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Harriott Home Health assists the Urban League of Greater Hartford in distributing vaccines to the Black community

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Urban League of Greater Hartford is proud to have been selected to partner with the National Urban League and the CDC for a 3rd year to increase awareness of the importance of vaccinations and protection against infectious disease. Their work, with the assistance of Harriott Home Health Services to help distribute vaccinations and overcome hesitancy in the Black community, was captured in this video featuring CEO David Hopkins, Board Member Laura Soll-Broxterman, Community Education Coordinator Taquonda Woodson, and Harriott CEO Sasa Harriott.

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Roel Mitchell, Home Health Aide (HHA) Employee of the month!

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Roel Mitchell, Home Health Aide (HHA) specializing in caring for victims of violence

For some, caregiving as a profession is a choice, for others, a calling. For Roel Mitchell, HHA, it’s both. In recognition of his skills and compassion, Harriott Home Health Services has selected Roel as their employee of the month. 

Roel chose to become a home health aide when Weaver High School in Hartford offered it as a  summer program after graduation. Instead of choosing classes in mechanics, he followed his passion for helping others. While he recognized this instinct at the young age, it was his mother and sister who nurtured it as they both worked in the HHA profession. “I saw the work they did as HHA’s and I knew that was what I wanted for myself so I completed the program and I’ve been doing this work ever since” he stated. 

Roel is now an HHA with 17 years of experience gained through working in hospitals and homecare. While he has cared for clients from all walks of life, one contribution is how he cares for survivors of violence in their homes. I spoke with Roel after he had just returned from his client’s home, a young man whose life was drastically changed forever by a bullet that left him paralyzed from the waist down. “I’ve been with my guy for a long time and I see him 7 days a week to help him get out of bed and ready to start a new day, it is a relationship built on trust, that I am there and everything is safe”. When I asked Roel what he says or does to encourage patients victimized by violence he spoke of positive aspects, he bragged of his patient’s strengths, both the physical and emotional – “my guy is strong, we practice movement so he can sometimes move himself from bed to a chair, and whenever he gets the blues I encourage him to have faith, and not to let stress get the best of him, that he matters”. 

Roel prides himself on his natural instinct to help people, and how rewarding it is to rehabilitate patients in their homes. He spoke of an elderly wheelchair bound client who over the years, little by little, progressed to a walker and then up on his feet, and then to driving. He helped his client become more independent.

When I asked Roel what he thinks is overlooked in the work that HHA’s perform it only took a second for him to respond. “Time, the time it takes to build trust in a relationship, but with patience it eventually comes together, so if I can help a patient do better and make their situation better, I am all for it”. 

After we completed the interview I couldn’t help but think that if every person reached out and made one new connection by just talking to an HHA about the work they do, the world would be a better place. 

A. Siobhan Thompson reporting for HHHS

Julie Campbell, RN, Employee of the month!

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Spotlight on Julie Campbell, RN, and the importance of trauma-informed caregiving

Intervention Specialist for Victims of Violence

Julie Campbell, RN, has over 20 years of experience in nursing but continues to glean from her patient’s experiences. As a nurse working for victims of violence Julie goes into homes with a “no judgement when you enter the door” approach to treat survivors wherever duty calls. Harriott Home Health Services (HHHS) skilled nurses work with survivors of violence wounded from gunshots, stabbings, and beatings. Their job is to  provide patient-centered wound care in the home under extremely difficult circumstances. 

“In my earlier years as a nurse I never encountered victims like the ones I treat now because in other settings they were invisible to me, violent victim injuries weren’t seen on the floors or being treated in clinics so unless you worked in the emergency room or in intensive care you didn’t experience them as patients”.  HHHS has changed Julie’s nursing practice to now include some of the most vulnerable people living with debilitating physical and mental scaring after surviving violent attacks.

Julie describes her patients (mostly males) who can be of any age (recent patients range from 14 to 41 years), living in urban poverty where violence can be a way of life. She identifies a commonality among them – the lack of knowledge about the impact of trauma in survivorship. “The trauma from violence affects their healing process long after the physical wounds have healed” she said. When asked about their living conditions, Julie expressed that many patients lack safe housing, access to resources, nutrition, and the education to know how to get help. “Some of them are stuck in a lifestyle that is hard to get out of because it’s all they know and some of it is intergenerational”. When Julie pulls up in front of patient’s homes she experiences risky conditions, including that there are dangerous people hanging out on the streets. “Many know me already but those who don’t ask me what I’m doing there and when I tell them I’m a nurse, it’s all good”, she said.

I asked Julie what it is like to care for victims when they start to heal and are confronted with the trauma of it all. “I let them talk, and as wounds heal patients just begin to understand the post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as they try to cope with the psychological, they respond to every noise they hear in fear that someone is coming for them”. When asked about mental health services, Julie observes that many patients express their inability to cope with PTSD  – they say “no one tells us about this part”.  Julie shared an observation that family, partners and friends who support patients are also vulnerable so they don’t talk about trauma in the home, and when a patient is vulnerable and living in fear, they aren’t sharing their trauma either.  

“You don’t know what you don’t know,” said Julie, “and that’s why I take the time to educate patients about trauma and encourage them to seek help every chance I get.”

