New videos from state explain long-term care options, with eye to home care

PROVIDENCE – Aiming to better educate consumers about long-term care options, the R.I. Executive Office of Health and Human Services has released four videos, all available online, that describe the available range of services and the terms of the state’s Medicaid Global Waiver.
The videos, financed by a federal grant to promote home and community-based services, are part of a larger-scale effort to “re-balance” long-term care in the state and make it easier for elders and people with disabilities to avoid going into institutions.
The agency has worked with community organizations, providers, advocates and others to reform long-term care services and reach out to consumers, and the videos, each about 15 minutes long, build on that work.
One video is geared specifically to seniors, and another to adults with disabilities – both with plenty of information on home- and community-based services. Another video is geared to discharge planners at hospitals, and another offers an overview of the Global Waiver and Medicaid reform in Rhode Island.
The videos are posted at www.ohhs.ri.gov, as well as on the R.I. Department of Elderly Affairs website, www.dea.ri.gov; the R.I. Department of Human Services website, www.dhs.ri.gov; and on the Point site, adrc.ohhs.ri.gov.
“We are pleased to present these educational videos to better inform people about the choices and options they have,” said Gary Alexander, secretary of EOHHS, in a news release. “People may not be aware of the many different kinds of services that there are that can help them while they live at home.”