Choosing a Day Services Provider

Choosing a Day Services Provider

Choosing a Day Services Provider

Families of adults with intellectual or developmental disabilities have to make a significant number of choices about how to care for their loved one. Many of these choices revolve around ensuring that the disabled family member’s needs are met, both physically and psychologically. Regardless of who becomes the individual’s caregiver, be it a family member or a professional care provider, there are going to be times when the caregiver might not be able to make their charge their focus for the day. That’s where developmental disabilities service providers such as Hands of Heartland become crucial elements of the care and support network for adults with IDD’s care in the Bellevue and Omaha communities. In this blog we will discuss how our Habilitative Day Services contribute to the overall health and well-being of both adults with IDD and their caregivers, as well as the importance we place on maintaining a low staff-to-individual ratio in order to best meet the needs of the individuals being treated.

Supporting Your Caregiver

It’s important for families of people with IDD to remember that caregivers have lives of their own that must be attended to and at times, alternative care solutions might be necessary to maintain care of their loved one. When caregivers need breaks longer than a day, there are respite service providers and other care alternatives. But when your caregiver just needs a single afternoon or a few hours, Hands of Heartland provides access to a Day Services option.

Engaging and Supportive Care

Dropping off a loved one or someone who’s been under your care for an extended amount of time at a facility they’ve never visited can be a daunting and nerve-racking experience. You might be concerned at the level of engagement and care they’ll receive in your absence, and we understand that concern. However, as an extension of our overarching mission to support the aspirations of adults with IDD to live their best lives, Hands of Heartland’s Day Service provides individualized rehabilitative and habilitative services necessary to help support the individual’s goals. Our level of engagement is extensive and built around the individual’s specific needs. Through arts and crafts, exercise, volunteer opportunities, and many other activities, we provide social and interactive environments that help them improve essential skills and promote their independence.

Maintaining a Low Ratio of Staff-to-Individual

One of the benchmarks of effective care in the arena of providing support to adults with IDD is a facility’s ability to maintain a very low staff-to-individual ratio. The Developmental Disabilities Resource Board suggests that the ratio of supervision for adults with IDD range from a 1:1 to a 1:3, dependent upon the needs of the individuals in question. While this is certainly not the reality across the care industry, it is a goal to strive towards, and one that Hands of Heartland puts into practice in our Day Services program. By maintaining this low staff-to-individual ratio, we can provide as little or as much care and oversight as a person might need.

Caring for Individuals with IDD from Within Our Four Walls

The successes of Hands of Heartland’s developmental disabilities services in Bellevue and Omaha in supporting the local IDD community is largely a result of our unwavering philosophy of putting the needs of the individuals under our care at the forefront of all that we do. To support our philosophy, we’ve worked hard to focus on hiring and training the most motivated and skilled caregivers in the industry to help run our many programs, such as our Habilitative Day Services, and ensured that our staff-to-individual ratio remains low enough that those under our care receive the personalized attention that is so crucial to them achieving independence and happiness in their lives.

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