Stories From Main Street: Westchester County Caring For Caregivers
WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- We're living longer, and as Baby Boomers retire, some are taking on a new responsibility: caring for their parents.
"You have an aging population in Westchester and in the United States, and the costs are going through the roof for medical care, long-term care, etc.," Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino told WCBS 880's Sean Adams. "And the best scenario would be for people to age in place, to get older in their own homes."
But the emotional and physical challenges of caring for an ailing loved one at home can take a toll.
Westchester County Caring For Caregivers
Don't despair, Astorino said. The county is there to help care for caregivers.
"We have coaches that are trained, and we also have lawyers who give pro-bono time on issues of medical care and wills and trusts, and so this whole network is available through senior programs, and a lot of it is free," Astorino said.
Westchester also organizes care circles, a network of volunteers who can lend a hand.
"Shoveling. They could help with transportation in bringing somebody to the doctor or to get their hair done or to the post office," Astorino said.
Volunteer Viviana DeCohen has more than two decades of experience, first caring for her grandmother, who had Alzheimer's disease, and now her mother-in-law.
"At first, I was really trying to take on everything myself," she said. "I didn't want to reach out to anyone. I thought that I could do it best."
Learning from her experience, DeCohen started her own home health aid service, Visiting Development Care Group.
"We have a home-bound dentist that we can give them," she said. "If they need a gerontologist, then we have a list of gerontologists.
"Every day, they have an activity that I assign to them, whether it's putting pictures in a photo album and then designing it with Mom," DeCohen added.
