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Picking up Grandma: The burden of nonemergency lifts on rural community emergency services
Sun, August 9, 12:00 to 1:30pm, TBAAbstract
Two federal programs, Waiver and Options, assist in providing opportunities for community members over the age of 59 to remain in their homes. The Waiver program provides financial assistance, allowing payment for services, even to family members, to prevent the need for nursing home placement. The Options program offers direct home care services. Originally put in place in 2019 in PA, these programs vary in trainings and/or interventions for fall prevention.
When an older person falls at their home and 911 is called, an emergency crew is dispatched to provide a lift assist. A significant number of these are nonemergency lift assists that result in a transfer of the person from the floor to a safe position with no transport to a medical facility. These types of nonemergency lift assists overburden Fire, Emergency Management Services (EMS), and Law Enforcement (LE) Services.
Anecdotal evidence within the community has shown not only an increase in the number of nonemergency lift assists but also an increase in the community costs for those lifts. This research will determine the utilization of Fire, EMS, and LE services with nonemergency lift assists for Waiver and Options recipients, the community costs for those nonemergency lift assists, the lived experiences of community members in need of nonemergency lift assists, and the fall prevention strategies of Waiver and Options program providers. The basic research will include analysis of county lift assists data, examination of Waiver and Options prevention programs, interviews with Fire, EMS, and LE lift assist providers, and interviews with high utilizers and their families. The final goal is to develop a program to reduce the burden on Fire, EMS, and LE as well as the costs to the local community.