Page 5 - Access Summer 2015

as an experiment evolved into ProvenCare, a system of healthcare delivery where patients are less likely to return to intensive care; they spent less time in the hospital; and they were more apt to return directly to their home instead of a nursing home.
Geisinger physicians came up with 40 essential steps when performing bypass surgery along with procedures to track each step. This ensures that every doctor/staff member follows the same steps
classes foster friendships and meaningful engagement, improve memory, provide skill mastery, a sense of control, and personal satisfaction. Each library makes a point to celebrate achievements of program participants. For information as to how you can bring Lifetime Arts to your local library, visit online
at www.creativeagingtoolkit.org.
Another arts program based in San Francisco is the Center for Elders and Youth in the Arts (CEYA), home to free intergenerational creative arts classes for high school seniors and older adults. Working together, they build a sense of community for one another. CEYA funds these classes through their Corporate Art Lending Program where area corporations lend their support by paying a fee to lease artwork created by CEYA elders and youth. The effort promotes awareness throughout the community while on display in their offices.
Another arm of CEYA is to reach out to those who are home-bound. CEYA art instructors travel
to private residences to conduct free 90-minute art sessions once a week. Classes are designed to be empowering, challenging engaging, and creative; with activities selected to match the interests, talents and ability of each participant.
Lift Hero transportation with a multigenerational benefit
When older adults in San Francisco need a ride, they can place a call to Lift Hero; a start-up firm that recruits their pool of drivers from local students who are preparing for a healthcare career, looking to earn a flexible source of income. The benefits between driver and passenger are shared. Drivers get real-time experience working with older adults and older adults enjoy more freedom, less isolation and friendly social interaction from a driver who is looking to make a difference in the world.
Lift Hero drivers are age 21 and older and experience a thorough screening process prior to being hired. They are CPR and first aid certified; have at least three years of driving experience with no major accidents or moving violations; drive their own car (year 2000 or newer) registered in their name that is adequately insured. Once hired, each driver receives training to work with older adults. Lift Hero drivers arrive, assist, drive, accompany and wait patiently for passengers to complete their trip.
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and in turn, every patient receives better quality care guaranteed with a 90-day warranty. Ultimately, this not only saved the hospital money, but it encouraged everyone involved in the surgery to collaboratively pay attention to the details in order to successfully accomplish the job the first time.
ProvenCare has inspired other warranty programs across the country; from hip replacement to cardiac care. The Surgery Center of Viera and the Deuk Spine Institute in Florida offers a warranty that patients or their insurers can purchase prior to their operation which guarantees that they will be pain- free following spinal surgery or they receive free post-op care to resolve any pain stemming from treatment. The warranty can be extended for a higher fee to cover the course of a patient’s lifetime.
If you’d like more information regarding the Geisinger ProvenCare program, visit www.geisinger.org/sites/provencare/index.html.
A Lifetime Arts Program for older adults
According to a 2006 Creativity and Aging Study, community based cultural arts programs taught by professional artists can have an overall positive impact on health, reducing risk factors that lead to long-term care.
Lifetime Arts is a nonprofit arts service organization founded in 2008 with “a mission to encourage creative aging by promoting the inclusion of professional arts programs in organizations that serve older adults age 55+; to prepare artists to develop the creative capacity of older adult learners’ and to foster lifelong learning in and through the arts by increasing opportunities for participation in community
based programming.”
Currently Lifetime Arts provides free instructional workshops in visual, literary and performing arts throughout the country at 21 libraries in 13 states by means of grant funding and partnering. These creative
The cost of a trip is $35 per hour minimum for drive time; $25 per hour to accompany the passenger beyond the ride to run errands or visit doctors; and $20 per hour to wait for passengers who want a ride on standby while they handle matters on their own.
Lift Hero Founder Jay Connolly, a former pre-med student and registered EMT, came up with the concept when his grandmother retired her car keys and needed help getting around. The family had to scramble to make ride arrangements because public transportation and private taxi service were not always a reliable option. So the idea to come up with a dependable, trustworthy form of transport geared to older adults was born. It’s considered to be a ride-sharing concept similar to Uber, Lyft and Sidecar, but Lift Hero guarantees round-trip travel and passengers/caregivers can book a ride over the phone or online at www.lifthero.org.
Connolly is hoping to expand into other markets. “Ride sharing is exciting because it’s so scalable and will allow us to grow much faster. There’s a lot less capital upfront,” he said. “It’s also great that drivers can do this in their spare time, because you can get some high-quality people who might otherwise not want to do this full time.”