Age-Friendly Planning November 9

Greetings,

An “aging-in-place with dementia” AFOC work group is forming– see below.

October 26^th Meeting

We received updates on discussions are underway regarding Oronoco’s participation. We also heard from Mayor Eichhorst. The work plan of the UMR CoLab students was shared.

The main topic for discussion was establishing Housing as a 2022-2025 planning priority for AFOC attention and action consistent with Community Assessment Findings Report and current Priority Preferences Survey.

We considered two broad older adult housing-related categories evident in local discussions and research:

• Senior housing, defined in the Maxfield Study as “any housing development that is restricted to people age 55 or older.” The “senior housing products” identified in the study exclude single-family-homes, townhomes, apartments, and nursing facilities.
  (for those who have requested a copy of the Maxfield Study, it’s a large file to attach. You will find it for downloading here: https://www.rochestermn.gov/home/showpublisheddocument?id=29782.)
• Aging-in-place referring to persons living in their home of choice for as long as they are able, as they age. This includes being able to have any services or other support brought into their home they might need over time as their needs change. Aging-in-place usually assumes persons remaining in their current home.

Going forward, we also want to remain attentive to the broad themes identified in the findings report:

• COVID-19 changed things—some temporarily, some for the long term.
• Increasing racial and ethnic diversity.
• Racial, health, and income disparities.
• More information is needed about unincorporated areas of the county.
• An alarming rise in homelessness.
• Dementia and caregiving are increasingly important.

There was general agreement that issues within the Housing domain should be part of the 2022-2025 action planning. Though there will be opportunities for advocacy related to “senior housing products,” aging-in-place appears to be the category for emphasis in the action planning. A discussion of aging-in-place surfaced interest in:

• ·         Planning for aging-in-place: e.g. financial, home rehab, service supports, transitioning to “senior housing”
• ·         Access, availability, affordability of health and service supports for aging-in-place
• ·         Support for aging-in-place caregivers (friends, family, services)

Goals for November 9^th

2:30pm-4pm.

Meeting link: https://FamilyServiceRochesterorg.zoom.us/j/81159183932?pwd=US96UG54SGxGTEdRbUtRV1B0QWhrUT09

Though the October 26^th meeting did establish an aging-in-place emphasis and explored issues that it might entail, we were not yet ready to form a working group to develop this section of the action plan.

In the interim, an “aging-in-place with dementia” group is forming. Members so far include: Toni Kay Mangskau, National Patient Advocate Foundation; Jodi Melius, Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center, Mayo Clinic; Kathy Scheid, Elder Network; Kori Petersson, Align Senior Care; Chersten Keillor, SEMAA; and April Sutor, FSR. This group is planning to have its first meeting before our 11/9 meeting with the goal of bringing some preliminary work to the larger group and in doing so illustrate how our work groups might form, function, and contribute to a 2022-2025 action plan.

In addition to what the aging-in-place with dementia group might have to share – and with that in mind – we will consider what other aging-in-place topics might find a group to take on. We might consider planning for aging-in-place (financial, home rehab, service supports, transitioning to “senior housing”). The topic has come up often in AFOC discussions. Though the senior housing co-design project report will not be released prior to our 11/29 meeting, the need for planning was also a major topic rising out of that work. Perhaps we can see what interest there might be in pursuing planning for aging-in-place for attention and action in 2022-2025.

Updates:

Last week there was an AARP Global Conference on Redefining Health: New Approaches for How We Live and Age. A copy of The Aging Readiness & Competitiveness Report– Third Edition Driving Innovation in Healthcare and Wellness shared at that conference is attached FYI.

Regards,

Dave Beal

Age-Friendly Olmsted County Coordinator

Family Service Rochester

4600 18^th Ave NW

Rochester, MN 55901

507-287-2010

www.familyservicerochester.org