Brooklyn, NY
Housing Agency: Carroll Gardens Senior Citizen Housing
Health Center: Community Health Initiatives, Inc.
Community Health Initiatives, Inc. in Brooklyn provides a health education series called the Senior Club. The president of Carroll Gardens Senior Citizen Housing, a 101-unit building for low-income elderly, is also a member of the Board of Directors at Community Health Initiatives, Inc. Under her leadership, the Senior Club has organized regular onsite health education discussions with various specialists and primary care providers. For example, a podiatrist discusses foot care and diabetes, and nurses provide food security screenings.
The Senior Club has been well attended and well received. However, the success of the club has only slightly translated to higher attendance at the local Health Center. This collaboration became a promising practice as improvements were seen on health center attendance by seniors. The CEO of Lifelong Medical Center acknowledged that it can take a long time to develop a rapport with the senior community and even longer to change their behaviors. In addition to engaging with seniors in their homes, he encourages Health Centers that are beginning new senior programs to develop relationships with the discharge staff at local hospitals. Many times, the discharge staff are looking for local services that can benefit their senior patients as they transition from the hospital to their home. He suggests Health Center staff reach out to them, introduce them to the services available at the Health Center, and follow up with them on an ongoing basis to cultivate the relationship.
For more information, go to Senior Case Study publication.