Adult Day Program To Go Before Chatham Town Meeting

CHATHAM – Space for an adult supportive day program was added to a proposed new center for active living in West Chatham when it went before voters last fall. The vote failed, but the need for a program to provide care for residents with dementia and dementia-related issues has only grown; in fact, requests for respite services from caregivers have more than doubled in the past six months, according to Director of Community Services Leah LaCross.

The council on aging is proposing to establish an adult supportive day program at the Stony Hill Road center for active living, and voters will be asked to approve $273,682 at the May 13 annual town meeting to fund the program.

The select board last week expressed support for the measure, but held off on a vote pending a “polishing” of the language in the town meeting article.

“I’m very much in favor of this,” said Select Board member Jeff Dykens. “We’ve been talking about adult day for a long, long time in this town…We need this kind of program in town.”

The COA has applied for a grant to cover the costs of what would essentially be a pilot adult supportive day program. If the town receives the grant, it will reduce the amount of town funding.

An adult supportive day program would give a break to caregivers of residents with dementia and dementia-related issues. Caring for a family member in that situation can be stressful, LaCross said, and the program would provide a safe, in-town environment where family members can be cared for. The Rock Harbor Respite Program at the Orleans Council On Aging is currently the only option locally, with 10 Chatham residents now attending the program. While there is no wait list, it can take up to 10 months for a spot to become available, she said. Many caretakers in Chatham are in their 70s, 80s and even 90s.

“We have people in their 90s caring for a spouse that is over 100,” LaCross said. “Ten months can be a lifetime to them to have to wait.” A Chatham program would address the immediate need.

The funding being requested would cover a full-time program manager and several part-time positions to staff the program, as well as furniture and other equipment appropriate to the program, she said. The program is supportive rather than medical, she added, so no clinical staff is required.

The only suitable space for the program at the current center for active living is the dining room. The program would run two to three days a week, and COA programs that would usually use the dining room could be shifted to the community center, LaCross said.

The First United Methodist Church had offered space for an adult day program at a cost of $200 per day, but there were questions about spending public money and running a town program in a religious institution.

Select Board member Dean Nicastro noted that the town is still awaiting an engineering report about the condition and efficacy of further use of the Stony Hill Road facility. He felt the article was premature and that officials should wait to see if the grant is approved.

Board member Michael Schell said he would like to see the program up and running as soon as possible, and chair Cory Metters acknowledged the Methodist Church’s generosity but said the program needs to be housed in a town facility.

While the council on aging supports the concept, chair Pat Burke suggested waiting to find out about the grant before going to town meeting to request funding.

“Asking the town for money only to turn around and say we have received the grant sends the wrong message to the taxpayers,” she said.

Board will hold a formal vote on supporting the town meeting article until March 19, after the language in the measure has been revised by town counsel and town staff.