Congratulations to Laurel Nelson — How the Center fits into the national conversation
With Laurel’s leadership — Cincinnati’s Center for Respite Care now helps to guide the national conversation in our sector. We are often referenced for our success and expertise.
What is the National Institute of Medical Respite Care?
As a part of the National Institute of Medical Respite Care, the Respite Care Providers Network was established to provide support, resources, and technical assistance to more than 160 new and existing Medical Respite Programs across the country. The Steering Committee, populated by members of the Network, was formed to facilitate this support via activities such as the development of strategic plans, educational seminars, and topic-focused work groups. The Respite Care Providers Network meets monthly to keep all providers abreast of new State and Federal developments and disseminate information about new resources. The Steering Committee also meets monthly and conducts an in-person conference once a year.
The Respite Care Providers’ Network (RCPN) is the preeminent national voice for those who are simply too ill to recover in the streets. They support the development of new and existing medical respite care programs through education, client advocacy, networking, and research. They have also been a key partner to the Center.
The National Institute for Medical Respite Care (an arm of the National Healthcare for the Homeless Council) sponsors the RCPN.
Grounded in human rights and social justice, the National Healthcare for the Homeless Council’s mission is to build an equitable, high-quality healthcare system through training, research, and advocacy in the movement to end homelessness. RCPN is part of the overall council. Importantly, we are honoring RCPN as one of the Transformation Awards 2024 honorees — with the ceremony to drop virtually on September 26, 2024. https://www.centerforrespitecare.org/transformation-awards/
What is an example of the people for whom we care?
Dr. Lindsay Ryan is an associate physician at the University of California, San Francisco, Department of Medicine. Ryan’s work exemplifies the nature of the challenges that our clients confront as reflected in these stories.
“The psychiatrists evaluate him. He’s not suicidal. His reasoning is logical. The social workers search for rooms, but in San Francisco, far more people need long-term rehousing than the available units can accommodate. The medical care the patient receives exceeds the cost of a year’s rent makes no practical difference. Eventually, the palliative care doctors see him. He transitions to hospice and dies.
This week Dr Ryan is caring for a retired low-wage worker with strokes and likely early dementia who was found sleeping in the street. He abandoned his rent-controlled apartment when electrolyte and kidney problems triggered a period of severe confusion that has since been resolved. Now, with little savings, he has nowhere to go.”
A respite center can receive patients like him when it has vacancies. Cincinnati’s Center for Respite Care is the option that we provide for individuals with similar challenges.
Medical textbooks usually don’t discuss fixing the client’s housing. They seldom include making sure that people have enough food and some way to get to a clinic. But textbooks miss what my med students don’t: that people die for lack of these basics.
People struggle to keep wounds clean. Their medications get stolen. They sicken from poor diet, under-vaccination, and repeated psychological trauma. Forced to focus on short-term survival and often lacking cell phones, they miss appointments for everything from Pap smears to chemotherapy. They fall ill in myriad ways — and fall through the cracks in just as many. Cincinnati’s Center bridges this gap.”
How does the Center fit in?
At the Center, we can care for these people and assist in their transition to stable housing. We are honored to serve this population and that our leader — Laurel Nelson — is positioned to help the cause on a national basis.
