By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
The new Wood County Senior Center in Bowling Green was built with an area designed to provide day care for older adults. But more than two years later, the rooms are still empty.
The need is there – but the funding is not – yet.
But representatives of the Wood County Committee on Aging and of MemoryLane Care Services remain hopeful. On Friday afternoon, MemoryLane officials – who will be staffing the adult day care – were measuring up the space to plan the proper furnishings.
“There’s a lot that needs to be put in place to get a center running,” said Salli Bollin, executive director of MemoryLane Care Services.
And there are a lot of people in need of such services in Wood County, according to Denise Niese, executive director of the Wood County Committee on Aging.
The program is designed to serve both the person with memory issues and their families, Bollin said. The older adults are offered socialization and care, and the caregivers are offered respite and support.
Loss of memory has a way of shrinking the worlds of older adults.
“This is a great alternative for them. They can get out, see people and do things,” Bollin said.
But since COVID, the programs to serve seniors with memory loss have been shrinking as well. Nearly half of the adult day care facilities in Ohio have closed and not reopened since COVID hit, Niese said.
Last year, Ohio legislators earmarked $8 million for the start or restart of adult day care programs. But the money has yet to make it to the programs.
Niese is frustrated that the delayed funding from the Ohio Department of Aging, which appears stuck at the Ohio Office of Budget and Management, has meant the room built for memory care services has gone unused for that purpose at the new senior center in Bowling Green.
“We built that suite specifically for that,” Niese said 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, a shower in case of bathroom accidents, and an outdoor patio with a fence around it.
Families caring for their loved ones at home have few care options, according to Bollin.
The non-profit MemoryLane provides adult day services in Toledo. The facility is the only provider of day services in this region, Bollin said. 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 has been working with MemoryLane Care Services to secure funding for a local program. The goal is to operate a program five days a week, Bollin said.
“That’s definitely the hope,” she said.
The program would provide a safe place for people with memory issues to spend their days. And it would help their families who are trying to keep them at home.
“This will allow caregivers to have a break – for respite or for work,” Niese 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.
Adult day centers provide caregivers with a much-needed break, allow them to continue working and attend to their own needs while giving individuals with memory loss an opportunity to socialize, receive care and participate in programming within a safe, supportive atmosphere.
The senior center will provide the space and pay for utilities, while MemoryLane Care Services will provide staffing and materials. The program will be licensed to serve 22 adults at a time.
Last year, MemoryLane conducted a survey of Wood County residents to gauge the level of need for adult day services.
“MemoryLane was surprised at the number of responses they got,” Niese said.
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.
The seniors receiving care qualify for nursing home services, Bollin explained. But they and their caregivers want them to stay with family. MemoryLane allows that to happen, she said.
The facility at the Wood County Senior Center in Bowling Green would provide socialization, activities, meals and nursing services. Personal care would be provided, including assistance eating, going to the restroom and showering. The program would offer a safe living environment, where families don’t have to worry about their loved one leaving the house or leaving the stove on.
Plus 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, Bollin said.
