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A social worker visits
each home on a regular
basis to provide needed support and advice.
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Sharing a home with other seniors can be a
wonderful experience. At the same time, we realize that there may
be challenges to such an arrangement. These challenges include interpersonal
conflict, learning to share a home after decades of living on your
own, dealing with the grief that comes with the aging process and
the loss of loved ones. To assist our residents with such transitions
we offer on-going support services provided by our staff social
worker.
Knowing that the social worker is available to
help overcome such challenges can make a big difference in the
well being of our residents. The social worker gets to know each
person individually, offers on-going needs assessment, monitors
the resident's health, acquires needed services, and generally
helps ease that person into a shared living arrangement through
emotional support.
The social worker also assists the group as a
whole, providing conflict resolution, teaching socialization skills
where necessary and helping the residents create a warm and comfortable
community of friends. The social worker also serves as a liaison
between the home and the community at-large. The goal is always
to create a real home. This means that in addition to
helping the residents feel comfortable together, the social worker
strives to integrate the
residents into the neighborhood.
In addition to the social worker, housemates become
close friends and confidants. As one resident says: "It's
good to have housemates who are also friends. We are there to
help each other in tough times." |
