A program run by the Centretown Community Health Centre is being evaluated, as it embarks on a three-year initiative to provide isolated seniors support in their homes.
The program, Primary Care Outreach to Frail Seniors, has been granted more than $365,000 in funding for the next three years.
However, after March 2009 the program will to be re-evaluated by its sponsor.
“We are really hopeful that with the indicators that we are using, we will be able to show we made a difference in the community,” says Alistair Sutherland, the group's primary care manager. “Hopefully the funding will continue.”
The program is funded and monitored by the Champlain Local Health Integrated Networks one of 14 non-profit organizations created by the provincial Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care to plan, evaluate and fund health care in specific regions.
The organization, which manages nearly two-thirds of Ontario’s $37.9 billion health care budget, is looking at a number of factors to determine whether the funds will be increased, decreased or even reallocated to the Primary Care Outreach to Frail Seniors.
“We are hopeful that the project will be a success and continue,” says Chantale LeClerc, senior director of planning integration and community engagement at the Champlain network. “However we work within some common indicators.”
The assessment revolves around the program’s progress in reaching its target population, while supporting the health system integration, investing the funds wisely, and fostering innovation.
Primary Care Outreach to Frail Seniors is an alternative remedy which helps frail seniors in terms of transportation, prescription, counseling, healthcare and advocacy.
The core of the program is to aid their clients to appointments, respond to immediate needs, reassess health status and manage care.
“Overall our objectives are to plan, implement and evaluate a certain level of care for seniors living in their homes,” says Sutherland.
Their target population, one of the primary factors in the evaluation, is vulnerable individuals, 65 years or older, at risk of hospitalization or functional declines, who have inadequate caregiver support.
The group has a registered nurse and a community health worker employed full-time to help the seniors.
“The program is so desperately needed,” says Marci Clarke, the community and health worker involved in the initiative. “It makes life so much easier for seniors.”
The program aims to reach 300 seniors before the end of March, adding to the 50 clients already benefiting from their services.
“After three years we plan to expand our program to other community centres in Ottawa,” says Cathie Racicot program coordinator for the Primary Care Outreach to Seniors.
“But at this time we are just trying to make a difference.”