Welcome to four new members!
Publication Date: March 8, 2023
For more than 110 years, All Care VNA & Hospice has been caring for patients and families in with its full continuum of in-home services based in Lynn, MA. Their mission is centered around providing high-quality, integrated care, and helping individuals to remain safely and independently in their homes and communities. Wayne Saltsman, whose advocacy brought All Care to the Coalition since he joined last year as their Chief Medical Officer, puts it like this: “Patients, whether in recovery or in hospice, often wish to receive care at home. It can be what matters most to them and All Care helps them achieve that.” All Care has seen a shift over the past decade (if not longer) of patients being discharged to home from hospitals and facilities sicker, with more acute needs, and managing pain outside of an institutional setting. It has forced home care, palliative, and hospice to adjust the ways in which we think about and deliver care. We’re thrilled to both welcome All Care as a new member, and continue working with Wayne, our long-time Coalition friend and supporter.
ILD Collaborative
The Pulmonary Care and Research Collaborative (PCRC) / Interstitial Lung Disease (ILD) Collaborative is a Boston-based non-profit organization working to improve the quality of life of people impacted by interstitial and other progressive pulmonary disease through community services, education, advocacy, and patient-centered research. They are dedicated to empowering patients and their families with current evidence-based, actionable knowledge regarding these diseases and to advocating for equitable healthcare access. Serving a community of over 1,300 patients across New England through weekly virtual community meetings, web-based and in-person education, and grassroots community outreach and services, they hope to expand further. Aliaa Barakat, founder and CEO, and a person living with ILD, shares that their work is, “Grounded in the core value that people-centered, community-engaged, and team-based care and research are the foundation for improving patients’ clinical care outcomes and quality of life.” What’s special about the collaborative is how strongly they value stakeholder engagement and lean on participatory action and community-based participatory research methodologies in everything they do. This is at the heart of the Coalition’s work, too; bringing the voices of consumers and their lived experiences to the forefront.
Sewa Home Care
Sewa Home Care, a nurse-owned and operated home care agency, functions on the mission of “care that comes to you.” Based in Westford, MA, they strive to provide quality care services with compassion and competence allowing their elderly and disabled clients to live a quality life in the comfort of their own home. Their work is grounded in the belief that not one care plan fits all and the variety of services they offer–ranging from meal preparation and hygiene to supervision–matches that. As our Coalition’s research has found, trust is foundational for caregiver-client relationships and Sewa Home Care believes that companionship is a key pillar to building trust. Mala Lama, owner of Sewa Home Care, shares that she is, “Excited to join the Coalition and work collectively with like-minded organizations across the state. It’s not easy running a small business and having connections across disciplines is important for keeping perspective.”
Circle Advocacy
Circle Advocacy was founded by palliative care physician Judy Korik Weinstock to help patients and their families navigate our fragmented medical system. “I know how stressful and disorienting it can be,” said Judy, “so I help patients, caregivers, and their treating clinicians form a collaborative team.” And we know from our research just how important that sense of collaboration is for patients. We interviewed Judy to learn more about her story.
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