By Geralyn Magan
A session at this year’s LeadingAge Leadership Summit shed light on the older adults who benefit from Rural Aging Action Network, a collaborative led by Lutheran Services in America.
“Rural Aging Action Network has integrated us into this community. Without the program, we would be totally lost here. Truly, we are eternally grateful for this program. It has helped us psychologically, physically, in every way.”
This is just one of the many positive sentiments shared with researchers from the LeadingAge LTSS Center @UMass Boston by older adults participating in Rural Aging Action Network (RAAN), a collaborative working with six organizations to expand sustainable community-based services and supports and address gaps in care for underserved older adults in rural communities throughout Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota, and South Dakota.
LTSS Center researchers Robyn Stone, Verena Cimarolli, and Molly Wylie are conducting a two-year evaluation of RAAN, which is led by Lutheran Services in America, a national network of 300 health and human services organizations that leads innovative approaches to support the dignity and independence of older adults. Researchers joined Ashley Washington, senior director for aging initiatives at Lutheran Services in America, to present a session about the network during April’s LeadingAge Leadership Summit in Washington, DC.
A UNIQUE APPROACH
Under the guidance of Lutheran Services in America, RAAN taps into the unique assets of rural communities and the resilience of older adults and their caregivers. Community assets include traditional providers of aging services and a variety of nontraditional partners, including local Boy Scout troops, Parent Teacher Associations, the Farmers Union, or the owners of the local truck stop or restaurant.
“We know that one of the greatest assets of rural communities is that everyone knows and cares for one another,” Washington told Leadership Summit attendees. “When we educate community partners about what older adults need, they rally and leverage their resources to address those needs.”
RAAN takes a strength-based approach to assisting older adults. Rather than conducting a traditional individual needs assessment, RAAN hires local staff with lived experience who are trusted by the community to have one-to-one, open-ended conversations with older adults. These conversations are often held in an older adult’s home or another place where the older adult feels comfortable.
“We ask older adults about themselves,” said Washington about the assessments. “We ask them what brings them joy and what their hobbies and talents are. We want to make sure we’re not just asking how we can help them but that we’re also inviting them to help us. We recognize that older adults are often the experts in their communities, and we want them to participate in the process.”
Community partners are also invited to participate fully in RAAN, which maintains a public data dashboard where partners can quickly see how many older adults face a particular challenge, how RAAN is addressing those needs, and how partners might work together to craft additional solutions.
THE LTSS CENTER EVALUATION
The LTSS Center is collecting data about services provided through Rural Aging Action Network. It is also conducting focus groups and interviews with RAAN participants and partners, and working with LSA to develop a toolkit to help organizations in other states replicate the network’s model. The toolkit will be available this fall.
LTSS Center Research Associate Molly Wylie reported that, on average, RAAN service recipients are 76 years old, white, female, and living on a restricted income. Fewer than half are married or have a partner. In addition, RAAN has had a meaningful impact on the lives of older adults who don’t speak English as a first language or have recently immigrated to this country.
Researchers found that 99% of the 483 individuals who have contacted the network have been assessed for gaps in the social determinants of health. Half of those assessed (55%) were referred to services, and half of those who received referrals (52%) were connected to services.
Not everyone chooses to receive services or a referral. A client may no longer feel comfortable receiving services, and provider agencies may have waiting lists or may determine that the client does not meet eligibility criteria.
“We also found that some caregivers and older adults are looking for resources before they need them,” said Wylie. “In this way, RAAN is a long-term care planning resource that helps older adults and families plan for services in advance of critical needs.”
Focus groups and interviews have helped LTSS Center researchers understand the benefits RAAN participants appreciate most. Recipients said they enjoyed a variety of services and supports, including homemaking, legal assistance, translation, and immigration-related assistance, as well as help integrating into the community and meeting other older adults, said Wylie. They also appreciated when network service coordinators, called “Program Leads,” went out of their way to lend a helping hand.
“One RAAN staff member not only made a referral to a homecare service but offered to personally interview potential homemakers,” said Wylie. “When another older adult had difficulty finding a hospice care provider, the RAAN staff member stayed with her husband for four hours to provide respite to the caregiver.”
AN INVITATION TO LEADINGAGE MEMBERS
LTSS Center Co-Director Robyn Stone urged LeadingAge and Global Ageing Network members to create or participate in rural collaboratives like Rural Aging Action Network.
“I want to encourage our members, particularly our life plan communities, to think about how they share their resources,” said Stone. “How can they be creative in using this model to think more broadly about how they reach out to the larger community? Several life plan communities are participating in RAAN. There’s a lot of potential for other LeadingAge members to follow their example.”