Care for Elders Partnership

The Partnership’s development built upon several past collaborative ventures in the region, allowing them to “formally unify previous efforts” and expand the scope and goals of the partnership by taking a more comprehensive approach. The partnership grew from 54 member organizations to 85 by 2007, sharing a vision “that is committed to systems change that will improve access, availability, affordability and quality in long term care.” To ensure that the perspective of consumers was included, a 30 member Consumer Advisory Council was formed, representing such stakeholder groups as the homebound and working caregivers. Transportation to these meetings was provided to increase attendance.

Successes:

• Launched the Get Ready For Life Web site. Get Ready for Life is a new campaign to help older adults live with independence, health and well-being by planning ahead for life's transitions. The goal is to provide older adults with objective information and resources so they can make wise decisions about their future.
• Launched the Healthy IDEAS (Identifying Depression, Empowering Activities for Seniors) Program, an evidence-based depression self-management intervention for culturally and socio-economically diverse populations of older adults at risk for unrecognized or under-treated depression. An evaluation by Baylor College of Medicine showed that participants experienced reduced levels of depression, gained increased knowledge of how to get help for depression and learned how to reduce symptoms through increased physical activity.
• The Take Charge Consumer Education Campaign was developed to promote choices and preparedness for the challenges people face as they age. Over 4200 website hits and 238 information requests have resulted.
• A Flexible Funding Pool to address special needs of elders with few financial resources was created by several partners in concert with the development of the Access Network.   Ten partners from both public and private senior service organizations have made a commitment to provide enhanced information and referral, benefits counseling and case management to elders trying to negotiate the service system through the Access Network.
• The Partnership took a leadership role during the response to Hurricane Katrina, marshalling the response needed for displaced elders, particularly those who were frail or alone.  At least 2,000 older adults benefited from the Care for Elders Partnership effort during the crisis period following the hurricane.

Real Life Impact:

Eura Greene is 64 years old, lives alone and is diabetic. When facing eviction from her apartment, she was connected to a Care for Elders Specialist who identified multiple needs. Ms. Greene was referred to Jewish Family Service, one of the Access Network partners providing case management services. Ms. Greene couldn’t pay her rent because of an error made by Social Security in the premium deducted from her monthly Social Security check for her Medicare-QMB. She needed help resolving the billing error and the resulting financial problems it created over a two month period. As a partner in Care for Elders Access Network, Jewish Family Service was able to coordinate a variety of community resources to provide emergency food.  Because of CFE’s Flexible Funding Pool, Ms. Greene was able to pay her rent and avoid eviction from her apartment as well as purchase other critical, non-food items.

“Care for Elders is one of the most successful
elder care organizations in the country.”
– Joann Peschel, League of Women Voters