Postourlife10 15 15

Discovering The Mature Lifestyle

Health insurance counseling offered in Minnetonka.

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LTC Care

October 15, 2015

October Issue

Kirsten’s House offers assisted living in Brooklyn Park

BY SUE WEBBER CONTRIBUTING WRITER Cynthia Pitchford loved her job as a forklift driver, but things got complicated when two of her family members got sick and needed care.

“Years ago, when my parents and my aunt started to get sick, I had to take time off work to help them,” Pitchford said.

“Eventually I thought this might as well be the field I go into.”

Since 2009, she has been the house manager at Kirsten’s House in Brooklyn Park, an assisted living facility for four adults.

“For me, it’s not hard work because I love people,” Pitchford said. “I don’t call this work. I call this my home away from home. I get to be myself. I’m like a mother or sister to them. I watch people like other people watch birds.”

Some of the residents are referred to Pitchford’s facility from hospitals or nursing homes. Two of her clients are able-bodied, and two need more assistance. One of the residents has been with Pitchford for six years. “They’re mostly older folks, and some get transferred to nursing homes,” she said.

She learned early on that her clients don’t want to be treated differently even if they are not able-bodied.

She accompanies her residents to their

Cynthia Pitchford is the house manager at Kirsten’s House in Brooklyn Park, an assisted living facility for adults.

(Submitted photo)

medical appointments, though, Pitchford said, “the hardest part for me is dealing with the doctors.”

Her work shift is Monday through Friday, but even on her days off, if she’s needed, Pitchford is glad to help. “One of my clients wanted to spend the weekend with his family and they couldn’t pick him up,” Pitchford said. “So I drove over there on a Saturday. I’m probably too attached to my clients. Sometimes people tell me I spoil the clients.”

She admits to needing her time off, however, since it gives her time to spend with her five children, seven grandchildren, and her mom in Minneapolis.

Pitchford also enjoys exercising, movies, knitting and crocheting, she said.

Kristen’s House is one of six facilities maintained by Empowerment Healthcare,

a company that provides adult foster care and assisted living at locations in New Hope, Brooklyn Park, Brooklyn Center and Monticello.

According to Christine Bott, the company’s program director, the company manages nine homes in Hennepin County.

Each home has one staff person for every four residents. The residents range in age from 18 to 70.

“The majority are long-term residents,” she said. “But depending on their needs, some clients may be transitional.”

Where to find help with health care needs The Metropolitan Area Agency on Aging delivers Senior LinkAge Line services in partnership with the Minnesota Board on Aging to connect people with housing options and many other services.

When you’re looking for information and help and don’t know where to start, call the Senior LinkAge Line® at 1-800333-2433.

“Trained information specialists answer your call,” according to the agency’s website. “They work to understand your needs and goals and connect you to services that support them.

“When it becomes more difficult to stay in your home, a Senior LinkAge Line housing specialist will help you: Evaluate your current situation.

Consider your risk of nursing facility care.

Find services that may be helpful.

Learn about financing options and other resources.”

“We try to help people navigate the system,” said Kathy Woods, a Medicare and resource specialist with Senior LinkAge Line.

“Initially, the doctor makes a recommendation based on what the person’s health condition is and the level of care needed,” said Woods.

She suggests that a first step might be to go to www.careoptionsnetwork.org, where a directory of senior housing is available.

Social workers are available at every level and throughout the county to assist people who cannot afford the health care they need, Woods said.

County social service offices or managed care organizations determine eligibility for publicly funded long-term care services such as at-home care or managed care.

“If you plan a move into a setting that is ‘registered housing with services’ (including assisted living), state law requires that you receive Long-Term Care Options Counseling,” according to the website.

“The Senior LinkAge Line provides you phone consultation and follow through.

Learn more by calling 1-800-333-2433 or by visiting mnaging.org.”

