Serving Up Good Health
As part of the overall aging-in-place project at MU, the School created a home-health care agency. In 1999, the agency was established with a $2 million grant from the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to study the
effectiveness of aging in place for frail older adults.
Formerly known as Senior Care, Sinclair Home Care’s mission is to promote the independence, dignity and health of older adults by providing the preventative care and health support services needed for seniors to live in their preferred home of choice. In addition, the program serves as a clinical, service learning and research site for the Mizzou community.
The School is one of four aging-in-place sites in the state-
sponsored evaluation, which was created by a legislative act in 1999.
One intended purpose of this agency was to provide the care for TigerPlace residents when the building was completed and occupied. Currently Sinclair Home Care does provide resident care at TigerPlace and is responsible for the state aging-in-place evaluation.
However to collect the data needed for the aging-in-place project, this agency has worked with other senior housing complexes in Columbia, Missouri as well as private home owners. The agency
provides care in a six-county area; focusing on referrals while maintaining quality care.
In 2006, the agency was renamed Sinclair Home Care to better communicate its mission to the public. Additionally, University of Missouri Health Care assumed the agency’s management responsibilities and it was also merged with another agency to increase efficiencies and make both agencies stronger. The School will continue to provide educational and research opportunities as well as support the aging-in-place project through
Sinclair Home Care.
The primary goal of the aging-in-place project is to develop a new approach for long-term care services for on-going assessment, early illness recognition, health promotion activities and services designed to meet individual needs when a person needs them in the privacy of their own apartment.
Currently a state evaluation of the project’s participants in underway with a School research team guiding the way. Preliminary data will be published by 2007. In addition, data about functional status, hospitalizations, emergency room use and medication use are also being evaluated at all four locations.
Results suggest community-based care with nurse coordination enhances clinical outcomes of long-term clients.