Community Benefit

Section 2 | How We Give Back to Our Communities

I NVE S TM E NT BAC K I NTO O U R CO M M U N ITI E S – COMMUNITY BENEFIT

SCL Health remains faithful to the charitable spirit of our Founders, the Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth, by addressing the most important health-related needs of the communities we serve, especially for those who are poor and vulnerable. In keeping with our mission, nine cents of every dollar SCL Health earns is reinvested back into our communities. Our community benefit programs and partnerships are driven by a Community Health Needs Assessment conducted in each community. These assessments help identify the most pressing health challenges facing communities to ensure support is deployed in the most effective way possible. Our programs include free and discounted healthcare services, partnerships with other nonprofits to address social determinants of health like food security and housing, and mental health resources, among many others. By dedicating resources to address these needs, we believe meaningful and lasting change can be created in communities and bring the SCL Health mission to life through action.

Helping older adults age well

Coloradans are living longer than ever, and the aging population is rapidly growing. It is projected that residents age 65 and older will top 1.2 million by 2030, a jaw-dropping 125 percent increase since 2010. With these shifting demographics in mind, older adults (and their caregivers) need skills and resources that support their overall wellness and quality of life – especially those in underserved populations.

“Through our community health needs assessment, we identified several priority areas and opportunities to address the complex health issues related to aging,” says Gaye Woods, SCL Health System Director of Community Benefit.

In a grant partnership with the National Council on Aging (NCOA), SCL Health brought the Aging Mastery Program to Colorado’s Front Range. NCOA’s evidencebased program is penned as a “playbook for aging

2019 STATS | AGING MASTERY 514 participants (234 in core class, 262 self-guided, 18 in caregiver class) 80 % completed all weeks of the class 98 % would recommend class to a friend well,” and includes 10 weeks of classroom or self-guided curriculum. Topics covered in the program include exercise, sleep, healthy eating, financial fitness, advance planning, healthy relationships, medication management, community engagement and fall prevention.

“Last year, falls were the second most common reason Colorado seniors visited a number of SCL Health emergency departments,” Woods says. “We want to support decreasing health risks that are preventable by helping people change their behaviors.”

Community partners Metro Caring, Meals on Wheels, Brighton Senior Center, and the Alzheimer’s Association, along with several other organizations, served as host sites for classes.

Woods says the program was “collaborative and very well-received by our participants,” and is already expanding to more locations for 2020.

93 % 79 % 12 %

rated that it helped them to better manage their health rated that it helped to strengthen financial decisions (e.g., advanced-care planning)

Community Heart Print opens new doors for associate volunteerism

There is no doubt that SCL Health associates have heart. And many live the mission outside their everyday service at work by doing good in their communities on their own time.

“We were receiving so many requests from associates for volunteer service opportunities that it was becoming hard to respond to all of them,” says Gaye Woods, SCL Health System Director of Community Benefit. “To answer their call and illuminate the caring spirit and collective impact our associates have in our communities, we created a program to help associates identify, participate in and even track their volunteer service.”

The program, named Community Heart Print, launched in 2019 and is powered by the online platform KyndHub by Project Helping, a nonprofit working to impact community members living with mental-wellness challenges.

The online platform allows users to view and select volunteer opportunities with multiple nonprofits and

2019 STATS | COMMUNITY HEART PRINT 5,362 associate volunteer service hours Top causes supported: social services, youth programs, food security, and nonprofit board service $ 20,000 donations to charities 1,500 Kynd Kits created for members of the community causes; and SCL Health can create organizational service opportunities, challenges, and team service activities as well.

One of the first events held as a part of the Community Heart Print program was a service activity focused on honoring Mental Health Month. Approximately 250 associates gathered at the Broomfield system office to create gratitude kits for veterans, called Kynd Kits, and activity and educational kits for kids in need.

“Our goal is to use KyndHub to impact individuals and the community at large. Last year was a soft launch, but we’ve already seen a lot of excitement and impressive momentum,” Woods says. “This program really intersects with our focus on mental health, because it returns so much to the individual who is giving. It’s true when they say the giver gets as much as the receiver.”