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From the
Executive Director:
New long-term care
needs: Information and access
No one likes to
think that they will need long-term care. But when
household chores, transferring from a bed to a chair
or cooking meals become difficult, long-term care
may be a necessity.
What type of
long-term care do most Minnesotans want? They want
care that comes to them, in their homes, that is
easy to find, easy to use and affordable.
Developing easy
access and affordable care is a challenge of the
Long-Term Care Task Force, comprised of legislators
and state agency commissioners. They have worked for
two years to develop a long-term care system that:
- Supports
seniors’ desire to remain independent
- Provides
services that meet consumer needs
- Provides high
quality care
- Ensures
efficiency and affordability
One of the first
hurdles that seniors face in obtaining services that
help them stay in their homes is information. How
can you get help when you don’t even know what
exists?
Thanks to
recommendations by the Long-Term Care Task Force,
the state is now building a long-term care database,
which is set to go public this summer.
The database will
allow seniors and their families the opportunity of
logging on, researching and finding programs that
best meet their unique needs. In addition, the
database will help everyone working with seniors –
from the Senior LinkAge Line® specialist to the
person at the local senior center – to find
services, programs and information about who to
contact, how to get it and more.
In future issues, I
will outline other ideas that can help seniors
remain independent, including:
- Working with
long-term care consultants, who are specialists
in the array of services and can help seniors
and their families wade through the options,
choose services that meet their needs and find
resources to make it work
- Launching 2-1-1
– Similar to 911 phone calls, this special
three-digit number would help all Minnesotans
get connected to social services, whether its
finding home-delivered meals or housing.
Our vision for
long-term care is a system that is easily understood
and navigated by seniors and their families. So,
whether they log onto the database or call 2-1-1,
they can get the information they need quickly and
easily.
– Jim Varpness,
Executive Director
Minnesota Board on
Aging
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