Staying Power
Many Resources are Available When There’s No Place Like Home BY JULIE FANSELOW
I
t often makes sense to move to a smaller, lowmaintenance abode and have a simpler lifestyle as we get older. Esti Mintz found her just-right place in a condo near University Village in Seattle. “I bought it even before they dug the hole,” she recalls. Mintz, who has multiple sclerosis and uses a wheelchair, was able to refine the design of her brand-new dwelling so it was more accessible, and she has lived there happily since 2002. Yet after a bad fall three years ago, Mintz faced a sudden end to her career at Microsoft and a long stay in a rehabilitation center. She could have stayed there or chosen another assisted living home, “but I have my own place,” she says. “All I wanted was to come home.” She researched the possibilities and chose Family Resource Home Care as a way to remain independent in the place she loves. Home care is different from home health care, which is short-term, physician-ordered, Medicare-reimbursed care that usually follows a specific event like a stroke or surgery. Often, potential recipients or their adult children aren’t aware of home health care benefits, so Sheila McKannay of Family Resource Home Care always advises clients to ask about those benefits first. By contrast, home care is non-skilled assistance, from personal care and light housekeeping to medication reminders, companionship, and respite care for family
32
3rd Act magazine | spring 2018
members. Many home care clients get help for a just few hours a week. The service can be especially helpful for busy families and for out-of-town relatives who want to be sure their loved one is eating well and taking needed medications. Medicare does not reimburse for home care, which typically costs between $25 and $40 an hour in Western Washington if arranged via a licensed agency. (Among other things, home care agencies do background checks on their caregivers, handle tax and liability issues, and provide backup care.) Washington state does have programs to help people who medically and financially qualify for in-home assistance. Moudy Remlinger arrives every weekday morning to help Mintz get out of bed and shower. In the three hours they have together, Remlinger also tidies up the place and prepares meals that Mintz can eat later in the day. Sometimes, the two women make food together—or, as Mintz puts it, “I look and she cooks.” Another caregiver, Ghrmawit Berhane, arrives in the evening to help Mintz get to bed. “It’s been much easier than I expected to accept help,” says Mintz. “I thought it would be really hard, but I feel good about it.” “Esti is easygoing,” says Remlinger, who was named the Washington Home Care Association’s Caregiver of the www.3rdActMag.com