Past Webinar: Supporting Community Health Webinar

Broadcast: Wednesday, September 23, 2015 – 12:00pm – 1:30pm

This webinar highlighted three innovative and successful initiatives: the SASH Model in Vermont, the Enhanced Options Counseling Program in Maine, and the Upper Valley Community Nursing Project in New Hampshire.

SASH Model
Molly Dugan will share information on the Support And Services at Home (SASH) Model in Vermont. This model, provided through the non-profit housing network in partnership with community provider organizations, is designed to provide personalized and coordinated care to help adult participants stay healthy while living comfortably and safely at home. Molly will provide an overview of the core elements of the SASH model including essential tools developed along with key successes and challenges of implementing a statewide initiative such as this. Outcomes to date will also be shared.

Upper Valley Community Nursing Project (UVCNP)
Dr. Dennis McCullough and Laurie Harding will share information about a unique nursing project that aims to assist in supporting older adults in their desire to live independently and safely in community.   Dennis and Laurie will provide an overview of the UVCNP, how they work to successfully achieve project goals, the insights they have gained and key successes and challenges they’ve encountered.

Enhanced Options Counseling
Nate Miller will review the innovative partnership in Maine between the Maine Area Agencies on Aging and Community Health Options.  Starting with the need for collaboration and a program overview, Nate will walk you through the pilot program displaying the work that was done, tools that were used, benefits, challenges, outcomes and implications for community based social work initiatives in the future.

Our Presenters

Molly K. Dugan
MPA, Director, Support And Services at Home (SASH)
South Burlington, VT

Molly started at Cathedral Square in October 2008, focusing primarily on new housing development but also assisting with development of the Support And Services at Home (SASH) initiative. When the program design of SASH started full bore in July of 2009, Molly’s primary job shifted to that of statewide SASH Director.

Prior to Cathedral Square, Molly worked for the state of Vermont in the Department of Housing and Community Affairs (DHCA) since 2001 working in the Vermont Community Development Program where she served as Senior Community Development Specialist and then Director. Molly became Deputy Commissioner of DHCA in August of 2006 and then served as DHCA’s Acting Commissioner. Prior to joining DHCA, Molly worked for five years as a Legislative and Research Analyst for the Vermont League of Cities and Towns (VLCT). She also spent six years as an Assistant County Supervisor with Farmers Home Administration (FmHA) now known as USDA Rural Development- three of these years serving Franklin County out of the St. Albans, VT office. Molly received a B.S. in Economics and Political Science from the University of New Hampshire and a Masters in Public Administration (MPA) from the University of Vermont. Molly lives in Richmond, VT with her husband and two teenaged daughters.

Dr. Dennis McCullough

Dennis McCullough, M.D., has been an “in-the-trenches” family physician and geriatrician for over 30 years. He is a graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Medical School, and trained in the Department of Family Medicine at the University of Western Ontario. He has served as a long-time faculty member in Dartmouth’s Department of Community and Family Medicine and the Dartmouth Centers for Health and Aging. He is a member of the American Geriatrics Society, the American Academy of Family Physicians, the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine, and the American Medical Directors Association.

The New York Times has credited Dr. McCullough with creating the term “Slow Medicine” to describe a new approach for improved quality eldercare. His book, My Mother, Your Mother: Embracing “Slow Medicine”, the Compassionate Approach to Caring for Your Aging Loved Ones (HarperCollins, 2008) lays out the humane complement to the world of American High-Tech “Fast” Medicine. Dr. McCullough’s goal is to create conversations among elders, families and health care professionals about better approaches to care over life’s later decades. Slow Medicine has been met with widespread interest in Aging in Place / Aging in Community groups, retirement and assisted living communities, churches, chronic care support groups, hospitals, nursing homes, hospices, and professional groups of doctors, nurses, social workers, geriatric care managers and other professionals involved with the care of elders. He has lectured widely in the U.S., and also in Canada, Mexico, and Asia. His work has gained coverage by radio, TV and print media throughout the world, and My Mother, Your Mother is presently being translated for publication in Japan and Korea.

Laurie Harding

Laurie is the Co-Director of the Upper Valley Community Nursing Project. Laurie recently finished serving 10 years in the NH Legislature. She served the last four years as the vice chair of the Health and Human Service and Elderly Affairs Committee as well as the chair of the Long Term Care subcommittee. In her work life she also provides nursing consultation for a small, non-medical caregiving company which serves mostly frail elders.

Nate Miller

Nate is a Licensed Master of Social Work in the State of Maine.  He studied social work and psychology at the University of Maine at Farmington, Oxford Brooks University and the University of New England.  He has over 15 years of experience in social work, mostly working in aging and disability services in facilities and communities throughout Maine.  He is a Savvy Caregiver Trainer and is beginning an aging related lecture series at Bates College.  He currently works with SeniorsPlus, an Area Agency on Aging.  Most recently he has worked on a community support pilot project, collaborating with Community Health Options, a nonprofit insurance company created under the Affordable Care Act.

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