Senior Care
HEALTHCARE OPTIONS
FOR SENIORS
Navigating the sea of health care options can
be daunting for any person. It can be even more
uncertain for senior adults who often balance
the need for high quality health services with
the regulatory framework of Medicare and
private insurance. Further complicating the
landscape is the myriad of health options that
exist for senior adults which can be difficult to
understand, especially when aging care and
services have been uncoordinated and prone
to highly variable use and costs.
Integrated Senior Care Medical
Practices
With an exponentially increasing aging
population, health care providers are shifting
their strategic focus and exploring new ways to
coordinate care, lower cost, and improve outcomes.
From acute and primary care to senior
living and ancillaries, health care organizations
nationally, and yes, even in Polk County, are
shifting their emphasis to highly coordinated
senior care.
What is unique about this model? Simple, it
is not episodic in nature but rather takes into
account the whole person. The focus moves
from standard, immediate care to long-term
vitality and wellbeing, and from periodic intervention
to tailored integrated services. In this
complex maze of services, what presently exists
in Polk County?
The World Health Organization or WHO
defines integrated care as “A concept bringing
together inputs, delivery, management and
organization of services related to diagnosis,
treatment, care, rehabilitation and health
promotion. Integration is a means to improve
services in relation to access, quality, user satisfaction
and efficiency.” These services as not
just primary care, but involve anything and everything
from health care to nutrition, wellness
clinics and more. The idea is to create an “one
stop shop” for senior adults to manage not only
their health, but also their wellness and quality
of life. These clinics focus on highly coordinated
care intent on all of the health care needs.
Locally, Polk County has a few, fully integrated
clinics which offer a variety of services
including spa services with therauputic massage,
weight management, health navigators to
assist with insurance and Medicare issues, and
social workers who can assist senior adults with
state benefit programs such as food stamps,
Medicaid and Medicare applications, prescription
drug programs, transportation programs
and Part D plans.