Sep 15, 2022 3 min read

Presbyterian SeniorCare Network is one of four aging service providers in Pennsylvania to receive funding through the Henry L. Hillman Foundation, which announced grant recipients Monday.

Presbyterian SeniorCare, which services older adults in Allegheny, Beaver, Butler and Washington counties, was awarded $500,000 as part of the Foundation’s Healthy Aging Challenge.

In January, the Henry L. Hillman Foundation launched the $2 million challenge and encouraged nonprofits to dream big. The foundation accepted proposals for ideas that support current caregiving, and help innovate and transform the field.

“Southwestern Pennsylvania’s population continues to grow older at a rate faster than the rest of the country, so we have to do more to ensure our region’s residents have the supportive care for safe and healthy aging. The four Healthy Aging Challenge finalists are organizations and partnerships with extensive track records of caring for older populations and innovating when resources are limited. The work that these organizations are doing now and will do in the future will benefit to a wide cross section of the region’s population,” foundation president David K. Roger said in a news release.

Healthy Aging Challenge applicants were required to work firsthand with a member of their older adult community or a professional caregiver. The foundation encouraged partnerships with for-profit organizations, educational institutes and public health agencies.

Presbyterian SeniorCare, which owns and operates Encore on the Lake in North Strabane and the Washington Campus assisted living in Washington, proposed a collaborative wellness model that connects primary care physicians, service providers and residents to increase the quality of life for low-income supportive housing residents.

The model will allow for a more holistic approach to aging.

“Together, Presbyterian SeniorCare Network and the primary care provider will integrate primary care (physician/physician assistant/nurse practitioner) and age-friendly, evidence-based practices to enrich the service coordination model,” Celeste Golonski, president of SeniorCare Network, the organization’s supportive and affordable housing service line, said.

“Clinical services could include prompt clinical assessment and intervention, disease-specific education, physical or occupational therapy, or medication management; the goal being to provide residents with the tools for self-management.”

Residents who live in low-income supportive housing face barriers to adequate primary care and specialized chronic care services. Presbyterian SeniorCare Network’s new program offers solutions to residents in low-income supportive housing, who face barriers to primary care and chronic care services.

“They are among the most vulnerable, many with more than five chronic conditions and challenging health trajectories,” Jonathan Szish, director of corporate communications and public relations, said. “This program will try to address that through increased health literacy and reducing avoidable hospitalizations.”

The program helps older adults age in place and helps healthcare system leaders and frontline teams to deliver higher-quality care to residents.

“Many older adults living in low-income supportive housing lose what matters to them because of a lack of health literacy and avoidable hospitalizations,” said Golonski. “We are grateful for the Henry L. Hillman Foundation’s support to help us achieve our vision to infuse primary care into our existing community-based social model.”

For more on the Healthy Aging Challenge grant winners and their programs, visit https://www.healthyagingchallenge.org/results.