Assistance available from number of sources

by Ann Bucy

SBJ Contributing Writer

Recovery Employee Assistance Program has services that have been available to Springfield employers and their employees for more than 10 years.

According to company president Gary Turner, the main product offered is counseling service.

If a company offers Recovery EAP as part of their benefits package, an employee is entitled to a number of free sessions with a therapist.

Turner said elder care is one of the topics often discussed by employees who take advantage of their EAP benefit.

He also said that approximately 30 million Americans have an elder parent they are caring for. As a result, those people tend to miss work more often or spend more time on the phone than other employees. This can result in a significant impact on workplace environments.

"Employee retention is a benefit of the EAP," Turner said. "Professional counselors train the company supervisors on how to make appropriate referrals. The supervisors learn about conflict resolution and anger management. They see firsthand that there's something going on in the workplace."

Turner said 94 percent of the people who use the EAP said it's helpful and they would use it again.

Patricia Batson owns one of the local senior centers, Senior Care 24 Inc. She's a registered nurse certified in gerontology.

Her employees help the patients walk, get around their home, do their housework, cleaning and shopping, go with the patient to their doctor's appointments, help them take their medications as well as bathe and dress them.

Batson said each employee must have a minimum of six months experience working with the elderly before they're hired. Some of her employees are certified nurse assistants, while other are retired LPNS.

"The only requirement for the patient is that they be appropriate for home care, "Batson said. "Sometimes the patient would require more than we can offer."

Senior Care 24, Inc. accepts long term care insurance and private pay as means of payment.

Batson said she has applied for her Medicaid vendor number, but hasn't received it