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Community Corner

With Help, Aging Veterans Preserve Their Own Independence

Program helps keeps those who served out of nursing homes.

World War II Veteran Stanley Milos, 91, found himself homebound more than a year ago.

At the time, it was becoming increasingly difficult to get on and off the bus to the senior center with his wheelcair. Now he receives personal care and housekeeping services, and he enjoys a ride around town at least once a week and a visit to the local donut shop to meet with his friends.

That care and mobility come from home health aides Milos hired through a new federally funded program.

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In return for protecting the freedom and independence of Americans and others around the world, the U.S. government is expanding a program that promises veterans a greater chance at independence as they grow older—helping them to live at home instead of spending their final days in nursing homes.

The Veterans Directed Home and Community Based Services program, which began as a pilot program in early 2009 in New Jersey in Somerset and Morris Counties, has recently expanded to Bergen County and is currently serving 48 veterans. 

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Throughout 2011, the program will be offered to veterans in 28 states, according to the state of New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services. 

“The program puts veterans and caregivers in charge of their care. It empowers them to choose what services they need, and how and by whom they will be provided. Participants can choose the right mix of services that best meets their needs,” Dr. Poonam Alaigh, Health and Senior Services commissioner for the U.S. Veterans Administration in Lyons, said in a statement in mid-December.

As of December, the pilot program had received $1.6 million in federal funding. 

It's more cost-effective for veterans to remain in their homes than go to nursing homes, according to Joanne Fetzco, executive director of the Somerset County Office on Aging.

“It costs $64,000 a year on average to keep an individual in a nursing home. It costs half that to help someone remain in their home. And of course they can enjoy a better quality of life at home with surrounded by family and friends,” Fetzco said. 

Since the program was first piloted in February of 2009, 52 veterans have been served by the program in Somerset County alone; 24 of them are still active, Fetzco said.

She said that in order to be eligible for the program, a veteran must be registered with and actively receiving care through the Veterans Administration Healthcare System.

After the individual is examined by a VA doctor, a referral is made to the county office on aging if the physician deems that special care is needed in order to continue living at home.

The county then conducts an assessment, determines a care plan and a monthly monetary eligibility determination is made.

“The program is designed to avoid nursing home placement. It gives the veteran the opportunity to focus on their own care and so far, they are all doing very well,” said Heain Choi, Community Care program director at the Veterans Administration in Lyons.

Choi said the typical veteran receives about $2,500 per month to pay for help with bathing, cooking, cleaning, snow shoveling, transportation to doctor visits, and any other necessary services that help the veteran live independently. 

“It empowers the veteran to take charge of their own care, and the program is extremely cost-effective because the individual can hire anyone—a neighbor, a relative, or someone from their church to help them and they might pay them $12 an hour for a service that might cost much more if they had to hire professionals,” Choi said.

Since the program began, Choi said, a total of 75 referrals have been made. 

Frank Zampella, 76, a resident of North Plainfield who served as a mechanic in the Korean War, is among those being helped to live at home.

When he first suffered a stroke two years ago that paralyzed the left side of his body, he spent almost six months in a nursing home at a cost of almost $7,000 per month, his wife, Ida Zampella, said.

But that's no longer necessary. The program now pays for a home health aide. Lift devices made available through the VA medical care system make it easier for Ida Zampella to mover her husband.

“When he first had his stroke, I couldn’t take care of him at that point. I was having my own health issues. It was also expensive and I could see that he was deteriorating,” Ida Zampella said. “He was also suffering from anxiety attacks. I knew that I had to get him home even if I had to take care of him by myself. I told my children, 'We have to take daddy home.' I thought, 'I’m not losing him.' When you’ve been married 56 years, well, you do whatever you have to do."

Frank Zampella said his aide comes to work with him every day, and he's beginning to get some movement back.

"But if this program were not available, I don’t think I would have advanced as much as I have,” he said. “I’m very happy with this program. If my wife had to take care of me, it would be very hard for her. It would take a great toll on her.”

The program began in Somerset County before moving into Morris.

 “This program is very individualized," said Theresa Davis, executive director of the Morris County Division on Aging, Disabilities and Veterans. "We look at each home situation and what will keep them safe. Personal care is generally the most important need. The program gives the veteran the power to direct their own care. This is the only thing that is keeping the vet from the nursing home—and it gives them a feeling of being in charge of their own life."

There are 18 Morris County veterans currently enrolled. Davis said the office on aging in each county is responsible for ensuring services are being provided properly.

Davis said she would love to see this model of care extended to everyone, not just veterans.

Stanley Milos of Long Hill Township, who suffers from high blood pressure and diabetes and is now wheelchair-bound, considers himself fortunate to have three aides that help him throughout the week.

“I was able to hire three good people, one who is a nurse at , the other two are nurses in training,” said Milos. “They come in nine hours a week and bathe me, do my laundry and run errands. They are very helpful."

Milos said he appreciates the help of his neighbors as well.

“When you’ve got good neighbors, you have everything. They come over to talk to me and offer to do things for me,” Milos said.

And while it is difficult for him to get to the senior center everyday, he looks forward to socializing with his friends at least once a week.

“Every week one of my aides takes me for a ride around town and the best part is meeting with my buddies at Dunkin' Donuts,” Milos said. “If it weren’t for this program, I hate to say, I would probably be in a nursing home. I live alone and my sister who is also in her nineties lives two doors away. I also have a brother in town in his 90s. I guess it is good living here in Long Hill Township."

"It’s really much better to be in your own home," Milos said. "I’m happy I can be here.”

For more information about the program contact the following agencies.

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