Long Term Care Community
“Long term care community” is an umbrella term for financial plans, facilities, agencies, people, institutions and policies that work with adults who need assistance in daily living. Adult day services is one of several community-based ways of caring for adults who are not in residential facilities, such as, nursing homes or assisted living residences. National and state organizations keep us informed of policies and research that affect access to and regulation of adult day centers.
Community-based care programs help people who are aging in place, living with relatives or friends or in independent living arrangements. Care would include informal care: relatives, friends and neighbors who help a person without any formal compensation; and formal care: agencies, programs and people who are compensated in some manner and have received training to help in a person’s home or in a place like adult day services.
Much has been done in both the private and public sectors to increase access to community-based care for two reasons: (1) people want to continue living at home or with relatives as long as possible, and (2) the first wave of Baby Boomers is now age 63 and will need more and more of these programs over the next 20 to 40 years.
In the New River Valley of Southwest Virginia, many organizations and services are available to help a family care for loved ones. Virginia Tech’s Adult Day Services Center maintains professional relations with many of these groups to better serve the participants at our center and the residents of the New River Valley.
New River Valley Agency on Aging is a central information source for our valley residents at 540/980-7720. Agencies on Aging were mandated by the Older American’s Act in 1960 to be established everywhere in the United States. They currently blanket the nation, including Native American Reservations, and provide services designed to best help the residents of their area.
Some other groups serving a wider population include:
Alzheimer’s Association at http://alz.org
National Family Cargivers Association at http://www.thefamilycaregiver.org/
National Alliance for Caregiving at http://www.caregiver.org
National Clearinghouse for Long Term Care at http://www.longtermcare.gov