In Brief:

Senior Health Services will present a signature educational and recreational event, “Reinvent The Three R’s: Reeducate, Rejuvenate and Rejoice — Celebrate the Aging Experience,” on Wednesday, May 25, at the Drexelbrook Corporate Events Center in Drexel Hill, from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. For more information, call 1-800-CK-HEALTH (1-800-254-3258).

Over the past few years, Crozer-Keystone’s Senior Health Services department has implemented several exciting new programs, and has planned for even more in the coming months and years. Some of these programs include the CHECKMates volunteer feeding program; geriatric seminars to help keep the health system’s nurses current; education on geriatrics for system-wide clinical staff; and the Geriatrics Evaluation and Management (GEM) program, a thorough geriatric assessment by a team of CKHS medical specialists. “Work-in-progress” projects include patient consults with a geriatric nurse, a fellowship program between Crozer-Chester Medical Center and Temple University Hospital, and an environmental survey to help make our hospitals more senior-friendly.

May is Older Americans Month. Crozer-Keystone Health System has consistently demonstrated its commitment to offering senior-specific programs and services. In fact, several new and exciting programs are on the horizon.

Senior Signature Event

The Senior Health Services department has planned a signature event in honor of Older Americans Month. The program, “Reinvent The Three R’s: Reeducate, Rejuvenate and Rejoice — Celebrate the Aging Experience,” is scheduled for Wednesday, May 25, at the Drexelbrook Corporate Events Center in Drexel Hill. The keynote speaker is Tom Snedden, executive director of PACE/PACENET, who will speak about Medicare.

The event, which will run from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., will offer free lectures on elder law, home safety, making end-of-life care choices, financial planning and more, as well as rejuvenation activities such as quilting demonstrations, line dancing, massage, yoga and healthy cooking. For more information, call 1-800-CK-HEALTH (1-800-254-3258).

Joint Fellowship Program with Temple University Hospital

Beginning July 1, 2005, two Internal Medicine/Family Medicine Temple fellows will begin a one-year fellowship that will result in board-eligibility in geriatric medicine. They will spend half of the year at Crozer and the other half at Temple.

Geriatric Nursing Consults

This initiative is currently being piloted at Taylor Hospital. The goal of the consults, which are carried out by clinical nurse specialists, is to reduce functional decline in our elderly patients. All hospital health care professionals, including physicians, nurses, social workers, case managers and PM&R staff, can order a geriatric consult for any patient who meets certain age and medical criteria. Consults are completed within 24 hours and a documented evaluation and recommendations are made part of the patient’s chart. The geriatric nurse also follows up within 48 hours and continues to monitor the patient until they are discharged.

Environmental Survey

Recently, a survey was conducted to determine ways to make our hospitals more senior-friendly. “We evaluated all of our hospitals,” says Barbara Alexis Looby, MSWAC, LSW, administrative director of the Senior Health Services Department, “and found a few common themes on how to make our environments more senior-friendly. We are addressing these issues and have asked our employees to be team members and to help make decisions for their institution.”

As we age, existing or new health problems may make it necessary to see the doctor or for hospitalization. Because seniors tend to have multiple medical conditions, it’s especially important that we, as health care providers, do our part to educate seniors on their conditions and do all we can to treat the “whole person” when they are in our care.

This is where Crozer-Keystone has stepped up its efforts over the last couple of years. Through the Senior Health Services department, and its leadership of Looby and medical director William Zirker, M.D., M.P.H., chief of the Division of Geriatrics at Crozer-Chester Medical Center, several exciting new programs were put into place and even more are on the drawing board.

“Hospitalization is a difficult time for people,” Zirker says. “Our goal is to minimize the patient’s problems and maximize their function. Our message is, ‘We will help you with your medical problems while remaining cognizant of your needs.’”

Through the health system’s CHECK (Caring for Hospitalized Elders at Crozer-Keystone) committee, which has system-wide representation, the following initiatives are already in place:

CHECKMates

CHECKMates is a volunteer feeding program. It’s been so well-received throughout the health system that the committee is looking into expanding it into local high schools and colleges/universities. Feedback from patients has been overwhelmingly positive. The basic essence of CHECKMates is providing assistance to patients who can’t feed themselves (by simply cutting their food and/or feeding them at lunchtime) or to just keep patients company. Volunteers give one hour of their time a month, but some CHECKMates enjoy this humanitarian act so much that they sign up for several sessions a month.

Nursing Seminars

To help keep our health system’s nurses current, Senior Health Services offers a free educational program several times each year. The program covers issues such as acute care programs, hospitalization issues, polypharmacy and the senior, and more. Zirker and clinical staff provide a lecture on the risks of hospitalization, and case studies are presented on issues such as delirium and urinary tract infections. The most recent program, which was held on April 29, 2005, marked the first time this program was also offered to nursing students at a local higher-education institution (Widener University).

Educational Programming for Staff

Looby, Zirker and their staffs offer a program once a year that is targeted to all Crozer-Keystone clinical staff. “Old Age Ain’t No Place for Sissies” is a regional program that teaches attendees about geriatrics in general, as well as best practices.

The Geriatric Evaluation and Management (GEM) Program

GEM is a thorough geriatric assessment by a team of CKHS medical specialists (including a team of physicians, a geriatric nurse practitioner, nurses and a social worker). The assessment includes a physical exam, an evaluation for memory loss, depression, day-to-day functioning, walking, nutrition and medications. Medical and social care is coordinated with the patient’s primary care physician and family.

This is just a sampling of the many initiatives that our Senior Health team has accomplished or identified as goals.