Community Life
caring for Mon Valley seniors By Kristin Emery
Photos courtsey of Community LIFE
No one wants to think about the possibility of having to leave their home as they age. A survey by AARP shows 77% of seniors want to stay in their homes, though 25% of caregivers find it difficult to find the help they need to care for a senior at home. That’s where Community LIFE can help fill the void. Community LIFE is an all-inclusive program empowering older adults to remain at home while preserving their dignity, independence and quality of life. The organization opened the doors of its Mon Valley Health and Wellness Center in Rostraver in late 2019, just before the onset of the pandemic. “It was COVID, so we did not really get to know the community, and the community did not get to know us,” says Community LIFE president Fatemeh Hashtroudi. Community LIFE is headquartered in Pittsburgh and operates seven locations across Allegheny, Somerset and Bedford Counties, in addition to the Rostraver Health and Wellness Center at 2115 Trebella Circle.
How do they help? Community LIFE is part of the Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly, an optional benefit under Medicare and Medicaid that focuses entirely on older people who are frail enough to meet state standards for nursing home care. The program brings together all the medical and social services needed for someone who otherwise might be in a nursing home. Hashtroudi describes Community LIFE’s services as a nursing home replacement program. “It is a program that is meant to provide support for people who would like to stay at home,” she explains. “We manage care Community LIFE opened its Mon Valley Health and Wellness Center in late 2019 at 2115 Trebella Circle in Rostraver.
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for participants who – without our help – would have been at a nursing home. We help them to stay at home and be closer with their families and caregivers.” The program includes the Health and Wellness Centers, medical care, in-home care and transportation. Most beneficiaries in the plan are eligible to receive services under both the Medicare and Medicaid programs. Whether it’s assistance with laundry or physical therapy to recover from a fall, Community LIFE provides caregiving at home and at their Rostraver location. “The goal is to help our participants stay at home,” says Hashtroudi. “That is what we do. And it’s a very comprehensive care management program making sure that the participants have meals to eat, have medications, that they get to their doctor’s appointment whether it’s at the hospital or the doctor’s office. We make sure all of that happens for our participants.”
Coordination of care Nobody wants to face the prospect of going into a facility or having your loved one at a place other than home, yet it can be difficult and expensive to manage care with work and family. “This is very helpful to the families, and also we help with family support,” Hashtroudi adds. “We have social workers, behavioral health care managers, we have people in our palliative care departments, so we do provide families with ongoing support.” That includes their respite program that accommodates participants with care for up to 48 hours if family or caregivers need help or to be away for a few days.
