A Picture-Perfect Pair

achi, Tellegacy & Vivid-Pix (ATV) Launch Business and Academic Research to Assist Older Adults

Years of research has shown us the profound negative health effects of loneliness and social isolation. The elderly community is especially vulnerable, leaving many aging individuals to spend the end of their life feeling hopeless, forgotten, and alone. A new partnership between achi, Tellegacy, and Vivid-Pix (ATV) is striving to change this narrative by keeping older adults connected and engaged - reinforcing that their story is one to be told.

ATV will study and improve the health of the older adult population through activities that will integrate photos and reminiscence therapy into the Tellegacy curriculum. The picture-perfect pair will collaborate to create curriculum and ongoing education opportunities for students, caregivers, and the families of older adults to provide further support and intentional care. ATV will also seek to find ways to deliver the program to underserved communities in financially supported ways, to better serve the older adult populations within them.

Dr. Jeremy Holloway, Assistant Professor and Director of Geriatrics Education at University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Health Sciences, will lead the primary research utilizing student caregiver/senior engagement. Rick Voight, MBA, CEO, Vivid-Pix, will lead the effort on business research and Hayley Studer, CPA, FHFMA, will lead financial modeling to study how to reduce cost and improve older adult health. Read research info at: “Photo Reminiscing Can Reduce Stress & Depression During Coronavirus.

Read the full Vivid-Pix release at: VIVID-PIX BRINGS FAMILY HISTORY HOME AT ROOTSTECH CONNECT 2021 WITH FREE EDUCATION & RESEARCH

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About Tellegacy

Tellegacy is an intergenerational program created to combat loneliness and social isolation among older adults, keeping them connected and engaged through weekly phone or virtual visits with university students. As research shows, loneliness and social isolation can result in long-term negative health outcomes. Tellegacy founder, Jeremy Holloway, PhD, is determined to change that narrative with his flexible, relationship-oriented, mindfulness, goal-setting and guided imagery curriculum. In partnership with Hayley Studer, founder of achi, a holistic care management company that lowers overall expenses by actively engaging people and connecting them to organizations to address the social determinants of health, the infrastructure for which Tellegacy was built. To learn more about the Tellegacy program and how it can save lives, visit www.achi.solutions/tellegacy.

Leon’s Legacy: Combating Social Isolation and Loneliness in Senior Citizens

We recently marked the one-year anniversary of my father-in-law’s passing. Leon was one of my favorite human beings and taught my family so much, especially in the last couple years of his life. He had dementia for several years and it eventually progressed to Alzheimer’s. This pandemic has shed an entirely new light for me on the plight of families dealing with elderly parents during this time. While last year was a very challenging one for our family, we have counted our blessings that we are not having to manage his care with the complication of a pandemic and ensuing quarantine.

Although I was extremely involved in my father-in-law’s care, I have recently learned that there is so much that I did not really understand in the end-of-life care arena. I knew about the standard resources from our area senior center and basic aide services to help my in-laws stay at home as long as possible. But I didn’t realize the breadth of services available to help older adults, nor did I realize the devastating impact of loneliness and isolation. I spent time this summer researching programs for seniors and wish I would have known about some of these while my father-in-law was still with us. Although they may not have ultimately prolonged his life, I truly believe that we could have improved his quality of life.

In the two and a half months between the time that my mother-in-law passed away until my father-in-law joined her, we watched an otherwise physically healthy man rapidly deteriorate before our eyes. At the time, I didn’t understand the severe health consequences of loneliness. After reading multiple studies this summer and researching programs, I now understand this better and have become connected with amazing companies that work to combat this. For others that may find themselves in this situation, here are a couple of companies that I have come to value their products and services and wish I had known about previously:

Joy For All – They provide robotic companion pets specifically designed for older adults and are often used with dementia patients. They kindly sent me one of their cats to see firsthand what it is like and I really think this could have provided some comfort for Leon towards the end.

Vivid-Pix – This company not only preserves and restores photos, but they also have taught me a lot about reminiscence therapy. My father-in-law had lost most of his short-term memory over the last several years, but he was often able to tell me detailed stories from his past. Being able to sit down with him and walk through an old photo album to see what memories it jogged would have been extremely valuable for our whole family.

Papa – Even though we had other family close by that could also help with day-to-day things for my in-laws, it was often a challenge to balance their needs with our kids’ schedules, work demands, etc. Often, my mother-in-law would call me during the day just to have someone to talk with and to provide a break from caring for my father-in-law. Knowing that a company was created to connect college students with older adults for conversation, running errands, etc., could have helped reduce our stress level and provided another socialization outlet and assistance for my in-laws.

