{"id":244674,"date":"2011-11-11T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2011-11-11T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sdnews.com\/seniors-find-independence-at-pace\/"},"modified":"2011-11-11T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2011-11-11T08:00:00","slug":"seniors-find-independence-at-pace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/seniors-find-independence-at-pace\/","title":{"rendered":"Seniors find independence at PACE"},"content":{"rendered":"

Bankers Hill elder care center offers care alternative<\/strong><\/p>\n

Por M\u00f3nica Garske | Reportero SDUN<\/strong><\/p>\n

For some senior citizens, seemingly simple tasks, such as preparing a meal or making a doctor appointment, can become arduous obstacles.<\/p>\n

For those living in Uptown, help can be found through St. Paul\u2019s Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE). The PACE community center is located at 111 Elm St. in Bankers Hill. <\/p>\n

PACE\u2019s mission is to help low-income seniors live healthy, happy lives by providing comprehensive medical care and support in one centralized location so seniors can comfortably live at home and offers and alternative to living in a convalescent home.<\/p>\n

Originating in San Francisco in the 1970s, PACE opened in Bankers Hill in March 2008. Executive director Carol Hubbard said the Uptown location made perfect sense.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe did a market study in this area and discovered a high concentration of low-income seniors, without families, living alone in apartments,\u201d she explained. \u201cWe felt we could really serve this particular community, so this was the perfect place to start PACE in San Diego.\u201d <\/p>\n

Since then, Hubbard said PACE has helped more than 170 seniors in the area. Using Medicare and MediCal, an average of eight seniors enroll in the personalized healthcare program each month, receiving a combination of in-home services and scheduled visits to the PACE facility. The average participant is 78 years old, but the oldest is 100.<\/p>\n

Medical services provided under PACE\u2019s roof include primary healthcare, physical therapy and mental health services. The staff includes a physician, registered nurses, social workers, psychiatrists, a dentist and a transportation team that takes seniors to and from the center.<\/p>\n

Additionally, an in-house dietician arranges nutritious lunches for participants, and a non-denominational chaplain assists with spiritual needs and coordinators organize Bingo games and social activities.<\/p>\n

Hubbard said most seniors visit the daycare facility twice a week for medical appointments, but stay for the extra-curricular activities. Lunch, she said, is also a daily highlight, served \u201crestaurant style\u201d in their large dining room. <\/p>\n

For many elders, PACE\u2019s socialization features are just as helpful as the healthcare services.<\/p>\n

75-year-old Robert Harwood has been with PACE since November 2008 and says his favorite part about the program is making friends.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t have a family, so I consider everyone here my family. Coming here gives me a new lease on life and I can face getting older. My friends here lift my spirits,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

\u201cI like the music activities the most,\u201d Harwood added. \u201cThey have sing-alongs to music from our generation: the \u201840s, \u201850s and \u201860s.\u201d<\/p>\n

With PACE\u2019s medical care and social events, Harwood says he\u2019s been able to battle pre-existing depression. The weekly activities on his calendar help him feel happy and fulfilled.<\/p>\n

With the holidays coming up, Hubbard encourages Uptown locals to get involved by volunteering to spend time with seniors and donating basic items like blankets, toiletries and shoes to PACE\u2019s Holiday Drive, which kicks off after Thanksgiving. The non-profit organization relies on funding from St. Paul\u2019s Foundation and private donations.<\/p>\n

Last year, locals responded to the holiday fundraiser with overwhelming generosity and Hubbard hopes to replicate those results.<\/p>\n

\u201cDonations came in droves; every one of our seniors got to open a present on Christmas. For them, a little gesture like that goes a long way,\u201d Hubbard said. <\/p>\n

Hubbard said donations are utilized year-round since they\u2019re constantly celebrating birthdays. Each month, the center organizes a party to celebrate birthdays with a gift and cake. <\/p>\n

\u201cThat means so much to them. Most of them haven\u2019t celebrated their birthdays in years, but here, they\u2019re never passed over. Every one of our seniors is special. They\u2019re not a number, they\u2019re a person,\u201d Hubbard said. <\/p>\n

To learn more about PACE in Bankers Hill and a planned expansion into other San Diego areas, visit www.stpaulspace.org.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bankers Hill elder care center offers care alternative By Monica Garske | SDUN Reporter For some senior citizens, seemingly simple tasks, such as preparing a meal or making a doctor appointment, can become arduous obstacles. For those living in Uptown, help can be found through St. Paul\u2019s Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE). […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":726,"featured_media":244673,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"11555","_seopress_titles_title":"Seniors find independence at PACE","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[11551,11593,11555],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-244674","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-no-images","category-uptown-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/244674","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/726"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=244674"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/244674\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/244673"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=244674"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=244674"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=244674"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}