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Archaeologist uncovers shipwrecks
Langley grew up on the Canadian side of the Great Lakes in a history-loving family that had a personal connection to the sea. Her great-grandfather and his brothers were boat builders in Nova Scotia, and their tragic deaths in a hurricane perhaps explain why she feels she has “saltwater in her blood,” she said. Langley’s family loved to travel, and her first introduction to archaeology was in the American Southwest. “I had an uncle in New Mexico whose home was on an active archaeological site. I was enthralled by the dig and seeing what they discovered.” One specific childhood memory sealed her fate: “In the 1960s, my dad would bring home copies of old National Geographic magazines. On one cover, I saw a pair of hands, a flashlight on one wrist, in deep water, lifting an urn.” That photograph of divers excavating an ancient shipwreck off the Yucatan Peninsula sparked a lifelong fascination.
APRIL 2025
I N S I D E … BALTIMORE BEACON — APRIL 2025
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When — and how — to ask for help at home By Margaret Foster Most people want to stay in their own homes as they age: Nearly 80% of older adults say they prefer to age in place, according to AARP. But when cooking, yardwork and stairs become too much trouble, who do you ask for help? Dozens of home healthcare companies exist in our area, and in a matter of hours, they can send someone to your house to help make meals, shop, run errands, do light cleaning and laundry, bathe, walk or get you to doctor’s appointments. Many families start with just a few hours of help per week, according to Tom Smith, Regional Manager of Family & Nursing Care, which has been serving Marylanders since 1968. “A lot of times they start with a couple of hours, a couple of days a week, just to get used to the idea of having someone in their home,” Smith said. “The hope is that it’s the same caregiver, and they become friends.” Here’s how it works: The agency sends a case manager to the home to meet the client and their family. Then, depending on the family’s needs, the client is matched with either a registered nurse or caregiver. All the while, the case manager keeps track of the older adult’s changing needs. Some clients are surprised by how much they appreciate the extra help around the house, Smith said. They tell the company, “This has actually been life-changing. I would like someone here every day to make dinner and help me get ready for bed,” Smith said. They don’t even have to provide a to-do list for the caregiver, he said. “Some people just use us for companionship, if mom doesn’t have a lot of visitors,” Smith said.
Get help anywhere
Though it’s called “home” care, that real-
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ly means you can get help anywhere you are living, whether long-term or shortterm. If you’re not living in a traditional single-family home anymore, you can get some extra help in an independent living or even assisted living or long-term care community. Many people recovering in a hospital can also appreciate having someone around whose only concern is their needs. Some communities have their own home care services right on campus. Oak Crest, located in Parkville, Maryland, has a program called “home support” — a team of private-duty, vetted certified nursing assistants who can help with activities of daily living. For instance, said Robin Keeler, Oak Crest’s director of resident life, “We can just pop in a couple times a day and remind them to take their medication. If someone needs help getting bathed and dressed during the day, we stop in and help with that. Or if someone needs that at night.” Think small: People can hire a helper at Oak Crest for a few hours once a year (though most companies have minimums, such as four hours per day). “We can help you do holiday shopping or switch over your clothes from season to season. It doesn’t necessarily have to be long-term. We see what their needs are and match them with a caregiver.” Oak Crest residents pay out-of-pocket for “home support,” but they may be reimbursed by their insurance companies. That goes for any home healthcare agency. “A lot of people don’t realize that longterm care insurance will [in some cases] cover some in-home services as well,” Keeler pointed out. She said it’s best to go through an agency that performs background checks. “If you’re looking to hire someone inhome, my recommendation is always to go through an agency that has processes for vetting their employees,” Keeler said. Oak Crest also has a Medicare-certified home health agency for urgent, short-term
PHOTO © YURI ARCURS | DREAMSTIME.COM
Family’s connection to the ocean
PHOTO BY NICHOLAS ZACHAR/NOAA
By Tina Collins From the thousands of miles of waterways that crisscross Maryland to the murky depths of the Chesapeake Bay, Dr. Susan Langley knows an underwater museum waits to be discovered. There, she excavates the past, carefully studying each site and artifact, piecing together stories that time and tide have sought to erase. For more than three decades, Langley has served as Maryland’s State Underwater Archaeologist at the Maryland Historical Trust, headquartered in Crownsville. The agency’s mission is to preserve and protect the state’s historical and cultural heritage. Maryland is one of a handful of states with a dedicated maritime archaeology program. This discipline combines the classic methods of terrestrial archaeology with marine science. A passionate advocate of conservation, Langley sees shipwrecks as living time capsules as well as evolving ecosystems that tell new stories with each passing tide. “I find an object, like a shoe, and I think about who wore these,” she said in an interview with the Beacon. “What was their life like? Where are their descendants now? That’s the humanity in the archaeology.”
