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HEALTHCARE HEROES OF WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS
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added. “I think it teaches them how to provide services across the continuum of a person’s life who is living with a brain injury.”
But while students and faculty are impacted, Starr added, the program can be life-changing for the clients at the Enrichment Center and Strive Clinic.
“The clients really love it so much. Certain clients will park themselves outside of our offices and wait and sometimes demand a session,” he noted. “Or I’ll go to get someone and say, ‘hey, do you have 30 minutes for a session?’ and they really want it, but they say, “I have to go to PT first,” and they’re on their way to PT because they’re not going to miss their appointment for love or money. They’ll come back and see me after. They just really love our services.”
He noted that, because of their injury and especially when living in small group homes, clients can be marginalized or cut off from what’s happening in the world around them. Sommers agreed.
“When people encounter the medical system, there is so much that is determined for the patient, particularly when the patient can’t communicate or has cognitive impairments,” she said. “They don’t get to participate in person- centered care, which we know has the best outcomes, but is not really the model used in
our healthcare system. And there are so many barriers for people — just think of all the cognitive challenges that are in our healthcare system. I
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finding our patients and going to them, often intervening even before a consult was sent,” she explained. “And that’s important because people would be leaving the hospital; if you were using opioids or were addicted to opioids, in particular, and didn’t get that, you would feel really, really sick, and if your withdrawal wasn’t being treated, you would probably be leaving.
“So we’d introduce ourselves and let people know why we’re there,” she went on, adding that, by and large, patients were not used to such a “proactive and impactive” approach to their care, and would have questions about what they could do for them.
What they can do is listen and begin a discussion about what happens next, said Carpenter, who walked through what might be a typical case.
“Someone will come into the ED, and I’ll get notified that this person is there and that they are in withdrawal,” she explained. “At that point, I will meet with the person, gather a history, assess their withdrawal, and then I’ll get Maria involved. I’ll talk with the ED provider, Maria, the addiction consult ... Maria will meet with the patient,
give recommendations, and order appropriate medications to treat their withdrawal. And when someone is actually on the med floor, we’d start the discussion of ‘what do you want to do from here?’”
As Quinn noted, the course varies with the patient. Often, those at the ACS will connect them to opioid-treatment programs, including two in Holyoke, if they are not already in a program, or
can’t even navigate my own health insurance half the time and struggle if something isn’t covered or denied.”
Historically, the healthcare system has been “a top-down, patriarchal model,” Sommers added, putting clients in a vulnerable position emotionally, financially, medically, and more. Through the Enrichment Center and Strive Clinic, that model is upended, allowing clients “to have
That they have, which is why Sommers sees potential for other collaborations; in fact, the clinical educators she’s worked with have also articulated as much because of the opportunities collaboration brings to the community.
Their next goal: “world domination,” Werner said with a laugh. Actually, she wants to continue to create more opportunities for people living with ABIs.
“In healthcare, it’s all about collaborating with other professionals, and ”Ellen has brought that to the top and forefront of what’s best for these clients.
agency, to have a voice, to be able to say what they want and be able to say.”
Striving for Tomorrow
In supporting the program’s Healthcare Heroes nomination, Amy Timmins, vice president of Community Relations at ServiceNet, noted that “the partnership between ServiceNet, Springfield College, and the University of Massachusetts exemplifies the vision and innovation so central to the Pioneer Valley — where academic and healthcare programs are each strengthened by the other, for the benefit of those they serve.
In working together, they have created an environment where new goals and possibilities are free to take hold every day.”
connect them with a recovery coach while they are in the hospital.
“Not everyone’s goal is abstinence,” she said. “Our goal is not to cure them; our goal is to treat them with dignity and respect, and that includes treating their withdrawal. It includes giving
“In healthcare, it’s all about collaborating with other professionals, and Ellen has brought that
to the top and forefront of what’s best for these clients,” Pappas said. “Without her vision and enthusiasm and ability to really work within and out of the system to make things happen, none of us would be here. So I am eternally grateful to her for what she’s given our students as opportunities and what she’s given to the clients on a daily basis.”
For finding and fostering the connections that not only help people with acquired brain injury, but cultivating the next generation of therapists, ServiceNet’s Enrichment Center and Strive Clinic, and its academic partners, are certainly worthy of being called Healthcare Heroes. n
tense.
He is still working with these individuals at the
CCC, and they are still making a huge impact on his recovery. He’s not sure they, and especially Quinn, understand just how much of an impact. So, he made it clear.
“Our goal is not to cure them; our goal is to treat them with dignity and respect, and that includes treating their withdrawal. It includes giving education and resources. Some people decide that they no longer want to u”se and want to work toward abstaining and not using, and some don’t.
education and resources. Some people decide
that they no longer want to use and want to work toward abstaining and not using, and some don’t.”
When asked how those at the ACS measure success, Quinn said it depends on how the patient would define that term.
“For some people, having air in their lungs is successful,” she noted. “Anyone who leaves here feeling that they’ve been treated well ... that’s a big success for me.”
Impact Statement
As he talked about Quinn and those she works beside at the CCC, Hamel stressed the present
“I wouldn’t be where I am without them,” he said, adding that these individuals are more than healthcare providers, and are, in many respects, friends and even family.
“They want to make a difference — it’s not just about an f-ing paycheck,” he said in conclusion. “That’s where I get a little passionate and emotional; two years ago, I wanted to kill myself, and now...”
He didn’t finish the sentence, but didn’t really have to. The pause explained not only the journey from where he was to where he is now, but why the Addiction Consult Service is truly a Healthcare Hero. n
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