Reducing Older Adult Isolation: Strides Forward

Throughout the spring and summer, the collaborative of organizations working on the Foundation’s planning grant to create a system to reduce older adult isolation in Lackawanna County has been hard at work. During this time, they have made great strides, including:

Evaluating existing isolation screening tools and selecting one they think would be best for use in our community
Defining the role of volunteer navigators, who would assist isolated older adults in connecting to services to reduce their isolation
Talking through target audiences and messaging for a corresponding awareness campaign

In addition to continuing to come to consensus on several other key parts of the program, the collaborative is also moving forward with organizing several older adult focus groups to provide input on their work so far. Their ultimate goal is to share a complete, written plan with the Foundation and community in September, likely with the recommendation to first test the plan on a smaller scale through a pilot project and make adjustments prior to full implementation.

Although COVID certainly extended the timeline for this project, Peg Kopko of the United Way of Lackawanna & Wayne County, the lead organization of the collaborative, says, “Despite the occasional challenges and conflicts of working as a collaborative, our partners’ overall ongoing commitment to this work, and to working together in a true cross-community partnership, has been inspiring to witness.”

“If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.”
-African Proverb

Christine Marcos
Program Officer
cmarcos@mosestaylorfoundation.org

Reducing Older Adult Isolation: More Relevant Than Ever

As it’s become apparent that the COVID-19 pandemic will be with us for the foreseeable future, it has likewise become clear that the Foundation’s strategic initiative to reduce older adult isolation has become more relevant than ever.

While we are all experiencing a higher degree of isolation as we seek to slow the spread of disease, older adults have been particularly suffering. Nationally, some experts have called for changing language around ‘social distancing’ to ‘physical distancing,’ highlighting the importance of continued social engagement via technology and other safe avenues. Identifying and supporting these creative opportunities has temporarily become the focus of the Foundation’s work around older adult isolation while our collaborative planning grant to create a large scale system to reduce older adult isolation remains on hold to allow our nonprofit partners to focus on ongoing crisis response.

We have also heard about a wide variety of online classes and discussion groups being offered by organizations, such as the Greenhouse Project and NeighborWorks NEPA’s Aging in Place Program.

Many national organizations are likewise offering free online programming and friendly phone calls geared towards older adults who may be isolated. One example is Senior Planet, which offers free classes both online and by phone, many geared toward teaching older adults how to use different types of technology. The organization even has a national tech support hotline to help older adults on a one-on-one basis with any technology issues they are experiencing.

We are continuing to seek opportunities to learn more about the current needs of isolated older adults and to support programming that meets those needs, so if your organization has information to share, please reach out to me at any time.

For more information about the Foundation’s work to support older adult isolation, feel free to contact me.

Christine Marcos
Program Officer
cmarcos@mosestaylorfoundation.org

Reducing Older Adult Isolation: Convening Recap

Prior to the escalation of the COVID-19 pandemic, Moses Taylor Foundation’s partners, led by the United Way of Lackawanna & Wayne Counties, held an exciting kickoff to begin their work developing a plan to reduce older adult isolation.

A group of approximately fifty local stakeholders met for a full day in late February, with the first half of the day featuring a highly engaging workshop led by Sarah Horst from the Institute for Clinical Systems Improvement. Sarah provided the group with practical tools to guide their collaborative process as they embark on putting together a County-wide plan to:

Identify isolated older adults through a shared screening tool
Connect those identified as isolated to services to reduce their isolation through a team of navigators
Promote a community awareness campaign to raise awareness about the health impacts of isolation

During the second half of the day, attendees broke out into discussion groups about each of the three plan components and brainstormed their vision of success. The group left the event highly motivated and energized to move forward with their work.

Unfortunately, before the group could reconvene, the impact of COVID-19 had already begun affecting the region, necessitating a pause in this work so that the collaborative partners could focus on the most urgent needs of their older adult clients. Once this time of uncertainty is behind us, the group looks forward to resuming this important project and the Foundation looks forward to continuing to support their efforts!

Christine Marcos
Program Officer
cmarcos@mosestaylorfoundation.org

Reducing Older Adult Isolation: Collaborative Kickoff

After releasing the Reducing Older Adult Isolation Planning Grant Request for Proposals (RFP) in June, Moses Taylor Foundation was excited to award this funding in December to a collaborative of organizations led by the United Way of Lackawanna & Wayne Counties.

The collaborative will work together over the course of eight months to develop an implementation plan for a system to reduce older adult isolation in Lackawanna County.

The proposed system will include a:

shared screening tool to identify isolated older adults
system of trained navigators to connect those who are isolated to services
corresponding community awareness campaign about the health impacts of isolation

In addition to the United Way, other members of the collaborative are: Allied Services Integrated Health System, Alzheimer’s Association Greater Pennsylvania Chapter, Geisinger Health Systems, Greater Carbondale YMCA, Greater Scranton YMCA, Jewish Family Service of Northeastern Pennsylvania, Jewish Home of Eastern Pennsylvania, Keystone College, Lackawanna County Area Agency on Aging, NeighborWorks of Northeastern Pennsylvania, Penn State Scranton, Serving Seniors, United Neighborhood Centers of Northeastern Pennsylvania, and The Wright Center for Community Health.

This group will be at the forefront of an issue that, while recognized as an epidemic at national and international levels, still has much progress to be made in terms of identifying effective solutions. While this type of trailblazing work certainly has its challenges, Moses Taylor Foundation looks forward to supporting our partners in their efforts to improve the lives of older adults in our region, as well as contributing to the broader body of knowledge around isolation interventions.

For more information about the Foundation’s work to support older adult isolation, feel free to contact me.

Christine Marcos
Program Officer
cmarcos@mosestaylorfoundation.org