By Gabriella Brown Newsroom@DominionPost.com
As a West Virginia native, Sarah Shabih said when she first heard of Telehealth Access for Seniors, she knew she wanted to be involved.
“I felt the immediate responsibility to expand their efforts into my own state,” Shabih said.
Telehealth Access for Seniors, a student-founded nonprofit, was created at the start of the pandemic with the goal of ensuring veterans and senior citizens have access to smart, camera-enabled devices.
As social isolation continues to be a part of everyday life, many seniors and veterans face the challenge of not having access to alternative ways to connect, such as through video calls. Shabih said Telehealth Access is working to close that gap.
“A lot of senior citizens don’t necessarily have access to video technology,” Shabih said. “They can’t connect to their family members, and they also can’t connect to their physicians.”
Shibah said she first heard about the organization through a close friend, and was hooked immediately. Soon after, she became the West Virginia state lead for the program.
Shabih has already collected and donated 15 devices to the Louis A. Johnson VA Medical Center in Clarksburg, and three to the Hershel Woody Williams VA Medical Center in Huntington. She is also collecting devices for the Morgantown Vet Center, and hopes to donate 15 tablets.
Shabih said when she is not collecting device donations, she spends much of her time networking and applying for grants to help reach the organization’s goals more efficiently.
Recently, she applied and received a $500 emergency impact grant from Your Community Fund. She said this grant has jump-started her goal, and will fund the purchase of 10 tablets for the Morgantown Vet Center.
Brandon Gregory, veterans outreach specialist, said the center serves clients in 16 counties in West Virginia and two counties and Pennsylvania, many of which do not have access to broadband internet connection.
He said as the center works through the barriers of moving its services to a virtual format, the donations from Telehealth will help the organization continue to improve accessibility.
“We are partnering with Telehealth Access for Seniors to get [clients] that hardware component and potentially the internet access, so that they can better connect with their counselors here,” Gregory said.
Although Shabih will continue pursuing higher education as she enters her senior year at Emory University in Atlanta, many of her courses have moved online, opening her schedule up to continue playing an active role in the organization. She said her work with Telehealth Access has been extremely rewarding, and she looks forward to continuing her work.
“I’m doing it for a really good cause, so if I ever feel frustrated that I’m not getting device donations or any monetary donations, I just had to remind myself that the cause is really important,” Shabih said. “Someone is receiving these tablets, and they’re actually getting good use out of them, and that kind of motivates me to keep moving forward.”
Shabih said donation devices and monetary donations are greatly appreciated. Donation forms and a list of accepted devices can be found at https://www.telehealthforseniors.org/support-us.
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