A year ago, Dr. John Wasson founded the Center for the Aging at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center to aid senior citizens, the fastest growing population group in the country.
Now Wasson says the Center's community outreach efforts are beginning to help more than 300,000 senior citizens in northern New England.
The program works to improve the recognition and treatment of medical problems among the elderly in northern New England, said Wasson, a professor of Community and Family Medicine at the Medical School and director of the Center for the Aging.
"Our goal is to initiate community-based programs that will enhance an independent and better quality life for the elderly," Wasson said.
The center works with hospitals, nursing homes, policymakers, home health agencies, private physicians and community-based organizations, Wasson said.
The center also coordinates its efforts with colleges and universities in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont.
In its first year, the center established three clinical facilities to work with the center to test new ideas and treatment programs for the elderly.
Funding from the John Hartford Foundation of New York City will allow the center to work with 15 other practice sites that will become Community Centers of Excellence for the aging.
These Community Centers will aid in testing programs started in the three clinics established by the Hitchcock Center.
"Here we will use a more scientific approach to our methodology in order to determine how much patients are helped by new treatments and new ways of health care delivery," Wasson said.
Wasson said the center will also offer educational programs for doctors and visiting nurses. Already, more than 600 health care workers have participated.
The center also hopes to develop a nursing home program that would improve communication between patients, their families, physicians and nurses.
Wasson said advisors, comprised of New England professionals in business, medicine and government, will help direct the center's policy.
"The advisors are very supportive of our efforts to improve systems of care in the region," Wasson said. "They recognize that, in the long run, close regional cooperation will help us make a difference."
