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BY SALLIE MORGAN
Rappahannock Newi Contributing Writer
Where would you turn for help if you needed to arrange for the care of your elderly parents who live in another state? Or, if you were 84 years i old with failing sight and severe arthritis, where would you look for help in caring for your spouse after major surgery? Who might you ask for guidance in responding to an overpayment notice from Social Security or in comparing Medigap Insurance policies?
Many times folks are so confused about what services are available, where to go to enroll and who’s eligible for what, that they just don’t know where to start when they need help coping with a problem or series of problems. One of the most important things an area agency on aging offers to the community is one central place where older persons and their families can come to get help and information.
In Planning District 9, the Rappahannock-Rapidan Community Services Center provides a comprehensive array of Aging Services similar to Area Agencies on Aging which are separate entities in other Virginia localities. Staff of the Center’s aging programs are familiar with all resources in the community and can provide access to both the services they offer directly and to those provided by other organizations.
Rappahannock-Rapidan Community Services Center staff known as Senior Advocates, who are trained in social work and paralegal skills, respond to a wide range of requests for assistance. Sometimes information and/or referral is all that is required to meet the request, for example, providing a listing of local pharmacies that make deliveries to homebound individuals. In other cases, the advocate may need to visit an older person’s home to make a full assessment of their problems and resources.
A typical referral might come from a hospital social worker, letting the Center know that an older man is coming home from the hospital after nuyor surgery. The only caregiver at home might be his elderly wife. Since the hospital social worker hasn’t seen the home itself, the advocate does a functional assessment in the home setting, asking questions such as: Does the couple have adequate heat, running water, too many steps for the husband to climb? What can the husband do for himself? What does he need help with, what is he absolutely unable to
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