Hoarding, less than good hygiene and unsafe conditions can sneak up on a person and remain unseen even when family members come to visit. “You never know how someone really is doing until you look inside their refrigerator,” she said. ![]() “So we’ve got to know how they’re doing in their own environment.” There are plenty of agencies ready to help, she said, but families sometimes don’t know how to find them. “The idea is to keep people in their own homes, not send them to assisted living or a nursing home,” Hollowell said. They fear their freedom of choice will be taken away from them. Sometimes the senior family member is resentful and unwilling to cooperate, Hollowell observes. Those are things that are better accepted when they come from us.” Often, even the main caregiver is reluctant to share with other family members how much help his or her parent might need. ![]() “Sometimes they struggle to find ways to get their aging parent to stop driving or to ask them for their help when they need it. “Family members often notice that mom and dad aren’t managing their finances or their day-to-day activities as well as they used to,” Hollowell said. A multidisciplinary team that includes a physician, psychiatrist, social worker and physical therapist meets with the older adult and an occupational therapist visits the person’s home to assess the level of safety there. It’s now part of the hospital’s increased focus on addressing the changing needs of the senior population in and around Geauga County. The assessment - a comprehensive one-day health evaluation for older adults - was developed by social worker Hollowell at the former Heather Hill, which she and others often still call the Extended Care Campus. “Because no doctor’s order is needed for the assessment, we’re looking forward to dealing directly with families,” said Hollowell, who came to the main hospital in Claridon Township from UH Extended Care Campus in Munson Township. Now that the Senior Adult Assessment Program has moved to University Hospitals Geauga Medical Center, the program’s director, Cheryl Hollowell, expects families will be contacting her directly.
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