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Medical and Health Care
The quality of medical and health care in the Capital Area is among the best in the nation.
The area is served by general hospitals in most counties including the largest populated counties of Albany, Rensselaer, Saratoga and Schenectady. Hospitalsprovide emergency, in-patient and out-patient medical and surgical care, and may have associated nursing home or extended care facilities.
Family doctors, general practitioners, pediatricians and otherprimary care physicians serve the communities of the Capital Area, and are
often a first source of referral to specialists and to other providers in the care networks serving the elderly and people with disabilities
in the Capital Area. Ask your doctor about available disability and aging care and services.
Specialists in the Capital Area receive referrals from primary care physicians, as well as direct self-referrals, and provide critical medical and
health care intervention ranging from heart by-pass surgery to hip replacement to psychological and nutritional counseling.
Visiting nurses in the Capital Area are a vital extension of medical care to the home and are often instrumental in transitioning elderly
patients and patients with disabilities to available community support, home care and independent living services.
If you do not have a primary care physician or family doctor, consult the information provided by your health care insurance
plan or the yellow pages of your telephone directory. Make an appointment and consult your doctor about disability and aging services in your
community.
Disability Support
The Capital Area is served by
a network of Independent Living Centers and organizations providing a wide variety of independent living,
advocacy and support services.
Independent Living Centers are non-profit community-based
organizations dedicated to creating opportunities for independence, to
promoting equal access and integration, and to assisting persons will all types
of disabilities to achieve their maximum level of independent functioning.
Typical services include peer counseling, equipment loan closets, information and referral, consultation on barrier free design, adaptive
computer technology and independent living skills training among others.
Further information on Independent Living Centers is available from the
New York State Independent Living Council and from
your local Center.
The The New York State Commission on Quality of Care and Advocacy for Persons with Disabilities
also offers several direct services for people with disabilities in the Capital Area and the rest of the state.
The Association for Retarded Citizens, the Albany Center for the Disabled and many other community service organizations are part of this
network. See Hot Lines, disability Web links, and the community
services pages of your telephone directory.
Aging Services
The aging services network in the Capital Area
includes services ranging from those for the active mature adult to those for the frail impaired elderly
and their families. At the core of this network, are local offices for the aging.
Local offices for the aging are typically agencies within county
government and are charged with planning and coordinating aging programs and
services within their areas. In addition they receive federal and state funding
to manage the delivery of services under several programs, either directly or
through community non-profit organizations.
Most, but not all, services available through local offices for the
aging are for persons 60 years of age or older. Services are also provided for
older workers and for families and caregiver. Most local offices offer
volunteer opportunities for persons of all ages.
Available services generally include among others:
- Meal services in congregate settings such as senior centers, clubs, housing complexes, churches, etc.;
- Health promotion, nutrition education and other activities and services in congregate settings;
- Transportation;
- Home delivered meals for the frail homebound elderly;
- Case management and in-home services including personal care and chore services for frail functionally impaired elderly;
- Caregiver respite;
- Energy and home weatherization; and,
- Legal services.
All local offices for the aging provide information and referral services to assist the elderly and their families find
services available in their areas, AND benefits and entitlements available
under federal and state programs. Such programs include Social Security,
Medicare, Supplemental Security Income, and Elderly Prescription Insurance
Coverage (EPIC) among others.
Additional sources of information on resources available for seniors and their families include the:
For information and help in finding services available in your county,
contact your local office for the aging or
the New York State Office for the Aging
(online or E-Mail;
by phone in Albany at 518-474-4425 or the Senior Citizens' Hot Line at 800-342-9871; or
by mail at 2 Empire State Plaza, Albany, N.Y., 12223).
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