Category: Social Work and Advocates

Real Estate

Winter Assistance

Posted on

Low-income seniors and adults with disabilities sometimes make dangerous choices when they cannot afford to properly heat/cool their homes. Several benefits programs can help with energy assistance needs.

Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP)

LIHEAP is a federally funded program that provides grants to states, territories, the District of Columbia and tribes to assist qualified individuals with their home heating and cooling costs.

In addition to assistance with energy bills, some funds are available to make improvements to homes and apartments to make them more energy efficient and reduce heating bills.

Each state has different qualifications for their LIHEAP program and different application processes.

Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP)

WAP enables low-income families to permanently reduce their energy bills by making their homes more energy efficient. Assistance is available regardless of whether a person owns or rents, lives in a single-family home, multi-family housing complex, or a mobile home. The U.S. Department of Energy provides funding to states, U.S. overseas territories, and Indian tribal governments, which manage the day-to-day details of the program.

Emergency Assistance

Many states also offer emergency assistance to help low-income clients avoid having their utilities shut off. To find out what programs may be offered in your area, contact the National Energy Assistance Referral project at 1-866-674-6327 or TTY 1-866-367-6228.

Other Forms of Energy Assistance

Some states, energy companies, and localities offer other forms of assistance with home energy costs for seniors and other vulnerable populations. Our fact sheet, Looking Beyond LIHEAP: Alternative Sources of Energy Assistance, explains several of these programs in more detail.

Click on the following link to be directed to the National Council on Aging for further details.

https://www.ncoa.org/economic-security/benefits/other-benefits/energy-assistance/

Social Work and Advocates

Q & A with The Speech Pathologist

Posted on

Speech disorders and difficulty safely swallowing can be associated with multiple diseases from dementia to residual effects of a neurological event. We recently had the pleasure of interviewing Speech Pathologist, Nastasja Bosserman, M.S., SLP-CCC about her experiences. Here are her responses to our questions:

Question:  What are the most true signs and/or symptoms that a patient or caregiver will identify when someone is having difficulty with swallowing and should be evaluated by a speed pathologist?  

Bosserman: This depends on the stage of the swallow.  Somethings would be difficulty chewing, drooling (possibly due to weakness, decreased coordination), coughing, choking, feeling like food is stuck in your throat recurring (aspiration) pneumonia.

Question:  What are the steps and stages to being diagnosed? 

Bosserman: Steps to a diagnosis would be getting a referral to a speech language pathologist from your physician for testing.  There are two instrumental tests typically used; FEEs (fiberoptic endoscopic evaluation of swallowing) which is where a flexible tube with a camera at the end and they view the swallow from there.  The other one is a MBSS/MoBaS (modified barium swallow study) this one has a radiology technician and a speech pathologist to complete.  

Question: What are some treatment options?

Bosserman: Treatments are based on dysphagia and etiology. There are a variety of strengthening exercises to increase coordination, strategies to allow safer swallow.  There is also NMES (neuromuscular electro stimulation) performed by a certified professional. 

Question: What are the most common events or diseases that lead to need for speech therapy?

Bosserman: Instant onset disease include stroke and traumatic brain injury. Slow onset disease include dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinsons, ALS and MS. 

Question:  As a speech pathologist what do you wish people knew about your career?

Bosserman: There are a lot of things I wish older patients knew about speech pathology.  The main one is I don’t just teach children to talk. I don’t change diets because I hate my patients, I do it because I want them to be safe. If you want a diet upgrade you have to put in the effort.  

A special thanks to Nastasja Bosserman, M.S., SLP-CCC, for sharing her knowledge with ECR. Our hope is that this provided helpful information, please speak to your healthcare provider for specific questions regarding your health.