Emporium Rotary Donates Senior Outreach Supplies

During this special season of giving the Emporium Rotary generously donated household and personal care supplies to the Community Nurses Senior Outreach Program. Tana Sherry and Chad Sarnoski, Community Nurses Home Support Services staff members, are shown sorting through the supplies which will be given to clients. Senior Outreach is a program to identify and make contact with seniors who are facing challenges of aging that could impact their health, feeling of security, or well-being.

One of the services of the Community Nurses Senior Outreach Program is to supply personal items and cleaning supplies at no cost to people in the community who cannot afford them. Community Nurses staff witnesses this need on a daily basis and have delivered many of these items to patients, clients and community members. Most of these items are things we take for granted, but not everyone can afford them. The people that receive them are always very grateful.

At the heart of Senior Outreach is the Telephone Reassurance Service that offers regular phone calls for older adults. The calls help to create a supportive connection while providing the opportunity for the Community Nurses to monitor the general well-being of a person who may have been recently discharged from health services, or who may be alone in their home. A trained volunteer calls clients to check in with them on a weekly basis, or more often if needed. Issues or problems that are identified are immediately addressed by a nurse. Often times this early intervention by a professional nurse helps to avoid further complications, trips to the emergency room, or readmission to the hospital.

Community Nurses, Inc., an affiliate of Penn Highlands Elk, provides home health, hospice, in-home support services, and adult day services in Elk, Cameron and McKean Counties and parts of Clearfield, Jefferson and Potter. More information on all services is available on their new website at www.communitynurses.org.