Senior Reach: A successful approach to serving older adults

1. Senior Reach: A successful approach to serving older adults Example - Senior Reach On Site Technical Assistance 1

2. Example On Site Consultation • Following is an example of a presentation for on site consultation/implementation training. • Each consultation (one or two days) and agenda is developed in advance for each organization with input from representatives from the collaboration. • Teresa Legault, Senior Reach Technical Assistance Center Consultant, is a Certified Trainer so the experience is invigorating and challenging to the participants.

3. Glad to meet you! • Teresa Legault, MPA Jefferson Center for Mental Health Project Manager for Senior Reach 303-432-5750 • Vicki Rodgers, MS, LPC Vice President of Clinical Systems, Jefferson Center Project Director for Senior Reach 303-432-5093 3

4. Reaching out, Meeting needs Coming together… and making a difference. 4

5. Senior Reach has resulted in: • Better overall services to older adults. • Good research-based evaluation outcomes. • Less fragmentation in service delivery. • Greater community understanding of seniors. • Spirit of volunteerism. 5

6. How does Senior Reach help older adults? • Strong community support for OA. • Easy, centralized point of access. • Trained community members. • Reduced stigma. • Proactive assistance. 6

7. What’s our plan for the day? 7

8. Who’sthat next to me? Work with tablemates to write a collective resume • Number of years working with older adults? • Training and experience? • Special skills and hobbies? Pick one teammate to report out. 8

9. …before we start “One angel sent another angel at a time I most needed help.” B – age 79 9

10. Components of Senior Reach • Training non-traditional and traditional community members and referral sources. • Single entry point to refer older adults to mental health, wellness and care management service. 10

11. Focus of Senior Reach • Identify and provide services to seniors needing help who have not come to the attention of aging services or mental health systems. • Develop and train persons in the local communities who can reach out to these seniors and contact the Call Center on their behalf. 11

12. And to… • Offer support and treatment to identified older adults through a team of licensed mental health professionals and wellness and care managers. • Build a strong collaborative partnership between agencies that serve older adults. • Make a positive impact on outcomes of isolation, depression, levels of functioning, hope, and optimism. 12

13. Senior Reach at a glance • Community education. • Community-based volunteer program. • Elder-friendly and simple. • Innovative mental health practice. • Strong, collaborative partnerships. 13

14. “Senior Reach has been fabulous! It’s been a lifesaver for us. They helped our families cope with many problems and they have helped our senior population with crisis intervention.” Adrienne Franseen, Director of In-Home Care Services, SRC 14

15. Project design • Requires extensive collaboration between a variety of senior providers and evaluation. • Research project. • Coordinating Team is the administrative arm of the project and consists of leadership from the four agencies. 15

16. Jefferson Center for Mental Health • Has 50 years experience as a community mental health center. • Serves Clear Creek, Gilpin, and Jefferson Counties. • Provides therapy services to about 9,000 persons a year and reaches another 9,000 through education and prevention programs. 16

17. Seniors’ Resource Center • Has 30 years experience providing services to seniors. • In 2010, provided direct services to over 13,000 older adults. • Works in 11 counties including Clear Creek, Gilpin, Boulder, Broomfield, and Jefferson Counties. 17

18. Over 38 years experience as a community mental health center. • Serves over 10,000 individuals per year. • Serves older adults through qualified mental health professionals and Senior Peer Counselors. 18

19. TriWest Group Comes with long history of national expertise in using evaluation to support: • Innovation • Community-based services • Multi-agency collaborative structures • Currently supporting several SAMHSA grant initiatives 19

20. The Coordinating Team at work… 20

21. Coordinating Team • Key decision makers from each agency. • Frequent meetings scheduled collaboratively. • Provide direction and over sight of the project. • Communication, collaboration and commitment are key.

22. Community Advisory Group • The Community Advisory Group consists of members from the four agencies, members of the target population, and about 30 different organizations and agencies representing these counties or the state. • We are asking them to support/refer to the project, review reports, and provide honest feedback about our progress. 22

23. All staff do presentations, trainings, assist in infrastructure building, and provide outreach to the community to spread the word about Senior Reach. How our team works… 23

24. Program Coordinator Call Center Specialist Wellness/Case Manager Outreach Clinician Others Staff roles 24

25. Where is staff located? • Each partner agency has staff. • Staff represents interest of host agency. • Two hats, several teams.

