe an elder you know may be at risk for dehydration, give them small amounts of fluid often, write down how much the person drinks and eats, make sure their room is not too hot or cold, and make certain that he/she is wearing the right kind of clothes for the temperature in the room.

Dehydration is a preventable illness that can be very dangerous if not treated.

About OCES
Incorporated in 1974, Old Colony Elder Services is a private, non-profit corporation designated as one of 27 Aging Services Access Points (ASAPs) in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. OCES offers a number of programs to serve seniors, individuals with disabilities, their families and caregivers such as Family Caregiver Support; Adult Family Care; Supportive Housing; Nutrition; Money Management; Protective Services and Home Care.

OCES serves elders, individuals with disabilities, their families and caregivers in 23 communities in Southeastern Massachusetts: Abington, Avon, Bridgewater, Brockton, Carver, Duxbury, East Bridgewater, Easton, Halifax, Hanover, Hanson, Kingston, Lakeville, Marshfield, Middleboro, Pembroke, Plymouth, Plympton, Rockland, Stoughton, Wareham, West Bridgewater and Whitman.

The organization’s mission is to provide services that support the dignity and independence of elders by helping them maximize their quality of life; live safely and in good health; and, prevent unnecessary or premature institutionalization. For more information call (508) 584-1561 or visit the website at www.oldcolonyelderservices.org.

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Dukakis Reflects on 40 Years of Home Care

Former Governor Michael Dukakis

Former Governor Michael Dukakis, considered by advocates as perhaps the best “human services” Governor in state history, will help Mass Home Care celebrate 40 YEARS OF HOME CARE at the group’s Annual Meeting on June 18th at 11:30 am at the Burlington Marriott.

Dukakis will be introduced by the man who served as his Secretary of Elder Affairs, Paul Lanzikos, who is now Executive Director of North Shore Elder Services, one of the 27 Aging Services Access Point (ASAP) members of Mass Home Care. A dozen other home care activists and lawmakers will speak at the event.

The meeting will be the last event as Mass Home Care President for Linda George, Executive Director of Boston Senior Home Care, who is stepping down after a two-year term leading the organization. The group will also honor retiring State Representative Alice Wolf of Cambridge, the House Chair of the Elder Affairs committee, with a Home Care Hero award.

“They say things get easier with age,” noted Mass Home Care Executive Director Al Norman, who has served in that position since 1986. “But the struggle to keep elders at home always faces new challenges–even after 4 decades.”

Norman said despite all the focus in Massachusetts on health care reform, very little attention and money is focused on keeping older people at home.

“Long term support focuses on assisting people with chronic conditions with their daily functioning,” Norman said. “We’ve gotten much better at getting people out of nursing facilities, but not as good at getting money out of the budget.” Norman said Mass Home Care member agencies have helped drive down Medicaid nursing facility days by 30% over the past decade, saving Massachusetts taxpayers $600 million a year.

Created during the Frank Sargent Administration, our home care system is one of the largest in the nation. Here are some facts about home care in Massachusetts this year:

* $335 million in state and federal funding managed by Mass Home Care member agencies

* 82,600 individuals receive ASAP care management and coordination

* 10,444 elders eligible for institutions receive care at home

* 8.6 million meals served to 74,000 elders

* 150,000 information calls handled by regional ASAP agencies

* 18,282 reports of elder abuse investigated

* 55,000 nursing facility screenings conducted

* 2,000 elders receive Money Management assistance

* The typical home care client is an 81 years old woman, living alone

* 45% of home care clients live at or below the poverty line

In addition to the basic home care personal assistance services, such as help with eating, bathing, dressing, and toileting, the home care network manages a variety of other long term supports to keep elders and individuals with disabilities living in the community: Group Adult Foster Care, Adult Foster Care, Personal Care Attendant Program, Senior Care Options, Chronic Disease Self Management Programs, Money Management Programs, Guardianship Programs, HUD 202 and other Housing Programs, Geriatric Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Programs, and Serving the Health Information Needs of Elders (SHINE).

The Aging Services Access Points (ASAPs) are all non-profit, and 51% of their board of directors are local individuals over the age of 60. In addition, Mass Home Care also represents Massachusetts’ 21 federally-designated Area Agencies on Aging, which manage more than $21 million annually in federal funding for nutrition, family caregivers, supportive services and nursing home ombudsman programs. Old Colony Elder Services, located in Brockton and founded in 1974, is the designated regional ASAP for 23 communities in greater Plymouth county.

