NORTHWEST ARKANSAS — Three summers ago, Arkansas was among 24 grant recipients that gave a health program for older Americans a test run.
The program was pioneered by the Stanford University School of Medicine. It challenged what many consider to be the American health-care system’s just-take-a-pill bias toward reacting to sudden, acute illnesses.
Many Americans instead suffer from ongoing, chronic ailments - such as diabetes, arthritis or heart disease - that require long-term management or more holistic approaches.
Through its “Chronic Disease Management Program,” the Palo Alto, Calif., school devised and tested a way to teach those 60 and older how to take charge of their disease.
“It is an evidence-based program, and you have to agree that you’ll do it according to the Stanford model,” said Jerry Mitchell, executive director of the Harrison-based Area Agency on Aging of NorthwestArkansas.
Its mix of highly scripted lessons and class brainstorming sessions doesn’t focus on a particular disease but on some common themes. These include managing pain, fatigue and other symptoms; learning how to communicate with doctors; and strategies to improve exercise and nutrition.
Each class is taught by a pair of instructors, who are likely to be a fellow chronicdisease sufferer, caregiver or medical professional rather than certified teachers.
They are trained in the Stanford method and take turns as a lecturer and a “facilitator” who writes down ideas from the class on a large tablet.
During a three-year pilot program that just ended for Arkansas on May 31, an estimated 60 Northwest Arkansas residents took the Stanford class in Harrison, Jasper, Bentonville and Springdale, said the Harrison agency’s community program support specialist, Angie Dunlap.
The chronic-conditions program has been renewed,and the Harrison agency will begin a new class at 9 a.m. Monday at the Fayetteville Senior Center, she said.
On Monday, U.S. Sens. Blanche Lincoln and Mark Pryor and U.S. Reps. Marion Berry, Vic Snyder and Mike Ross, all Democrats, announced Arkansas will receive $125,000 more in grant funding to continue the Stanford program and two other programs for older residents.
The funding continues the programs for the fiscal year that began June 1, said Marni Goldberg, Lincoln’s press secretary.
The trio of programs, administered by the Arkansas Department of Health, fall under the umbrella of the “Arkansas Empowering Older Adults Project.” The state is required to provide a 25 percent match to the grant, according to Health Department documents.
The others are “A Matter of Balance,” which helps older Arkansans prevent falls and manage a fear of falling, and “Active Living Every Day,” which helps them overcome their physical activity hurdles.
The original, three-year pilot grant covered the Stanford program in two regions of Arkansas - including the Harrison agency’s ninecounty service area - as well as Active Living Every Day, which was planned statewide.
The six-week Stanford program consists of 2 1 /2-hour weekly sessions.
The San Francisco Chronicle reported in April 2006that the U.S. Administration on Aging was rolling out the Stanford program at several sites around the United States to test its effectiveness.
Apparently, it’s a hit as far as health officials are concerned.
In April, the Stanford program got a $400,000 boost in Recovery Act funds, with the same members of Arkansas’ congressional delegation saying the program had helped Arkansans at senior citizen centers and hospitals statewide.
“We want to put programs out there that are evidencebased - so we know they work,” said Mitchell of the Harrison agency, which covers Washington, Benton, Carroll, Madison, Boone, Newton, Marion, Searcy and Baxter counties through 21 full-time senior center affiliates.
Mitchell said his Area Agency on Aging will offer incentives to its senior centers to get them to volunteer to participate in the Stanford program, and he hopesat least seven counties in his area will offer it.
Monday’s class debuting in Fayetteville is just the first he and Dunlap hope to schedule.
Those wanting to register can contact the Fayetteville Senior Center at (479) 571-2920, Dunlap said.
Those suffering from chronic ailments often report getting stuck in a can’t-do cycle that ends up curtailing activities they enjoyed in the past, she said.
“If they have a grand picture of this goal, we have them break it down into certain increments,” Dunlap said.
The class teaches them to set confidence levels on a scale of 1 to 10, then, if they rank low, adjust their goals or strategies accordingly.
For instance, a 30-minute walk with the family after dinner might need reducing to, say, 5 or 10 minutes.
“The point of the Stanford model is to teach folks with a chronic condition, so they can break that cycle,” Dunlap said.
Northwest Arkansas, Pages 9 on 06/16/2010