Austintown Senior Center expands health services

AUSTINTOWN -- Many senior citizens in the township can now rely on the Austintown Senior Center for a little extra help staying healthy.

On Thursday, the center cut the ribbon on its new Telehealth, Health and Wellness Room. The converted office space provides technology for telehealth appointments and online health care as well as basic medical equipment and a private space for visiting health care and social service providers.

The project was funded through an $11,000 American Association of Retired Persons Community Challenge Grant.

Senior Center Director Brittney Koch said members can attend telehealth appointments, order prescriptions and access services such as MyChart. The stations are compliant with HIPAA privacy laws, and Senior Center staff will be available to help members unfamiliar with the technology.

"We will also be doing classes to teach them how to do the telehealth appointments and get on and do their health care electronically," Koch said.

The township celebrated the opening with a ceremonial replica check from AARP and a food spread Thursday.

Koch said the senior center has secured about $71,000 in grants this year through AARP, Direction Home of Eastern Ohio and other sources, success that is all the more important with the township's Senior Center levy coming up for renewal, she said.

"We don't want to ask anybody for more money, so we're trying to find it with our grants," Koch said.

The 0.5-mill, five-year levy is on the November ballot. It generates about $327,500 annually and costs $11 per $100,000 of assessed property value.

Trustee Bruce Shepas praised Koch's efforts to secure outside funding and expand the center's services.

"I think this is just another step toward a new beginning for our senior center," he said. "What Brittney Koch, our new senior center director, has done has been amazing. She's taken this place to a whole other level."

Shepas and Koch said several additional grant applications are pending.

The wellness room also contains blood pressure cuffs, glucometers, pulse oximeters and scales. Koch said health care providers who already make rounds at the center can use the room for wellness checks, blood pressure clinics and other assessments, while social workers and community health workers will have a private space to meet with clients.

Koch said improving healthcare access has been a priority of hers since she assumed the role in November, but this project also grew out of survey input from senior center members, who expressed interest in education about chronic diseases as well as help using technology to manage their health care.

As medical providers rely more on online patient portals and telehealth, Koch said seniors without the knowledge or access to the technology can face barriers to routine care.

"If they can't get into their doctor, what do they do? They go to the emergency room, and we don't want that," Koch said. "If we can keep one person out of the emergency room by helping them get a hold of a medical professional or access their care, then it's definitely worth it."

Koch said Austintown's designation this year as an AARP Age-Friendly Community helped make the project possible. The initiative focuses on improving quality of life for older residents in areas including transportation and health care access.

State Director Jenny Carlson said Austintown's application was at the top of its list.

Trustee Monica Deavers thanked AARP for supporting the project and said the room reflects the township's commitment to its older residents.

"It's just another way that we show that we support our seniors here and how our community supports them," Deavers said.

Koch said the room already has been used by healthcare providers the past several weeks. She said the center's next major goal is to expand its focus on nutrition, hopefully by renovating the kitchen to accommodate larger cooking and nutrition classes.

Koch said the center has distributed more than 30,000 pounds of food to community members, since February, and she wants to complement those distributions by teaching seniors how to prepare healthy meals using food they receive through supplemental commodity programs, food pantries or grocery stores.

"If we're able to revamp our kitchen and make it more of an educational space, then we will be able to do that for them," Koch said.

She said the township has applied for grants to fund the kitchen project, but no decisions have been made. If those applications are unsuccessful, she said the center will continue looking for other funding sources without additional appeals to taxpayers.