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Page 2 Our Life • Thursday, October 15, 2015

Adult foster care is a care

option at one Fridley facility

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BY SUE WEBBER CONTRIBUTING WRITER Kerry Anderson and her husband, Scott, have a special kind of family at their home in Fridley. They have been a licensed adult foster care home since 2008, and have four adults living with them. “We knew friends who had a similar situation,� Anderson said. “We found a great home for it in Fridley.�

Their housemates include three women and one man ranging in age from 49 to 68.

Each of their residents has a private bedroom, and is expected to keep their room clean and bus their own dishes after meals.

Two of the women go to Camilia Rose Adult Day Care two days a week, and the other two residents work three to five times a week at RISE, an agency that serves 3,500 men and woman a year in 16 counties who have a wide ranging of disabilities and/or barriers to employment and housing.

Although the residents’ own family members sometimes are able to help transport them to appointments, the Andersons pick up the slack with transportation as necessary.

“It takes a little doing in the beginning,�

Anderson said. “There can be turnover if it doesn’t work out, but we’ve had these people with us from the beginning. It’s permanent housing for them. They all have disabilities and are unable to live on their own. They need structure and supervision.

We provide meals and laundry and activities for them.�

Anderson is familiar with caregiving.

She has worked in home care since 1980. “The work is on the order of what I was doing when I took care of people in their homes,� Anderson said. “For the residents, it’s an alternative to a nursing home setting.�

A backup is available if the Andersons need to be away from home, she said, noting that someone always has to be at home with the residents. “It’s a busy house, but we’re lucky,� she said. “We’ve got a great group of people. We enjoy it, and we enjoy our people.�

Prior to the residents moving in to the Anderson’s home, a social worker and case manager visited the home, and the AnderANDERSON - TO PAGE 3

Kerry and Scott Anderson have been a licensed adult foster care home in Fridley since 2008.

(Submitted photo)

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Our Life • Thursday, October 15, 2015 Page 3

Anderson FROM PAGE 2 sons met the future residents and their family members, she said.

A native of Plymouth and Armstrong High School graduate, Anderson said her first job was in a nursing home, and then she switched into doing home care. Scott Anderson grew up in Golden Valley and spent his career as a tile setter, stone person and carpenter.

Prior to buying the home just off East River Road in Fridley and becoming an adult foster care home, the couple decided they’d like to pursue a different option.

“We both felt this would be a good fit for us,” Anderson said. “We are rocks to each other. We do everything together. We’ve got it down to a routine. One person couldn’t handle it alone.”

The house, she said, is laid out “absolutely perfectly” for what they are doing. “The whole thing just fell into place,”

she said. “We’re very happy with what we’ve accomplished.

The best reward is seeing people change for the better and improve their quality of life. We’ve seen that happen with several of our residents.”

Darcy Halter, who works with Family Support Services as part of Anoka County’s Social Services Department, said there are 186 foster homes in Anoka County.

“We always are in need of more, particularly for young adults, people with mental health issues or developmental disabilities, or children or adults who are transitioning out of other facilities,” Halter said.

According to the Minnesota Department of Health website: “Adult family foster care is a licensed, living arrangement that provides food, lodging, supervision, and household services. They may also provide personal care and medication assistance. Adult foster care providers may be licensed to serve up to four adults or five adults if all foster care residents are age 55 or older, have no serious or persistent mental illness nor any developmental disability.”

Costs for room and board are met with client income such as Social Security Income, Supplemental Security Income, or other supplemental income support such as Group Residential Housing (GRH), according to the website. GRH is available to help recipients pay for room and board costs when living in a licensed or registered setting.

Assistance with the cost of adult foster care services (provision of supervision, assistance with personal care and medication) also may be met through other state and federal programs. “These state and federal programs allow people who would otherwise be unable to afford care to receive services if they meet the program eligibility requirements,” the website said.

County human service agencies set the rates for services provided to individuals who need public funding to help pay for services, the website said, adding that the amount of payment a provider receives to care for an individual varies based on the resident’s service needs.

