Probing Into The Ways An Area Agencies On Aging May Help You

Like most of the people, you too may have heard of an area agency on aging but may not know what they actually do, how they do it and exactly how they can help you. if you are really curious about it, continue reading.

Area agency on aging or AAA is the most significant and useful resource for the older people and the disabled individuals.
You will find a lot of such agencies in almost every state across the nation. According to a study, there are more than 600 agencies in the US alone.
The primary goal of these care giving agencies is to help older people and the disabled individuals to stay in their own home and community when they age for as long as possible.
They also help them through their care and supportive service to take decisions of their own and retain their independence.

The support provided by the AAAs are immense to the older people, patients or not. The local resources for these individual service agencies in terms of the Federal, state, and local stature have grown substantially over the years. Advocating for increased funds for the existing programs, public policies that will benefit the older people as well as then disabled and launching new programs and services are some of the large feature of these agencies.

In addition to that, the AAAs also performs several other functions that help the older people eventually such as:

Research and development
Design better plans for care and service
Create new services that are needed by the older adults.

That is not all. The services of the area agencies for aging comprises of several other different areas such as:

Finding reliable and reputable care agencies to provide such services
Raising the required funds from the state and federal sources required to provide such services
Coordinating the existing programs with the new services and
Informing the community about the new services launched.

All these are done in accordance to the guidelines and set standards of the corporation for aging and with the sole objective of improving the health and living standards of the older citizens.

The services offered

Next, you may wonder what specific services do the area agencies on aging offer. Well, they offer a variety of services some of which are provided to elderly and disabled individuals directly while a few others may focus on building partnerships with the existing service providers in that area that provides the specific services.

According to the report of the National Association of Area Agencies on Aging it is found that:

More than 85% of the AAAs have a partnership with service providers that offers specific services such as transportation and
About 85% of these agencies have a strong and long-lasting partnership with the adult protective services.

The different types of care and support services provided by these agencies include:

Providing information and resources to the seniors
Providing evidence-based wellness and health courses and
Provide services that will keep the elderly individuals and the disabled people healthy and safe.

One of the most significant services provided by these agencies is the one that is titled “A Matter of Balance.” This specific type of service is focused on building a balance in the seniors to ensure that the risk of falls and injuries are eliminated in them.

All these courses and services are tested for their effectiveness and research shows that the different programs offered by these care giving agencies produces results that are expected to be positive without depending on the extraneous events and factors.

Different classes and services

There are different types of classes and services available that ranges from the basic health support services to the more condition specific programs. In addition to these resources, the AAAs offer five different core services such as:

Nutrition services
Health and wellness programs
Caregiver resources
Elder rights information and
Other supportive services.

In addition to these five basic services the AAAs also perform many different need assessments to determine the eligibility for different government funded programs. This includes:

Developing a care plan
Visiting the senior in their home
Perform a through the assessment
Determining if the individual qualifies for any government programs and
Informing and educating the older about the services and the programs available.

Now the question is how do the area agency on aging really help you. all these services offered by the AAAs are aimed to help the seniors. The services provided by the area agency on aging that are available to the caregivers to serve like you and the individuals like your loved one.

Resources and services provided

The AAAs actually provide resources that will enable you to establish a connection with the services in your community that you may not be aware of already. However, when you contact your local AAA, you or your loved one can take the full advantage of the programs and services that you may partner with such as meal delivery or transportation.

The AAAs also deliver evidence-based courses and taking part in them can help you and your loved one to increase the overall health and wellness. It will also help you to learn the exact ways in which you can age safely in place.

As a caregiver for your loved one, you will be also able to find the help for yourself at your local AAA.

The agencies usually hold family caregiver support and group meetings.
They also have a caregiver resource network.
They also provide access to respite services in your area.

The assessments of the needs of the older patients will help your loved one to understand exactly what do the home services qualify for and the ways in which you can get started to receive these services.

The funding aspect

The next question that may come to your mind is surely about the funding aspect. According to the National Association of Area Agencies on Aging, the most common sources of funding are: