Workshop Recap: How Housers Can Play a Central Role in Resident Health
On Thursday, March 18th SCANPH convened for a unique workshop focused on best practices when caring for aging and vulnerable residents of nonprofit affordable housing. These residents often require greater levels of care when discharged from hospitals or nursing homes. Throughout the workshop, panelists explored how providers of affordable housing can serve as the nexus to facilitate strong and coordinated systems of care that efficiently produce health and housing outcomes. Moderator Ayako Utsumi, Founder of Valon Consulting, guided thoughtful discussion to uncover how residents continuously fall through the cracks in program-rich but integration-poor communities.
Kicking off the discussion, panelist Kiara Carvelli, Director of Resident Services at Menorah Housing Foundation, outlined barriers faced by resident service providers when individuals are discharged from the hospital but have no medical help at home. Without designated care, aging and vulnerable residents are prone to health and safety challenges, exacerbated with independent living. Carvelli described the benefits of programs such as care coordination provided through the Assisted Living Waiver Program (ALWP), a medical waiver program that allows for individuals to receive nursing-home-quality care, without ending up in a nursing home. ALWP provides on-site care for older adults and allows eligible tenants to sign up for the program to retain nursing services in their own home. In California, funding barriers exist to such programs, resulting in a complicated enrollment process. Overall, coordinated care programs have perks, but impediments exist when providing care to aging and vulnerable populations. As a result, Carvelli sees the need to bridge together existing gaps between health and housing.
Laura Trejo, General Manager for the City of Los Angeles Department of Aging, outlined expansive senior population growth in the LA region over the next 8 years. The Los Angeles region is unique in that it is served by both a City and County Department on Aging. The City of Los Angeles Department of Aging is working to respond to the regional needs of aging in Los Angeles. Specifically, the City of Los Angeles wants to lead other cities as the top age friendly city for people aging in place. Only 10 states in the entire US have more older individuals than Los Angeles County. The region, however, presents distinct characteristics, boasting high diversity in age, linguistic and racial makeup, making programming challenging to accommodate various regional needs. Fortunately. The City of Los Angeles Department of Aging began its focus on aging populations prior to the start of the pandemic, which aided in departmentmental mobilization and regional connection building that fostered strength throughout the last year. Moving forward, Trejo hopes to address issues related to care management as the aging and vulnerable population continues to grow. Trejo wants to identify greater funding sources and conquer the disparate availability of resources that currently exists. To close, Trejo hopes to enhance resource availability between organizations to leverage a housing action plan to shape California as the leading age friendly state.
Nancy Rockett Eldridge, CEO of National Well Home Network, shared her knowledge and experience as evidence to identify gaps in healthcare systems for aging and vulnerable populations. As housers, it’s essential to address these necessary solutions. Eldridge shared the importance of the prevalence of CA IWISH sites, resulting in the widespread implementation of various models of care and enforced the idea that health begins at home. Approaching the healthcare system through a community health care worker approach, systems of care can formally connect with CBOs and government to serve entire neighborhoods, while embedding care teams at all care hubs and types of housing. Although the California Integrated Care program faces some locational limits and not everyone can participate in all programs, it remains necessary to build a system that serves individuals of all needs. Specifically, CICH care teams empower individuals, helping them determine what type of care they desire. The Community Health Living plan is data-driven, allowing individuals to make their own choices about the type of care they wish to revive. If healthcare is to work for all, everyone needs a voice.
Panelist Meghan Rose, General Counsel & Director of Social Impact Initiatives and Housing Policy at LeadingAge California, weighed in on the role of the Master Plan for Aging in California as an approach to make California Integrated Care at Home a reality. Rose provided an overview of Newsom’s June 2019 executive order calling for the creation of a Master Plan for Aging (MPA). Seeing that the plan failed to address housing, LeadingAge jumped on the opportunity to emphasize messaging that housing is a human right, foundational to the continuum of care for older adults. LeadingAge saw the need for more affordable housing in California for older adults, an issue that addressed keeping folks housed to help prevent homelessness. Keeping people housed also prevents aging adults from being unnecessarily and prematurely admitted into skilled nursing facilities. The California Integrated Care at Home (CICH) SASH Model creates an easy and accessible pathway for older adults to get assistance. Looking forward, Rose sees the need to improve data indicators and advance a Data Dashboard for Aging adults. Additionally, Rose remains hopeful since the governor’s January Budget Proposal allotted funding for essential care service programs.