What A Gift: Helping Seniors Be Independent
Dee Hanson nearly quit after the elderly woman fired a shrill salvo in Hungarian at her.
The woman didn’t want Dee to replace the aide who came to her home to help her bathe, dress and exercise. The new face scared her, especially considering the intimacy of the jobs Dee had come to perform.
“I went to my car and cried,” Dee says. “Then I made up my mind to do something different. The next day, when she started screaming again in Hungarian, I talked back in Philippine. She calmed down and, after that, things were great.”
Ten years later, Dee still helps North Idaho’s elderly stay in their homes.
“They’re happier, independent, alert at home,” she says. “In nursing homes, they feel they’re at the end of their lives. At home, they’re OK.”
Dee and other home health aides shampoo hair, fix lunch, give enemas - whatever personal help basically healthy seniors need to continue normal lives at home.
“It seems you people have a very close link to God. It’s hard to improve on that,” one client wrote on a Panhandle Home Health evaluation.
It’s an unglamorous job that demands patience, psychology and a strong stomach. Dee visited with one 80-year-old woman for three weeks before she found a way to get her in the bathtub. The woman loved lunch, so Dee said she could have it after her bath.
It took another few weeks before the woman allowed Dee to wash her hair. But Dee understood.
“She wanted attention and company,” she says. “She wanted to keep me there as long as she could.”
The rewards keep Dee and friend Martha Dorage on the job. Martha helped one charming pastor in her 90s stay home until she died. The woman and her son adopted Martha and were so grateful for her help. But not more grateful than Martha was for her brush with the gracious woman.
“She gave back to me far more than I gave her,” Martha says. She and Dee share a silent moment of memories, then Martha smiles. “The job makes life worthwhile. You have to be strong for yourself to be strong for someone else.”
Farmers mART
Kootenai County’s Farmers Market has grown into such a summer gathering place that faithful vendors and customers have searched for a winter equivalent. Finally, they’ve come up with an idea that just might work.
The Second Saturday ArtMart kicks off at 8 a.m. Saturday in the Coeur d’Alene Cultural Center. Expect slim pickings on baked goods but plenty of oils, pastels, wreaths, baskets, embroidery, jewelry and ceramics.
For all of you who couldn’t Christmas shop at Art on the Green last summer and don’t know where to find your favorite artists in the winter, the ArtMart may be the answer. The booths will close at 2 p.m. and won’t be back until Jan. 11.
Boo-boo patrol
Leave it to the moms to remember the importance of Band-Aids and disinfectant on school playgrounds. The Kootenai-Benewah Medical Alliance donated 70 first-aid kits to elementary schools in Kootenai County this week.
The alliance is a group of doctors’ spouses that tries to cover some of the overlooked medical needs in the community. Before you accuse me of jumping to the conclusion that all doctors are men, check out the Yellow Pages for Kootenai County physicians.
And again I say, “Thank goodness for moms.”
Slick stories
Where’s the best sled hill in North Idaho and what kind of memories has it given you? Slide a story to Cynthia Taggart, “Close to Home,” 608 Northwest Blvd., Suite 200, Coeur d’Alene, ID 83814; send a fax to 765-7149; call 765-7128; or e-mail to cynthiat@spokesman.com.
, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo