Who We Are
Vision
In 2007, Paul Lanzikos, Executive Director of North Shore Elder Services, Inc. was seeing a growing need develop within the population his agency served. More and more, Paul was seeing elders having trouble understanding their medical issues and following through on their doctors’ recommendations, yet no program either federal or state offered a way to meet this growing demand.
Coincidentally, Dr. Jonathan Fine, founder of Physicians for Human Rights and a retired medical doctor, had set out to expand the concept of volunteer medical advocacy and found a fellow visionary in Paul Lanzikos.
After discussions with the directors Kay Bierwiler of SeniorCare, Inc. and Mary Margaret Moore of the Independent Living of the North Shore and Cape Ann, they decided to go forward with a collaborative effort to seek funding to establish this much needed program to serve the clients of these social service agencies on the North Shore.
Inception
Under the guidance of Dr. Fine, At Your Side created the infrastructure, goals and objectives of the program, which is principally a grant-supported program. Since its inception, At Your Side has raised funds through grants and donations. These funds have been used to fund the part time Coordinator’s salary, training programs, brochures, a web site, computer equipment, and mileage reimbursement incurred by volunteers.
In the vision to fulfill this need among their clients, the agencies have reached into their employee hours and have given a designated number of hours to the program development, along with some of North Shore Elder Services office volunteer hours to help with At Your Side projects.
The willingness of individuals, either employees or volunteers, to assist in the development of At Your Side goes above and beyond their job description or their donation of volunteer time. It speaks loudly to the commitment of these agencies that their people are compassionate individuals looking to bring information, support, and solutions to meet the unmet need of isolated elder clients and others in need.
Challenge
Securing the right volunteers has proved challenging but rewarding. The caliber and dedication of the individuals who have joined the program is enormously high. Among our volunteers, we have business professionals, doctors, nurses, and social workers. Some advocates, who lost their client to cancer, have continued with the program and taken on a new client.
If we were to coin a motto for the program volunteers it would be: "The few. The caring. The politely persistent."
We often say as we strive to serve more individuals:
Imagine the reaction Dame Cicely must have had when she sought volunteers to visit and support people dying of cancer, yet look at Hospice now. It has grown into an international organization and some of its services are actually covered by insurance companies.
Perhaps someday, medical advocacy will be a covered insurance benefit, but in the mean time we will continue our search for volunteer advocates to serve elders and others in need.
Outcome
The reception from medical providers has been very positive as they see greater adherence to their recommended care regimens. Several have indicated other patients would benefit from the assistance of an advocate. Most are surprised this is a free service.
The isolated seniors have seen not just an improvement in their health through greater continuity of care and understanding of their medical issues, many now feel a part of a caring community again.
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