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Martha Howell's avatar

I got a letter about this after crying in front of my mom's case manger, my mom's doctor, and the respite care woman who came in for 2-4 hrs, irregularly, once a week, and in 4 months only once helped my mom use the bathroom. By then she was in assisted living, because she couldn't manage in my house. I needed a stair lift and a new shower. After 2 wks, they put her on low dose opioids that helped her move around enough to manage, without sedating her too much. They never offered me those. They're paying $400/day. I didn't get a red cent.

Pat Kenney-Moore's avatar

There was a wonderful documentary highlighting On Lok by TalkingEyesMedia called Aging in America: The Years Ahead.

The PACE Guy's avatar

Great write-up and glad you're bringing awareness to the program. I share similar sentiments to what you've outlined and is exactly what I've started writing about these past few months!

Mr Bill's avatar

Could you provide some guidance on how to find a pace program?

Jenny Xie's avatar

You can use this link to find a PACE program in your area: https://www.npaonline.org/find-a-pace-program

Max's avatar

How does it work with someone in assisted living needing a higher level of care (a relative in that situation). Assisted living charges more and more, then defaults to “you will have to move to a nursing home”.

Jenny Xie's avatar

PACE is actually built for exactly this. It covers the full continuum, from in-home support up through nursing-home-level care, so someone can keep getting more help as their needs grow. If your relative qualifies (the bar is nursing-home-level need and medicaid eligibility for full reimbursement), it's worth looking at whether there's a PACE program in their area.

Jacob Moses's avatar

Hi Jenny. So appreciate your post. Do PACE programs generally succeed in facilities with footprints similar to nursing homes, considering requirements such as on-site primary care?

I'm a certified community health worker and real estate developer interested in converting existing structures into alternative housing for seniors through the historic tax credit program. I have several properties under contract, all of which have the required entitlements for a PACE program, but could likely only house 10 participants.

Jenny Xie's avatar

Glad it was helpful! One thing worth clarifying: PACE participants typically live in their own homes across a broader service area and come to the center during the day, so PACE functions more as a day center plus clinic than as housing. A given program usually draws from a whole region rather than a single building. A center serving 10 participants would be challenging to set up. I would explore the surrounding area and if there are enough eligible individuals that you could enroll to make the math work

Jacob Moses's avatar

Ah, Jenny, I follow. That makes sense. So appreciate the clarification and look forward to following along with your work.