This article originally appeared in the February 2025 edition of The Provider, a Providers‘ Council publication.
For many of us, the idea of growing older comes with a list of “what ifs”: What if I can’t get my needs met? What if I don’t have a caregiver? What if I can’t afford care?
For over 50 years, our mission at Somerville-Cambridge Elder Services (SCES) has been to offer answers and person-centered solutions to these unknowns. At the core of our work is the belief that most people — regardless of their ability, age or income — would prefer to remain in their own homes and communities with the people and places they love for as long as possible.
This is more than just a hunch; data shows that 88% of Americans want to live in their homes long-term, and 83% of older adults say they feel safer in their homes than anywhere else.
At SCES, our diverse array of home and community-based services meets clients where they are to ensure that they can continue living in their homes and communities with the greatest degree of independence possible. For those who can no longer shop for groceries or cook for themselves, our Home Delivered Meals drivers deliver fresh, culturally appropriate and medically tailored meals daily. For those who experience repeated hospital emergency room stays, our Hospital-to-Home staff perform in-home visits to make sure their needs are met to prevent readmission. And, for those who have trouble using their devices to access their medical information, our tech team provides one-on-one sessions to coach them through the steps.
These in-home services are not merely connected to health care; rather, they are health care. Food security, economic stability, digital equity and language access are just a few of the social factors upon which healthy communities prosper. Centering these key predictors of health outcomes allows us to tackle issues at their root before they take hold and further entrench people in cycles of sickness and poverty — running up health care costs in the process.
We’re able to deliver home-based services in large part thanks to our hundreds of dedicated team members who visit clients’ homes each day. However, many SCES clients receive services not from paid staff but from those in their life who know them best: their friends and family. These family caregivers, along with direct care professionals, form the backbone of our caring economy and assist with critical daily tasks that enable their care recipients to lead meaningful lives.
Eligible caregivers and care recipients can take part in SCES’s range of caregiving programs, including our Adult Family Care (AFC) program. AFC allows individuals with disabilities 16 and older, as well as older adults, to receive the best care at home by providing training, compensation and clinical support for family caregivers. The AFC team has extensive experience supporting families caring for loved ones with neurodevelopmental disabilities, traumatic brain injuries, mental health diagnoses and more. Our nurses and social workers make home visits to support caregivers in their work and make sure their needs — which often go overlooked — are met.
Together, SCES’s home-based services and caregiver support programs ensure that clients can find safety and comfort in the sanctuary of their own homes. However, we will not be able to continue to fulfill this mission without adequate resources. Despite consistent preference for home-based care and proven cost savings over institutional settings, home care programs continue to face financial challenges. With the population of adults aged 85 and older projected to more than double from 6.6 million in 2019 to 14.4 million in 2040 — a 118% increase — now is the time for robust, sustained investment in these services that so many rely upon.
While institutional care is the appropriate choice for certain individuals, the vast majority can thrive while remaining in their own homes. It’s up to us to make sure they have that opportunity.
Eliza Adams is the Communications and Public Affairs Manager with Somerville-Cambridge Elder Services.
