A new program from the Niagara Ontario Health Team is aimed at helping seniors avoid unnecessary hospital stays and get home quicker.
The 'Let's Go Home' (LEHGO) initiative has received funding that will help implement a program that will allow patients to leave the emergency room and return home while receiving community supports.
The $500,000 in funding is aimed at decreasing the number of hospital admissions and placements in acute care beds for people 65 years of age or older with a non-acute clinical diagnosis or living with dementia.
The initial funds will assist roughly 300 people to go home instead of staying in the hospital.
Carolyn Askeland, Executive Director of Community Support Services of Niagara, the program’s lead organization says, "Through the program, emergency department staff will identify patients that meet eligibility criteria and refer them to the LEGHO Navigator, who will then connect people to service agencies."
The services are time-limited and for up to six consecutive weeks but there is an option to access LEGHO a second time.
Askeland adds, “We know about 275 people who match our eligibility criteria visit emergency departments in Niagara every year due to an ailment of a non-urgent nature. The reasons could include greater dependence on care providers, reduced mobility, more assistance with personal care, or not being connected to community agencies equipped to support them in their homes.”
LEGHO will launch later this month.