The goal of Hartford HealthCare’s Center for Healthy Aging (CHA) is to make it easier for seniors, their loved ones and caregivers to access essential information and services to attain the optimal quality of life. In an effort to make access to resources even more seamless, the CHA recently began a new pilot program that places their staff directly in the offices of geriatricians and primary care physicians throughout the Hartford HealthCare system.
Angelo Musumeci, Resource Coordinator for the Center for Healthy Aging at Windham Hospital, is the latest CHA staff member to participate in the pilot. Musumeci has begun collaborating with the Hartford HealthCare Medical Group’s Willimantic office where he has a private space to meet with individuals and families one day a week. Meeting with them one on one while they are at their doctor’s office allows Musumeci to assist his clients with making connections to services they may need outside of the primary care setting, and also helps with long-range planning to meet all of their health needs.
Some of the services that Musumeci provides includes:
• Home safety assessment/wandering concerns
• Strategies for dementia care
• Aging in place resources (meals, caregivers, transportation, home safety)
• Evaluate eligibility for financial assistance (state/federal/grants)
• Long-term planning (elder care attorneys, advance directives)
• Connections to dementia services
“It has been extremely beneficial to meet with clients right at their doctor’s office and have the opportunity to discuss all of their care needs in one setting,” he said. “I think of my role as a gatekeeper to all of the services the CHA provides and, so far, we have gotten a great response from our clients and the team at the Medical Group. Our clients are very pleased with how quickly we are able to get them connected to the services they need. This has been a great team effort with our partners in the system.”
“We are very excited about this collaboration,” said Nancy Becker, Manager of the Center for Healthy Aging. “The CHA has 12 existing sites across Connecticut, but being directly in the Geriatrician office provides a seamless connection for HHC patients in a familiar location.”
