Springfield, Pa. – As we age, our risk for certain health conditions goes up. For example, it’s common knowledge that advanced age is one of the risk factors for stroke. In addition, as we get older, we may need to take multiple medications to help prevent the onset of conditions such as heart disease and high blood pressure — among several others.
At Crozer-Keystone, we feel it is our civic duty to educate the community on disease prevention and healthy living. Thanks to a recent grant from the County Office of Services for the Aging (COSA), we are able to offer a structured screening and education program to Delaware County seniors.
Called a “Prime Time Health” grant, CKHS received $15,000 to provide screenings, lectures and educational materials for a total of 36 programs over a nine-month period. Twelve programs each will be held at Schoolhouse Senior Center in Folsom, Chester Senior Center and Havertown Center for Older Adults. Senior Health Services’ elder life specialist, who is also a registered nurse, will conduct six stroke risk assessment sessions and six medication management programs at each senior center over that time frame.
“With stroke being the third leading cause of death and long-term disability in the elderly, and with more than half of all fatal medication errors occurring in individuals over the age of 60, the goals of the program are to educate older adults and to empower them to take control of their health,” says Barbara Alexis Looby, MSWAC, LSW, CKHS administrative director of Senior Health Services. “Our participants will know the signs and symptoms of a stroke as well as the benefits of a rapid response. We believe that an added benefit to a program such as this is the creation of a relationship with their health care providers to help patients become an active participant in their own health care. In addition, our ultimate goal is to see better management of their diseases and better understanding of the medications they are taking, resulting in an overall improvement in their health.”
Program participants will learn about risk factors for stroke, the importance of making good food choices, and living a healthy lifestyle. They will have one-on-one medication reviews, learn about “high risk” medications and receive tips on how to communicate with their doctors as well as a pharmacist. Participants will have their blood pressure and weight checked on a regular basis. At the end of each stroke and medication program, each person will be evaluated on their knowledge of both topics.
According to Stephen Gamble, deputy director of the County Office of Services for the Aging, COSA receives federal dollars annually through the Pennsylvania Department of Aging for health promotion and medication management programs. Under the direction of the Older Americans Act reauthorization, supported by staff at the Administration on Aging, the focus for federal funding has increasingly become outcomes- and evidenced-based medicine-oriented. Specifically, programs need to highlight disease prevention and target people prone to chronic illness.
“We felt that the hospital systems had the greatest capacity to respond to the challenge of pulling together the staffing, medical expertise and other resources necessary to creatively respond to delivering evidenced-based programs,” Gamble says. “After all, Crozer-Keystone staff has been doing programming in the centers for many years with great success. This grant simply takes it to the next level. We approached Crozer-Keystone with this opportunity and they responded as we would have expected — with enthusiasm and a high level of professional expertise. We work very closely with Barbara Looby and her staff in Senior Health Services to ensure that Delaware County seniors are offered quality programming that is relevant, insightful, practical and accessible. We are hoping that this year’s grant will be a catalyst for further development and offering of evidenced-based programming in our centers, and that this partnership will help improve the lives of our citizens for years to come.”
“CKHS Senior Health Services always welcomes opportunities to collaborate with county government, social services and other nonprofit agencies to benefit aging residents of Delaware County,” Looby says. “We have always enjoyed a healthy working relationship with the County Office of Services for the Aging. We value the work that they do, and the quality of service they provide this collaborative relationship can only be positive in promoting a healthy aging community.”
For more information about Crozer-Keystone Senior Health Services, or the grant-funded programming they are offering, call the Senior Support Line at 1-800-CKHS-KEY (1-800-254-7539).
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