Unlikely friendship blossoms during the pandemic
and last updated 2021-04-29 18:47:58-04
Looking back on the year 2020, it wasn t easy meeting new people and making new friends, but that wasn t the case for everyone. With the help of Wilshire Health and Community Services, what started as weekly conversations between two strangers has blossomed into a special friendship.
Through Wilshire s Caring Callers program, home-bound, older adults are connected with community volunteers, which is how 37-year-old Cierra Savatgy- King was connected with 97-year-old Bonnie Miller.
These two women have been talking mostly on the phone every week since the start of the pandemic.
Before the COVID-19 pandemic hit locally in March 2020, Central Coast Home Health and Hospice had almost 70 volunteers on its roster who helped provide much-needed companionship and respite to hospice patients and their loved ones. Now the program is almost nonexistent. The activities and services offered through the Central Coast Home Health and Hospice volunteer program vary depending on a patient s needs and the volunteers involved, but Volunteer Coordinator Nicki Tempesta said the overarching goal is to provide some comfort, compassion, and friendship during a difficult time in a client s life. Volunteers often take wheelchair-bound patients out for walks or to see the ocean, they read to patients, play games with them, write dictated letters for them, or do little chores around the house.
●Telehealth services
●Transportation services
To learn more about services and patient care, visit https://www.wilshirehomehealthcc.org/. The above is a general list and does not encompass all of the personalized service and care options that a patient may receive. Many times additional services needed can be pinpointed during an in-home evaluation or even suggested by the patient s physician. The agency may also be able to refer the patient to additional services from other community organizations, such as Meals on Wheels.
How Home Health Decreases Hospitalizations
When a patient is sick or they are injured, they call their home health agency before heading to the emergency room. Many times the home health agency can assist the patient with care and work with the patient s doctor to prevent the person from having to go into the hospital for a stay. Keep in mind that home health agencies do offer a wide assortment of services, meaning the patient can receive exceptional c