BISMARCK, N.D. — As they age, most people want to remain independent for as long as they can. To do that, though, they often need help.

Where that help comes from, however, can sometimes be a fraught issue. One local organization is trying to bridge that gap — and creating bonds between young and old in the process.

By 2020, those over 60 will make up nearly a quarter of North Dakota's population, according to the U.S. Administration on Aging.

With advancing age often comes more health problems and less money. To help, there are a number of services available for the older generations — Medicare, Social Security, nursing homes, home care, etc.

But still some can fall through the cracks, like those who live off Social Security and can't afford the occasional home care nurse visit or those who are mostly healthy but could use a companion.

There also are those who have a primary caregiver, usually a family member, but caring for someone with major medical issues is physically and emotionally taxing. They, too, need a break.

These are the voids Volunteer Caregivers aims to fill. The group has been in Bismarck for nearly 20 years, but it is small — there is only one paid staff member — and people don't always realize its services are out there.

The group operates by creating a volunteer base to call on when approached by a senior with particular needs.

"We can do anything we can find a volunteer to do," said Moira Solberg, the executive director of Volunteer Caregivers.

Much of what the organization does is smaller things, like taking someone to the grocery store, accompanying them to a doctor's appointment or even volunteers bringing their kids to visit some of the clients who may not have family nearby.

"We're what Bismarck used to be, when you knew your neighbors," Solberg said.

Wherever possible, Solberg said, she points seniors to existing services like the buses or government programs for extended care. They're just there to fill in the gaps, she said.

Volunteer Caregivers' clients are mostly people in their 70s and older, although there are some exceptions. In the past six years, the organization has been able to expand the kinds of services it provides when it partnered with the University of Mary nursing program.

Since then, nursing students will do a four-week rotation with Volunteer Caregivers during the school year. It has been a great partnership, Solberg said, and she's looking to expand it. Just this year, she added some students from Sanford College of Nursing as well.

"They are actually helping people survive and helping people get by on their own," Solberg said. "... The elderly get as much out of it as the students do."

And the students really respond to the rotation. At their breakfast meeting at the close of their rotation last month, the seven U-Mary students spoke emotionally about the person or couple they had been paired with to care for.

It really helps break down this fear of the unkown in caring for older people, Solberg said. They may be older, she said, but they're still people.

It becomes apparent as the students talk about their time with their people that each senior had his or her own personality and quirks — something often forgotten when people talk about the elderly as a block, Solberg said.

For instance, one student, Ashli Foli, was paired with a particularly stubborn and sarcastic senior who was resistant to any help.

But then, when Foli started to give as good as she got, the woman warmed to her immediately, enjoying and thriving on their banter.

"Well, I'm just like her, so I was like, 'Oh, this is going to be fun,'" Foli said.

Since the rotations are only four weeks long, the seniors end up with a new student about every month. So far, though, that has worked out really well, said Chris Chap, one of the clients of Volunteer Caregivers.

"You can feel that they're going to be good nurses," Chap said.

Chap is younger than the usual clients for this organization — an exception to the rule. She is in her early 60s, but had a stroke last July and lost movement in both her left arm and her left leg. She now uses a wheelchair.

Her husband and her daughter are her primary caregivers. Her daughter comes over while her husband is at work, but he is there the rest of the time. Kim Miller, the student currently on rotation, comes once a week for a few hours so Chap's daughter can go out and run errands and have a bit of a break.

Miller and Chap usually will sit and chat — outside if it's nice — and Miller will help Chap with her exercises. Miller also is there for when Chap has to leave her chair for some reason.

In other cases, the student is mostly there as a companion and to help with small chores like grocery shopping or housecleaning.

That is the case for Val Zander. She is 99, very sharp and has stories to spare. Her mobility is a bit slower, perhaps, but she keeps on walking. Her hearing, however, is a little less strong — she tends to read lips.

"All I have to do now is keep breathing," she said.

Ryan Wolf, her nursing student, stops by a couple of times a week. His main task has been to help her put together a large jigsaw puzzle set up on a card table in the living room.

Zander credits her longevity to all her walking — "I was born in the horse and buggy days," she said, and all her reading — "I'm making up for lost time."

"I says to those youngsters, 'Now, stick to that reading,'" she said.

She gets excited when talking about Wolf's future as a nurse. He likes people, she said, and that's the most important.

"I'm so glad he's going into nursing," she said. "There are too few male nurses."

Zander is quickly becoming a champion of male nurses — her last nursing student was also a young man and her grandson is studying to be a nurse.

Pairing students with seniors often feels "like a dating service," Solberg said. Some might not be comfortable with a male nursing student or some might have a specific personality type that could clash with another.

Still others require more specific care and will be paired with a student who has experience as a certified nursing assistant.

Overall, the partnership has worked wonders, Solberg said.

"People don't realize the impact the students have in the community," she said.

And it's just as important to the students.

"It gives me a sense of accomplishment, helping people," Miller said.

From:THE BISMARCK TRIBUNE

http://bismarcktribune.com/news/local/bismarck/local-group-aims-to-fill-gaps-in-senior-care/article_84590dba-c186-11e3-b2c7-001a4bcf887a.html