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Adult Services Plans for the Future

Jun 16, 2008

Elim Adult Services recently started a task force to look into the increasing aging population of the clients served. Adult Services has a Seniors Program in place; however, when looking at the trend of the adults living longer, it became apparent that more plans needed to be put in place for the future to best serve the clients in the Seniors Program. Of the clients currently served, 52 adults (out of approximately 200 total clients served) are over the age of 50. In 5 years, the total will rise to 87 clients over the age of 50, and in 9 years the total becomes 109 clients over the age of 50. In light of these numbers, it was realized that the purpose of the task force would be much more vital than originally planned.

The main goal at the start of the task force was to evaluate the current Seniors Program and to put in place plans on adapting services for the future needs of the Program and the clients served in the Program. In light of the demographics, however, the perceptions of what would be needed changed. The goal for the task force changed then to strive to assess current programming by deciding what was working and not working, to find new programming ideas to implement immediately that would benefit the clients and to then prepare for the future of our aging population, specifically in 10 – 15 years when the potential number of adults in need of programming in the Seniors Program would be staggering.

The Seniors Program currently has many good programming ideas in place. Many individual and group activities are offered on a daily basis, community outings are still an important part of the program, and specific ideas such as creating memory books have been implemented. Research and education in the areas of aging and dementia have been emphasized and are essential to the growth and success of the Program. Ideas that will be implemented in the near future have been discussed, such as creating a video memory book, creating more individualized activity boxes for the classroom and starting intergenerational activities. The Seniors Program has also started to campaign aggressively for volunteers, as it has become apparent that interacting with others is a vital part to healthy aging. The remaining work of the task force will then be to focus on the future of the Seniors Program and what will be needed to continue providing the best services possible for the aging population. Additional space will be key to the success of the Program, whether that is manifested in starting a Seniors Program at the Oasis campus, expanding or renovating the current facilities on the Palos campus, creating a whole new space for the aging population or a combination of the above ideas.

A fundamental component to making this task force a success has been the people involved. Currently the task force is comprised of staff from both Bethshan and Elim. Staff from Bethshan that is involved includes a nurse and case manager. Staff from Elim that is involved includes a case manager from the Palos campus, a case manager from the Oasis campus and an Instructor from the Seniors Program. All have made significant contributions to the evaluation of current programming and ideas for the future growth of the aging population and the Seniors Program. It has been especially helpful to work closely with the staff from Bethshan as integrated programming is very important for the clients that Elim serves. Having residential input also ensures that day programming services provided for the clients will be beneficial, well thought out and the best possible services for the clients served.

The task force on aging looks forward to finishing up its work sometime in the summer and helping to present ideas that will help Elim to continue to provide best services to the aging population!