Sponsors for the Mass Home Care event include: AARP Massachusetts, Advantage Home Medical, Affinity Home Health, Associated Home Care, Atrius Health, Bayada Home Health, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, Boston Senior Home Care, Caregiver Homes, Commonwealth Care Alliance, Core Health, Fallon Community Health Plan/Summit Eldercare & Navicare, Greater Boston Chinese Golden Age Center, Home Care Alliance of Massachusetts, Home Health Resources, Highland Valley Elder Services, LaSalle Health, Linda Cragin, Mass Association of Older Americans, MA Council for Home Care Aide Services, Midtown Home Health Services, Old Colony Elder Services, Tufts Health Plan, and United Health Care.

About OCES
Incorporated in 1974, Old Colony Elder Services is a private, non-profit corporation designated as one of 27 Aging Services Access Points (ASAPs) in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. OCES offers a number of programs to serve seniors, individuals with disabilities, their families and caregivers such as Family Caregiver Support; Adult Family Care; Supportive Housing; Nutrition; Money Management; Protective Services and Home Care.

OCES serves elders, individuals with disabilities, their families and caregivers in 23 communities in Southeastern Massachusetts: Abington, Avon, Bridgewater, Brockton, Carver, Duxbury, East Bridgewater, Easton, Halifax, Hanover, Hanson, Kingston, Lakeville, Marshfield, Middleboro, Pembroke, Plymouth, Plympton, Rockland, Stoughton, Wareham, West Bridgewater and Whitman.

The organization’s mission is to provide services that support the dignity and independence of elders by helping them maximize their quality of life; live safely and in good health; and, prevent unnecessary or premature institutionalization. For more information call (508) 584-1561 or visit the website at www.oldcolonyelderservices.org.

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A Second Home Care Wait List Starts Today – 1,100 seniors already waiting

As if 1,100 elders on the Enhanced Community Options Program (ECOP) wait list were not bad enough, Aging Services Access Points (ASAPs) were officially notified that a second wait list will be imposed beginning today.

Old Colony Elder Services (OCES) and 26 other ASAPs (non-profit agencies designated by the Executive Office of Elder Affairs, Commonwealth of Massachusetts to coordinate and provide the home care programs for elders) have been notified by the state that another home care wait list for basic services will begin March 1st. The cutback had been anticipated for some time.

This home care basic wait list comes on top of an existing wait list of 1,100 elders who need a higher level of support through the ECOP, which is a program for elders who are eligible for nursing home care, but can be helped to live at home. The new wait list is also on the heels of the FY13 budget proposed by Governor Deval Patrick which will cut 242,000 meals for elders.

According to an instruction released today by the Executive Office of Elder Affairs, elders with limited formal/informal supports and a critical unmet need of grocery shopping, along with elders who have a critical unmet need of meal preparation will not get into the home care program.

For OCES, the Brockton-based regional elder services agency serving seniors their families and caregivers throughout greater Brockton and Plymouth county, this latest cutback means an estimated 60 more elders will not receive services this year.

According to Diana DiGiorgi, OCES’ executive director, “OCES already has 47 elders on its ECOP wait list. In addition, the loss of funding in the meals program would mean that 12,000 fewer meals are delivered across our 23 communities next year.”

In January, the state estimated that it would cost $3.8 million additional in FY2012 to end the ECOP wait list. The basic home care program is currently $1.4 million in deficiency. By June of 2012, it is estimated that almost 1,200 elders will be on the basic home care wait list. That means 2,500 seniors could be waiting for home care and ECOP services by the close of this fiscal year.

Al Norman, executive director of Mass Home Care, said “Community based services like home care are saving state and federal taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars every year. Compared to 2001, the state has saved 3.6 million Medicaid-funded patient days in nursing homes, as more elders are diverted home instead.”

The Commonwealth has avoided an estimated $592 million this year through lowered institutional utilization. “This is the ‘home care dividend’ that should be invested back in community care,” Norman said.

There is no waiting list for nursing facility care in Massachusetts; in fact there is a 13% vacancy rate in nursing facilities. Adjusted for inflation, the state home care program has lost $23 million in funding since 2009, according to the Mass Budget & Policy Center.

“If we are squeezing down the home care program today, what are we going to say to the baby boomers when they need care in the future?” Norman asked. Today in Massachusetts, one in four households (653,103 households) has someone over the age of 65. 19% of the state’s population is over 60—and seniors are the fastest growing age group over the next twenty years.

