Aging and Human Services

These citizen-centered programs and projects offer the elderly education and assistance, promote community wellness and provide caregiver support. The results have been cost savings for individuals and communities and improved quality of life.

Seniors in the South Plains Association of Governments region in Texas are learning the advantages of going online at the association’s Centers for Medicare and Medicaid: Back-to-School Project. The regional organization, through school district partnerships, uses high school computer labs to teach seniors about the basics of operating a computer and how to access online Medicare/Medicaid programs, Social Security and private healthcare resources. The project is now working to acquire computers for senior centers.

South Plains COG Medicare Computer Training Program in Texas.

Lower Rio Grande Valley Development Council in Texas formed the Medication Assistance for the Elderly program to assist low-income elderly with cutting medication costs. Six years ago the council purchased software for $250, which lists pharmaceutical companies offering payment vouchers. Seniors complete and mail software forms to manufacturers and in return receive a manufacturer’s voucher for prescription payments. Vouchers often cover payments for up to a year. The estimated annual cost savings is $30,000.

Northwest Piedmont Council of Governments in North Carolina and S.A.F.E./Guarding Against the Fleecing of the Elderly, Inc. designed the Help Us “Lookout” for Medicare! A Public Forum to teach individuals, without cost, about the Medicare/Medicaid billing processes. Forum attendees learned how to read medical billing statements to detect error and fraud. In-kind presentations from hospitals, insurance companies, physicians and the council’s Area Agency on Aging staff trained 85 attendees. The project budget was $810.

The Family Caregiver Voucher Program provides families with relief from their 24-hour caregiving duties. The Northwest Piedmont Council of Governments in North Carolina, partnered with lead agencies in four counties to identify caregivers for program enrollment. Enrolled caregivers receive payment vouchers for purchasing in-home care, night or weekend respite or adult day-care services. Caregivers receive up to $1,000 in vouchers annually. The council has enrolled 77 caregivers since the program began in January 2002.

A Grayson County Community Alliance created the Grayson County Food Bank in Kentucky, to make food distributions and also to provide nutrition education, financial counseling and parenting workshops. The food/commodities and financial resources for this interagency, community partnership come from U.S. Department of Agriculture commodities program, Food Bank, local donations, volunteers and Lincoln Trail Community Service Program. The food bank monthly distributes 15,000 pounds of food and personal items to 425 families.

MedAssist is a program administered by the South Central Alabama Development Commission Area Agency on Aging aimed at providing low-income individuals, over age 60, access to free and/or low cost life-sustaining medications. This 15-month program serves three counties and has, in six months, served more than 425 clients with 2,370 prescriptions and resulted in a savings of over $512,000 for the region’s low-income elderly.

East Alabama Regional Planning and Development Commission, the Alabama Department of Senior Services and the Alabama Association of Regional Councils partnered to form the Alabama Association of Area Agencies on Aging. The association provides Alabama’s 13 Area Agencies on Aging (AAAs) with a professional organization, aiding further development and expansion of their “Senior Promise” mission. The mission is to “address the needs, independence, dignity and quality of life among Alabama’s senior citizens.”

THE ADVOCATE, developed by the Lee-Russell Council of Governments’ Area Agency on Aging (AAA) in Alabama and advisory committee feedback, is Alabama’s first quarterly AAA senior newsletter. The newsletter is distributed to and posted in senior care living facilities in the region. The newsletter’s circulation has generated an increase of information requests to the AAA. Support for printing and distribution comes from the area agency’s in-kind staffing services.

Lee-Russell Council of Governments’ AAA’s project entitled The Life History Video is a compilation of the biographical interviews with senior citizens over the age of 90. The personal interviews, conducted by case managers, discuss the knowledge and experiences gained living for almost a century. The video biography is given to the senior’s family free of charge and a copy is archived at the AAA office.

Award Winners South Plains Association of Governments Area Agency on Aging, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Project Back-to-School. Contact: Jerry Casstevens or Pete H. Lara, P.O. Box 3730 Freedom Station, Lubbock, TX 79452-3730; 806/762-8721; fax 806/765-9544; email plara@spag.org; web www.spag.org Lower Rio Grande Valley Development Council Area Agency on Aging, Medication Assistance for the Elderly. Contact: Ken Jones, Jose Gonzalez or Josefina Martinez, 311 N. 15th St., McAllen, TX 78501-4705, 956/682-3481; fax 956/631-4670; email knjones@lrgvdc.org; web www.lrgvdc.org Northwest Piedmont Council of Governments, Help Us “Lookout” for Medicare! A Public Forum. Contact: Matthew Dolge or Kevin Robertson, 400 W. 4th St., Suite 400, Winston-Salem, NC 27101; 336/761-2111; fax 336/761-2112; email krobertson@nwpcog.dst.nc.us; web www.nwpcog.dst.nc.us Northwest Piedmont Council of Governments, Family Caregiver Voucher Program. Contact: Matthew Dolge or Lucinda Brogden, 400 W. 4th St., Suite 400, Winston-Salem, NC 27101; 336/761-2111; fax 336/761-2112; email lbrogden@nwpcog.dst.nc.us; web www.nwpcog.dst.nc.us

Lincoln Trail Area Development District, Grayson County Food Bank. Contact: Mike Boone or Wendell Lawrence, P.O. Box, 604, Elizabethtown, KY 42701; 270/769-2393 or 270/259-4000; fax 270/769-2993 email wendell@ltadd.org; web www.ltadd.org South Central Alabama Development Commission Area Agency on Aging, MedAssist. Contact: Tyson Howard, Sylvia Alexander or Angela Rowe, 5900 Carmichael Pl., Montgomery, AL 36117; 334/244-6903; fax 334/270-0038; email thoward@adss.state.al.us; web www.alarc.org/scadc/ East Alabama Regional Planning and Development Commission, Alabama Association of Area Agencies on Aging. Contact: Randy Frost, P.O. Box 2186, Anniston, AL 36202; 256/237-6741; fax 256/237-6763; email rfrost@adss.state.al.us; web www.alarc.org Lee-Russell Council of Governments’ Area Agency on Aging, THE ADVOCATE. Contact: Suzanne Burnette, 2207 Gateway Dr., Opelika, AL 36801; 334/749-5264; fax 334/749-6582; email sburnette@adss.state.al.us Lee-Russell Council of Governments’ Area Agency on Aging, Life History Video. Contact: Suzanne Burnette, 2207 Gateway Dr., Opelika, AL 36801; 334/749-5264; fax 334/749-6582; email sburnette@adss.state.al.us

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