What's News at Appalachian Community?
Thank You to Our Terrific Home Care Aides!
Nothing compares to being in the comfort of your own home! Our home care aides provide a variety of personal care services and homemaking services that enable clients to stay in the familiar, comfortable environment of their own home. Find out more.
Each month, Appalachian Community honors a Home Care Aide of the Month in order to show appreciation for their outstanding service to our agency and our community. Congratulations to our recent Home Care Aides of the Month! Thank you for all you do!
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Flower Power Begins Its Third Summer Season
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The Flower Power volunteer program began its third summer season on June 4. Polly Creech, owner of the Hyacinth Bean floral shop, provided a free workshop on flower arrangement to more than a dozen flower power volunteers.
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The volunteers then produced the first fresh flower bouquets of the summer for Appalachian Community hospice and home health clients.
Flower Power has been a big hit with recipient clients and their caregivers, as well as for the volunteers involved in the program. Fresh flowers are donated from community members’ gardens, arranged in donated vases, and distributed to client homes by Appalachian Community nurses, therapists and home care aides during their home visits.
There are many ways to get involved! Contact Volunteer Coordinator Christie Truly, (740)594-8226 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. , to donate vases or flowers from your garden or to create flower arrangements.
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Top left: Polly Creech of Hyacinth Bean gives tips on flower arranging to Flower Power volunteers.
Below left: Volunteers create the 1st fresh flower bouquets of the summer.
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We're on Facebook!
Stay up-to-date with Appalachian Community by liking us on Facebook! Get information on local events and community resources, health and home safety tips, recipes, recent Appalachian Community news and more. Check out our page here: http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Appalachian-Community-Visiting-Nurses-Hospice/365064323511295
Appalachian Community Joins in Study to Try Out Telehealth in Southeastern Ohio
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Telehealth remote monitoring is a promising new technology allowing health care providers to keep their fingers on the pulse of patients’ conditions from the patients’ own homes. Monitoring devices installed in the home allow for day-to-day monitoring of chronic conditions, enabling care providers and patients to better manage chronic diseases, control symptoms and prevent complications. |
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Appalachian Community is partnering with the Ohio University Heritage Osteopathic School of Medicine and The Ohio State University in a pilot project, Chronic Disease Management in Rural Elderly with Type 2 Diabetes, to test whether telehealth technology could improve care and quality of life for our neighbors with chronic disease here in Southeastern Ohio.
The project will provide home monitoring devices for up to 25 individuals over age 60 who have been receiving treatment for type 2 diabetes over the past year. The devices, designed to measure blood sugar and oxygen levels, blood pressure and weight, are connected to the home phone line. Subjects transmit their health data to a secure online site five days each week. The study will compare the data collected over six months of telehealth monitoring with data from the subjects’ medical charts from the previous year, before the telehealth devices were put to use. Outcomes to be compared include number of hospitalizations or nursing facility stays, number of trips to the doctor’s office, and several indicators of overall health.
Like the rest of the nation, Southeastern Ohio is experiencing increasing rates of chronic diseases such as chronic heart failure, coronary artery disease, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder in addition to diabetes. A positive result for this telehealth pilot project—showing improved patient outcomes and health care cost savings as a result of remote health monitoring in our rural area—will pave the way for a regular, more extensive telehealth program for chronic disease management in our corner of the world.
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Appalachian Community is pleased to welcome Gina Wilberger, RN, to our staff to work on the project. Gina will be responsible for installing the telehealth devices in the subjects’ homes and monitoring the incoming information. She had already been acquainted with our agency as an Appalachian Community Hospice volunteer and was interested in working with us in a nursing capacity. Her interest in the telehealth project |
National Nurses Week!
In observance of National Nurses Week in May, we gathered to express our appreciation for Appalachian Community's staff of top flight nurses! We love all our compassionate, conscientious, dedicated, and hard-working nurses!
Front Row (L-R): Terri McKinley, Julie Foster, Beth McDonald, Christina Jago, Tammy McGuire, Pam Gaston, Kara Schoonover, Jenny Town
Back Row (L-R): Linda Mitchell, Mary Smith, Karen Robinson, Jackie Patton, Mary Ann Riley, Robin Todhunter
Missing from photo: Amy Little, Deanna Smith, Deb Sechkar, Nancy Pitre, Pam Bobo, Susan Shaw, Susan Winland, Teresa Mollohan, Bill Lambert
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