LAKE COUNTY >> “The surrounding counties don”t have anything like this,” explained Caroline Denny, director of the Elder Day Services program in Lucerne.
The non-profit adult day program, located in Clearlake, Middletown and Lucerne, is not funded by Medicare. It”s not a health day program. They don”t give out medications and it”s not a place for the extremely ill. But what is offered is a 6 hour a day, once or twice a week social day program, promising to provide care and a judgment-free space for seniors who face social isolation due to a dementia-causing illness.
Jenny Johnson, director of the Clearlake and Middletown programs, said, “The program provides a person that has an illness with socialization in a secure environment so that they can be themselves.” The program allows its participants, or club members as they”re sometimes called, to engage in new and stimulating activities. “They can go home to their families and talk to them about something,” said Denny.
“They”re enjoying a day out at the club,” she laughed. “That”s what we call it, the club.”
Activities are aimed individually towards a participant”s needs and enjoyment, as every person who enrolls in the program suffers from varying levels of cognitive loss. Some participants are in the early stages of Alzheimer”s, while others have far more progressed conditions. For a minimum of 30 minutes every day, participants follow along with chair and stretching exercises. They partake in table games and enjoy singing to help strengthen their lungs. Each morning is filled with light snacks, fresh fruit, hot chocolate and tea, while a full meal is served every lunchtime.
The directors care deeply about making the program as much of a social time as possible, bringing in a great deal of outside entertainment. Singers, guitar players and even a line dancing group perform each week to the delight of the participants. It”s an impressive operation, with fully committed staff and volunteers, no doubt helping to greatly improve the lives of the club members.
But Elder Day Services does more than just provide care for seniors; the program gives an exceptional amount of support and respite to stressed caregivers. They can enroll their loved ones in the program, which gives them free time to tend to those activities that their jobs don”t leave much room for, such as visiting friends, cleaning house or simply doing some laundry.
“What I like to see is the importance of the caregiver,” said Denny. “They need to have free time. They need a break and need to be able to talk to each other. They need to be shown how to cope and how to manage their situation.”
Furthering their commitment to provide an unparalleled amount of assistance for caregivers, the program offers support groups four times throughout the month for these individuals. The groups are extremely welcoming, open to both caregivers involved in the program, and those in the larger community who may feel overwhelmed or in need of a little TLC.
Denny explained that the program seeks to help caregivers understand that the difficulties they and their loved ones face is the fault of the dementia, not of the person suffering. “After physicians eliminate any other causes for memory loss, they go to saying it”s Alzheimer”s, and that”s something that can be corrected,” said Denny. “Hopefully the doctor will look to the caregiver and say, ”What can we do for him or her?” Its important to give the caregiver whatever support you can.”
Elder Day Services owes much of its success to the hard working people who take time out of their days to help provide the care and companionship participants depend on. Johnson has an exceptional amount of gratitude for the volunteers. “We couldn”t run the program without volunteers. They”re friends with the people who come. They talk to them and play games with them.”
Denny agreed, commenting that volunteers go to great lengths to ensure that they don”t have any doctor, dentist or other personal appointments during their volunteer hours. “We have wonderful, committed volunteers. We couldn”t do this program without them. I can”t speak highly enough of them.”
The program costs $35 per day, but Denny is adamant that no one will be turned away due to an inability to pay. The program holds fundraisers, and scholarships are available for those who feel Elder Day Services poses too much of a financial cost. The program itself also benefits from grant money to offset some expenses. The Clearlake and Middletown programs receive funds from the Redwood Health District, and all three of the programs gain financing from numerous organizations such as The Area Agency on Aging, the Beulah Older Adult Grant Fund through United Methodists Women and Thrivent Financial for Women.
The 14 year old program continues to gain momentum, and with more funding and exposure, Denny and Johnson expect their numbers to increase. Clearlake currently boasts 12 to 14 club members, Lucerne has six to 10 and the Middletown program cares for a cozy four participants. In addition to increasing numbers, Denny hopes for more outside organizations to take part in the program.
“We need to have people responding to the grants,” said Denny. “If we get the grants then we can hire physical therapists…get the garden club to come out. We can encourage more participation from social clubs in the community.”
Until that time, Denny and Johnson will continue to give a plethora of care and support to as many caregivers and seniors as possible, while they wait in anticipation of their inevitable growth.
Jennifer Gruenke can be reached at 900-2019