Minnetonka agency offers health insurance counseling

BY SUE WEBBER CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Darwin Klockers is a retired attorney who lives in Plymouth. Sue Swanson is a retired insurance company employee who lives in Apple Valley.

What they have in common is that both have signed on as Medicare health insurance counseling volunteers with Senior Community Services in Minnetonka.

Klockers has been helping with the Medicare counseling for 10 years; Swanson began offering her services a year ago.

Medicare health insurance counseling has been offered at the agency for more than 20 years. It is just one of the programs offered at Senior Community Services, whose vision is to “mobilize the community to reimagine aging.” The agency offers educational workshops at several locations, plus confidential, individual assistance by appointment at more than 20 locations.

The open enrollment period for insurance this year runs from Nov. 1 to Jan. 31, 2016. You can select coverage for the first time then, or make changes in your current coverage.

Klockers and Swanson take part in information workshops for groups, and also help with the one-on-one counseling.

Among the most important decisions newly retired people must make is what to do about health care once they are no longer covered by their employer’s plan.

D Medicare prescription drug coverage card, and a list of their prescription drugs.

What is Medicare?

Pictured above following a Senior Community Services training session are, from left: Don Waletzho, Senior Community Services CFO; Darwin Klockers and Jerry Maher, volunteer health insurance counselors and trainers; and Deb Taylor, Senior Community Services CEO. (Submitted photo)

Even if they’ve been retired for some time and chose a health plan in the past, each year’s open enrollment period gives retired persons a chance to reconsider other, sometimes better, options. It is wise, during the open enrollment period, to check a plan to see if there will be changes; check prescription lists and coverage for those prescriptions; and then check on new plans and changes to other plans to be sure coverage is being provided at the most affordable cost.

“When you’re dealing with someone who will be on Medicare for the first time, they’re anxious about what it’s all about,” Klockers said. “It seems to be complicated. If they’ve been on it for a while, they’re usually looking for a better alternative, and then it’s usually the prescription drugs that are most important.”

People who are already enrolled in Medicare are asked to bring with them to the counseling sessions their Medicare card, supplementary insurance card, Part

Medicare is health insurance for people 65 or older, people under 65 with certain disabilities, and people of any age with End-Stage Renal Disease (permanent kidney failure requiring dialysis or a kidney transplant).

When you are first eligible for Medicare, you have a seven-month period to sign up. This seven-month period begins three months before your 65th birthday, includes the month you turn 65, and ends three months after you turn 65.

You can sign up for Medicare as soon as you become eligible, regardless of what month it is. But each year, you have the option of making changes to your Medicare Advantage and prescription drug plan (or Medicare Part D) during open enrollment.

“If you’re still working full-time and get health insurance from your employer, you don’t have to sign up when you’re 65,” Swanson said.

There are four parts to Medicare, according to “Medicare & You 2015,” the official U.S. government Medicare handbook published by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services: AGENCY - TO PAGE 4

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Page 4 Our Life • Thursday, October 15, 2015

Agency FROM PAGE 3

• May help lower your prescription drug costs and help protect against higher costs in the future.

Part A (hospital insurance) helps cover: • Inpatient care in hospitals • Skilled nursing facility care • Hospice care • Home health care Part B (medical insurance) helps cover: • Services from doctors and other health care providers • Outpatient care • Home health care • Durable medical equipment • Some preventive services Part C (Medicare Advantage): • Includes all benefits and services covered under Part A and Part B • Usually includes Medicare prescription drug coverage (Part D) as part of the plan • Run by Medicare-approved private insurance companies • May include extra benefits and services for an extra cost Part D (Medicare prescription drug coverage): • Helps cover the cost of prescription drugs • Run by Medicare-approved private insurance companies

The book suggests considering the following when choosing or changing coverage: • Convenience: Where are the doctors’ offices? Which pharmacies can you use? Is the pharmacy you use in the plan’s network?

