In-Home Care in Clearfield, Utah

Clearfield is the youngest city in this group by a clear margin, median age 30.3, with 2,870 residents aged 65 and over, about 8.6 percent of the population. The senior count is small. The care needs are not. An estimated 39 percent of Clearfield residents 65 and over report a disability, the highest rate of the four cities, and 13.9 percent of working-age residents report one as well.

The city grew up around the Clearfield Naval Supply Depot and Hill Field during the war, and the housing record still shows it: 665 homes here date to 1940 through 1949, several times the share Roy or Layton built that decade. Owner-occupancy is 58.6 percent, the lowest of the four, so a real number of older residents rent. Care 801 answers at 801-515-5453.

What usually prompts a call in Clearfield

Two situations bring Clearfield families to us. The first is a landlord problem. A mother needs a grab bar or a threshold ramp in a rental and cannot have one installed without permission, so the daily risk keeps growing while the request sits. The second is a Meals on Wheels denial. Davis County requires that an applicant be homebound, a non-driver, and without family or other resources for meal preparation, which means a senior with adult children in the area frequently does not qualify.

The homes we work in

Clearfield's housing is a patchwork rather than a single era. 665 units date to the 1940s and the war effort, another 896 to the 1950s, and 2,123 more to the 1970s. Single-family detached homes make up only 55.3 percent of the stock, the lowest share of the four cities, while 708 units are mobile homes and 1,275 sit in apartment buildings of twenty units or larger. Each type changes the job. In mobile homes our caregivers commonly meet steep entry steps and a hallway too narrow to turn a walker in. In apartments it is controlled-access doors, elevator dependence, and a long walk from the parking stall.

Getting around Clearfield

The Clearfield FrontRunner station at 1250 South State Street has roughly 560 free parking spaces, the largest park-and-ride of any station in this group, sitting between Freeport Center and I-15. UTA route 626 terminates there from west Roy, and route 470 stops on the Ogden to Salt Lake run. Davis County riders book paratransit at 801-287-7433, a different line from the one Weber County uses. Rides4Health, the county curb-to-curb program at 801-525-5061, handles non-emergency medical trips only, with a suggested contribution of $5.00 per trip. Groceries, the pharmacy, a social visit and a same-day change of plan are all outside what it covers.

Senior centers and meal programs in Clearfield

The North Davis Senior Activity Center at 42 South State Street, 801-525-5080, is one of only three senior activity centers in all of Davis County. It serves adults 60 and over with exercise classes, crafts, card games, outings and a daily lunch; the suggested contribution is $3.00 for those 60 and over. Two support groups meet there on the first Wednesday of each month, an Alzheimer's caregivers group at 3:00pm and a Parkinson's group at 6:00pm. The county's Aging and Adult Services headquarters is a block away at 22 South State Street, third floor, 801-525-5050, and home-delivered meals run out of the same department.

Neighborhoods we cover in Clearfield

• Clearfield Station
• South Clearfield
• Freeport Center area

ZIP codes served

• 84015
• 84016

Coming home from the hospital

There is no hospital in Clearfield. Residents go to Intermountain Layton Hospital at 201 West Layton Parkway or to Holy Cross Hospital - Davis at 1600 West Antelope Drive, the 221-bed certified primary stroke center that most families here still call Davis Hospital. Skilled nursing is available in town at Rocky Mountain Care on East 1450 South and at the 30-bed Thatcher Brook on Chelemes Way. The fortnight after discharge is the hard stretch, especially for renters who cannot modify a bathroom and are coming home to equipment that does not quite fit the space.

What in-home care costs in Clearfield

What raises hours in Clearfield is usually the building rather than the diagnosis. A client in a mobile home or a second-floor apartment needs help getting out the door before an errand even begins, so a grocery run takes twice what it would from a rambler with an attached garage. Renters often cannot install the equipment that would shorten a task, so a caregiver stands in for hardware. Hours drop once a landlord approves a threshold ramp or a bath bench, which is worth requesting early in writing.

These are typical ranges, not a quote. The consultation gives you real numbers for your actual schedule, and there is no fee to be matched with a provider.

Paying for care in Davis County

Davis County Senior Services, run through the Health Department's Aging and Adult Services division at 22 South State Street right here in Clearfield, is the Area Agency on Aging for this city. Weber Human Services is not. The county's home-based services bundle includes Alternatives in-home services, caregiver support and Medicaid waivers, with eligibility screened by a case worker at 801-525-5050. The waiver route matters most for renters with limited savings, because it can cover personal care and homemaking that Medicare will not touch. Family caregiver support is separate and does not consider income or assets; the county can help pay for respite and equipment. Talk to a case worker before assuming private pay is the only option.

Questions worth asking any provider

Whoever you end up working with, these are the questions that separate a provider who will still be reliable in six months from one who will not.

• Will we get the same caregiver each visit, and what happens when they are sick or on vacation?
• Are caregivers employees of the agency or independent contractors, and who carries the insurance and workers' compensation?
• What is the minimum visit length, and is there a different rate for weekends or holidays?
• How much notice do you need to change a schedule, and is there a cancellation charge?
• What specifically is not included, particularly around medication, transfers and driving?
• Who do we call at 2am if something goes wrong, and will an actual person answer?