Home care in St. Augustine, from the old city to World Golf Village

Home care in St. Augustine covers five ZIP codes, because the Postal Service's St. Augustine stretches well past the old city:

• 32084: the City of St. Augustine on the mainland, with Lincolnville and the historic districts, and the neighborhoods west toward I-95.
• 32086: south of the city, including Flagler Hospital's campus and St. Augustine Shores.
• 32092: World Golf Village and the country west along State Road 16.
• 32095: Palencia and the US 1 corridor north of town.
• 32085: post office boxes, covered as long as the house is in our area.

Anastasia Island and Davis Shores have a page of their own: home care in St. Augustine Beach. Our office is at Nocatee Town Center, our phone is answered day and night, and the free assessment happens at your loved one's house.

A house in the historic districts can come with steep front steps, narrow doorways and a tub you have to climb into. Changing it takes time: the city requires a Certificate of Appropriateness for most work in its five Historic Preservation zoning districts, so a new ramp or railing out front goes through review first.

In the meantime, personal care puts a caregiver beside your parent in a bathroom that was never built for a walker, and mobility care means a steady arm on the porch steps and over the thresholds. Downtown streets are narrow and parking is tight, so our caregivers do the driving.

Water is the other risk in an old coastal city. When Hurricane Matthew passed offshore in 2016, it flooded parts of the city, especially near the bayfront and the San Sebastian River. St. Johns County assigns evacuation zones by address; look up your parent's on the county's evacuation page, and register for evacuation assistance at (904) 824-5550 if they can't drive out. With 24-hour care, the person who helps them pack is already there.

For most of the city, the hospital is UF Health Flagler Hospital at 400 Health Park Boulevard, a Primary Stroke Care Center. Discharge from there often means new prescriptions, a walker and a list of follow-ups, and hospital-to-home care is built for that stretch, with a caregiver at home from the first day.

Downtown, the St. Johns County Council on Aging runs two programs at 180 Marine Street. The Coastal Community Center welcomes adults 60 and older on weekday mornings, with lunch at 11:30 and rides within a set radius. In the same building, the Sunshine Center is the Council's therapeutic adult day care for people living with Alzheimer's and other dementias.

Days at the Sunshine Center, and Alzheimer's and dementia care at home on the days between, keep the routine steady and give a husband, wife or adult child some hours back. Companion care handles the drive to Marine Street and home again.

Out along State Road 16 and up US 1, the neighborhoods are newer. A new house can take care of the stairs, but not bathing, the doctor's appointments or the long afternoon alone. The Clyde E. Lassen State Veterans' Nursing Home on State Road 16 has beds set aside for residents with dementia, and some families compare that kind of move with care at home.

Farther west, the Council on Aging's Trout Creek Senior Center on Collier Road serves lunch to residents over 60 on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

When living alone stops being safe and a move isn't what your loved one wants, 24-hour care keeps a caregiver awake in the house around the clock. A free in-home assessment is a good way to weigh the choice together. North of here, see home care in St. Johns and Fruit Cove; west along State Road 207, home care in Elkton.

For a parent who has gone to the same church for years, Sunday is often the anchor of the week. A caregiver helps your dad dress for mass, drives downtown and walks with him into the Cathedral Basilica of St. Augustine, then brings him home for lunch and a quiet afternoon.

Weekdays have their own rhythm. A caregiver keeps the house running with laundry, light cleaning and meals cooked at home, drives to doctor visits and the pharmacy, and makes time for an outing your loved one enjoys, like coffee with a friend or an hour on a shaded bench by the water.

During the weeks after a hospital stay, small returns matter: the first walk to the corner, the first meal out, the first Sunday back in the pew. Elderly care in St. Augustine reaches beyond the house as well. Grandchildren can wave hello from a phone screen at Sunday dinner, and family members out of town hear from our Ponte Vedra office how the week went.