By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
Loss of memory has a way of shrinking worlds – both for the people experiencing those losses and for their families.
Families caring for their loved ones at home have few care options, especially since the COVID pandemic, according to Salli Bollin, executive director of MemoryLane Care Services.
The non-profit agency serves older adults with memory issues and their caregivers – offering adult day services in Toledo. The facility is the only provider of day services in this region, Bollin said.
Local families needing adult day services currently have to drive as far as Toledo to get them. There is no facility in Wood County for older adults with memory or cognitive issues who need supervision during the day.
The Wood County Committee on Aging is working with Bollin to change that. The new senior center in Bowling Green was designed with an area dedicated to adult day services.
Bollin explained the services offered by MemoryLane on Wednesday to the Wood County Committee on Aging Board.
The program serves both the person with memory issues and their families, she said. The older adults are offered socialization and care, and the caregivers are offered respite and support.
The seniors receiving care qualify for nursing home services, Bollin explained. But they and their caregivers want them to stay with family.
“They are living at home because that’s where they want to be,” she said.
MemoryLane allows that to happen, she said.
“They come to get out and be with people because their lives have really shrunk,” Bollin said. Memory Lane is there “at a time in their lives when life is really hard,” she added.
The COVID pandemic has resulted in more than half of the adult day facilities in Ohio closing, according to Bollin. That means families have to drive even further to drop off loved ones for services. She told of a man who drives to Toledo from Findlay to get services for his wife.
“It breaks my heart” that he has to make that long trek, Bollin said.
The facility is open 10 hours a day, providing socialization, activities, meals and nursing services. Personal care is provided, including assistance eating, going to the restroom and taking a shower.
“We just want them to have a good day,” Bollin said. “It’s our honor and privilege to care for them.”
The program offers a safe living environment, where families don’t have to worry about their loved one leaving the house or leaving the stove on. There are opportunities for meaningful engagement and activities that meet their abilities and interests, she said.
“It might take us two weeks to do what used to take two hours,” but it allows the person to engage in activities they enjoy, Bollin said.
Studies show that people in adult day services experience improved cognition, feel engaged with their community, have fewer behavioral issues, and have fewer emergency room visits, she said.
The need for such services is growing as more older adults have long term care needs, as smaller family sizes mean fewer care options, as home care options become more limited, and as more caregivers try to remain in the workforce.
Caregivers also benefit, Bollin stressed.
“We might be the only break they get,” so they can take care of their own needs.
The adult day service facility in Toledo has been in operation since 1993. The center has served as many as 52 people a day, but since COVID is averaging about 25 a day now.
The site at the Wood County Senior Center in Bowling Green has the capacity to serve 22 people a day.
“We built that suite specifically for that,” Denise Niese, executive director of the Wood County Committee on Aging, said last month of the room designed for adults with cognitive issues brought on by dementia, strokes or head injuries.
The area has a separate entrance, a sensory room to give seniors a break from others, and an outdoor patio.
“This will allow caregivers to have a break – for respite or for work,” Niese said.
The senior center will provide the space and pay for utilities, while MemoryLane Care Services will provide staffing and materials, Niese said.
“It’s a true collaboration,” she said of the adult day service program.
Earlier this spring, Wood County residents were surveyed to gauge the level of need for adult day services.
“MemoryLane was surprised at the number of responses they got,” Niese said.
“We need to do something to get adult day services open,” she said last month.
But the opening hinges on funding, which is limited for such services, Bollin said. The Toledo facility relies on funding from Lucas County and the state.
The cost of providing the service is about $100 a day per person. Medicare does not pay for adult day care, Bollin said. The facility accepts Medicaid payments, long-term care policies, private pay, and has a contract with the VA. The typical payment for families is about a third of the $100 daily cost, Bollin said.
Once open, the adults using the service will share in the congregate lunches at the senior center, and a pilot program may be set up to provide grab-n-go dinners for caregivers to take home when they pick up their loved one.
