CARE GUIDE: Community Support
Community Services foster friendships, create lasting experiences for the young and old and reduce feelings of isolation. These services include the following:
Adult Day Service
This service is for frail older adults and adults with acquired brain injury and Alzheimer's Disease. It provides supervised activities to help them achieve and maintain their highest capacity for functioning and to prevent premature and inappropriate institutionalization. This service also provides respite and support for their caregivers. Services include transportation, meals, supervision, social and recreational activities, personal care, counseling and minor health care. [Top]
Alzheimer/Dementia Overnight Service
This is an adult day service that provides overnight accommodation, supervision, meals and activities for adults with Alzheimer's Disease and other progressive cognitive disorders and related dementias. [Top]
Friendly Visiting
A support service that matches a volunteer with an isolated older or physically disabled adult living in their home for friendly visits on a regular basis. These visits are generally to the client's home, but volunteers may also do some shopping on behalf of the client or accompany them on errands or social events outside the home. Personal interviews with volunteers and clients are conducted to ensure mutually satisfying relationships. [Top]
Intergenerational Program
This program is designed to facilitate health relationships between young people and older adults, people with disabilities and those with special needs. Older adults may volunteer in elementary schools to meet with children and demonstrate a variety of creative activities. Teenagers may assist older adults in such activities as running errands, accompanying them while shopping or visiting with them. [Top]
Social and Recreational Services
This service provides social recreational activities such as swimming, cards and crafts.[Top]
Transportation
This support service provides transportation for medical appointments, social programs and activities and errands such as shopping or banking. Agency staff or volunteers use private cars, agency vehicles and public transit to provide transportation. Clients may also be assisted in walking to destinations. Individuals eligible for this service must meet the following criteria:
- They are unable to access public transportation because of short or long-term physical limitations such as heart disease and arthritis
- They need to be escorted due to frailty or cognitive impairment
- Parallel transit is not available or the individual does not meet the eligibility criteria
- Friends and relatives are not available or unable to provide transportation
- They are unable to access other forms of transportation due to financial reasons
There are a number of care options available
from community agencies. Select one of the following for information
about these options: