Services help those who want to stay at home

There is a certain comfort that comes from being at home. Most of us feel it after a long day of work or an extended vacation.

Imagine the comfort that one feels from living in the same home for decades. Every turn is a memory, from notches on the door frame carefully carved to measure growth spurts in children to the faded wallpaper in the kitchen with the small stain in the corner near the ceiling where the ice backed up that one year.

Seniors surrounded by their own personal history and reminders of the past can feel alive and connected to a world in which maybe they no longer fully participate. Still, their memories of that world live on.

For some seniors, the importance of remaining at home and aging in place is paramount to their well-being and emotional health.

Eastern Agency on Aging has a variety of programs and services that can help accomplish that goal.

For instance, the Community Services program provides seniors with current information, options, assistance and referral services, not only to seniors but their family caregivers as well.

Each community services consultant is well-versed in benefits such as Medicare and Social Security. But their knowledge doesn’t stop there. These dedicated individuals can also explain other programs to seniors, including food stamps, the low-cost drug card, Medicare buy-ins, heat assistance and Supplemental Security Income. The ins and outs of these programs are at the fingertips of the consultants and consequently at the fingertips of the senior.

But along with the educational piece comes assistance in completing the necessary paperwork to actually receive the benefits.

What all this amounts to is extra money in the senior’s pockets. While money may not be able to buy happiness, it can go a long way toward supplying peace of mind. Worrying about money and how to make ends meet takes a toll. For seniors who wonder how they will manage, how they will pay for oil, groceries, prescriptions, and home repairs, a little extra income makes a difference.

Sometimes the money saved can be put to an emergency call system. For a person living alone, it is an invaluable tool. One touch of a button summons help, a vital component to remaining at home. It’s like having a roommate without having to share the television remote control.

Living alone may also present nutritional challenges. Cooking for one can be bothersome and consequently meals might be catch as catch can. Personally, I have been known to have popcorn for dinner, while a friend who lives alone and has a sweet tooth, prefers ice cream for her evening meal.

However, this is not a good idea on a regular basis. EAA has a solution. Meals for Me will make you a delicious lunch that is also well-balanced and can relieve some of the guilt of having a sketchy supper.

There are 47 Meals for Me community dining rooms in Eastern Maine. Every one of them is a little different and yet there is a common thread – the joy of having a meal with peers and the sociability found around the tables.

For seniors who are home-bound, Meals for Me delivers. Good nutrition is but a phone call away.

It is part of EAA’s mission to ensure that seniors live out their lives independently and in their own homes, if that is their wish. We respect individual choice and work to ensure that choices are indeed available to those we serve.

While staying at home is the dream of some seniors, others prefer to downsize, perhaps even moving into an apartment setting – no yard work, no shoveling, and close neighbors with whom to share a cup of tea and a couple of cookies on occasion.

Whatever your preference, EAA will try to make your wish a reality.

Carol Higgins is director of communications at Eastern Agency on Aging. For information on EAA, call 941-2865 or e-mail info@eaaa.org.