KentuckyOne Health VNA Health at Home Awarded $516,000 for Personal Care Attendant Program

VNA Health at Home, part of KentuckyOne Health, has received a grant for $516,095 to help fund its Personal Care Attendant Program (PCAP), which helps Kentucky adults with severe physical challenges who want to live independently, but need the help of a personal care attendant and financial assistance. The grant was awarded from the Lincoln Trail Area Development District, and the Administration on Aging (AoA), a principal agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

A severely physically challenged person qualifies for PCAP if he/she is 18 years or older, and has the functional loss of two or more limbs. Applicants must meet income eligibility criteria and must be dependent on others to carry out one or more activities for them, such as feeding, transferring, toileting, and bathing. Help with activities like shopping, light housekeeping, and laundry may also be needed. Applicants must be in need of attendant care for a minimum of 14 hours per week or maximum of 40 hours per week, or need an attendant at night. The primary goal of PCAP’s efforts is to provide those who are severely physically challenged the opportunity to live in their own homes and communities. PCAP participants are provided a subsidy to engage personal care services to assist them in their goal of staying in their own home.

The VNA Health at Home program has participants who pursue various careers including banking, practicing law, and social security administration as a result of the independence afforded them through this program.

Austin Peterson of Bardstown, Kentucky says the program has helped improve his life. In 2007, Peterson was injured in a four-wheeler accident that resulted in a spinal cord injury that caused paralysis in his torso, legs, and part of his arms. Today, he has made improvements, but his legs and torso area are still paralyzed.

Through the help of PCAP, he has been able to move out of his parent’s home and live on his own, with a personal care attendant visiting daily to assist him. He’s now working full-time, is engaged to be married next year, and is in the process of building a house.

The subsidy program is funded by the Kentucky Department of Aging and Independent Living through the Lincoln Trail Area Development District. It is the mission of VNA Health at Home to provide participants with the highest possible quality of life by not only providing the financial subsidy, but also community resource assistance and linkage to other programs as needed to meet all of their needs. There are 31 active PCAP participants in the PCAP.

VNA Health at Home, through its Bardstown, Kentucky office, is currently a service provider to the Lincoln Trail Area Development District, which is comprised of the following counties: Anderson, Boyle, Breckinridge, Fayette, Franklin, Garrard, Grayson, Hardin, Jessamine, Larue, Lincoln, Marion, Meade, Mercer, Nelson, Washington, and Woodford.