The J. Paul Sticht Center on Aging and Rehabilitation together with the Section on Geriatrics and Gerontology sponsor a house call program for frail and elderly adults in the Winston-Salem area.

The program is an opportunity for students, residents and Geriatric Medicine fellows at Wake Forest University School of Medicine to receive instruction on the role of house calls in the modern practice of medicine. Currently, the program supports 20 to 30 homebound frail elderly, and there is a lengthy waiting list. Most patients in the program are in the late stages of chronic diseases such as dementia, cancer, and cardiovascular disease.

The primary goal of the program is to assist older adults in remaining in their home, closely associated with their families and friends.  This allows them to maintain the maximum level of comfort and dignity. The program is supported almost entirely through the gifts of family and friends of those who have been cared for through the program, and by donations from individuals dedicated to improving community-based care of frail older people.

Jamehl Demons, M.D., is Medical Director of the program.