Home Care Program
Home Care Program
Exclusive donation from TIMA Charity Foundation
The “Home Care” program started in May 2018. The goals of home care intervention are to improve the quality of life and combat the stigma of dementia, with specific goals of empowering the whole family that cares with appropriate psychosocial services and raising awareness of local communities.
The information about the start of the program was disseminated through the website of the Greek Association of Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Disorders of Chalkida and with the distribution of printed material that was distributed to services of Central Evia. Also, speeches were made at KAPI in Central and Southern Evia, targeted events of the organization and announcements at local events of cultural institutions and health institutions. More than 4000 adults were informed during the project. Results from the program were also presented at the 11th Panhellenic Alzheimer’s Disease Congress in Thessaloniki.
Families were admitted to the program at the request of the person who lives with the person with dementia and is their primary caregiver. The caregivers of the people with dementia were informed about the program either directly, by participating in the events of the organization, or by their relatives who attended the informative activities, or by the internet. There were referrals from health professionals (doctors) and social services of the Region of Central Greece.
The characteristics of the families that participated in the three cycles of the program are as follows:
- They live in Central Evia (Chalkida, Kanithos, Drosia, Loukisia, Vasiliko, Psachna, Mistros, Politika, Triada, N. Artaki, Vatonas) and in Northern Evia (Kirinthos, Mantoudi, Kalivia, Kechries, Limoni).
- The M.O. The age of people with dementia who were served by the program is 81.5 years, with values from 62 years to 96 years.
- The M.O. The age of the caregivers served by the program is 59.3 years, with ages ranging from 28 years up to 86. In most of them, the caregivers are children and spouses of people with dementia.
- 40% of caregivers are employed, followed by 36% of retired people and 24% are unemployed or employed exclusively with household items.
- 39% of the caregivers of the program have the opportunity to hire a domestic helper for a few hours a day while 61% have no help in caring for the person with dementia.
- The largest percentage of those served by the program (54%), move with the help of a walker or are in bed.
- 9 of the patients of the program also participated in group activities of the Day Center “Agia Irini”, activities which were evaluated by the caregivers as very important for the socialization of people with dementia.