SLCNA Report February 2020 - Report - Page 15
4. What do you think could encourage more community involvement, advocacy, and partnership
around health issues?
• Stakeholders all agreed that we must increase and improve education and advocacy efforts for
seniors in the marketplace and through legislation.
• Further educate and gain the attention of the adult children (and sandwich generation caregivers)
on their roles and responsibilities to their parents and their future needs.
• It was suggested to offer seniors technology training, in particular to access healthcare portals
and online resources.
• As industry providers, we need to advocate and encourage organizations to partner and/or
collaborate to better serve older adults.
• Some stakeholders felt that insurance companies could do a better job of educating subscribers of
the benefits and services available to them. Additionally, human service agencies and government
programs could also do a better job of educating and promoting their services and programs.
Older adults are entitled to a lot of great options, but they have no idea they exist or how to
access them. Furthermore, we should be mindful of using jargon, assumptions of knowledge, and
the technology gap with some older adults.
• The group recognized that they sometimes “trip over each other, duplicate efforts, or muddy the
waters” for those we serve. We must improve our communication across the industry and avoid
“siloed” efforts to create more effective partnerships and synergy.
• As stakeholders we must also increase our knowledge base of the available services, programs,
and funding. In turn, we can do a better job educating the community, and referring, partnering,
and collaborating with other providers. Create and/or improve programs that promote social and
emotional connections.
• Trade/membership organizations can help build camaraderie between providers.
5. How can community organizations and leaders in south central Pennsylvania better
collaborate to address shared goals around health issues, specifically Messiah Lifeways?
• We agreed that no one has all of the answers; we must work together and build relationships to
move forward.
• As industry leaders, stakeholders must continue to improve education, coaching, collaboration,
and community efforts by providing guidance, encouragement, preplanning, and ease of access
to services. We must also build trust, secure buy in, and use grassroots efforts to reach vulnerable
populations. We need to take an educational and advocacy approach; it cannot be a sales pitch
to constituents.
• Collaborate with other providers to provide a better alternative/platform/clearinghouse of
resources, such as the Aging Development Resource Center (ADRC). Use technology or build a
chat room or listserv that people can share needs/resources.
• We must help break the stigma around “welfare services and programs.” People are embarrassed
or too prideful sometimes to access these services.
• We must continue this ongoing conversation. People get busy, forget, and move on.
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