Online and in-person information about long-term care supports for older Minnesotans, people with disabilities and their families will be enhanced as part of “Tough Decisions…Clear Choices,” a Minnesota initiative that recently received a federal grant. “Providing clear choices at tough times can mean the difference between institutionalization and living at home independently,” said Jim Varpness, executive director of the Minnesota Board on Aging, one of the partners in the initiative. “Through this initiative we have an opportunity to change the way long-term care is delivered by getting clear choices to people early in their search for help for their parents or themselves.”
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services awarded a $739,136 grant for the effort, also being sponsored by the Department of Human Services, Hennepin County, the Metropolitan Agency on Aging and the University of Minnesota Center for Aging. “The Minnesota Board on Aging and Hennepin County are natural partners in working together to streamline multiple public programs and to ensure that families can find the help they need through a single point of entry into the long-term care support system,” said Alex Bartolic, manager of Hennepin County’s Coordinated Home Services program. “Partnering, especially in a time of budget reductions, is key in integrating services that will allow us to meet the needs of a variety of people.”
The grant funds will help to highlight www.minnesotahelp.info, the website that provides a variety of human services-related information and assistance, and integrate that site into other public access systems being developed. Specifically, the University of Minnesota Center on Aging will develop a decision-making tool for the site that will assist consumers in obtaining services that suit their particular needs. “Our goal is to help consumers and their families make more confident choices that lead to appropriate placement and better health care outcomes,” explained Robert L. Kane, M.D., Center on Aging director.
The site will also be integrated into other systems, including the Internet-based HealthMatch system the Department of Human Services is developing with county partners to automate the eligibility process for Minnesota Health Care Programs. Funds also will be used to create data-sharing tools that will allow Hennepin County, as well as hospital discharge planners, nursing home social workers and other helping professionals to conduct assessments and help people find services that allow them to remain in their homes. In the next three years, Hennepin County’s Coordinated Home Services will look at new ways to provide one-stop assistance and information about a variety of long-term care options.
The Minnesota project is one of 12 nationally to receive the first-round grant funds through the President’s New Freedom Initiative, which aims at overcoming barriers to community living for people with disabilities of all ages. States awarded grants this year will play a mentoring role as other states develop their systems, Varpness said.
More information about “Tough Decisions…Clear Choices” is available at www.mnaging.org
Information about long-term care supports is provided through the Senior LinkAge® Line at 1-800-333-2433 or on the web at www.minnesotahelp.info
. Contact James G. Varpness of the Minnesota Board on Aging at 651-296-1531 for further details.
