Brunner S L
Bon Secours Hospital-Villa Maria Nursing Center, North Miami, FL.
Health Prog. 1994 Sep;75(7):46-8.
In many communities across the United States today, churches and hospitals are forming alliances to better serve the needs of the elderly. Bon Secours Hospital-Villa Maria Nursing Center in North Miami, FL, sponsors programs that deter institutionalization. Villa Maria took these efforts one step further in September 1990 with the development of Project Good Help, a church-based outreach program that provides support services to help the poor, frail elderly continue independent living in the community. Villa Maria has coordinated the project with churches because they share a sense of mission. Only churches in areas where many needy elderly persons live are selected to participate in Project Good Help. Areas that lack services are given priority. Project Good Help often coordinates with other professional social service agencies to provide assistance. Catholic Community Services, for example, focuses on nutrition, and Project Good Help focuses on assessing unmet social service needs. The two community groups refer clients to one another. Project Good Help demonstrates that the healthcare and church communities can work together in innovative ways to provide cost-effective community service when they share a mission of caring for the poor and the elderly and are mutually supportive.
如今在美国的许多社区，教堂和医院正在结成联盟，以更好地满足老年人的需求。佛罗里达州北迈阿密的博纳·塞库尔斯医院-维拉·玛丽亚护理中心发起了一些旨在防止老年人被送进养老院的项目。1990年9月，维拉·玛丽亚更进一步，开展了“善助计划”，这是一个基于教堂的外展项目，提供支持服务，帮助贫困、体弱的老年人在社区中继续独立生活。维拉·玛丽亚与教堂协调开展该项目，因为它们有着共同的使命感。只有那些有许多贫困老年人居住的地区的教堂才会被选中参与“善助计划”。缺乏服务的地区会被优先考虑。“善助计划”经常与其他专业社会服务机构协调提供援助。例如，天主教社区服务中心专注于营养方面，而“善助计划”则专注于评估未得到满足的社会服务需求。这两个社区团体相互为对方推荐客户。“善助计划”表明，当医疗保健界和教堂社区有着关爱穷人和老年人的共同使命且相互支持时，它们可以以创新的方式合作，提供具有成本效益的社区服务。