• Cost: How much are premiums, deductibles and other costs? How much do you pay for hospital stays or doctor visits?

• Coverage: How well does the plan cover the services you need?

• Doctor and hospital choice: Do your doctors and other health care providers accept the type of coverage you have? Are the doctors you want to see accepting new patients? Do you have to choose your hospital and health care providers from a network? Do you need to get referrals?

• Prescription drugs: Do you need to join a Medicare drug plan? Are your drugs covered under the plan’s formulary?

• Travel: Will you have coverage in another state or outside the U.S.?

• Other coverage: Do you have, or are you eligible for, other types of health or prescription drug coverage (from a former or current employer or union)?

Klockers suggests that people who have access to a computer would be wise to consult www.medicare.gov when they’re considering Medicare coverage.

“The Website guides you through it,” Klockers said. “It makes the selection relatively easy. It’s a tremendous help in narrowing the choices for you.”

Swanson, whose work at a large insurance company for more than 20 years involved training people on Medicare, emphasizes that the information sessions offered by Senior Community Services “don’t advance any specific plan.”

“I look at Medicare as just another health insurance plan, except that it’s funded by the government,” Swanson said.

A Medicare premium of $104.90 is either taken out of a retiree’s Social Security check each month, or the retiree is billed for that amount, Swanson said. Because Medicare covers only a percentage of approved medical costs, most retirees then must select a supplemental insurance plan that will help pay for additional costs. A prescription drug insurance provider also must be selected.

“Most people think about a plan that will mirror what they had with their employer,” Swanson said.

Deb Taylor, CEO at Senior Community Services, said the agency serves 1,500 people in an average year. She can’t say enough about the 50 or more volunteers who attend 20 hours of training and then conduct the group presentations and one-on-one counseling sessions.

“These are people who want a challenging volunteer position, and they love it,” Taylor said. “Our volunteers are the best.”

Information: Senior Community Services, 952-5411019, or www.medicare.gov

Navigating Medicare classes Anyone who is getting ready to retire wants to know more about Medicare, or is a family member or caregiver to someone with Medicare coverage may benefit from attending a class to learn about Medicare.

The class is an educational opportunity, not a sales pitch. It is offered in cooperation with Senior Community Services, a non-profit agency in Minnetonka.

A nominal fee is collected to defer costs.

Please register with the contact listed below: • Tuesday, Oct. 20, 6:30-9 p.m.: Robbinsdale Community Ed, Sandburg Learning Center, 2400 Sandburg Lane, Golden Valley. Contact: Donna Comer, 761-504-6993.

• Monday, Oct. 26, 1-3:30 p.m.: Minnetonka Senior Center, 14600 Minnetonka Blvd., Minnetonka. Contacts: Steve Pieh, 952-939-8369, or Kate Egert, 952-939-8354.

• Monday, Nov. 30, 6:30-9 p.m.: Wayzata Community Education, 305 Vicksburg Lane, Plymouth. Contact: Deb Slomkowski, 763-745-5205; Registration: 763-745-5213.

• Tuesday, Dec. 1, 6:30-9 P.M.: Minnetonka Community Ed, 4584 Vine Hill Road, Excelsior. Contact: Amanda Cambronne, 952-401-5055.

• Monday, Dec. 7, 6:30-9 p.m.: Robbinsdale Community Ed, Sandburg Learning Center, 2400 Sandburg Lane, Golden Valley. Contact: Dianne Comer, 763-504-6993.

Senior Community Services provides one-on-one appointments for health insurance help at the following locations: • Bloomington: 9, 10 and 11 a.m. on the second Tuesday of the month at Creekside Community Center, 9801 Penn Ave. S., Bloomington. Info: 952563-4944.

• Eden Prairie: Noon, 1 and 2 p.m.

on the third Thursday of the month at Eden Prairie Senior Center, 8950 Eden Prairie Road, Eden Prairie. Info: 952279-8050.