Although I wish I had known about these things sooner, it has fueled a passion in me to help improve the quality of life for older adults. Social connections are a social determinant of health and I now better understand the devastating effects that loneliness and isolation can have on a person’s health. Nursing home administrators shared heart-breaking stories with me about the devastating effects that isolation and loneliness have had on their residents throughout this pandemic and required quarantine. While I was having these conversations, I was connected by a mutual friend to Dr. Jeremy Holloway, a PhD graduate at the University of Toledo, who was developing a program to connect university students to senior citizens to help combat loneliness and isolation.

Jeremy and I discovered that by joining forces, we could change the narrative of our elderly communities and help keep senior citizens connected and engaged, reinforcing that their story is one to be told.

And so Tellegacy was born! Jeremy and I have worked closely for the past four months building this program and doing a trial run with about 25 students matched with residents in retirement communities, assisted living and skilled nursing facilities in three states. We’ve gotten to witness the excitement from the students and are hearing of the positive impacts these calls and virtual visits are having on the senior citizens. The intent of the program is not only to have a friendly conversation, but to also build legacy and provide hope and a purpose. The program is just getting started, but already we are seeing successes and opportunities to create an even greater impact. To learn more about the program, click here to read our Tellegacy flyer.

My hope is that this program can help shift the way we view end-of-life care to bring seniors peace, not just physically, but mentally, emotionally, and spiritually as well. Thank you Leon for teaching me so much over the years. Your legacy has helped shape the direction of this company and I hope that it will continue to benefit other seniors in the months and years to come.

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About achi

achi is a holistic care management company that lowers overall expenses by actively engaging people and connecting them to organizations to address the social determinants of health. Through innovative partnerships, cross-sector collaboration, and creative solutions, we equip organizations across multiple industries to educate the people they serve and connect them with resources to improve their lives from the ground up. By partnering with health systems, educational institutions and corporations, achi empowers lasting transformation in individual lives—resulting in an overall healthier population and data to transform our healthcare payment models. To learn more about achi and its mission, visit www.achi.solutions.

achi Becomes Newest Member of The Root Cause Coalition

Toledo, OH – Holistic care management company, achi, LLC (achi), drives positive change in people’s lives and reduces overall costs by addressing social determinants of health. Through various community partnerships, achi works with businesses to equip them to educate the people they serve and connect them with resources in the community to improve their lives from the ground up, while positively impacting a business’s bottom-line.

“The Root Cause Coalition is pleased to welcome achi into our membership”, said Barbara Petee, Executive Director of The Root Cause Coalition. “Without alignment and commitment from all sectors, including the private business sector, it will be impossible to achieve health equity. We applaud the efforts of achi to help organizations across the country address social determinants of health, and we look forward to working with achi to advance our shared goals.”

“One of the keys to addressing social determinants of health is cross-sector collaboration,” says Hayley Studer, Founder and CEO of achi. “The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the social and health inequities across our communities. The Root Cause Coalition does an incredible job of bringing together diverse entities to creatively work toward common solutions to address social determinants of health issues. Being able to share best practices and learn from what other organizations have done in their communities is invaluable to the membership. As a private-sector business, it also allows us to share a slightly different perspective with the rest of the members and key stakeholders.”

According to Studer, “Only through creative solutions and partnerships can achi’s mission of ‘changing lives, transforming healthcare’ be reached. Membership in The Root Cause Coalition and its resulting resources allows achi to better educate health systems, educational institutions and corporations to invest in their people and drive successful, sustainable outcomes, while ultimately reducing costs. The advocacy arm of The Root Cause Coalition also gives members a platform to share data and advocate for true payment policy and other healthcare reforms, which is ultimately needed for a sustainable healthcare system in the future.”

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About achi

achi is a holistic care management company that lowers overall expenses by actively engaging people and connecting them to organizations to address the social determinants of health. Through innovative partnerships, cross-sector collaboration, and creative solutions, we equip organizations across multiple industries to educate the people they serve and connect them with resources to improve their lives from the ground up. By partnering with health systems, educational institutions and corporations, achi empowers lasting transformation in individual lives— resulting in an overall healthier population and data to transform our healthcare payment models. To learn more about achi and its mission, visit www.achi.solutions.

About The Root Cause Coalition

Established in 2015, The Root Cause Coalition is a national non-profit, member-driven organization comprised of more than 70 leading health systems, hospital associations, foundations, businesses, national and community nonprofits, health insurers, academic institutions and policy centers. The Coalition works to achieve health equity through cross-sector collaboration in advocacy, education and research. For more information, visit www.rootcausecoalition.org and connect with us on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.