“The Administration likes to say we are a ‘Community First’ state,” Norman concluded. “With these cuts, it looks like a ‘Wait First’ state.”

About OCES
Incorporated in 1974, Old Colony Elder Services is a private, non-profit corporation designated as one of 27 Aging Services Access Points (ASAPs) in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. OCES offers a number of programs to serve seniors, individuals with disabilities, their families and caregivers such as Family Caregiver Support; Adult Family Care; Supportive Housing; Nutrition; Money Management; Protective Services and Home Care.

OCES serves elders, their families and caregivers in 23 towns in Southeastern Massachusetts: Abington, Avon, Bridgewater, Brockton, Carver, Duxbury, East Bridgewater, Easton, Halifax, Hanover, Hanson, Kingston, Lakeville, Marshfield, Middleboro, Pembroke, Plymouth, Plympton, Rockland, Stoughton, Wareham, West Bridgewater and Whitman.

The organization’s mission is to provide services that support the dignity and independence of elders by helping them maximize their quality of life; live safely and in good health; and, prevent unnecessary or premature institutionalization. For more information call (508) 584-1561 or visit the website at www.oldcolonyelderservices.org.

A Second Home Care Wait List Starts Today – 1,100 seniors already waitingRead More

Old Colony Elder Services Staff Gives Back to Area’s Youth through Angel Tree

This holiday season, the staff at Old Colony Elder Services (OCES), the regional elder services agency serving seniors, their families and caregivers throughout greater Brockton and Plymouth county, is reaching out to the younger generation. They are “giving back” to the community’s youth by participating in the Salvation Army’s Angel Tree Program.

Staff members from the Brockton based elder services agency select gift tags which list the first name and age of each child, and then they fulfill children’s holiday wishes by purchasing the suggested gifts.

Last year OCES provided more than 50 gifts to the area’s children. For more information about the Salvation Army’s Angel Tree program visit www.salvationarmyusa.org.

About OCES
Incorporated in 1974, Old Colony Elder Services is a private, non-profit corporation designated as one of 27 Aging Services Access Points (ASAPs) in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. OCES offers a number of programs to serve seniors, individuals with disabilities, their families and caregivers such as Family Caregiver Support; Adult Family Care; Supportive Housing; Nutrition; Money Management; Protective Services and Home Care.

OCES serves elders, their families and caregivers in 23 towns in Southeastern Massachusetts:
Abington, Avon, Bridgewater, Brockton, Carver, Duxbury, East Bridgewater, Easton, Halifax, Hanover, Hanson, Kingston, Lakeville, Marshfield, Middleboro, Pembroke, Plymouth, Plympton, Rockland, Stoughton, Wareham, West Bridgewater and Whitman.

The organization’s mission is to provide services that support the dignity and independence of elders by helping them maximize their quality of life; live safely and in good health; and, prevent unnecessary or premature institutionalization. OCES has 157 employees. For more information call (508) 584-1561 or visit the website at www.oldcolonyelderservices.org
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240K HUD Grant Awarded to Old Colony Elder Services

Old Colony Elder Services (OCES) the Brockton based regional elder services agency serving seniors, their families and caregivers throughout greater Brockton and Plymouth county, is one of five agencies that has been awarded the Resident Opportunities and Supportive Services (ROSS) federal grant.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban development has developed the ROSS program to link public housing residents who are elderly or who have disabilities with supportive services and education designed to ensure self-sufficiency needed for independent living. The $240,000 ROSS grant will be disbursed to OCES over the next three years.

“We’re very pleased to receive the ROSS grant. OCES is one of only three non-profit agencies nationally to receive this special grant that links elderly and disabled public housing residents with supportive services they need to maintain independent living,” said Diana DiGiorgi, OCES’ Executive Director.

The ROSS grant will allow for full time OCES staff coverage at Northfield and Highcliff housing sites in Plymouth. Supportive Housing Programs exist at each of the Plymouth Housing Authority’s five housing sites: Northfield, Cherry Hill, Southfield, High Cliffs and Castle Court. Each site serves more than 100 elders.

The additional staff at Northfield and Highcliff will further increase collaboration among service providers and ensure that residents’ needs are met. The goal of Supportive Housing is to meet individual needs by providing services that are aimed at educating and empowering residents which will ultimately support the prevention of premature institutionalization. Some of the educational programs that will be offered focus on financial literacy, credit counseling, chronic disease self management and emergency preparedness training.

