A day in the "LIFE" of some lucky senior citizens does not end in a small nursing home bedroom shared with a stranger, but in the comfort of their own homes.
Living Independently for Elders is a program devised to provide comprehensive care for frail adult citizens who want to remain living at home instead of in a nursing home. West Philadelphia seniors are transported by van to one of the two LIFE centers -- located at 41st Street and Woodland Avenue or 38th and Market streets -- one to five days a week, depending on the amount of care needed. Additional at-home care is also available.
"People want to remain in their homes," Associate Nursing Dean for Practice and Community Affairs Eileen Sullivan-Marx said.
LIFE is a member program of the Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly and is owned and operated by Penn's School of Nursing, which provides Penn Nursing and Social Work students with an opportunity to gain clinical experience in a real-life setting.
"This type of care is very personal -- you get to know the members by name and every aspect of their lives," LIFE volunteer and Nursing senior Daniel Kaumpungan said.
Most of the 75 staff members are not students, though. The majority of the staff are nurses, physicians, social workers, nursing assistants, rehabilitation therapists and van drivers.
Last Thursday, Wayne Pendleton, director of long-term care options at the Philadelphia Corporation for Aging, was announced as the new LIFE executive director starting in October.
The staff cares for the 240 West Philadelphia members by providing meals, recreational activities, health care, treatment, physical therapy, art and music therapy and personal care services like laundry, showers and hair care. The center also has dental, podiatry and occupational therapy equipment.
"We have all of the services you'd find in patient-care service," Sullivan-Marx said.
"We keep them out of the nursing home," said April Martin, the 38th and Market center supervisor.
The West Philadelphia LIFE centers pay for the cost of their services with funds from Medicare and Medicaid, as well as with grants from private donors.
The centers run on a $15 million operating budget per year, according to Sullivan-Marx.
Martin said one of the biggest appeals of the program is its cost-effectiveness -- namely, that members don't have to pay for medication or services and get to meet people and go places. In addition, if members ever need to go to the hospital, they receive care from their LIFE medical team instead of doctors from the hospital, thus making the patients more comfortable and ensuring continuity of care.
"I love what we do for the members," Martin said. "I see myself as an advocate for them."
Sullivan-Marx had a similar feeling about the program: "It's a culmination of my nursing career."
A unique aspect of the LIFE programs in West Philadelphia is the incorporation of art and music therapy into their daily routines. Last May, LIFE members won the American Art Therapy Association Award for 10 pieces of artwork they had created.
The artwork was hung at the U.S. Capitol, and some still hangs in Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter's office. Other pieces of artwork decorate the walls of the LIFE center, including a timeline from 1910-2000, in which the members wrote about what the different time periods mean to them.
In addition, many LIFE members also won the National Freedom Day Association essay contest, whose theme was, "What Freedom Means to Me."
"You'd be surprised what they put down through art to express themselves," Martin said.
The Philadelphia LIFE program was started about six years ago by Penn gerontology professor Mary Naylor and Karen Buhler-Wilkerson, professor of community health nursing and director of the Center for the Study of the History of Nursing. The program began with one center, and then expanded to include the 38th and Market location last September.
Most senior citizens hear about the program through community churches, aging agencies and word of mouth. LIFE also sends representatives to advertise the program at senior citizen centers and city block-captain meetings.
"The families and the senior citizens are very satisfied," Sullivan-Marx said concerning the popularity of the program.
Other LIFE centers are located in Pittsburgh and Eerie, Pa., South Carolina, New York, Kansas, California, Oregon and Colorado. The West Philadelphia centers are the only LIFE programs run and owned by a university.
