Isolated during COVID? Free program provides meals, wellness calls for seniors
As the coronavirus pandemic continues to isolate seniors, a free program offering weekday meal deliveries and wellness phone calls is accepting applicants.
Residents of Stanislaus and northern Merced counties age 65 or older can apply for the Well Check program designed to alleviate depression and food insecurity.
Run by Covenant Care at Home in Turlock and funded by the Legacy Health Endowment, the program has served 10 pilot participants since September, said Home Health Administrator Ronda Malmberg.
Among the participants is Anna Fedick, who lives alone in a Hilmar mobile home community and has severe arthritis, spinal stenosis and Meniere’s disease that causes dizzy spells.
Fedick does not own a car and neither does her daughter, who visits from Stevinson on weekends. A neighbor drives her to the grocery store about once a month, so Fedick said receiving the meal deliveries and calls since October mean a lot.
“It’s somebody checking on me and caring how I feel,” Fedick said. “They’re friends and I like it.”
Program staff give health care suggestions during the calls, including about the hand Fedick broke two months ago after falling in her backyard. They also make sure she eats every day, Fedick said, adding that the food prepared by the United Samaritan’s Foundation includes five frozen meals, bread, milk, juice and cookies.
If staff discover participants’ conditions worsen beyond their usual, they can notify doctors and have done so twice, said Malmberg of Covenant Care at Home. The weekday calls take about 15 minutes and are a mix of open-ended and yes or no questions, she said. If participants do not answer at the scheduled time, Malmberg said staff can ask an emergency contact to see if the senior needs medical attention.
When program participant Deana Park, 82, forgot about the wellness check, staff followed through and called her daughter. Fortunately, Park was just out shopping with her other daughter and said she felt reassured. The program makes her believe someone in addition to family members looks out for her, the Turlock resident said.
Park lives alone and before the pandemic, her family came home for dinner every Sunday. Since March, Park said she has been a bit lonely and depressed. On more than one morning, Park said she has fallen asleep on her breakfast coffee.
“I like to sew, I like to play the piano and I like to cook, but I can’t do that all the time,” Park said. “I can’t cook all day and get fatter yet, so I try not to do that. But what are you going to do?”
Coronavirus needs sparked program
Eligibility for the Well Check program, which Malmberg said can accept about 30 more participants, is based on need. Any senior with physical disabilities who lives alone in one of the 19 qualifying ZIP codes of Stanislaus and northern Merced counties can apply, she said. Participants can opt to just receive the calls if they do not want the meals.
Since the coronavirus pandemic began, Covenant Care has seen surge in clients reporting feelings of hopelessness, isolation and depression through assessments for Medicare patients. The organization has received an increase in requests for interaction while delivering meals for another program during the pandemic, too, Malmberg said.
“The people that were getting Meals on Wheels would really like for that person who is delivering that meal to come in and talk with them or spend more time with them,” Malmberg said. “They really can’t, that’s not the function. So, we realized we needed to check on them and make sure they’re doing OK.”
Atwater resident Frederic Torres, 75, said he does not receive many phone calls other than through the program. He lives alone in a senior community where everyone stays in their own homes. His son and daughter are working long hours in Nevada, so he said he looks forward to a wellness check call each morning.
“It picks you up morally,” Torres said. “When I was feeling bad the only thing I had was to tell (Amazon) Alexa or Echo ‘call the hospital’ or ‘call my doctor’ ... But then when they started calling, that was good.”
The Legacy Health Endowment granted about $100,000 for the first few months of the program, said the foundation’s President and CEO Jeffrey Lewis. Depending on the response and need, Lewis said the foundation would be interested in increasing funding to support 1,000 participants.
While the pilot began with internally referred Covenant Care clients, Lewis said the program was designed to open to the public after a trial period. It officially opened to the public on Nov. 20.
The Well Check program is meant to expand and connect with other free services funded by the foundation. It builds on another Covenant Care program providing up to 10 hours of free home care services after patients are discharged from the hospital, Lewis said.
If a Well Check participant is struggling to afford prescription medication co-pays or deductibles, Lewis said staff can direct them to the foundation’s partnership with the United Samaritans Foundation that covers the costs. The lack of access to affordable medication and frustration over it can increase anxiety, he said.
“In a COVID environment, helping people over 65 fight social isolation and help them minimize anxiety and depression is of paramount importance,” Lewis said. “If we don’t do that it’s shame on us. So our objective is to do it and to figure out ways to do it effectively.”
For more information and to apply, call Covenant Care at Home at 209-250-5200.
This story was originally published December 10, 2020 at 4:00 AM.
