Printable Version
Aging In Place - Collaborative Leadership Impacts Service
Over the years, one of the Foundation's
key priorities has been helping Howard
County's growing elderly population age
in place. In the past year, we renewed our
focus on
two important Aging in Place programs in
partnership
with the Howard County Office on Aging
and the Federal Administration on Aging.
Inroads in this arena have emanated from the collaborative leadership of a community Partners Group chaired by Phyllis Madachy, Director of the Howard County Office on Aging. The group, which often meets in the Foundation office, includes representation from the public sector, local universities, Howard Community College, private providers, Howard County General Hospital and others.
Creating
A MAP For Seniors
Where do older adults go for help when they need it? Using an "information backbone" developed by the Foundation and an array of community service providers, the Howard County Office on Aging can point seniors in the right direction. The MAP (Maryland Access Point) program is jointly funded by The Horizon Foundation and the Federal, State and County governments. It is a sophisticated and visible portal into the network of public and private resources available for adults over age 50 and younger adults with disabilities.
The MAP staff provides information and assistance by phone, makes public presentations and refers callers to the agencies that can help them. Among their technological tools is HorizonHelp (www.horizonhelp.org), a searchable database with over 1,000 community resource listings.
Since the program's launch in 2004, the number of people requesting assistance has risen steadily. For the three months ending December 31, 2005, MAP received an average of 2,665 calls a month. The callers needed information on issues ranging from housing and transportation to health care, including the complexities of Medicare Part D.
Learning To Live Well
The Horizon Foundation has been interested in empowering people to take charge of their own health. The Howard County Office on Aging’s program, Living Well, does just that.
The program emanated from a national review of evidence-based practices conducted for the Partner’s Group by a local consultant. Funded by The Foundation and Federal grants, Living Well consists of six weekly workshops for older people who suffer from chronic disease. In the workshops, they learn techniques for dealing with their symptoms and discomfort and how to support each other in taking steps to improve their health. Those steps might include more exercise, improving a diet, or re-establishing social and family connections.
The program is based on a model developed and evaluated by Stanford University. It incorporates the finding that people with chronic conditions such as diabetes, arthritis or depression can be empowered to better manage their condition and improve their quality of life.
Research has shown that participants in the Stanford program have lower rates of hospitalization and fewer trips to other health providers.
Locally, Living Well wins rave reviews from its graduates. One told her doctor that the program helped her learn the "importance of self-management, a positive attitude, the need to keep moving with some form of exercise and staying involved with the world around us….It helped us realize that we are not alone, which at some point everyone with a chronic condition thinks."
Since Living Well held its first series of classes in 2005, 120 people have participated in eight workshop cycles, and there is now a waiting list for future classes. The Office on Aging expects to expand the program to include a wide range of organizations as sponsors and workshop sites throughout the county.
Inroads in this arena have emanated from the collaborative leadership of a community Partners Group chaired by Phyllis Madachy, Director of the Howard County Office on Aging. The group, which often meets in the Foundation office, includes representation from the public sector, local universities, Howard Community College, private providers, Howard County General Hospital and others.
| |
| Phyllis Madachy, Administrator of the
Howard County Office on Aging, talks with a
resident of Vantage House Retirement Community
in Columbia. Madachy's vision and professional
accomplishments were recognized with The
Horizon Foundation's 2006 Richard G. McCauley
Leadership
Award. |
Where do older adults go for help when they need it? Using an "information backbone" developed by the Foundation and an array of community service providers, the Howard County Office on Aging can point seniors in the right direction. The MAP (Maryland Access Point) program is jointly funded by The Horizon Foundation and the Federal, State and County governments. It is a sophisticated and visible portal into the network of public and private resources available for adults over age 50 and younger adults with disabilities.
The MAP staff provides information and assistance by phone, makes public presentations and refers callers to the agencies that can help them. Among their technological tools is HorizonHelp (www.horizonhelp.org), a searchable database with over 1,000 community resource listings.
Since the program's launch in 2004, the number of people requesting assistance has risen steadily. For the three months ending December 31, 2005, MAP received an average of 2,665 calls a month. The callers needed information on issues ranging from housing and transportation to health care, including the complexities of Medicare Part D.
Learning To Live Well
The Horizon Foundation has been interested in empowering people to take charge of their own health. The Howard County Office on Aging’s program, Living Well, does just that.
The program emanated from a national review of evidence-based practices conducted for the Partner’s Group by a local consultant. Funded by The Foundation and Federal grants, Living Well consists of six weekly workshops for older people who suffer from chronic disease. In the workshops, they learn techniques for dealing with their symptoms and discomfort and how to support each other in taking steps to improve their health. Those steps might include more exercise, improving a diet, or re-establishing social and family connections.
The program is based on a model developed and evaluated by Stanford University. It incorporates the finding that people with chronic conditions such as diabetes, arthritis or depression can be empowered to better manage their condition and improve their quality of life.
Research has shown that participants in the Stanford program have lower rates of hospitalization and fewer trips to other health providers.
Locally, Living Well wins rave reviews from its graduates. One told her doctor that the program helped her learn the "importance of self-management, a positive attitude, the need to keep moving with some form of exercise and staying involved with the world around us….It helped us realize that we are not alone, which at some point everyone with a chronic condition thinks."
Since Living Well held its first series of classes in 2005, 120 people have participated in eight workshop cycles, and there is now a waiting list for future classes. The Office on Aging expects to expand the program to include a wide range of organizations as sponsors and workshop sites throughout the county.