Tag Archives for Patricia A. Nolan

Lawmakers to Consider Funding for Vaccine Immunizations for Seniors

Published in Pawtucket Times on May 12, 2003

Even with a state budget deficit looming, sometimes putting a little money into a statewide initiative can ultimately save big dollars.  It’s just the right thing to do.

For the second year, the Ocean State Adult Immunization Coalition (OSAIC) has approached the Rhode Island General Assembly for funding to promote the group’s efforts to get the word out about the importance of Rhode Island seniors  getting influenza and pneumococcal vaccinations.

OSAIC’s message is quite simple: “Avoid a Hospital Stay: Get Your Flu Shot Now!”

According to OSAIC, pneumonia and influenza deaths together are considered the six-leading cause of death in the nation.

Since 1999, there have been 300 deaths and 6,800 hospitalizations that were attributed to influenza and pneumococcal disease in the Ocean State.

OSAIC said vaccinations are a cost-effective way to prevent these unnecessary hospitalizations and deaths.

OSAIC, a coalition of 40 agencies, including hospitals, nursing facilities, vaccine manufacturers, medical societies, managed care groups, the Rhode Island Department of Health, Rhode Island Quality Partners, the Visiting Nurses Association, and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Rhode Island, call on Gov. Don Carcieri and lawmakers to see the big picture – preventative medicine care can ultimately save tax dollars.

Anne Marie Beadsworth, OSAIC’s chair, said the cost of a flu shot is $ 15 and a pneumonia shot is $ 30.

On the other hand, she added that the average length of stay for an older person with influenza is five days, costing $ 12,000.

Since OSAIC was established in 1997, Beadsworth has seen a steady progress in the coalition’s efforts to get more older Rhode Islanders immunized to prevent the influenza and pneumonia.

“The immunization coverage rates for those age 65 and over has increased by eight precent (from 67 percent to 75 percent) for influenza vaccine and 24 percent (from 43 percent to 67 percent) for pneumococcal vaccine,” she noted.

Beadsworth said OSAIC is working to reach the Healthy People 2010 goal of a 90 percent immunization rate for influenza and pneumococcal  for people age 65 and over.

“Through promotional efforts in five languages in 2002, more than 350 flu clinics were conducted throughout Rhode Island with the guarantee that any person age 65 and older, regardless of insurance status, could get a flu shot without any out-of-pocket expenses,” she said.

Furthermore, OSAIC’s gains have propelled the Rhode Island-based initiative into top 10 standings in the United States, says Beadsworth.

“We rank number seven for both flu and pneumococcal vaccination rates,” she added.

Beadsworth said that during last year’s legislative session, OSAIC’s efforts for the state funding fizzled because of state funding fizzled because of state budget cuts. The coalition was just not effective in getting its message out to lawmakers, she added.

During this year’s legislative session, OSAIC is pushing for $ 103,169 in new funding in Fiscal Year 2003-2004 to expand the coalition’s educational outreach efforts and to hire a part-time staffer to oversee its ongoing programs to improve the state’s immunization rates.

Currently, OSAIC is a volunteer-driven organization with its $ 50,000 working budget coming from member organizations and from the community.

It seems things may be different this year at the Rhode Island General Assembly. Support among lawmakers is growing for OSAIC’s ongoing preventative medicine initiatives.

“Quite a few advocates are coming to the Senate asking for funding,” said Sen. Stephen D. Alves (D-West Warwick), who said there is now growing support for OSAIC’s funding request.

Alves, who serves as chair in the Senate Finance Committee, told All About Seniors the funding request will be brought up during the chamber’s budget debates.

“Everyday, we talk about preventative medicine – funding this program is a step in the right direction,” said Alves.

Rep. Steven M. Costantino (D-Providence), who sits on the House Finance Committee, told me he sees the value of OSAIC’s efforts, too, and plans to call for funding OSAIC’s initiative during House budget deliberations.

Health Director Patricia A. Nolan also sees the positive benefits of OSAIC’s prevention campaign.

“Adults need their shots, too – especially people aged 50 and older or people with chronic health conditions. Vaccinations are one of the easiest and most effective ways to stay healthy,” she says.

As state revenue estimators meet to determine the breath and scope of the state’s budget deficit, Gov. Carcieri’s staff continue their ‘Big Audit” to identify ways to save taxpayer dollars.

When the dust settles, even with a projected budget deficit, it may be time for the governor and the General Assembly to view preventative medicine as a worthy cost containment approach for reining in skyrocketing health care costs. Even though state dollars have to be allocated up front, large savings might be realized down the road.

As the state’s final budget is being crated, we must not be “penny wise but pound foolish” when determining what bills live or die in the 2004 legislation hopper. Taxpayers will ultimately lose if this happens.

