TriHealth Senior Link

Andrea Sattler, Summer 2013

TriHealth SeniorLink is a day health center for seniors residing in the greater Cincinnati area. SeniorLink is a member of the PACE program. PACE stands for “Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly.” In order to participate in SeniorLink’s services, an individual must be 55 years of age or older and live within Hamilton County or surrounding counties in Ohio. SeniorLink receives the majority of its funding from the state, so to qualify for SeniorLink’s services individuals must require a certain level of care that would make them eligible to reside in a nursing home. The integrative services that SeniorLink provides its participants makes it a one-of-a-kind program in southwestern Ohio.

Each morning, participants are brought into SeniorLink’s health center in Norwood by one of the SeniorLink vans that provide the participants with transportation to and from the health center. Once in the health center, participants have numerous options for daytime activities. SeniorLink houses a clinic that is fully staffed with physicians, nurse practitioners, and nurses. The clinic provides the participants with all of their primary care needs. The clinic works closely with SeniorLink’s pharmacy, which provides all of the participants with their medication needs. Participants also have the option of working with physical and occupational therapists in the therapy department. Each participant also has a social worker that can help make sure that he or she is comfortable at home and receives the best care possible through SeniorLink. There are also a variety of recreational daytime activities offered to participants at SeniorLink including choirs, bingo, Bible studies, and group exercise classes, just to name a few of the daily options. Every participant also receives a lunch at the health center and is able to get any special nutritional needs taken care of by the dietitians on staff.

During my internship at TriHealth SeniorLink, I primarily helped in the clinic. I assisted the nursing staff in locating participants who had clinic appointments throughout the health center. After locating the participants and bringing them back to the clinic, I would get their weight and vital signs and record these for the clinic staff. I also assisted with any other tasks that needed to be done throughout the clinic, such as preparing the exam rooms for the day, disposing of expired products from the storage room, and cleaning the exam rooms after all the patients had been seen. When the work in the clinic was completed for the day, I would go out to the health center and work with the aides who staff the health center’s main room.

I also completed a project during my internship at TriHealth SeniorLink. My project assessed the MOLST form’s impact on individuals’ health care on a long-term scale. MOLST stands for “Medical Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment.” The form allows individuals to indicate the types of treatments that they would like to receive in the event that they become very sick. The form is designed to be easy to read and understand, and allows participants to make their end-of-life treatment decisions very individualized. SeniorLink began completing this form with its participants over the last 1-2 years. For my project, I conducted interviews with the individuals who had completed the MOLST form. I asked them questions assessing their memory of the MOLST program, their experience working with the SeniorLink staff members to complete the form, and whether they saw the need for any improvements to the program. I was met with very positive feedback about the program as a whole.

Working at TriHealth SeniorLink was a great experience. It allowed me to enhance my clinical skills while getting to work with a great group of people. I spent some time shadowing the healthcare providers, allowing me to enhance my summer clinic experience. I also learned a great deal about the healthcare needs of the elderly and some of the challenges faced when providing care to a very diverse population such as the one served by SeniorLink.