In 1992, Joan Pellettier was the Director of the Coordinating Council for Senior Citizens (now the Durham Center for Senior Life). She shares her reflections here about Senior PharmAssist’s 30th Anniversary below.
Just days before Gina called me asking about doing a Masters Project around health care/medication usage for older adults, I had attended a meeting in which a staffer from the Division of Aging and Adult Services – Mary Bethel – reported on the growing problem of older adults being unable to afford their medications. Until then, I had been blissfully ignorant of this issue. Plus, the Durham County Hospital Corporation had taken a special interest in doing something in Durham to help older adults with limited incomes. Gina was already a pharmacist and had studied geriatrics and her interests blended well with the community’s interest in addressing a real need. Beyond medication access, she also learned of the problems seniors have in properly understanding and using their medication. So, Senior PharmAssist evolved into a much-needed service providing both access and information.
I watched Gina expertly evaluate the problem and propose an ambitious solution. We brought together key community partners who shared the vision and were incredibly supportive, both strategically and financially. It was a privilege to have SPA as a program of the Council – opening its doors in 1994 – and to watch it grow and become its own nonprofit organization in 1998.
Securing reliable funding was a real challenge at the beginning. Luckily, the agency now has a broad base of support from the community. SPA’s most valuable contribution has been raising awareness of the importance of helping older adults access their medications and use them properly to support well-being. The actual financial support at community pharmacies to lower drug prices streamlines other approaches, which are more cumbersome and inconsistent. And, of course, the importance of leveraging community resources and helping older adults fully access their Medicare benefits cannot be overstated.
I hope SPA remains a key advocate when it comes to lowering the price of some medications, and for sharing information about polypharmacy and over-prescribing among older adults. I am thrilled that SPA staff are engaged in policy initiatives, community planning, and replication. There is plenty of work still to be done.
Gina Upchurch, the founding director says of Joan: She has been my one and only “boss.” What an absolute gift she has been to the program and to me personally through the years. She has steadfastly supported the program professionally even when she left the Council to lead the local Area Agency on Aging. Joan has also been very generous with her own personal contributions since the beginning – one of the earliest “investors.” Joan’s early endorsement of the effort allowed us to establish credibility in Durham, and equally critical was that the Council under her leadership allowed the program to be designed creatively to blend healthcare with social care for older adults with limited incomes. Senior PharmAssist would not exist at all – or as it is today – without Joan’s steadfast leadership!
