OHIO ELDER LAW BLAWG

VA Will Pay To Remodel Some Vets Homes To Allow Aging in Place

A benefit called the Home Improvements and Structural Alterations (HISA) program , will allow certain veterans with or without service-connected disabilities to receive assistance for home improvement that is necessary to accommodate disability in the home. A benefit of up to $4,200 for home improvement projects to aid with disability are available if the Vet qualifies.

Veterans who are on Medicaid or receiving pension with aid and attendance or housebound ratings (commonly referred to as the VA Benefit for Aid & Attendance) may receive these grants under current regulation. Also very low income -- means tested veterans -- may also receive the grant.

Examples of what HISA WILL pay for:

* Restructuring to allow entrance or exit from the veteran's house
* Improving access for use of essential bathroom.  This would include things like accessible showers, sinks, grab bars, etc.
* Improving access to kitchen counters
* Refitting Electrical outlets and switches for accessability
* Improving paths or driveways to obtain access
*Improving plumbing/electrical work to allow treatment

Generally the home improvement benefits of up to $4,100 may be provided to service-connected veterans and $1,200 may be provided to nonservice-connected veterans.

About One Third of Americans Assume Caregiver Role

A new study puts the number of Americans caring for a relative at 65 million people, or about a third of the population. Roughly 70 percent care for someone over 50. More info is available at www.caregiver.org

Aging Well: Respite and Support is Necessary for Caregivers

I am not sure how many times a month I have to caution my clients who have spouses with chronic illnesses about caregiver stress, but its not enough because invariable a few times a year I know someone who succumbs to it.

Usually it takes the form of a spouse who is loving and dedicated to their husband or wife, and insists on caring for them at home without break or interruption, and without any consideration of themselves and their own health.  Sometimes this works out fine, while other times it ends up with the caregiver being injured or ill due to their role as caregiver.

In this latter case, both often end up in nursing facilities, one spouse because of their chronic illness, the other due to injuries from trying to do too much.

Often families believe that they cannot afford to have help in the home, or support services. Others don't want the bother of hiring someone to get a break.  There is also fear of having a new person in the house, and of course trust issues come up, not only for a loved one's safety, but also trust concerns about privacy and personal property.

There are estimated to be over 50 million people care for chronically ill, disabled or elderly members of the family each year, according to a survey by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. These caregivers are at a higher risk for depression, anxiety, and their own chronic conditions than non-caregivers.

The good news is that the risk of illness among caregivers has helped create a wide variety of support services. Among these are programs that care for older adults are respite services, home care services, and adult day care services which can give a much needed break to family caregivers.

My hope is to help clients balance their own drive for independence and the need for assistance, and determine how to obtain and pay for any services that might be required.  The right balance will help maintain a safe home life, and hopefully avoid unnecessary illness or injury to anyone in the family.

Future of Aging in Place?

A model home is currently on display at the American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging (www.aahsa.org) Annual Meeting & Exposition in Chicago.  Called the "Idea House," it features recent developments in universal design and technology which is intended to improve older people's quality of life.  Additionally, the hope is that staying at home will reduce health care costs, encouraging healthy behavior change, safety, and cargiver support.

More than 90 percent of the products on display at the AAHSA Idea House are on the market today. More are coming. Product highlights include:

• A medication dispenser to automatically organize, remind, dispense and monitor medication use. Pharmacies can even be notified when refills are needed!

• Electronic distribution of medical records to doctors, family members and caregivers.  I have clients whose families have to struggle to get information to properly care for their aging relative. Medical record distribution would enable family to timely respond to problems that might otherwise be missed.

• Automatic personal emergency response systems, including fall detection We are seeing improvement in these devices, and fall detection is an interesting addition.  It is hard to imagine, but these falls in the home can be terribly debilitating.  A recent client of mine died shortly after getting treatment because she fell and spent several days on the floor, which led to dehydration and muscle atrophy and contractures.  An ERS might have avoided her from suffering in such a way.

• A peephole system that puts the image of the person outside your door on an LCD screen large enough that you can actually see who it is!

• Hybrid Assistive Limb (HAL), a wearable robotic suit that increases a person's strength by reading the wearer's bio-electric signals. The suit responds to the wearer's movement by engaging robotic limbs strapped to a person's arms and legs. Stroke patients may be able to walk and nurses and therapists have extra strength to move individuals who need assistance.

• Height-adjustable kitchen and bath appliances.

• A Sleep Monitoring System that monitors the quality of a person's sleep, such as breathing and heart rate to enable caregivers to detect sleep-related markers of disease, like urinary tract infections and depression, earlier.

It will be interesting in the coming years to see the adaptation of technological discovery into the daily lives of the aging and disabled. 

For more information, visit the ASHAA website.

-Todd Bartimole