March - May 2023 COMPL
Volume 23, Number 3
IMENTA
RY Sponsored in part by Beaver County Office on Aging
Home health aides help seniors remain in their homes; workers are in high demand While Betty needs this help, Susan comments that the rewards for helping her are significant, as well. “I get just as much out of it as Betty does,” Susan says. “I enjoy being able to give back to my community by making a difference in Betty’s life.”
Betty Little enjoys both friendship and support from her home health aide, Sue Cartwright.
By Randy Detweiler We can all relate to the 2020 pandemic and how isolated and sometimes lonely we felt. For many seniors, this is their daily reality. Having a friend or acquaintance visit several times a week to help out and just talk to can make all the difference. This is where a wonderful service offered by the Beaver County Office on Aging (BCOA) can be of great value. Home health aides provide in-home services to the aging, disabled or impaired, enabling them to remain independent. The tasks that home health aides perform can include
helping with activities of daily living (ADLs), household chores and meal preparation. The program works on a cost-share scale and the charge varies depending on one’s income. BCOA contracts with five different service provider agencies. Elizabeth (Betty) Little is a perfect example of a local resident who reached out to BCOA to receive these services. “This little bit of extra help allows me to stay in my home,” she comments. “My home health aide, Susan Cartwright, has helped me with laundry and light cleaning for three years now.”
There are many factors that contribute to living a long, healthy life, such as eating healthy, exercising and getting plenty of sleep. Friendships and socialization can also make a huge difference. “I live by myself so I really forward to Susan’s visits,” Betty says. “We are more than friends; we have become like family.” While Betty is fortunate to receive this help, many are not because there are not enough local home health aides to meet the current demand. Presently, about 50 million older adults live in the United States, making up 16.5 percent of the population. This demographic is projected to double by 2060 to 95 million, requiring more home health aides to support this aging population. In Beaver County, each of BCOA’s subcontractor agencies has a long waiting list, with one agency reporting that they receive as many as 20 new applications a week. As a result, workers are in high demand. Continued on page 3
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For information and Referral Services, call the Beaver County Office on Aging at: (724) 847-2262 or (888) 548-2262 (long distance)