The new name for the program “providing short-term shelter, health and social support to persons experiencing homelessness who are ill or injured” is Recuperative Care. It is being developed and managed by a new not-for-profit called GUIDEPOST r. Please visit the website at http://GUIDEPOSTr.org for information.
If you would like more information, please email GUIDEPOSTr@GUIDEPOSTr.org. Thank you.
On December 27, 2011 Boulder’s Daily Camera ran a story about Medical Respite Boulder and the need for the program to become sustainable. You can read the story here: Medical Respite Boulder on hiatus as officials seek operating funds.
KGNU radio also featured Medical Respite Boulder on Morning Magazine on January 2, 2012. You can hear that show by clicking to this link.
During the pilot from late March until early October 2011, Medical Respite Boulder offered “home care to those with no homes” to 13 individuals with a variety of acute and chronic health conditions across 15 episodes of respite care in our motel-based program. (Two people were enrolled in respite twice.) These clients were supported with visits by home care professions, meals, and a variety of personal interactions, including daily visits from a volunteer. The program provided a total of 91 nights (average of 6 per client) for less than $100 a night. Clients reported a 43% improvement in the condition that brought them to respite and 37% improvement in their overall health status from the first to the last day of respite care. We are collecting now the positive impact on health care costs by having the respite care program available as well as summarizing a plethora of descriptive data.
Hopefully, given the extremely positive outcomes of the pilot, Medical Respite Boulder will become fully operational with a sustainable plan for providing a place to recuperate to our homeless who are sick or injured. Have this program is undeniable beneficial to the recipients of the service, the agencies and organizations that participate in the delivery of services, to the individuals who volunteer, and to the broader community. Assisting those who are most vulnerable–homeless and unwell–is good for everyone.
The program continues as a “catalyst for collaboration” among a wide variety of organizations, agencies, businesses, and individuals in Boulder, including Clinica Family Health Services, Boulder Community Hospital, Boulder Shelter for the Homeless, Bridge House (formerly Carriage House), Meals on Wheels, Community Food Share, Special Transit, Project Revive, and more.
When a doctor or other health care provider tells a patient to “go home, rest, take your medicine, and follow-up with me in a week,” most folks retreat to their bed or couch to recover. Often a family member or friend helps them with activities of daily living, like food preparation, laundry, going to the pharmacy. Imagine being given those instructions and having to say, “But, doc, I don’t have a home.” What happens then?
Medical Respite Boulder serves those folks. It closes a gap for persons who need a place to go and heal but who have no home. And it connects them to the health care system in a way that can help them get the ongoing medical care that they need.
Medical Respite Boulder conducted a pilot program from late March to early October, 2011. It is currently on hiatus as it seeks sustainable funding.
This video from the Barbara McInnis House, a premier respite center in Boston, tells the story of medical respite–why we need it, how it helps, and what it can do to benefit those who need it.
Please watch.
