Northern Montana Hospital - Senior Connection

Overview

Northern Montana Hospital (NMH) is a nonprofit, 49-bed community hospital providing acute care services to residents in north central Montana. NMH is affiliated with Northern Montana Care Center, a 136-bed intermediate care center. Recognizing the increasing age of the population within its demographic area, NMH developed Senior Connection, a health promotion outreach program geared specifically for the senior age group. Senior Connection’s mission is “to promote the physical, social, and emotional health and wellness of the Hi-Line’s senior population. Through the coordination of activities that interest and stimulate our area seniors, we will endeavor to create new and promote existing services in an environment where seniors can gather for fun, growth, and companionship.”

Services are offered in surrounding communities within a 100-mile radius of the hospital. Program activities and services include:

• Free or discounted health screenings and services including blood pressure checks, HDL/cholesterol and glucose testing, stress profiles, hearing screenings, and prostate cancer screenings
• Assistance with understanding Medicare benefits and appealing their determinations, filing supplemental insurance benefits, scheduling appointments for health care services, and free notary services
• A monthly newsletter with pertinent information on senior health issues, a calendar of events offered through the Senior Connection program as well as the senior centers throughout the region, mind-stimulating puzzles, and encouraging poems and thoughts
• Adult fitness classes and a walking club
• Foot care clinics at 12 sites in surrounding communities
• Presentations on varied topics of interest such as hot air ballooning, estate planning, and creating a will specifically tailored to the individual’s needs
• Bimonthly pinochle parties, teas, and luncheons to promote socializing and interaction between senior communities
• Bus tours, summer picnics, and campouts

Senior Connection also helps coordinate a diabetes prevention program for members of the Fort Belknap and Rocky Boy’s Indian Reservations. These populations have a large diabetic population; rates of lower-extremity amputations were high. The primary focus of the diabetes prevention project was to reduce/eliminate the occurrence of lower-extremity amputations within their diabetic population. They requested foot care services from Senior Connection because diabetic foot ulcers are the leading cause of amputations in that population. Retired nurses staff the program, monitoring glucose and blood pressure, and providing education. Clients from the reservations are selected to attend the foot clinics by the diabetes prevention team; while there, the team tests each client’s glucose levels and provides a meal or snacks suitable for a diabetic.

Impact

Of the 15,000 residents in the greater community, 1,500 (roughly 10 percent) are involved in the Senior Connection program, with more than 250 volunteering regularly at the hospital and care center. Having seniors involved in volunteering helps to show that members of this age group can remain active and contribute to society. Because there is much more to health and wellness than the physical component (health screenings and foot care services), structured activities such as weekend bus tours and day trips promote independence, increase physical activity and endurance, and add to the emotional and social support systems. In addition, interaction between the seniors and the Teen Volunteer program builds intergenerational connections that stimulate minds and give purpose.

The diabetes prevention program at the two Indian Reservations has drastically reduced the number of amputations for their diabetic population. In addition, while providing foot care, the nurses collect additional healthcare information and access that information for concerns that may need further attention by a physician. If so, a referral is made.

Foot care clinics provide a comfortable, relaxing environment for seniors to have their feet soaked, nails clipped, and calluses removed. This service also provides an opportunity for clinicians to perform a general health assessment and check mobility. A trusting relationship is built, increasing the likelihood that a patient will tell a nurse about any medical issues so they can be addressed early.

Challenges/success factors

Maintaining these programs poses several challenges:

• Having adequate professional staff available to provide the care is always a problem, even though their hours and schedules are flexible.
• Volunteers are an integral part of our Senior Connection program. They provide hours of ancillary support at our Foot Clinics. As our volunteer base ages, staffing the volunteers for this program is difficult.
• Recruiting new volunteers is challenging because recent retirees are more affluent and are enjoying better health. Because of this, they often are looking to travel and accomplish things they were too busy to do when working. Others are still working and will probably retire at an older age than our current volunteers were able to retire.
• The overall cost to provide the clinics is sometimes not fully covered by client payments, especially if we have numerous cancellations and are not able to fill those slots with walk-ins. Because of the contractual arrangement through the reservations, we are assured full payment for those clinics; which helps with the bottom line for the overall program. Cutbacks in support by NMH or the loss of reservation contracts would definitely jeopardize the program.

Notwithstanding the challenges, the program provides a multitude of goodwill for the entire organization that is hard to quantify in dollars. Because staff and volunteers travel throughout NMH’s service area, the program provides an opportunity for the hospital to be viewed as caring enough about the surrounding communities to bring services to them on a routine basis. It also creates opportunities to promote other services offered at NMH. Because of the services NMH offers at the Senior Centers, those centers are able to claim additional services provided, which ultimately assists them in justifying continued or expanded funding for their centers - and their continued existence.

Future direction/sustainability

Program leaders plan to maintain the program; new participants are always welcome.

Advice to others

Make sure to work with your existing senior support services agencies so you can partner on providing services. Plan services and activities according to your senior population’s interests and capabilities, and contribute to mental, social, and emotional health in addition to physical health.

Contact: Kristi Shettel
Marketing & Public Relations
Telephone: 406-262-1422
E-mail: shetkril@nmhcare.org