We went to the Holy Trinity Lutheran Church today and spoke to a group of elderly women on their healthcare concerns. It was very eye-opening. We learned that many of the women have lost their access to their primary physicians because doctors have been privatizing their practices and requiring "membership" fees in order to stay with them. Also, many of the women have had problems seeing a doctor when necessary.
The women also brought up the need for more insurance coverage or government aid for elderly care. Insurance will not cover the cost of having someone come into help aging people with their day to day life, like doing the laundry and cooking meals. They can only receive insurance help if the person is a certified RN coming in daily to help them with medical needs.
There seem to be many barriers to healthcare access for the elderly according to this group. I look forward to seeing what other age groups and denominations have to say on the matter. -Molly
We have met with two of our churches and sent in reports to Judith. She seemed to be pleased with our work and understands that it has been hard to contact the other churches. She asked that we be sure to document our efforts and work to compose an overall report with general conclusions from our discussions.
After a lot of difficulty, we finally have a meeting with a church that sounds like it will be really productive! It was looking like we were not going to have any real success, but at the last minute Dr. Purser sent us the contact info for Inglesia Poder de Dios. I spoke to the pastor this morning and he really feels that this is an important issue. Instead of scheduling a separate meeting he is actually cutting service short for this discussion so that everyone can participate. I am really excited to hear the opinions of this congregation. I think it will be an interesting contrast to the disinterest we've experienced with other congregations. -Sarah
Well, I was so excited about the last meeting, so I guess I set myself up for disappointment! This church expressed an opinion, and there were a few people willing to voice it, but there was a general sense of hesitation to get involved in the conversation. I did speak with one woman who couldn't get a prenatal exam, which makes me nervous because she is nearing delivery. Luckily, Dr Purser was able to suggest a clinic to refer her to. I cannot even imagine being in such a situation and facing it with the kind of dignity and bravery she is. I hope that after our groups are done the team will continue to try to develop a safe forum for this discussion. -Sarah R.
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We went to the Holy Trinity Lutheran Church today and spoke to a group of elderly women on their healthcare concerns. It was very eye-opening. We learned that many of the women have lost their access to their primary physicians because doctors have been privatizing their practices and requiring "membership" fees in order to stay with them. Also, many of the women have had problems seeing a doctor when necessary.
The women also brought up the need for more insurance coverage or government aid for elderly care. Insurance will not cover the cost of having someone come into help aging people with their day to day life, like doing the laundry and cooking meals. They can only receive insurance help if the person is a certified RN coming in daily to help them with medical needs.
There seem to be many barriers to healthcare access for the elderly according to this group. I look forward to seeing what other age groups and denominations have to say on the matter.
-Molly
We have met with two of our churches and sent in reports to Judith. She seemed to be pleased with our work and understands that it has been hard to contact the other churches. She asked that we be sure to document our efforts and work to compose an overall report with general conclusions from our discussions.
After a lot of difficulty, we finally have a meeting with a church that sounds like it will be really productive! It was looking like we were not going to have any real success, but at the last minute Dr. Purser sent us the contact info for Inglesia Poder de Dios. I spoke to the pastor this morning and he really feels that this is an important issue. Instead of scheduling a separate meeting he is actually cutting service short for this discussion so that everyone can participate. I am really excited to hear the opinions of this congregation. I think it will be an interesting contrast to the disinterest we've experienced with other congregations.
-Sarah
Well, I was so excited about the last meeting, so I guess I set myself up for disappointment! This church expressed an opinion, and there were a few people willing to voice it, but there was a general sense of hesitation to get involved in the conversation. I did speak with one woman who couldn't get a prenatal exam, which makes me nervous because she is nearing delivery. Luckily, Dr Purser was able to suggest a clinic to refer her to. I cannot even imagine being in such a situation and facing it with the kind of dignity and bravery she is. I hope that after our groups are done the team will continue to try to develop a safe forum for this discussion.
-Sarah R.
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