Pocatello -- AARP Idaho has donated $2,000 to the Idaho State University
Senior HealthMobile project for the third consecutive year, helping senior
citizens in rural southern Idaho receive health care.
“AARP Idaho has around 150,000 members, many in the Pocatello area,” said Gene Wiggers, AARP volunteer and AARP Idaho District 5 Impact Team Leader.
“We like to have a dynamic presence in every community we serve and one of the best ways to do that is to support the HealthMobile. It is one of the finest ways we know to get quality health care to seniors in rural areas.”
Wiggers presented the $2,000 grant to Dr. Karen Hayward, ISU professor of nursing and Senior HealthMobile project director, at a recent AARP meeting at the Pocatello WestCoast Hotel. The money will purchase fuel for the 19-foot HealthMobile, a customized mobile home.
The Senior HealthMobile project, started in July 2000, is a partnership of the ISU Kasiska College of Health Professions, Area V Agency on Aging, and the Idaho Rural Health Education Center (IRHEC) in Boise. Hayward and Linda Powell, IRHEC, were awarded $684,993 from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to deliver mobile health and wellness services to adults over 60 in rural areas of southeast Idaho.
The HealthMobile project, which has received several local, state and national awards for health services, now serves more than 350 clients in southern Idaho, including some contracted clients from the Foster Grandparent/Senior Companion Program. The program serves seniors primarily in Bannock, Bingham, Caribou, Franklin and Oneida Counties, but also travels to Magic Valley.
Services are provided by advanced level students in the Kasiska College of Health Professions health care disciplines. ISU faculty supervise the students, who offer an interdisciplinary approach to care. Services have included health assessment, vision and hearing screening, medication management, blood pressure screening, classes in strengthening and exercise classes, diabetes care management, and use of assistive devices, among others. Referrals are made to local health care providers as needed and appropriate.
The original grant ends June 30; however, Hayward and Powell have applied for another three-year $840,000 grant.
Since its inception, the Senior HealthMobile has received multiple monetary awards that have supported the expansion of it services and delivery area.
For more information, contact Hayward at (208) 282-2102, or Powell at (208) 336-5533, ext. 235.
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