What National PACE Month Means to LIFE
Celebrating Our 5th National PACE Month
September is National PACE Month. The annual observance provides an opportunity to celebrate the work of PACE staff and increase awareness of PACE (A Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly) and the benefits PACE organizations provide to their communities. PACE programs offer healthcare services, including access to doctors, nurses, therapies, social interactivity, and well-balanced meals. Depending on mobility level, care is given by transporting participants to a center or bringing these services directly to their homes.
Lutheran Senior LIFE, a part of Lutheran Social Ministries of New Jersey, is a PACE organization that has served Jersey City for eleven years. In the US, 137 PACE programs serve more than 55,000 enrollees in 31 states. The demand for PACE is expanding. Although the PACE model is not new, it is actually 50 years strong this year; the recent focus on home and community-based services has reignited interest in the program.
PACE enrollees must be age 55 and over and need a nursing home level of care. Of this population of seniors needing nursing home level of care, more than 95 percent can remain in their own home with the services and support they would receive through Lutheran Senior LIFE’s PACE model of care.
Kani Burgos, Director of Enrollment, and Ruben Alicea, Director of Community Engagement. 
Kani Burgos, Director of Enrollment, and Celica Valois, Sales and Medicaid Coordinator
Lutheran Senior LIFE celebrated National PACE Month on September 15th by handing out cookies and coffee in our building’s lobby to help build awareness of the PACE program. The team continued the celebration throughout the month by expressing their gratitude to our participants and professionals with small tokens of appreciation. They delivered gift bags to participants with shirts, snacks, and handwritten thank you cards, and professional staff members were given cappuccino mugs filled with candy.
A recent study of PACE family caregivers found that 96.6% of family members are satisfied with the support they receive through PACE, and 97.5% of family caregivers would recommend PACE to someone in a similar situation. A PACE program is unique because there is a team of health care professionals working together with participants and their families to ensure they get the coordinated care they need – from enrollment to home visits, offering an alternative to nursing home care. PACE program participants thrive in community-centered settings and benefit from structured routines and planned group activities—all in a positive and supportive environment.
To learn more about the PACE Program at Lutheran Senior LIFE at Jersey City, please call 201-499-3900 or visit https://lifelsmnj.org/about-us/what-is-pace/.