The Best Of…Seniors Can follow Steps to Avoid Heat-Related Illnesses

Published July 8., 2002, Pawtucket Times

On July 3rd, it was so hot you could fry an egg on the pavement outside of McCoy Stadium.

Although more than 10,500 fans had bought tickets to watch the PawSox game against the Ottawa Lynx, which concluded with a 45-minute fireworks display, only 8,300 fans showed up, according to Ken McGill, co-chair of teh Pawtucket Fireworks Committee.

There were even smaller crowds who set up chairs in the parking lots and on sidewalks in the surrounding neighborhoods around McCoy Stadium to watch the much-awaited fireworks display, McGill said.

But despite the searing heat that evening it was clear that some just like it hot.

As the PawSox game was winding down, Ray Ethier, 60, a former union electrician, chatted with his friend, George Panas, 59, of Spumoni’s Restaurant.

“I don’t mind the heat.  I just don’t like this humidity,” he candidly admitted.  However, Ethier acknowledged that the heat has slowed him down a bit, because “it’s too hot to play golf.”

Panas doesn’t mind the searing outside heat either, or even working in a hot kitchen.

“When people are sweating buckets in the kitchen, I feel as cool as a cucumber,” he said.

Fifty-seven-year old Stan Lachut, a retired Pawtucket school teacher, waited with his wife Beverly, for darkness and for the fireworks show to begin. Standing by the barbecue tent and surrounded by more than 200-plus guests of the Pawtucket Firework’s Committee, the Cumberland residents said the heat’s not a problem for him, either.

“Being outside in summer is a time you can spend with your family and friends,” he said, whereas “colder temperatures force people to stay inside buildings.”

On the other hand, not everybody like summer’s hot days

Ttemperatures in the mid-90s, combined with high humidity, can become uncomfortable and a serious health hazard for seniors.  And many are heeding the advice of experts gleaned from radio, television, and local newspaper articles about how to cope with the scorching summer heat.

Patricia A. Nolan, M.D.,  the state’s top health official, gave her advise on surviving Rhode Island’s current heat wave.

Seniors, small children and the mentally ill are the most susceptible to health problems from searing summer heat waves, said Nolan, who serves as the director of Rhode Island’s Department of health.  High temperatures can be especially dangerous to persons’ with cardiac and respiratory probems and to mentally ill patients taking psychotropic medications, she said.

She noted that psychotropic medications make it harder for an individual to cool down.

According to Noran, the early symptoms of heat-related illnesses include muscle cramps in the arms, hands, abdomen and legs.  Muscle cramps are a result of dehydration and salt loss, primary problems associated with heat stress.  Additionally, Nolan said that fainting in the heat is another early symptom

If someone faints because of the heat, take the person into a cool place and cool them off by using a wet, cool cloth, Nolan recommends.

“You want to sponge people down and fan them to reduce their body heat,” she says.

Heat exhaustion, or heat-stork, is a more serious problem related to dehydration caused from high temperatures Nolan stated.  “Feelings of complete exhaustion, confusion, nausea or vomiting are real danger signs,” she said, adding, “If this occurs, you must get the body temperature down by addition fluids through intravenous methods.”

To successfully beat the heat, seniors should cut back on outside physical activities and drink plenty of water, Nolan recommends.

While water is the best fluid to drink on a hot day, fruit juice can also be considered a viable substitute.

“Cooling off with a cold beer is not the best plan,” Nolan said, noting that alcohol coffee, tea and soda are loaded with caffeine, which can increase the changes of dehydration.

“Seniors who tend to be most vulnerable to heat are those who don’t have a way to get cool for a part of the day,” Nolan said.  “One of the reasons heat waves affect the elderly more than the general population is because seniors are isolated, can’t get to a cool place, don’t have air conditioning and are afraid to open their windows at night when it finally cools down.”

Nolan warned that with temperatures in the mid-90s, staying indoors in a really hot house or apartment is not the best thing for seniors to do.

“Go to an air-conditioned shopping mall, see a movie, visit a restaurant, or get yourself into an air-conditioned space,” she recommended.  “If you can do this for an hour on a really hot day, you can protect yourself from serious health-related problems.”

Sometimes seniors get into trouble during days with high temperatures because they just don’t realize the danger,” Nolan noted.

During these days, it becomes important to monitor elderly parents or older friends, she says.

“Call on them every day to make sure they are coping with the heat.  Take them out to a cool place, like a shopping mall, a library, or a restaurant to let them cool off.”

In Rhode Island, some seniors tend not to adjust their behaviors to the heat because it’s only going to be hot for a few days,” Nolan says.

However, adjustments are fairly easy to make, she noted, stating that not making them can be hazardous to their health, and perhaps even deadly.

Herb Weiss is a Pawtucket-based freelance writer who writes about aging, health care and medical issues. He can be reached at hweissri@aol.com.