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By Marcia Z. Siegal 
Ellen Dervin describes, in three words, what her care program means to her:
“It’s a lifesaver.”
Dervin, 68, has muscular dystrophy. Without her in-home services, she would be unable to remain in the home she loves, in the neighborhood where she has lived for 18 years.
“I’ve been able to get the help I need to remain safely at home, as opposed to giving up everything I know and love — my cat, my independence — to move into a nursing home,” Dervin says. “My quality of life has been enhanced beyond words.”
Dervin benefits from staying at home and in the community through a program of comprehensive care, including part-time aides who help with the activities of daily living. They prepare meals, assist with bathing and personal care, shop, do laundry and light housekeeping, escort her to medical appointments, and more.
Together, Dervin explains, they “do whatever I cannot do.”
She receives these services without cost through the Pennsylvania Department of Aging Waiver Program. This program is available for older Pennsylvanians who need long term care ordinarily provided by a nursing home; have limited financial resources; and wish to remain at home and in the community.
Philadelphia Corporation for Aging (PCA) administers the waiver program in Philadelphia.
Dervin’s care manager at PCA, Connie Lewis, explains: “This is not a cookie-cutter program. We work with consumers to create a care plan that fits consumers’ specific needs and abilities.
“This program typically costs the state less than it would spend on the same consumer for nursing home care,” Lewis says, adding that there is no waiting list for eligible applicants.
Lewis visits regularly to check in on Dervin and monitor her care plan, and is available to help when difficulties arise. For instance, Dervin needed ambulance transportation to get to the hospital to be tested for a life-threatening sleep disorder. Lewis helped her arrange for those non-emergency ambulance services — ordinarily hundreds of dollars — without cost.
“These types of things are really important for Ms. Dervin to be able to stay at home,” says Lewis.
In addition to her care program, which includes transportation services, the waiver program provides Dervin with a Medicaid Access card. The medications she takes, like her care services, are at no cost to her. A range of other services is available through the waiver program, such as in-home safety equipment, an emergency response system, and adult day services, depending upon the consumer’s needs and interests.
Dervin, who formerly directed religious education at St. Francis of Assisi Parish, says she remains a person of strong faith, and that God has given her the strength and courage to cope as her condition has worsened.
She is also quick to credit the importance of aging services. For those older adults who may need long term care at home and have yet to make that first call, she advises: “This wonderful program is available. Call PCA. Let them know what your needs are. Let PCA match up your individual needs with how they can assist you. They can open doors and guide you through the maze… It can be the beginning of a whole new wonderful world.”
See below for contact information.
How you can apply for the waiver program
The Pennsylvania Department of Aging Waiver Program is offered at no cost to qualified consumers.
Here is what you need to know:
• Participants can receive long term care services at home and in the community, ranging from assistance with bathing, dressing and meals; to nursing and physical therapy; to adult day care.
• There are immediate openings.
• Participants must be at least 60 years old; be eligible for nursing home care; and meet specified financial criteria.
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