Senior Health Transportation Initiative
In 2004, United Way launched the Eastern Maine Transportation Collaborative, a group of health care, agency, government and transportation providers, focused on improving transportation for the elderly in need of chronic medical care.
In October of this year, United Way’s Supporting Seniors Council voted to continue to work on this issue as the Eastern Maine Transportation Collaborative (EMTC), but under the new name of the Senior Health Transportation Collaborative. This change coincided with EMTC meeting a milestone of having fulfilled the outcomes of two grants. The Maine Health Access Foundation, the state's largest private nonprofit health care foundation, gave EMTC a planning grant and an implementation grant that were completed this June.
The first grant researched the challenges and barriers faced by older adults in getting chronic care medical services in Hancock, Washington and Penobscot counties. The study found that patients travel at least 10 miles to reach appointments and rely primarily on themselves or
volunteers to drive them. Few were aware of public transportation
opportunities, and healthcare schedulers indicated that arranging
transportation and missed appointments were a significant challenge.
The implementation grant allowed for the first steps toward positive change, including three "lunch-and-learn" sessions to teach medical staff about transportation resources and the development of a new "senior friendly" brochure used by the Bangor Area Transit system and distributed to elderly and disabled riders.
Moving forward, the Senior Health Transportation Collaborative, will work with partners to address the logistic, physical, and mental issues involved in elder health care transportation in our region. Eastern Maine Healthcare Systems' 2007 regional needs assessment provided background data that the Supporting Seniors Council used to confirm their commitment to working on this issue.
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