For more information, contact Nicole Welch, Program Development Manager at OCES
(508) 584-1561 extension 249.

About OCES
Incorporated in 1974, Old Colony Elder Services is a private, non-profit corporation designated as one of 27 Aging Services Access Points (ASAPs) in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. OCES offers a number of programs to serve seniors, individuals with disabilities, their families and caregivers such as Family Caregiver Support; Adult Family Care; Supportive Housing; Nutrition; Money Management; Protective Services and Home Care.

OCES serves elders, their families and caregivers in 23 towns in Southeastern Massachusetts:
Abington, Avon, Bridgewater, Brockton, Carver, Duxbury, East Bridgewater, Easton, Halifax, Hanover, Hanson, Kingston, Lakeville, Marshfield, Middleboro, Pembroke, Plymouth, Plympton, Rockland, Stoughton, Wareham, West Bridgewater and Whitman.

The organization’s mission is to provide services that support the dignity and independence of elders by helping them maximize their quality of life; live safely and in good health; and, prevent unnecessary or premature institutionalization.

In 2009, OCES was honored with the Metro-South Chamber of Commerce’s “Economic Impact Award”. The agency has 157 employees. For more information call (508) 584-1561 or visit the website at www.oldcolonyelderservices.org

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Old Colony Elder Services Launches Supportive Housing Program in Plymouth

Old Colony Elder Services (OCES), a non-profit Aging Services Access Point (ASAP) with main offices in Brockton has launched a Supportive Housing Program in Plymouth that provides supportive services to senior residents enabling them to live longer in the community and preventing premature institutionalization.

OCES (http://www.oldcolonyelderservices.org) has a longstanding relationship with the Plymouth Housing Authority (PHA) which manages five different housing sites: Northfield, Cherry Hill, Southfield, High Cliffs and Castle Court. OCES has incorporated the Supportive Housing Program at each site and currently serves over 100 elders in these buildings. Each building offers community rooms and a kitchen. Northfield is also a congregate meal site and serves meals at noon Monday through Friday (except on holidays). Every resident is eligible for the Supportive Housing Program.

Maura Shepard is the Supportive Housing Specialist (SHS) for all Plymouth locations and is on-site at Northfield. Shepard is responsible for overseeing the Supportive Housing program which includes organizing and implementing various structured social, educational and recreational programs as indicated through a resident needs assessment and through the provision of care management. These services are meant to encourage and build a community atmosphere among the residents. A “Falls Prevention” class has already been offered and there are plans for other programs including nutrition, money management, caregiving and chronic disease management throughout the summer and fall.

Shepard also serves as a liaison between the senior residents and the PHA, home care agencies providing care, OCES’ Care Managers and resident families; this helps ensure that seniors are linked to the specific supportive services that are needed in order for them to remain safe and independent in their homes and maintain their dignity.

“The Supportive Housing program is a win-win. We’re very fortunate to have the support of the Plymouth Housing Authority and partnerships with a variety of community based resources. We’ve had a good response from residents and they are very comfortable with the program,” noted Diana L. DiGiorgi, Executive Director of OCES.

To learn more about the Plymouth Supportive Housing Program, contact Maura Shepard at OCES at 508-746-9750.

About OCES
Incorporated in 1974, Old Colony Elder Services (OCES) is one of 27 private, non-profit Aging Services Access Points (ASAPs) in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

OCES offers a number of programs to serve seniors, families and caregivers such as Family Caregiver; Caring Homes and Enhanced Adult Family Care; Supportive Housing; Nutrition; Money Management; Protective Services; Home Care and more.

OCES serves elders, their families and caregivers in the towns of Abington, Avon, Bridgewater, Brockton, Carver, Duxbury, East Bridgewater, Easton, Halifax, Hanover, Hanson, Kingston, Lakeville, Marshfield, Middleboro, Pembroke, Plymouth, Plympton, Rockland, Stoughton, Wareham, West Bridgewater and Whitman.

The organization’s mission is to provide services that support the dignity and independence of elders by helping them maximize their quality of life; live safely and in good health; and, prevent
unnecessary or premature institutionalization.

The agency has 130 employees and operates more than 12 programs serving elders, their families and caregivers.  For more information call (508) 584-1561 or visit the website at www.oldcolonyelderservices.org.

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