News and Progress

MU provides expert adult day health care at Eldercare Center

Nov. 15, 2004

When Margaret “Petch” Peden was caring for her late husband, Bill Peden, as he battled Alzheimer’s, she relied on the Eldercare Center to help both of them deal with the disease.

“My husband needed a structured environment as the Alzheimer’s progressed,” she says. “And the center relieved me of the constant caregiving.”

The Eldercare Center, supported in part by the School of Health Professions, is the only state-licensed adult day health care program in Columbia. For Peden and others caring for ailing or elderly family members, the center has provided a safe, caring environment for their loved ones and, just as important, a bit of breathing room for they themselves. Peden describes it as “an oasis that soothes caregiver and cared-for alike.”

The Eldercare Center also provides students, most from the School of Health Professions, with hands-on experiences in caring for the elderly. In one year, students spend more than 2,800 contact hours at the center, where they help with activities and visit with participants. Advanced students in physical and occupational therapy practice their clinical skills under the supervision of faculty members.

Peden says training future health professionals, such as those at the Eldercare Center, is important not only for families but also for society as a whole.

“Untrained people can't always cope,” she says. “As the population is growing older, there is going to be a greater need for these services.”

For more information about the Eldercare Center, please call 882-7070.