Nursing Home Residents May Head Home Soon

By CANDICE CHOI, Associated Press
January 30, 2006

ALBANY - It may not be turning back the clock, but senior citizens living in nursing homes could start moving back into the community under a new state program this spring.

The state Department of Health last month applied for a waiver to let nursing home residents on Medicaid apply to receive care at home, in adult day care or assisted living facilities. Up to 5,000 seniors statewide over a three-year period would be shifted out of nursing homes under the program.

"It's a big psychological barrier for someone who's in a nursing home to imagine they can resume their lives in the community," the executive director for the Center for Independence of the Disabled in New York City, Susan Dooha, said.

Uprooting to return to the community can be particularly tough on those who have been living the structured life of a nursing home for several years. Yet Ms. Dooha said even the most apprehensive nursing home residents ultimately are glad to move back into their own homes.

Returning to the community isn't only a psychological challenge, but also presents a range of logistical problems. A common one for the Center for Independence, which already works to help nursing home residents move back into the community, is finding affordable housing for seniors. Another roadblock is finding living spaces built to accommodate those in wheelchairs, particularly in urban areas, Ms. Dooha said.