• Edina: 1, 2 and 3 p.m. on the second Thursday of the month at Edina Senior Center, 5280 Grandview Square,

Edina. Info: 952-833-9570.

• Golden Valley: 9, 10 and 11 a.m. on the second Thursday of the month at Golden Valley Park and Recreation Department, 200 Brookview Parkway, Golden Valley. Info: 763-512-2340.

• Minnetonka: 1, 2 and 3 p.m. on the first and third Mondays of the month and 6, 7 and 8 p.m. on the third Monday of the month at Minnetonka Senior Center, 14600 Minnetonka Blvd., Minnetonka. Info: 952-939-8393.

• Plymouth: 9, 10 and 11 a.m. on the second Wednesday of the month at Plymouth Creek Center, 14800 34th Ave. N., Plymouth. Info: 763-509-5280.

• Richfield: 1, 2 and 3 p.m. on the second Monday of the month at Richfield Community Center, 7000 Nicollet Ave. S., Richfield. Info: 612-861-9363.

• St. Louis Park: 1, 2 and 3 p.m. on the first Wednesday of the month at Lenox Community Center, 6715 Minnetonka Blvd., St. Louis Park. Info: 952928-6444.

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Our Life • Thursday, October 15, 2015 Page 5

The community can also be a caregiver

BY BOB RAMSEY GUEST COLUMNIST As our population ages, sooner or later, most of us will need some care beyond what we can provide for ourselves. Some people are fortunate enough to have long-term care insurance.

Others can afford the cost of living in an assisted care facility or paying for expensive home care. Many others, however, will have to rely on family and loved ones for the needed support.

But that’s not the complete picture. There is another dimension of elder care that can make a profound difference—the concept of the community as a caregiver. Just as it takes a whole village to raise a child, it takes an

Guest column ... by Bob Ramsey entire community to meet the needs and nurture its oldest citizens. Every community has an obligation to help care for its own. As the Minnesota Citizens League explained in a recent report on long-term care, “Everyone has some responsibility . . . if we are to meaningfully address this enormous challenge.�

If there are those who balk at the notion of the community as caregiver and ask, “Why should we care?� I believe the revered Jewish thinker Abraham

Joshua Hershel has the best answer— “The test of a people is how it behaves toward the old. It’s easy to love children. Even tyrants and dictators make a point of being fond of children. But affection and care for the old, the incurable and the helpless are the true gold mines of a culture.�

Of course, the concept of a care-giving community doesn’t mean that the community has to take over all the care of its older residents. This isn’t another entitlement program. It simply means that supporting elders becomes everyone’s business and that everyone does what they can when-

ever they can to help their older neighbors. It also means that the community cares enough to make it possible for older adults to live with autonomy and to die with dignity.

There is a difference between care-giving and care-taking. My dictionary defines a caregiver as “one who attends to the needs of another.� Whereas a caretaker is defined as “one who takes charge of a person, property or goods.�

There is a vast chasm between “attending to needs� and “taking charge.�

In an authentic caring community, care giving doesn’t mean taking over or doing to and doing for older residents, as much as doing with them. It means everyone cares enough to do what they can to sup-

“Supporting elders becomes everyone’s business.� port older community members.

The point is that community caring isn’t merely being “Minnesota nice;� it’s an investment, and there is a return. Meeting the needs of its older citizens allows the community to continue benefiting from their unique gifts for as long as possible. Needless to say, there are many ways the community can address the needs of seniors. Some things can only be done by the medical profession or by government. And some things can only be done by a friend. There are things

that only an official agency or a professional organization can do. And some things can only be done by loved ones. There are some things that can cost money and some things that no amount of money can buy.

There is something for everyone to do; and, if everyone does something, no one has to do too much.

When the entire community pitches in, care giving isn’t a burden; it’s a blessing.

That’s the kind of community I want to live in.

How about you?

Bob Ramsey is a l ifelong educator, freelance writer and advocate for vital aging.

He can be contacted at 952922-9558 or by e-mail at joyrammini@comcast.net.

