The BayPath Bulletin
All the News You Need ASAP
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
BayPath Elder Services, Inc.'s mission is to be a trusted partner in providing an array of services and programs to older adults, caregivers, and persons with disabilities to support their independence and dignity.
BayPath offers home care and related services enabling people to live independently and comfortably in their homes while promoting their well-being and dignity.
Founded in 1977 as a nonprofit corporation, BayPath has nearly 40 years experience serving and advocating for the needs of older adults as a designated Massachusetts Aging Services Access Point and
a designated Area Agency on Aging.
Visit BayPath's website
|
BayPath Elder Services, Inc. serves the following communities:
Ashland
Dover
Framingham
Holliston
Hopkinton
Hudson
Marlborough
Natick
Northborough
Sherborn
Southborough
Sudbury
Wayland
Westborough
|
|
In was a busy summer featuring plenty of new faces as BayPath continues to grow to meet the needs of our communities.
The latest to join the team include SCO GSSC Angelina Portuense, Care Transition Coleman Coach Nancy Dumart, Bolton/Marlborough Lunch Coordinator Karen Basinet, Intake Specialist Cynthia Getchell, Ashland Site Manager Michelle Lugenbeal, Dietitian Traci Robidoux, Waiver Specialist Monisha Kumar, Case Manager Suzanne Menard, Case Manager Christine Musella, Options Counselor Courtney Cassels, Case Manager Kaitlyn Butler and Case Manager Sarah Creelman.
Congratulations and welcome aboard to all.
|
September brought a variety of wellness opportunities to the residents of Mission Springs, BayPath's supportive housing location in Holliston.
In addition to the free monthly blood pressure clinic provided by the Natick VNA, residents were able to attend a Healthy Hearing Talk by Mass Audiology, get their hearing checked and hearing aids cleaned. The annual flu vaccine clinic sponsored by Walgreens also took place and was well attended.
|
SCO Nurse Case Managers donate to BayPath food pantry
Senior Care Options and One Care Senior Manager Kate Cosseboom expressed her desire "to recognize the donation from our care team of Nurse Case Managers at United Healthcare SCO of $140 in gift cards to local grocery stores. At our last meeting we oriented them to the food pantry to make sure they were aware that this was available to our clients. Every client in the SCO programs is Mass Health Standard eligible with little income to make ends meet. The very first thing they said was 'how can we help?'
"(On August 26) they surprised us with the donation and it was so very thoughtful that they each took the time at their own expense to help these clients. I am very happy to say we are so lucky to have such caring wonderful people to work with."
|
 The Caregiving MetroWest website continues to bring its wealth of information and resources to more and more area family caregivers.
Among the latest updates on CaregivingMetroWest.org
|
|
 |
|
|
Finding a model to emulate in Minnesota
|
BayPath project to create dementia-friendly communities gains insight and inspiration on trip
The path to creating dementia-friendly communities in Massachusetts winds through Minnesota.
Having recently received a grant from the MetroWest Health Foundation, BayPath Elder Services is spearheading an effort to create dementia-friendly communities here in Marlborough, Hudson and Northborough. That effort led BayPath Executive Director Christine Alessandro and a small contingent of key players in the project to fly to Minneapolis earlier this month.
Alessandro, Marlborough Council on Aging Director Trish Pope, Hudson COA Director Janice Long, Northborough COA Director Kelly Burke and elder law attorney Arthur Bergeron went to Minnesota on Sept. 9-11, learning first-hand from key people who helped successfully establish a number of dementia-free communities in that state.
Over the course of parts of three days, the BayPath contingent learned all about the challenges ahead, and gained a knowledge of the process and the confidence to implement it here at home.
"It was priceless," Alessandro said of the trip. "It was not only impactful, it was so well-thought out, so engaging, so thorough. I walked away saying, 'I am prepared to do this.' It was very intense."
For more on the dementia-friendly community project and the trip to Minnesota, check out the Caregiving Chronicles blog.
|
|
Big Demand Forces Balancing Act
|
Healthy Living Department expands course offerings after finding waiting lists for workshops
How popular is A Matter of Balance in the community?
We offered A Matter of Balance in Spanish in partnership with Elder Services of Worcester Area (ESWA) and 10 people completed the workshop. The happy graduates are pictured below.
I will not name the Senior Center to protect the innocent but we started A Matter of Balance in a local town and a week before we started the program I was told we had the maximum of 16 participants on the list and a waiting list with 21 names! On the first day of the workshop people from the waiting list showed up hoping that people that were registered wouldn't show up. We started with 13 people who had either a spouse or a family member that was planning to come but couldn't make it to Session 1 so we were all set.
Then for Session 2 we had people who heard about other people getting in the workshop and were hoping to get in as well. Three people waited in the lobby until we checked our attendance list and found out how many spots we had available. After confirmation that three people couldn't attend most of the sessions we removed those names and allowed the people waiting in the lobby to join the workshop. At Session 2 we closed all registration and no new people were allowed to add their names to the list.
I have been leading healthy living programs for about a year and a half and this is the first time we have people waiting outside hoping to get in a workshop. Because people were getting upset that they would have to wait until the spring to attend, we decided to rearrange some schedules and offer another workshop this fall to accommodate some of the 21 people on the waiting list.
We had similar experiences in two other sites with waiting lists with enough people to start another workshop. Because we need a hosting site for eight consecutive weeks we added another workshop in another town and referred the participants on the waiting list there. We are expecting to have a waiting list at the new town listed. We are also partnering with Clinton Hospital to offer another workshop in Spanish and hoping to offer more Spanish programs in our service area.
If anyone is interested in attending or referring someone to any of our MOB workshops please ask them to register early and to show up to the first session to guarantee their participation in the program.
We have workshops schedule in the following towns:
Hopkinton (2 workshops)
Natick
Westborough
Sudbury ( 2 workshops)
Foxborough
Sharon
Walpole
Clinton
BayPath's healthy living programs will help our seniors be better prepared in preventing falls before the dreaded winter comes.
-- Submitted by BayPath's Silvia Dominguez-Bodie, the MetroWest Regional CDSME Coordinator
|
SCO team members earn recognition from Tufts
 Senior Care Options and One Care Senior Manager Kate Cosseboom, LSW submitted a request
to acknowledge team members Vivienne Jordan, Megan Campbell and Bryan Casasanto.
The trio of BayPath staffers were asked by Tufts Health Plan (SCO) to be the only ASAP representatives from the entire state to attend a session at a recent Tufts Quality Review meeting held by outside consultants to speak about how the Tufts SCO program has impacted the clients. This was a huge honor as when they were invited to attend they were acknowledged by Tufts to be well aware of their clients and their needs and well versed in how the program has impacted the clients. Congratulations to all of you!
Have news from your department or a staff member worthy of some recognition? Let us know about it for next month's BayPath Bulletin.
Send us your updates
|
 BayPath is growing in even more ways. Not only is the staff getting bigger as we are serving more clients, but our office is also expanding to meet the needs of a larger staff.
The agency recently acquired additional space on the fifth floor of its 33 Boston Post Road West location in Marlborough, and after some renovations, we almost ready for the grand opening.
|
|
|
Thank you for taking the time to look through our newsletter, and please check out our website,
www.baypath.org. Have news, information or feedback from a client that you want to see in our next newsletter?
Let us know
BayPath Elder Services, Inc. is a member of the MetroWest ADRC,
a partnership with HESSCO and the MetroWest Center for Independent Living.
|
|
|
|
|
Copyright © 2015. All Rights Reserved.
|
|
|
|
