The Trend toward Moving Elders out of Institutions

by Evander Lomke on January 17, 2014 12:11 pm

A national trend: Moving elders out of nursing homes and qualifying for Medicaid

Since April 2013 in Washington, D.C., fifty-eight people have been relocated: from nursing homes to their real homes. These transitions are part of a program, under the auspices of the DC Office on Aging, called Nursing Home Transition.

Individuals who qualify for Medicaid received funded services at home. For those who do not, the Office on Aging helps find other funding for in-home care.

This program reflects a nationwide trend toward providing elders with in-home care.

Why this shift?

One impetus for change was a 1999 Supreme Court ruling that public entities must provide community-based services to people with disabilities whenever possible. This was part of the Americans with Disabilities Act and generally comes out of the disability movement.

Alayana Waldrum, executive director of LeadingAge DC, an advocacy group, explains: “Consumer preferences haven’t changed, but generational personalities have. What’s happened is that as the young disabled and Baby Boomers are looking at their options. What people want has become more of a driver in how our long-term-care system is going to look.”

Click here for the rest of the informative January 2, 2014, article, from which this news blog is drawn.

AMHF applauds the responsible movement from institutionalization toward a greater regard for individuation and self-empowerment—at any age, based on the person’s scope and abilities.