Photo: Fairfax County via Flickr
At least a dozen states compel family caregivers to provide unpaid assistance to qualify for Medicaid-funded home and community based services (HCBS), according to a report from the elder advocacy group Justice in Aging. The report features cases from the state of Florida in which there was a denial of benefits for needy elders, regardless of the caregiver’s employment hours or need for weekend respite care. Continue reading
Providing mentally ill older adults with home based services can be logistically daunting and expensive. However, a study in the March 3 issue of The American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry found 10 long-standing programs that the authors say can serve as successful models for other communities.
Being homebound is a significant barrier to the detection of mental health problems and mental health services delivery. A growing number of communities are developing programs designed to improve the identification, treatment, and ongoing care of mental health problems in homebound older adults, according to authors Burton V. Reifler, M.D., and Martha L. Bruce, Ph.D. Many can benefit from successful models that have proven effective over years, or decades.
About 10 percent of the 40 million people over age 65 are considered homebound and require home-based care. Homebound older adults are twice as likely to be suffer from depression and other mental disorders as their community dwelling counterparts. Inadequately treated or undiagnosed mental health problems can lead to poorer medical outcomes, greater functional limitations, increased social problems and increased risk of premature death. It also leads to higher rates of health care use and premature institutionalization. Continue reading
