ELDERCARE OFFERS DIVERSE FARE

For more than 11 years the SEMO Eldercare Center has provided socialization and education opportunities for elderly people in the area.

The Eldercare Center is the only licensed, social, adult day-care center in Missouri and it has served as a model for programs in other states.

Although anyone 60 years of age or older can participate, the average age of those involved in the program is 82. Participants must be able to manage their own care with only minimal assistance. They must also be able to follow simple instructions with limited supervision.

The center, which moved to 805 N. Sprigg in April, is offered through Southeast Missouri State University. It also receives funding assistance from a variety of other agencies. This year, for the first time, Eldercare is one of the Area Wide United Way agencies.

Cynthia Kothe, coordinator of the center, stressed the focus of the program is to keep people active and making decisions.

During the fiscal year that ended June 30, the Eldercare Center served 65 clients ranging in age from 62 to 96.

Describing the work of the center, Kothe explained: "We are an educational and social program for people age 60 and above. We have daily educational activities, provide transportation, two snacks and one meal a day to clients. We also serve as an information and referral source."

The center provides transportation to residents in the city limits of Cape Girardeau. Cape County Transit brings clients from outside the city. Anyone who does not live in the county must provide their own transportation.

Clients sign up for the days they want to attend, but Kothe said the limit is 20 people per day. "A group of 20 allows you to have a large, group activity, or you can break into smaller groups and still have good, group interaction," she said.

"If you get too large you lose the feel of intimacy and knowing each other, and that is important to the participants."

Sometimes the Eldercare Center is referred to as a day care center for adults, a reference Kothe disagrees with. "This allows people an opportunity to access educational programs and to socialize with their peers," she said. "The day care is kind of a misnomer."

Clients can choose the programs they participate in and often make suggestions on the kind of programs they want, especially on consumer-type issues.

This month East Missouri Action Agency is doing a program on weatherization. The center has a regular consumer-issue series and also focuses on health issues. The American Association of Retired Persons provides regular programs and twice each month the group goes out for lunch.

Clients make donations to the program. The center is open Mondays through Fridays from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. There are two full-time staff members along with a part-time graduate assistant and a program aide. In addition, the center has many volunteers.

Kothe said the Eldercare Center is "the concept of the future" for the elderly. "Only a little over 4 percent of the older adults are in nursing homes; the rest are living in their own homes or some type of group complex. They need an opportunity to access education programs and socialize with their peers," said Kothe.

"So, what we are doing here is reaching out to the vast majority of the older adult population."

Besides the university, funding for the center comes from the Southeast Missouri Area Agency on Aging, the Missouri Department of Education, and the Missouri Elderly and Handicapped Transportation Commission.

Having the additional funding from the United Way, Kothe said, will enable the center to provide more programs, improve what is offered now, and to serve more people.