
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, April 24, 1994                   TAG: 9404260015
SECTION: HORIZON                    PAGE: B5   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Knight-Ridder Newspapers
DATELINE: BELLEFONTE, PA.                                LENGTH: Medium

FOR WORKERS, ADULT DAY CARE< BOTH BUSINESS AND MINISTRY

Sunlight streaming through tall windows warms the room, as does the aroma of freshly brewed coffee. A frail woman, her gray hair carefully coiffed, parks her walker next to her chair as Thelma McKinley sets a steaming blue mug at each place and then passes around a plate of ginger snaps, fig bars and Lorna Doones.

McKinley, who herself has 11 great-grandchildren, is a volunteer aide two days a week at the adult day-care program at Centre Crest nursing home, where this morning the conversation touches on grandchildren and great-grandchildren, with a nod to the welcome sunshine after a long winter.

This morning, five participants, of whom the youngest is 69, have come to the cheerful room at the west end of the building that houses Share and Care. In addition to the long central table where everyone gathers for coffee, the room contains kitchen facilities, five commodious rocking chairs around a large television set, coordinator Phoebe Heinaman's desk, cartons of supplies and a recent addition - a pint-sized indoor basketball hoop.

After coffee, Phyllis Smith, a volunteer from First Baptist Church, arrives to offer a Bible lesson, and Heinaman retires to a rocker to talk about the program she oversees.

Share and Care participants generally are able to get around on their own, Heinaman said, although they have a sampling of the disabilities that often come with age - failing sight, hearing loss, frailty after a hip fracture, some loss of control over speech because of a stroke, and mild dementia. But the program can accommodate these frailties; the only requirements are that participants must be able to feed themselves and use the toilet.

Just as abilities vary among participants, so also do needs. For one participant, Share and Care means conversation and friendship. For another, the program allows her son to go to work without worrying about her comfort and safety. For yet another, it's a chance to get the stimulation that will keep her mind alert although her hearing has failed.

While some participants live alone, most live with family members, and for some of these care givers the program provides needed respite.

Five days a week, Share and Care offers conversation, activities and a hot noon meal from the Centre Crest kitchen. Activities include baking, bingo, floor tic-tac-toe and trivia, an occasional trip out for lunch, chair exercises, indoor walking and movies with popcorn. Several times a year Share and Care stages fund-raisers, such as Tupperware parties; proceeds are used for supplies or special events.

Nancy Creighton, director of adult day activities programs, described the adult day activities program as for elders who have some impairment and ``don't fit in a senior center.''

For example, a participant may be disoriented and agitated, asking frequently, ``Where am I? When am I going home?'' Or a participant with dementia may occasionally be combative.

Creighton said the program ``will stretch hard'' to accommodate such disabilities. However, if alternative placement needs to be considered, the organization will work with the care giver to find the most appropriate placement.

``This is a business,'' Creighton said, ``but it's also a ministry.''

And ``we're never ever going to tell care givers we know what they're going through ... . because we don't.''

by CNB