Tag Archive for: senior technology

Separation anxiety: Coronavirus takes toll on those with Alzheimer’s, their loved ones

Alzheimer’s is a tough disease to contend with in the normal, everyday world.  Some of the individuals suffering more than most during this time of crisis are those challenged with some form of dementia, especially those with Alzheimer’s.  In our transition to a home-based model, we have taken steps to ensure that these individuals and their loved ones continue to get our support.  The Record recently wrote a story on this topic here, and our own Executive Director Jillian Simon commented on how our changes provided continued support to this group.

To learn more about PACE services, click here.

New York Times: Just What Older People Didn’t Need: More Isolation

Isolation is a high-priority issue with seniors. 

The New York Times just printed an article highlighting this issue and how senior groups are tackling it through technology.  Although we were not named specifically in the article, it refers to two PACE programs in Southern California that have utilized Grandpads, which we call “WelbeLinks” to combat loneliness and increase their ability to socialize. To learn more about our PACE services, click here.

 

 

 

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TAKING ACTION TO PROTECT OUR SENIORS DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

To our dear seniors, families, and caregivers,

As you know, the spread of coronavirus continues to escalate globally, nationally, and here in California. During these challenging times, I want you to know that our leadership teams have been working around the clock to implement a proactive clinical and operating model to keep our seniors safe and our team healthy.

We are taking bold, aggressive, and preemptive actions to maintain the health and well-being of our PACE participants and our team.

Pandemic Response Systems Implemented:

Our organization has been prepared to operate during a pandemic since long before the emergence of COVID-19. On March 13, we formally mobilized our emergency preparedness program and launched our Pandemic Incident Response Systems. These systems include a well-defined chain of command and pandemic-specific roles and responsibilities for our team, ensuring clear communication and enabling continued high quality of care for our participants.

Remote/At-Home Patient Care Launched:

As of March 16, our PACE participants are receiving nearly all their care remotely, at home. In addition to medical care, we continue to provide essential services to our seniors based on individual needs, including food preparation and delivery, medication delivery, and personal hygiene assistance.

Each participant has also been provided with a 4G LTE “WelbeLink” tablet with hardware and software specifically designed for use by seniors. Our care teams are using these tablets to maintain regular video communications with participants in the home.

Work from Home Mandated:

As of March 16, all WelbeHealth staff have been mandated to shelter in place and work from home unless otherwise assigned by our emergency response team. This mandate protects our participants and caregivers and ensures immediate containment of any single COVID-19 case.

COVID-19 Resources Ready:

We’re working closely with local, state, and federal health officials to ensure we have appropriate resources in place to care for our seniors. We are prepared to test participants and staff for COVID-19 when appropriate. In addition, we continue to monitor and comply with evolving government and CDC guidance.

My colleagues and I chose to work in healthcare out of a sense of calling—a desire to serve and contribute when it matters most. I’m grateful for the opportunity to serve you, and I assure you that our team will continue to make every effort to do the right thing and protect our seniors during this critical time.

Sincerely,
Si France, MD
CEO, WelbeHealth

To learn more about our PACE services, click here

How COVID-19 Spreads

How to Protect Yourself & Others

Social Distancing

Entrepreneur.com: How This Mission-Driven Change Agent Is Disrupting Healthcare

A doctor and entrepreneur shares how his team is changing eldercare.

Entrepreneur

– WelbeHealth Founder and CEO, Si France, MD was interviewed by Entrepreneur.com’s Jessica Abo about what motivated him to pave his own path to entrepreneurship.
Health Care Capitalist or Mission-Driven Change Agent? Check out what he has to say about pivoting from the success of the business-model-based GoHealth Urgent Care,  to something that was a force for good:
“I wanted to go create this organization where people weren’t resources in some kind of capitalist plan. We cared about people.”
With a focus on elder care, Si went on to create WelbeHealth, an operator of the Medicaid/Medicare PACE (Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly).
PACE serves low-income, Medicaid/Medicare eligible, frail seniors by providing 11-person integrated care teams to each participant so that they can live independently in their own homes and communities while having full access to medical and dental care, meals, transportation, medication management, home health aides, adult day programs, and more. Teams who operate PACE, like Welbe, report an 80% average drop in depression rates after enrollment.
During COVID-19 it saved lives and its rapid response to the pandemic has been featured as a case study in the rapid deployment of telehealth during the lockdown, while still emphasizing the absolute importance of high-touch, in-person care.

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