26. Flow of services • Recruitment and training of Senior Reach volunteers. • Senior Reach volunteers and community professionals refer to Senior Reach program through call center (1-800) at SRC. 26

27. Then… Our staff have very flexible boundaries with their positions and work together on what team member needs to do what task to get the most impact for the older adult. 27

28. Building relationships with area agencies and organizations. Marketing materials. Seniors fairs, health care fairs, benefits events. Cold calls at area businesses, professionals working with older adults and non-traditional referral sources. Newspaper articles. Methods of recruitment 28

29. How does training work? • Types of training sessions. • Where training occurs. • Senior Reach Volunteer Training Manual. • Other training and marketing tools. • Document! 29

33. What does a Senior Reach Community Partner do? • Volunteers are community members trained in identifying older adults in need. • They become keen observers of an older person’s personal appearance, mental and emotional states, personality and physical changes, poor health, social problems, substance abuse, caregiver stress, abuse or neglect, social isolation, financial hardship, and the risk factors of suicide. 33

34. Included but are not limited to: Employees of agencies, corporations (UPS) and businesses (the local diner Older adult volunteers Utility workers Landlords Bankers Staff at senior centers Apartment managers Postal carriers Clergy and congregation members Pharmacists Grocery clerks Policy officers Firemen Civic club members Senior peer counselors Home health staff Who can be a Senior Reach Partner? 34

35. Community response Senior Reach has met with overwhelming community response and has exceeded all expectations in training and outreach efforts. 35

36. Community outreach results • Individuals trained in X years Traditional XXX (estimate 400 @ yr) Non-traditional XXX (estimate 600) • Total XXX trained to identify seniors at risk and refer to Senior Reach 36

37. Referral sources say… “I’m glad there is a program to turn to – that will help with my mom.” Tom, Adult Son “Intervention by Senior Reach has made a tremendous difference for my client.” Veronica, Case Manager “Our partnership really made the difference in this person’s life.” Diane, Adult Protection 37

38. Work with tablemates to answer: • Who will refer? • List names of agencies and professionals. • Who else? • Who is missing? • Report out. 38

39. The referral process • Easy access to services. • How the call center works. • Importance of collaboration and knowing what programs are in your community. 39

40. More numbers… • Call Center referrals XXX • About 87% qualify for services • Of those who qualify an average of 93% accept services 40

41. What do services look like? • Mental health treatment. • Wellness programming. • Care-management services. • Community partnerships. 41

42. Length of program for consumers • Assessment/engagement up to 3 contacts most often in the client’s home. • Average 4 – 10 contacts per person - very individualized. • Most complete services within 6 months. • Using a Brief Solution Focused Treatment model for therapy. • Longer term service needs are referred and coordinated with other providers. 42

43. Clients say… “Senior Reach has been my life-line!” Mike, age 62 “I don’t know what I’d do without you during this crisis.” Alma, age 62 43

44. Senior Reach helps to bring people in the community closer to seniors. As a result, seniors experience better connection to their community, less isolation, and better quality of life. David Bartsch, PhD, TriWest Group 44

45. Why is Senior Reach needed? • By 2020, the 60+ population will have more than doubled. • As they age, some seniors have little or no support from family and friends. • The average person is not aware of resources in their community. • Seniors often face compound challenges. 45

46. Questions? Comments? 46

47. Welcome back! 47

48. Let’s talk more about outcomes… • Enhanced community infrastructure. • Improved collaboration. • Simplified referral process. • Timely services or linkages. • Increased visibility for partners. • Improved understanding of seniors. 48

49. Outcomes for the program and system • Substantiate need and value of prevention and early intervention services. • Establish a new Evidence-Based Practice. • Increase awareness of target population needs and reduce stigma of mental illness. 49

50. More outcomes… • Increase provider and community expertise with older adult needs from all walks of life. • Increase knowledge of an collaboration with community resources. • Provide project model that can be replicated in other counties with similar results. 50