BAR HARBOR, ME — Thank you, Down East magazine, and contributing editor Jesse Ellison for your excellent May 2019 piece, “No Elder an Island.” The Mission’s Island Health Director, Sharon Daley, RN, is a pioneer in Maine unbridged island adult family care homes. Among Director Daley’s work with island communities aboard the ‘Sunbeam,’ she also hosts the Mission’s annual Elder Care Conference made up of many people mentioned in Ms. Ellison’s story. // Learn more about Sharon Daley’s work here.
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[Maine Seacoast Mission Island Health Director Sharon] Daley argues, there’s something to be said for the islands’ scaled-down, community-driven approach. “I feel like the islands have figured out how to do eldercare, and the rest of the country needs to follow,” she says.
“Almost all of the eldercare homes on the mainland are really large, and I think even though they try hard, it becomes more institutionalized. Everyone is lined up in wheelchairs. Staff is usually overworked, and it’s heavy work.
“People don’t like to visit. My father was in a place like that, and I had to brace myself every time I walked in. These places are not like that.”
L-R: Mission Health Director Sharon Daley, RN and Dr. Anand Viswanathan, MD, PhD.
Mission Health Director Sharon Daley, RN (second from left) with Dr. Anand Viswanathan and his research team at Massachusetts General Hospital.
BAR HARBOR, ME — “Monday, April 15, I spent an amazing day at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) thanks to Anand Viswanathan, MD, PhD,” said the Mission’s Island Health Director Sharon Daley, RN.
Director Daley’s was somewhat of a full-circle visit. In May 2018, at the invitation of then-Mission President Scott Planting, Dr. Anand spent three days accompanying Sharon aboard the ‘Sunbeam V’ for her regular telemedicine run.
Dr. Anand, a Neurologist, is a member of the Massachusetts Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center and is a staff neurologist in both the Stroke Service and Memory Disorders Unit. He also works with patients in remote areas, such as northern Maine, via telemedicine. His work and the Sunbeam’s island work are a natural fit.
After that trip, Anand wrote to Sharon, “…I think you guys are doing really outstanding and important work, although not always glamorous. I think you guys are really the unsung medical heroes of the Maine islands.”
During her recent visit with Dr. Anand at MGH, Sharon attended “a meeting where the newest research was presented,” she said. And she “was also shown [MGH’s] stroke telemedicine program.
Sharon explained, “Dr. Anand and other physicians provide stroke telemed and consultations to Maine hospitals. The technology enables the physicians to [remotely] see all of the scans, labs, and the patient.”
But, Sharon added, what “impressed me more than the technology is the dedication I saw in the people I met.”
Mission Health Director Daley said the MGH “team was very interested” in the ‘Sunbeam’ telemedicine work. “Anand and the team offered to do anything they can to support [that work] any way they can,’ Daley said, which is great news for the Mission and the island communities with which we work.
To learn more about the ‘Sunbeam V’ telemedicine work click here.
Mission Island Health Director Sharon Daley, RN said, “Telemedicine makes this teamwork possible, so the presenter can be on the mainland, working with the class on the island.”
L-R: Nursing Instructor Peggy Akers, Sharon Daley, Cheryl Crowley from Cliff Island, and Amy Tienery from Long island.
BAR HARBOR, ME — On Thursday February 7th Maine Seacoast Mission Island Health Director Sharon Daley, RN joined two other island leaders in speaking to nursing students at University of Southern Maine College of Nursing’s Casco Bay Fishing and Island Partnership. Fourteen nursing students will partner with the Casco Bay islands during their nursing school studies. For many nursing students this was their introduction to Maine islands.
Island Health Director Daley spoke to the students at the invitation of Nurse Practitioner Peggy Akers. Ms. Akers teaches the Partnership course, and is a member of Sharon Daley’s Island Elder Care Conference, a group of health care workers focused on finding ways for island residents to age in place, among family and friends.
Maine Seacoast Mission hosts an Annual Elder Care Conference where members gather in person. Between Conferences, group members stay connected with the internet and phone.
USM’s Casco Bay Fishing and Island Partnership course is taught by Nurse Practitioner Peggy Akers who also participates in Director Sharon Daley’s Island Elder Care group.
As explained in USM’s College of Nursing course description, “The Casco Bay Fishing and Community Partnership is primarily focused on those individuals and families who make their living in the commercial fishing industry, and those living on the remote islands in Casco Bay.”
Island Health Director Sharon Daley shared with the nursing students information about island life, the Sunbeam, telemedicine, and answered questions about the sustainability of island life, health care, emergencies, schools, telemedicine and daily life on islands. Peggy Akers, NP of the USM School of nursing said it is especially important for the students to learn about the collaboration of mainland providers and Maine Seacoast Mission in providing health services to Islanders.
L-R Mission Island Health Director Sharon Daley, RN and Clinical Director and Family Nurse Practitioner Jennifer “Jen” Desmond
ABOARD THE ‘SUNBEAM V’ — Clinical Director and Family Nurse Practitioner Jennifer “Jen” Desmond flew out to Matinicus from Vinalhaven’s Islands Community Medical Services, Inc. to meet up with the Sunbeam V and the Mission’s Island Health Director Sharon Daley, RN and see some people in person. Family Nurse Practitioner Assists Mission Island Health Director on Matinicus Island
Jen was able to take care of things that would have required an expensive trip off island for some patients. Cold and windy day but Penobscot Island Air always provides great service.
So thanks to all in helping make this happen, including those who loaned us trucks for getting around. (Jennifer and I are pictured here at the Matinicus Island International Air-Strip.)
