Medical Foster Homes are private homes in which trained caregivers provide services to a few residents. The VA inspects and approves all of the Medical Foster Homes and they are a great alternative to nursing homes. While some veterans may require nursing-home care, others prefer a non-institutional setting with fewer residents. The Medical Foster Homes have a trained caregiver on duty 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. These caregivers help the veterans carry out their daily living activities, such as bathing, dressing, taking their medication, etc. The VA ensures that all of the caregivers are well-trained to provide the VA planned care. All of the caregivers must pass a very rigorous and stringent background check that includes numerous investigations, including a FBI background check. Veterans living in a Medical Foster Home receive home-based primary care services and a VA medical home team, consisting of a social worker, dietician, nurse, and other specialty areas as needed, visit the home to care for the veterans. More than 1,700 veterans have been assisted at 84 sites or regions throughout the nation in this program. “There is such a need in this area for Medical Foster Homes,” says Pati. “Living in a comfortable and happy family-style environment with home-cooked meals, recreational activities, and having close relationships between the residents and the caregivers provides a more traditional family lifestyle, which can be very therapeutic in itself.” Tiffany Love, the Medical Foster Home Coordinator at the VA in Temple previously worked with veterans in a VA nursing unit. “We always had veterans who did not want to live in an institutional style home, yet they did not have the financial means to live in any of the private homes or facilities that were available. So I became very interested in this national program,” says Tiffany. “My dream is to have a Medical Foster Home in every county of our region, and I hope we do within the next 12 months. It is very important for our veterans to be able to stay apart of the community they are affiliated to and consider it their home.”
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April 2013 Tex Appeal