Housing & Facilities
Health & Insurance
- AccentCare "Expert assistance with caregiving needs." Providing a wide range of quality personal in-home care options to enable seniors to live at home independently.
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WebMD Got health questions? WebMD, is a one stop source for health and wellness on the Web. Peruse our library. Ask our health professionals. Chat with
others.
Long Term Care
- Longtermcarewis.com An online eldercare sourcebook -- extensive! Includes advice and faq's for all levels of insurance as well.
- ElderWeb Very extensive long term care site.
Wills, Living Wills, Planning
Miscellaneous Support Services
Northwest Senior Resources
Federal Resources
WADSA Workshops
Washington Adult Day Services Association (WADSA), Washington´s coalition of adult day centers, offers affordable workshops to family caregivers and eldercare workers. Workshops address a variety of topics and provide practical information that will help with the real-world challenges and joys of caring for elders and people with disabilities.
Upcoming workshops include:
- 5 Wishes: A Holistic Living Will: Learn about a creative living will tool that encourages active reflection and discussion about one´s wishes for care at the end of life. Wednesday, October 19, 10:00 am - 12:00 Noon
- From Problems to Solutions: Using solution-focused brief therapy approaches in working with people with traumatic brain injuries. Thursday, November 3, 1:00 - 4:00 pm
The workshops will be held at various locations in Seattle. Discounts are available for family caregivers. To register, visit www.adultday.org or call 206-461- 3899.
Early Stage Memory Loss Seminars
Alzheimer´s Association has announced its upcoming Early Stage Memory Loss Seminars for those new to memory loss problems. The 9 week sessions will be held at Northshore Senior Center, October 11 - December 6 from 1:00 to 3:00 pm.
Topics covered include living with memory loss, improving quality of life, developing coping skills, how to manage changes in personal relationships, preparing for the future, how to access programs and services and more. Pre-registration is required and space is limited. Contact the Alzheimer.s Association at 206-363-5500 or 1-800-848-7097.
Making Sense of Medicare: Medicare Expands Program to Improve Nursing Home Quality
By Pam Negri Public Affairs Specialist Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Region 10
Selecting a nursing home for you or a loved one may just have become easier. All too often, decisions about which nursing home to choose are made under difficult circumstances without a lot of information about the quality of care in a particular facility. Now consumers in every state have a wealth of information available at their fingertips about the quality of care in Medicare and Medicaid certified nursing homes.
The Nursing Home Quality Initiative, launched by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, provides data designed to help consumers across the United States make more educated decisions when selecting a nursing home. Caregivers can obtain copies of state nursing home inspection reports, review staffing and affordability information, and compare newly released quality measures such as a nursing home´s prevalence of bedsores, pain, physical restraints, and infections among their resident population.
Quality Improvement Organizations (QIOs) like Qualis Health, which serves Washington, Idaho, and Alaska, and OMPRO, which serves Oregon, are contracted with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to collect and publish data to help consumers make decisions about nursing homes. Another key component of the quality initiative is the information and consultation that QIOs will offer skilled nursing homes in every state to improve the quality of patient care.
The seven-month pilot project confirmed that targeted quality improvement initiatives do indeed improve the quality of care. One of the major indicators of quality evaluated was pain management. Did the pilot result in any changes that eased the pain of residents? In Washington state, for example, significant improvements were noted in several nursing homes which worked with Qualis Health: Tacoma Lutheran Home, Parkway Nursing Home in Snohomish, Everett Rehabilitation and Care Center, and Cascade Vista Convalescent Center in Redmond.
Using the Nursing Home Compare tool on www.medicare.gov, or by calling 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227), consumers will be able to compare specific nursing homes to others in the community or nation on 10 different quality measures. The measures fall into two categories - six for chronic care patients (long-term residents) and four for post-acute care patients (short-term residents). Among the measures are percent of residents: Who need more help doing daily activities. Who have pain. Who have bedsores.
We recommend that these quality measures should be one tool among many that consumers use. Checking with state and local ombudsman offices, visiting the nursing homes, and reading the publication, A Guide to Choosing a Nursing Home, are also good tools to use when looking for a nursing home for yourself, a family member, or friend. The quality data, publication, and findings from yearly on-site inspections and complaint investigations by State Survey Agencies are available at Medicare´s consumer friendly Web site www.medicare.gov or by calling the 24-hour help line, 1-800-MEDICARE.
Help and Support for People Caring for Loved Ones
Taking care of someone with a disabilty can be a full-time job. And like any job, it also requires time for rest and relaxation. The Seattle-King county Respite Care Program gives people a much needed break from the daily routines of caregiving. Whether caregivers need a few hours to visit the doctor, do errands or simply take a break, the program can help. The respite Care Program can also provide services when the caregiver is in need of a vacation or is recovering from an illness.
Specially trained substitute caregivers will provide companionship, supervision and assistance with the activities of daily living like dressing, eating or walking. The program can also assist with tasks that require special skills or professional licenses such as personal care, lifting, turning, etc.
Several types of respite care are available:
- In-home or in an adult day care program, adult family home or nursing home
- Hourly or 24-hour care
- Planned or emergency services
- Special services appropriate to persons with Alzheimer's disease or other related illness.
To be eligible for the Respite Care services, you must be:
- 18 years or older caring for a person with a disability who is 18 years or older
- the primary caregiver
- unpaid for your caregiving
The cost of the program is based on the income of the person receiving care. People with low incomes receive the service at no cost, and a sliding-fee scale determines the amount for those with higher incomes.
The Seattle-King County Respite Program is administered by Aging & Disability Services. For more information or to request respite services, please call Senior Information and Assistance at (206) 448-3110 or 1-800-972-9990.
From the June 2001 ACCESS Newsletter with permission.
Seniors in Motion
offers in-home consultations
to senior citizens to determine if mobility
equipment is needed. The organization provides
equipment to help individuals stay in their
own home and care for themselves. Includes
manual and power wheelchairs, walkers, scooters
and rollators. Call 1-800-594-1225
Here are some Senior Numbers
- AARP: 206 526-7918
- El Centro de LaRaza: 206 329-9442
- King County Aging and Disability Services: 206 684-0699
- Gray Panthers of Seattle: 206 5236865
- National Asian Center on Aging: 206 624-1221
- Older Women's League: 206 325-3548
- Puget Sound Counsel of Senior Citizens: 206 448-9646
- Seattle Indian Commision (Senior Prog): 206 329-6594
If you know of a senior organization that should be listed here, please let us know. Phone: 206-406-2298 or