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You can hire an in-home caregiver to help out for a few hours a day with cooking, grocery shopping and other activities of daily living.
rehabilitation. After a hospital stay, for instance, Oak Crest can send staffers to help with recovery.
In-home care to prevent hospitalizations
It’s best to try out in-home care before a health emergency. “Instead of waiting until there’s a crisis, it’s better to just see about having an assessment for in-home care. That’s better than waiting for the next acute episode,” said Leana Hoover, chief operating officer of Gilchrist Services, an affiliate of Greater Baltimore Medical Center (GBMC). Although Gilchrist, founded in 1994, is known for providing care for serious issues like chronic illnesses, end-of-life care and hospice, the company also has been providing primary care in the home for a decade. In 2016, GBMC launched a program to reduce emergency room (ER) visits by people over 75 years old. By keeping in touch with frequent ER visitors, Gilchrist’s in-home care providers can determine the reason for their crises.
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“Maybe they can’t afford their medications, and that’s why they continue to come back,” Hoover said. Through the Support Our Elders program, Gilchrist provides a social worker to check in on the patient at home to make sure they have enough money to buy food and pay their power bills. By sending physicians, nurses and social workers directly to the patient, they can make a personal connection and help in any way necessary. “The goal is that continuity of care so they can stop using the [ER] for their primary care,” Hoover said.
Familiar faces
Most homecare companies try to promote personal connections between clients and caregivers. They often send the same person or same team to the house so that everyone gets to know each other — which means better care. At Family & Nursing Care, quite a few employees are family members. The comSee HOMECARE, page B-2
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Susan Langley, Maryland’s state underwater archaeologist, has spent more than three decades studying our underwater history. “I’ve been so lucky to be on great projects and to have visited the most interesting places that I might not have seen otherwise,” Langley said.
“I always knew I wanted to be an archaeologist. Now I knew I could be one underwater,” she said. Langley followed a path of rigorous academic training, specializing in anthropology, archaeology and maritime history. Before arriving in Maryland, she worked internationally, conducting excavations in Canada, Thailand and the Caribbean.
Working underwater
Langley regards shipwrecks as “historical snapshots” that provide unique insight into the past: its culture, economy, trade and technological advancements. She’s an underwater time traveler, navigating from prehistoric sites of Indigenous people to colonial settlements to the War of 1812 to 20th-century wartime relics. While traditional archaeologists work
with sun-bleached ruins and other underwater specialists work in the crystal-clear waters of tropical islands, Langley faces the cloudy waters of the bay, where visibility can be as poor as a few inches. Langley describes it as “archeology by Braille.” Each dive is a slow, meticulous and tactile process. “You can’t always see what you’re touching, so you have to feel your way through history.” Despite the challenges, Langley and her team have documented hundreds of sites. Among the most well-known projects is her work at Mallows Bay, Charles County, home to the famous “Ghost Fleet.” This collection of nearly 200 abandoned World War I-era vessels is the largest ship graveyard in the Western Hemisphere. See ARCHAEOLOGIST, page 12
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