Champions guide rural elderly in careby Cindy A. AbolePublic Relations As more people live longer, elderly residents in rural areas struggle to manage their health care and cope with life’s daily challenges. In three coastal counties of South Carolina, a rural geriatric care management program supported by MUSC’s Healthy South Carolina Initiative since 1998 has helped several hundred underserved seniors living in coastal communities of the state. The project is intended to help improve the quality of life for minority elders in Beaufort, Jasper, and Hampton counties. It links rural elderly residents with medical and social service resources, by placing three geriatric coordinators at Beaufort-Jasper Comprehensive Services, Hardeeville Medical Center, and the Harrison Peeples Health Care Center. The team shares a variety of patient advocate roles working with health care entities, health promotion programs, and referrals’ to local social and human service agencies. The geriatric coordinators are Elsie Moore in Hardeeville, Susie Fripp Gordon in Sheldon, and Caryl Polk in Hampton. Overseeing and completing the team is nurse manager Marilyn Koerber. “Rural elderly are often poorer and have more health problems than urban elderly,” said Esther M. Forti, Ph.D., R.N., principal investigator and assistant professor, Department of Health Administration and Policy, College of Health Professions. “Small, rural and isolated communities often lack resources or staff for agencies to coordinate social services; thus, the need for this kind of program.” Each week, Koerber confers with her staff by telephone as she coordinates weekly visits to each site. Koerber is a specialist in community health gerontology and aging. Each coordinator was hand-picked and possesses a familiarity with local programs, activities, and people. “I’m always open for them to come to me with any difficulties and assistance with their patients,” Koerber said. “In order for clients to concentrate on good medical care, it’s often necessary that we help resolve other issues,” Koerber said. The program provides assistance to area medical directors by equally handling a patient’s psychosocial needs in addition to handling medical care. These issues may include helping patients apply for Medicaid, homestead exemptions, electricity and telephone discounts. Moore is a well-known face around the Hardeeville area. Originally from that rural town, Moore has returned to her roots after living a number of years in the North. After working in corrections, she enjoys assisting neighbors in her community. For Polk, assisting clients in her community of Hampton brings nothing but joy in her duties as a geriatric coordinator. “Folks in the Hampton area have very big hearts when it comes to helping each other,” she said. In one project, Polk helped 11 seniors save money by discovering new ways to reduce their monthly budget for medication. For some uninsured elderly residents living on a fixed income medications can eat up half or more of their monthly budget. Using the Internet, Polk helps identify and register clients with various drug companies who approve and provide “compassionate drugs” to needy, low-income patients. “It’s just disheartening to hear the stories about seniors who must defer buying groceries with their social security check to buy medications,” Polk said. In addition, Polk, and the other coordinators, have helped identify seniors who qualify for state and federal programs to assist with home repairs and other housing issues, food stamps, and register locally for health education seminars focusing on diabetes, Alzheimer disease, depression, nutrition, medication management, and disabilities. “I feel good when I leave a client’s home,” Polk said. She carries a clientele of more than 50 elderly residents. “It’s my job to help these people feel better about themselves by helping them get things done. In turn, they have a better outlook and value on their lives.” MUSC faculty and student collaborations have provided these communities
with a special brand of experience, whether it's providing educational
expertise for health education sessions or by mentoring students in a rural
community experience.
“Both topics have always been difficult to discuss in public with any age group, especially seniors,” said Hendrix, who’s worked with similar education programs in Allendale, Denmark and Walterboro through the College of Nursing. “We’re delighted to see people who are willing to take charge of their health by enriching their knowledge through other sources of information. It empowers people to do things.” “It’s very exciting and rewarding for me to see that this care management project is showing success in linking the elderly to health and social services,” Forti said. “It is definitely improving the quality of lives for the elderly in these communities as demonstrated by our program outcomes.” Rural Geriatric Program (Hardeeville, Sheldon and Hampton counties) outcomes include:
The results have yielded many opportunities to scores of elderly people living in rural South Carolina Lowcountry. For example, one geriatric coordinator helped an elderly client discover she was eligible for food stamps. She also assisted in the repair of the client’s home’s air conditioner. The positive results helped inspire her client to be proactive in finding part-time work as a senior aide with the area’s Council on Aging. Another coordinator assisted one client in receiving 21 months of retroactive Social Security benefits for Medicaid and will start with Medicare soon. Another coordinator encouraged her client to register for food stamps. The result is the senior client now receives $114 assistance per month. |