Page 38 - HealthcareNews Jan_Feb 2021

Golden
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Not even a global pandemic has been able to slow this company down.
OK, it did slow it down a little. Last spring, as the virus invaded the region, some of the company’s home-care clients became understandably concerned about bringing people into the home and can- celed or suspended services, and some care- givers decided they no longer wanted to
be in that line of work, said Mary Flahive- Dickson, the company’s chief operating officer and a 30-year healthcare veteran, adding that the virus also slowed the pace of expansion into the Central Mass. market.
But, ultimately, opinions concerning home care during this pandemic changed, she said, adding that many came to view that option as being far more attractive than a nursing home or other types of long-term-care facility, places which saw
Impact
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outbreaks of the pandemic and, in some cases, large numbers of deaths.
This change in attitude is reflected in the growing numbers of clients in the Greater
“
was an opportunity for us.”
going on now, than a facility,” Flahive- Dickson said, adding that sentiment is growing within the healthcare profession that this trend, or movement, if it can be
this field.
“Even though there are a lot of agencies
in the behavioral-health realm, we still felt there was an opportunity for us,” said Ruiz, noting that this division provides an array of services, including alcohol- and drug-ad- diction services and counseling to frontline workers such as police and firefighters.
BusinessWest first presented its Top Entrepreneur award in 1996, and over the years, it has gone to tech-company found- ers, a college president, a municipal utility (Holyoke Gas & Electric), and many other individuals and institutions, including several in the broad healthcare field.
Indeed, in 2002, the award went to Craig Melin, then-president of Cooley Dickinson Hospital, and in 2008, it went to Arlene Kelly and Kim Sanborn, founders of Hu- man Resource Solutions and Convergent Solutions Inc. v
—George O’Brien
Even though there are a lot of agencies in the behavioral-
health realm, we still felt there
called either, could have a degree of per- manence, especially at a time when some are warning that CO- VID-19 will certainly not be the last deadly virus to threaten the world’s population.
Meanwhile, the pandemic and its impact on the overall
Springfield area, she said, adding that the census is now approaching and perhaps over the 500 mark, representing roughly 20% growth over the past year — again, in the middle of a pandemic.
“Having been in home care for more than two decades, and in healthcare for more than three, the home is far less of a risk, with the pandemic protocols that are
mental health of area residents certainly played a role in propelling the company into the behavioral-health realm, Ruiz said.
That division of the company was launched roughly a year ago, but the pandemic has certainly elevated the level of need and validated the decision to again rewrite the business plan and move into
message was, don’t come to the ER unless you’re sick.”
It worked — Mercy’s ER traffic fell from a daily average
of around 225 to 110, with a low point of 72. And that caused concerns of a different kind.
“Before long, we were all wondering, where did the ap- pendicitis go? Where did the heart attacks go? We started to worry that patients with symptoms were staying home, or coming in after four days of symptoms, and by then it’s really bad.”
By summer, ER volumes gradually rose again, but many patients still feared coming to the hospital — and still do — despite the safety measures in place to separate COVID-19 patients from those who have not been exposed. With elective surgeries being curtailed again and patients having trouble seeing their primary-care doctors in person — though telehealth is better than nothing — “there are a lot of challenges for patients trying to navigate the healthcare system right now,” Kenton said.
The challenges for kids and teenagers, on the other hand, have resided almost completely in the realm of mental and emotional health.
“We’re definitely seeing the impact on children,” Na- varro said. “I’ve heard a lot of parents say to me, ‘my child is failing all their classes. They can’t concentrate.’ I’ve had children I work with talk about how there’s just too much, there’s not a break, there’s not a way to leave a home that maybe is having some turmoil — not being able to get a break from all that. They’re not going to school and having any socialization with friends. Yes, they see them through Zoom, but they’re not able to have those close conversa- tions, the play time, those moments of friendship.”
One key, she said, is to keep kids connected, somehow, to other people, even if it’s just family, and don’t let them suffer in silence.
“I tell parents all the time, ‘talk to them. Have those con- versations. Talk to them about what is going on, how they can cope with their feelings in an age-appropriate way.’”
For anyone struggling in any way — adults or children
With social-distancing regulations in place, telehealth has been a tremendous help for providers and clients in her field, she added, as it has helped clients continue critical conversations. One patient even kept an appointment while on vacation in Aruba because she didn’t want to miss one.
“I’m grateful for the ability to provide services this way,” Navarro added. “If we weren’t, it would be a very difficult world.”
Journey to Wellness
Many clients at Be Vital Wellness are folks who deal with crisis every day — firefighters, police officers, doctors, nurses, EMTs — and who have grappled with their own rising anxiety and depression during an unprecedented
saw the wave in New York, then Boston, and we didn’t know what we were in for, so the
— it can be helpful to seek professional help. “Even with the smallest amount of anxiety, it does not hurt to talk to someone, whether it’s a professional or a friend or family member you trust,” Navarro said. “To talk about our feel- ings helps us gain control over them. Just talk to someone.”
MHA launched a program a couple of years ago called “Start Talking,” which promoted the importance of starting a conversation on mental-health concerns.
“Sometimes, when we just start talking to someone we trust — or, for some people, it may be a stranger they feel most comfortable talking to — when we start having a dia- logue, we see how many things start coming up,” Burgess said, adding that holding these feelings in often causes them to fester and build, compounding anxiety and depres-
“
do we usually say? ‘I’m good. Things are fine.’ But are they really?”
People ask every day, ‘how are you?’ But when do you actually have the opportunity
to tell someone how you really are? What
year.
“PTSD is definitely a thing
for anyone in crisis care. They often don’t realize there are other options besides pharmaceuti- cals, and that they can increase their quality of life, decrease their stress, and decrease their anxiety,” Wilburn said, although she and Nascimento encourage clients to see their primary-care doctors regularly too, as part of a network of treatment.
sion in the long run.
“People ask every day, ‘how are you?’” Navarro noted. “But
when do you actually have the opportunity to tell someone how you really are? What do we usually say? ‘I’m good. Things are fine.’ But are they really?”
Most people have no problem talking about their physi- cal pain — an aching back, for example — but feel stigma- tized when it comes to discussing their emotional wellness, Burgess added. But if there was ever a time to push past that barrier, the era of COVID-19 is it.
“Every single person in the world is being impacted
by this on some level. This is something we’re all collab- oratively experiencing and going through — at different degrees for different people, of course. So, how do we man- age a continuation of something many of us thought would end in April?”
Talking about it, she said, is a good place to begin.
“I feel like, in America, most people have depression or anxiety or both, and COVID has only upped the ante on
all those things,” Wilburn noted. “People who previously didn’t struggle with those things are struggling with those things. I just saw a woman this morning — she’s dealing with severe depression, and we’re talking about getting into therapy.
“We’re not a one-stop shop,” she added. “People come to us and say, ‘help me with my weight loss,’ but then they realize there are a lot of other things they can get support around, and it becomes truly wellness.”
In this unsettled time, that’s a goal worth striving for — and talking about. u
Joseph Bednar can be reached at bednar@businesswest.com
38 WWW.HEALTHCARENEWS.COM JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2021