Strategic plan to improve home-based health resources under way

SENIOR MATTERS
By Lesley Fernow

   Good news for Piscataquis County!  With funding from the Maine Health Access Foundation (MeHAF), the Charlotte White Center will convene a diverse group of stakeholders over the coming year to develop a strategic plan for improving and increasing home- and community-based resources.  The focus of the project is to help people with chronic health conditions avoid unnecessary inpatient care in settings like hospitals and nursing facilities.
   Most seniors want to age in place, and people with disabilities generally prefer to remain at home and receive services in their communities.  Despite these wishes, however, such barriers as limited funding for in-home and community-based care, transportation challenges, and workforce shortages too often lead to temporary or permanent stays in costly inpatient settings.

    MeHAF’s Thriving in Place Across the Continuum of Care initiative (TiP) will pay for a comprehensive community needs assessment by the University of Maine Center on Aging, and it will assist with other planning costs.  After a successful planning year, the TiP task force may be eligible for substantial implementation funding for up to three consecutive years.
    Partners involved in the work ahead are Eastern Area Agency on Aging; Maine Highlands/The Commons at Central Hall; the University of Maine Center on Aging; Mayo Regional Hospital; C.A. Dean Hospital; Penquis; Care & Comfort; the Maine Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association; Pine Tree Hospice; the University of Maine Center for Community Inclusion and Disability Studies; Acadia Hospital; Piscataquis Public Health Council; Eastern Maine HomeCare; Rest Assured, LLC; Community Housing of Maine; and iTN America.
    TiP task force partners will be gathering soon to outline the first stages of this exciting new venture.  Look for more details in future Senior Matters articles.
We invite readers to offer feedback about this column and to suggest topics for future articles. You may do so by contacting Meg Callaway of the Charlotte White Center at (207) 947-1410 and mcallaway@charlottewhite.org or Lesley Fernow at (207) 992-6822 and lmfernow@rcn.com.