A. Siobhan Thompson reporting for HHHS

DPH Provider Spotlight

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Bridging the Gaps to Healthcare Access: CT’s Harriott Home Health Services

This month the CT Department of Public Health’s Vaccine Provider Newsletter put the spotlight on Harriott Home Health Services (HHHS) for their productive strategies to vaccinate Hartford’s hard-to reach populations. HHHS uses mobile unit operations to provide more opportunities for people to access comprehensive services that include both clinical care and basic needs.

As we enter into a period of the “new normal” and reflect on the lessons we have learned over the past three years, a message from communities to the public health system rings clear – accessibility is crucial and the public needs to be able to receive care where they are located. A practice that heard this message and embodied it in its work is Harriott Home Health Services, who made substantial efforts in vaccinating the unhoused population in Hartford, Bristol, and Enfield against MPox in 2022. After an outbreak in an unhoused population in Hartford, Sasa and Sheba Harriott saw that there was a need in this community for vaccination, education, and resources in a non-traditional setting and set out to address those needs. They set up an RV in a location where an unhoused population congregated to help with access and offered MPox vaccines in that RV from 3PM-7PM three to four times a week, administering over 1,000 doses of MPox vaccine in the second half of 2022. As they saw the model work and the barriers to access decrease, they expanded to include COVID-19 vaccinations and other resources, such as assistance with housing, food, clothing, and doctors appointments. Whatever the community needed, Harriott Home Health Services took pride in identifying a solution. Sasa Harriott, President of Harriott Home Health Services, explained “You can’t just start with MPox and stop there. It’s more than giving a vaccine and filling out a form.” 

When asked about the lessons learned, Sasa and Sheba shared that it is incredibly important to take equity seriously. The initial thought around MPox vaccine is that communities were not interested in getting it, but Harriott Home Health Services found this to not be the case. Rather, they found people had been discriminated against in the past and did not feel like they could trust the healthcare system. Sasa and Sheba explained that building trust with people was at the core of their practice. They emphasized that the way we communicate with and meet populations is vital and that providing equity and care helps to build that trust. “Take equity seriously. It is a real thing and gaps in care exist. Break the barriers and meet people where they are… Need is need.” says Sasa. 

For people interested in doing work like this in the future, Sasa and Sheba shared some insight: “Find value in every level and person you encounter.” They encourage others that want to do something similar to focus on collaboration and flexibility. Expressing that partnership is key, they suggested enlisting help from people embedded in the community when you are doing work with a population. When wrapping up the conversation, their final piece of advice is to “be open and be willing to learn something new every day.” 

Read the full CT DPH newsletter here.

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At Home Vaccine Services

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Harriott Home Health is going door-to-door giving people their booster shots.

We administered thousands of vaccines during the past year, and now we are expanding.

Harriott Home Health provides vaccines for anyone who can’t leave their home.

We recently expanded, and now serve cities outside of Hartford.

Amaris Morales is a part of a team of nurses moving the needle to get people vaccinated and boosted.

Instead of people coming to her, she packs her bags every day and meets people where they’re at.

“I love it. It’s a great experience,” said Amaris Morales, Licensed Practical Nurse at Harriott Home Health.

Morales works for Harriott Home Health Services, a licensed Hartford-based agency that provides in-home medical care.

The agency has a partnership with the Department of Public Health to administer vaccines to residents in the comfort of their home.

“We realized quickly that there would be a group of people that would not be able to easily access clinics and mass vaccine sites and that would be our folks with disabilities or a hardship just to leave home,” said Sasa Harriott, Owner and Administrator of Harriott Home Health Services.

Caregivers also qualify for vaccine services, and you don’t need insurance.

The team works daily to make house calls, and now they’re delivering vaccines to more than a dozen cities.

“We know that until everyone everywhere has access to a vaccine, this pandemic is not going to end,” Harriott said.

During visits, Morales says she also educates people about the vaccine and encourages family members to get it.

“Definitely if you’re not doing it for yourself, do it for someone else,” Morales said.

Morales visited Mary Hampton, who is getting her booster shot.

Hampton was excited to get her booster, and says her family told her about Harriott Home Health Services.

“I was really scared of you know, not having all my shots,” Hampton said. “I just want to say thank God y’all came out to give me my shot. It’s a blessing.”

Article taken from WFSB Eyewitness News – watch video here.

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Harriott Home Health Services partners with the City of Hartford to provide COVID-19 vaccines at home

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Harriott Home Health Services is fully committed to reducing disparities and improving the outcomes of our most vulnerable residents. Many residents have injuries and physical conditions which restrict their ability to leave their home.  We recognize that providing COVID-19 vaccines at home is essential to save the lives of our most vulnerable residents.

Request a vaccine by calling 860-904-9045.

Sasa Harriott
President
Harriott Home Health Services

Harriott Home Health adds new towns to service locations

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Harriott Home Health is excited to announce the addition of new locations.

NEW LOCATIONS

Andover

Berlin

Bolton

Bristol

Colchester

Coventry

Hebron

Willimantic

We will continue to service:

Avon

Bloomfield

Cromwell

East Hartford

East Windsor

Ellington

Farmington

Glastonbury

Hartford

Manchester

Meriden

Middlefield

Middletown

New Britain

Newington

Portland

Rocky Hill 

South Windsor

Tolland

Vernon

West Hartford

Wethersfield

Windsor Locks 

TO MAKE A REFERRAL PLEASE CALL (860) 904-9045 or FAX (860) 519-5234

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