A nonprofit organization offering welcome breaks for caregivers of individuals with dementia or any other debilitating issues, is celebrating its 20th anniversary in Salina.
Sunflower Adult Day Services provides much needed respite for caregivers with the aim of supporting the care which they already provide at home. In addition, they have a proactive approach that sustains mobility, cognitive skills and social connections before decline accelerates.
Located at the corner of Ninth Street and Iron Avenue, it has room for more clients.
An average of 20 clients use the service. It’s open 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.
“It’s a great service to the community, and we easily have room for 30 or more clients,” said Dirk Hutchinson, a retired Salina physician, who chairs the adult day services board.
Since its founding by the late Dr. Wendell Nickell, Sunflower Adult Day Services has helped care for more than 300 patients and provided respite to their caregivers, according to a press release from Sunflower Adult Day Services Director Lindsay Huenefeld, RN.
“Clients may use our services from two to five days each week depending on their caregiver’s needs,” she wrote. “Today I am seeking your awareness. Please be cognizant of the stress level experienced by the caregivers of your appropriate patients and refer them to us to give their caregivers an opportunity for quality respite time for themselves and your patient.”
You or a group may also make tax-deductible contributions to Sunflower Adult Day Services, a 501(c)3 organization, “to help support our important work,” Huenefeld wrote.
Call her at (785) 823-6666, to start a referral. All clients require physician orders to attend.
“We are proud of our strong emphasis on quality of life through social, recreational and therapeutic programming,” she wrote.
Healthcare, including medications, monitoring and nutrition, is provided by registered nurses, certified nurse aides, a dietician and social services, according to the release. Personal care services, including bathing, grooming and a beauty/barbershop, are available. Lunches are delivered from the nearby Salina Senior Center.
“Clients are not limited to those with Alzheimer’s or other forms of dementia, but also any patients with physical, social, or emotional needs, which limit their ability for self-care and require them to have constant supervision,” the release reads. “Services are not covered by commercial insurance, but there is coverage through the Veterans Administration, Medicaid, and some long-term care insurance policies.”
Scholarships are available on a limited basis.
The cost for self-pay clients is $80 a day, Hutchinson said.
“It is important to remember that early intervention delays more expensive care needs, making our respite services a practical and more affordable option,” he said
Sunflower Adult Day Services has a covered driveway to allow clients to be dropped off out of the perils of weather.
Salina is fortunate to be one of only three cities in Kansas to offer adult day services, Hutchinson said, with Wichita and Kansas City.
FACTOID: Dr. Wendell Nickell, a general surgeon, practiced in Salina from 1966 through 1991. He died in 2014. Dr. Nickell recognized an unmet need for caregiver daytime respite services while caring for his nurse anesthetist wife, who had Alzheimer’s disease.
