Julie’s

WEB of Life

Dr. Vipin Kalia<= /b>

Primary Care Physician, Richard L. Roudebush VAMC, Indianapolis, IN

   &nbs= p;        We have a vulnerable population we serve all ove= r the world, and this is true also in central Indiana. This vulnerable population also in= cludes those with advancing Parkinson’s Disease. To maintain independent activities= of daily living, individuals may need assistance. Assistance can be employed through agencies at a cost of $20 to $70 per hour, depending on the skill l= evel needed. Many of our fellow Ho= osiers may be unable afford more than just a few hours here and there. Medicare, Medicaid, and long term = care insurance are limited in the kind of assistance they will provide. Traditionally family, neighbors and church members will fill these gaps... These resources have become more strained and not everyone in need is served. Often a caregiver will have other responsibilities and cannot realistically provide care for as long as the n= eed might exist. In some situatio= ns there are no caregivers. In t= hese situations where these gaps exist there are sometimes no resources. All these needs end up in the doctor’s officer or the emergency room where the only options are admission to the hospital or nursing home placement which can be financially and emotionally devastating. =

Dr. Kalia wished to come up with a better solution and provide a better tool to meeting the needs of patients. These vulnerable populations are randomly scattered in every zip cod= e in the central Indiana area. Within a 2-3 mile radius of each vulnerable individual there must be = from 100 to 500 individuals who would be willing to volunteer to help out. However there is no organization t= o date that can match those in need with volunteers will to help out in their own neighborhoods.    Hi= s idea is to provide a means (electronic network) to match those with needs with volunteers.    Dr. K= alia presented information about   the concept of a network that would accomplish this called “WE= B of Life.”

The volunteers who provide help be= nefit from the satisfaction of helping others, and the hours they volunteer are tracked and banked and can be cashed-in to assure they may get the help they may need in their own lives in the future.

   With our current health care system there are services available after you leave the hospital, but not everyone can afford these services. The disease you have may cause you to loose your independence. As you lose your independence you = have more problems living a normal life. &= nbsp; Many individuals do not like to hear their physician suggest they li= ve in a nursing home. Dr. Kalia = gave examples of individuals who had health crises and then got better in the hospital, and were to go home, but the circumstances at home (spouse has to work, children do not live with them, etc) may not prevent them from having another crisis again. Support= ive service programs through agencies in the community may not serve your area,= may charge less than some hospital based programs, but may charge more than you= may be able to afford.

          The Web of Life concept is where neighbors would help others, and that help would be available within a 3 mile radius of where you live in a municipal area. Of course this concept could be ap= plied to smaller communities and with a larger radius.     This would be a “mutual volunteer network,” where others would help each other = for years.

          We would all like to have a perfect life, and have no health problems. His hope is that we can bring cheer to our fellow human beings. The reality of life is there are m= any stormy clouds along the way: chronic diseases such as Parkinson’s Disease, strokes, Alzhiemer’s disease, etc. There are some unique problems as you get older such as there are fe= wer people to check on this individual. He said that some patients will elect to go home too early to care f= or a pet who has been their constant companion.

          When you l= ose your independence you have a feeling of abandonment and you can have depression. There are 3 things doctors call situational depression:    helplessness, hopeless= ness and the feeling of abandonment. :

He drew parallels bet= ween religion where there can be feelings of abandonment or of being forsaken, w= ith similar feeling where you have Parkinson’s Disease.=

Dr. Kalia feels that = with so many neighbors these feelings do not have to be as intense.

He listed the current solutions of healthcare that include: health insurance, Medicare, Medicaid, Long Term Health Insurance. He said the problem is these leave= gaps. If you are in the top 2% of those = with income, you can afford to fill these gaps.= The other 98% need help. Dr. Kalia said that the feeling of abandonment is unacceptable in Indiana.    Informal gestures of balloons and cards are important and needed but leave gaps. Our jobs as neighbors are to allev= iate the misery of others.

          The plan i= s to develop a system where we would have a circle of volunteers in the community that help those in need. This= is where volunteers are helping volunteers.&n= bsp; His plan is to divide the metropolitan Indianapolis area into 4 sections (bloc= ks) where there would be volunteer networks in each of these sections. How would we organize a volunteer network that would be self-sustaining and continue indefinitely? Ideally each volunteer would sign = up to volunteer 2 to 20 hours per month, using whatever skills they may have. At the Web of Life your hours of volunteering would be tracked, and these hours would accumulate and be recognized (banked). The ince= ntive is that each individual maintain a positive balance of hours should they ev= er need others to volunteer to help them with one of their life’s needs, a pl= an would be available for them to receive this help. His hope is to get everyone, not j= ust your families to participate in this vision.    He supports the develo= pment of a “912,” system, for post emergency needs. Currently you call “911̶= 1; for emergency assistance, and a “912,” system you would call for he= lp with non-emergent but essential needs.