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Health & Fitness

Unique Program Helps Nursing Home Residents Go Home

Area Agency on Aging 1-B program gives nursing home residents the support and care services they need to move home and live independently.

A unique program is helping nursing home residents return home. The program, called the Nursing Facility Transition Program,is administered locally by the Area Agency on Aging 1-B (AAA 1-B), a local nonprofit organization dedicated to helping seniors and adults with disabilities.

The Nursing Facility Transition Program targets Medicaid-eligible nursing home residents who may no longer need the intense level of round-the-clock care that a nursing home provides, but are still living in a nursing home because they face a barrier of one type or another that is keeping them from being discharged. “Reasons participants are still living in the nursing home vary,” explained Jean Jacques, AAA 1-B clinical manager for the Nursing Facility Transition Program. “Sometimes it’s because they have lost the home or apartment they were living in due to the nursing home admission. Sometimes the participant can’t return home because modifications are necessary to make the home accessible and livable. Sometimes the participant needs some supportive care once they are home and don’t know they would be eligible for help.” The program helps younger disabled people in addition to older adults. 

Counselors from the Nursing Facility Transition Program work one-on-one with participants to address barriers and help them find a living situation that is safe and will work for them.  “We work together with nursing home administrators and Centers for Independent Living to identify people who could benefit from the program. We visit people right in the nursing home and get to know their needs,” said Jacques. “We then work with participants and the nursing home discharge planners to put together a plan to transition them out.” Jacques explained that there are lots of options—participants can move back to their own homes, move in with family members, or move into an apartment, assisted living facility or adult foster care facility.

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In addition to finding the right housing situation, the program also helps people put together the care and support services they will need to live successfully once they are home. ”Most people need some extra help at home,” said Jacques. Depending on the participant’s unique needs, an aide may come in for a few hours a day to help with meal preparation, housekeeping, running errands or personal care—things the participant can no longer do for themselves. Participants may also receive a Personal Emergency Response System to help them stay safe.

“The program has an incredible impact on people’s lives,” said Jacques. “It gives them a space to call their own again and independence.”

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The Nursing Facility Transition Program is part of Michigan’s Medicaid Program and is funded by the Michigan Department of Community Health. Medicaid dollars are used to pay for the transition and in-home care. “The benefits of this program are really two-fold,” said AAA 1-B CEO Tina Abbate Marzolf. “It helps people who would like to live independently to do so. It is also helping the state save quite a bit of money. It’s a win-win.” The cost to provide supportive care for someone living outside the nursing home is about half of what Medicaid pays to provide care in a nursing home setting, and the program saves the state millions each year. In 2009 alone (the last year for which data was available), the program saved the state $19.9 million in nursing home costs.

“Right now we are trying to get the word out,” said Jacques. “We want to let people know that the Nursing Facility Transition Program is an option.“

If you would like to know more about the Area Agency on Aging 1-B’s Nursing Facility Transition Program, please call 800-852-7795. You can also visit www.BringThemBackHome.com.

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