Thank goodness for Kimochi, and the numerous services they provide to the community. Of course they will try to assist you regardless of your background, but as my loved ones are of Japanese descent with limited English capabilities, it was particularly helpful to have access to people who understand the language and culture. We did not qualify to place our elderly family member in the Kimochi home. You must be "ambulatory" to live there, and my family member had dementia, an automatic disqualifier. Luckily we were able to place him at a skilled nursing facility ( aka "nursing home" ) near-by. However, we did take advantage of other services, including:
CONSULTATION WITH A SOCIAL WORKER: to get advice and referrals on the daunting task of figuring out how to care for a loved one with dementia. It was here where we got a referral to an attorney specializing in elder care law ( estate planning, long term care, Medi-Cal planning, etc)
HOME CARE HELPER: While they cannot and do not "recommend" home care helpers, they can maintain a list of individuals who are interested in working to take care of your senior. For $100, Kimochi can introduce you such an individual, but it is completely up to you to set guidelines and hourly pay, which is often much less than the going-rate of home care agencies. But be aware you are responsible for employment-related issues such as liability and taxes. Still, we found 2 great helpers who spoke Japanese who worked with our family for about a year.
SENIOR LUNCH:
Another senior family member is a regular at the Kimochi lunches in Japan Town, which is an inexpensive $2/meal. When 2 of our family members became a bit home-bound, the delivery option was immensely helpful. I think the cost was maybe $3/meal ( still a deal) and somebody had to be home to receive the meal by the delivery person.
ADULT DAY CARE:
Another service that was super helpful was the adult day care service. There was a bit of a waitlist period, but once an opening came up, we started at once/week, then gradually increased our family member's visit to twice/week. I recall the hours were 5 hours (10am - 3pm ) which gave our family badly needed respite, but what was a bit limiting was the van pick up/drop off ETA's were unfortunately not always reliable, since the van transported multiple seniors. Still, it was a very valuable service (about $20/visit).
CAREGIVER SUPPORT GROUPS: Although the family member needing caregiving has passed on, one family member ( who was his primary caregiver) still attends the (monthly) support group meetings for caregivers led by social workers, both in English and in Japanese. Ironically, when you are in the throes of caregiving, it can be almost impossible to attend the very meetings meant to help you deal with your situation. That was the case for me, so if there is any way you can arrange for alternate care, caregiver support groups like Kimochi's can help give you a sense of hope, of not feeling alone. read more