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Page 6 Our Life • Thursday, October 15, 2015

Celebrating life at a home hospice in Edina

BY SUE WEBBER CONTRIBUTING WRITER

More than 20 years ago, Bob Solheim discovered an alternate care model for people who are dying. He credits a good friend who was like a father to him for inspiring him to make that model a reality in Edina.

Solheim was a young court reporter when he met Newton Little, owner of the Little Press at 63rd and Penn avenues.

“I was 22, and he was 65,” Solheim said. “I needed business cards. He took a shine to me and we became fast friends. He ended up teaching me all about business ethics.”

Little was diagnosed with cancer at 85, and despite his wish to die at home, he died at the age of 90 in 1992, after two years at a nursing home.

Solheim subsequently became involved with assisted living, and, in his own words, “My life was transformed.”

“I discovered that people could die with dignity, peace and compassion in a home setting filled with love and kindness,” Solheim said. “Instead of hoping for a cure, they could now hope for a gentle death and hope that their symptoms would be well managed. Their dying could be much less frightening and more bearable for all concerned.”

In 1996, Solheim co-founded the first residential hospice in Minnesota and named it in memory of his friend: N.C. Little Hospice. The home in Edina now is one of four licensed residential hospices in the Twin Cities; there are a total of 12 licensed residential hospices in the state.

“We had to pave new ground,” Solheim said.

The Edina house, built in 1957, originally was a double bungalow. It had eight bathrooms and 12 bedrooms.

Solheim notes that most nursing homes have one registered nurse for every 50 patients. “If you’re dying, you should not be there,” he said. And often, dying patients whose pain is escalating and symptoms are unmanageable no longer are safe in their own homes, he said.

His eight-bed home hospice is consistently full, Solheim said. The average stay is 6.5 days; the median is 4.5 days.

“Our staffing level is exceedingly high,” he said “We have 25 registered nurses, 15 support staff and 100 volunteers.” He also employs a full-time cook.

The hospice’s goal is to meet needs of the patients in four areas: psychological, social, physical and spiritual.

“People come here and feel they’re going to be loved,” Solheim said. “We provide acceptance and kindness.”

He doesn’t deny that hospice care is bittersweet. “Of course, we’re sorry our patients are dying,” he said. “But we celebrate life. We treat people and help them to live until they die. We give our patients comfort care, dignity and tenderness. Everything is quiet, gentle and accepting.”

On a recent Saturday, for example, three patients at the hospice died. But the facility also was the scene of a wedding. One of the women who was close to death and

Bob Solheim met with Brianna Lindell, a family member of one of the patients at N.C. Little Hospice. (Submitted photo)

would miss her son’s wedding was cheered when her son took his wedding vows in her room.

Another woman’s daughter brought all her wedding attendants to the home in their bridesmaid dresses, so her dying mother could see them.

“We do crazy things,” said Solheim, who is at the hospice part of every day. “We’re family-centered. Isn’t that the way life should be?”

The residence also is open to families of the patients.

Some stay overnight. There is an area where children can play games such as Ping-Pong. There also is on on-site chapel. Family members will find scripture readings displayed at the home: Psalms 139 and 23.

“We feed 20 to 40 family members and other people every day,” Solheim said. “It’s like Christmas and Thanks-

giving here every night. We have turkey, ham, and cheesy potatoes. We spend $100,000 on meals each year. I spend $500 a month on ice cream. We have huge dishes of chocolate for family members in five or six areas of the home.”

The cost for a patient at N.C. Little Hospice is $520 a day, which usually isn’t covered by insurance for younger patients. Medicare or long-term insurance may help pay for the care of senior citizens.

A native of Minneapolis, Solheim attended the University of Minnesota School of Business, and served in the Army before becoming a court reporter and then a businessman.

He and his wife have five children and grandchildren, all of whom have volunteered at the hospice at one time or another.

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Our Life • Thursday, October 15, 2015 Page 7

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