Lowell resident Paula Thibodeau participated in the Element Care PACE Senior Olympics on May 13, at the Danvers Indoor Sports Complex. Thibodeau has been a participant with Element Care for seven years, and this year marks her third time competing in the Senior Olympics.
The Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly Olympics originated in 2011 and brings together teams of nursing home-eligible adults ages 55 and older from PACE’s six sites around the North Shore and Merrimack Valley. Twelve competitors on each team come from Albania, Dominican Republic, Italy, Cambodia, Vietnam, Puerto Rico, Philippines and the U.S., to compete in various games, including basketball, corn hole, frisbee toss and pin bowling.
The PACE Senior Olympics is part of PACE, a Medicare and Medicaid-funded program that provides comprehensive medical services, helps reduce barriers to care and offers a proactive and person-centered approach to senior healthcare, particularly for low-income seniors.
PACE programs provide coordinated, all-inclusive care through interdisciplinary teams that support participants’ medical, rehabilitative, behavioral and daily living needs — including primary and specialty care, preventive services, therapies, screenings, and vision, dental and hearing support.
Read the full article in the Lowell Sun here.