Community Impact: Healthy Aging

 

THE CHALLENGE:

• Pennsylvania ranks third in the United States by percentage of the population who are 65 and older.
• By 2020, Pennsylvania’s 60 and older population is expected to be 25% of the total population of the state.
• Although institutional care is more than twice the cost of supporting an older adult at home, the state provides little funding for home- and community-based services.
• Local senior centers play a significant role in supporting older adults who remain living in the community; however, the quality of center-based programming is inconsistent.
• Many older adults and their caregivers are overwhelmed trying to navigate the often confusing and sometimes uncoordinated spectrum of services for older adults.

 

OUR GOAL:

United Way of Southeastern Pennsylvania ensures that older adults have access to systems and services that allow them to age in their homes and communities.

 

THE OPPORTUNITY:

Seniors overwhelmingly report a strong desire to remain at home, but isolation and lack of access to needed services are placing many older southeastern Pennsylvanians at risk. United Way is building and supporting high-quality community support networks and developing innovative approaches to keeping seniors independent in their homes and communities.

 

THE RETURN:

The cost necessary to determine if seniors are entitled to benefits they are not receiving is approximately $75 and yields, on average, approximately $7,000 in benefits. That’s almost a $100 return on investment for every $1 spent! Aging at home is the preference of most seniors and their families and is half the cost of nursing home care, but the commonwealth of Pennsylvania spends only 23% of its long-term cares dollars on in-home care.

 

OUR STRATEGIES:

• Develop innovative models, in collaboration with community-based partners that provide older adults with sustainable and coordinated community-based services.
• Improve and sustain the capacity, quality and programming of senior centers, adult day care providers, in-home health aides, and caregivers that serve older adults.
• Advocate for public policies and build public awareness around the need for, and success of, home- and community-based services for older adults.
• Support benefit enrollment, depression screenings and intervention, in-home health aide services, and friendly visits to older adults.

 

OUR IMPACT:

• Established the Healthy Aging Vision Council comprised of aging services leaders as well as government and corporate representatives who promote the awareness and accessibility of services, programs and policies in our region that support healthy aging for older adults.
• Forged a partnership with Pennsylvania Department of Aging to pilot innovative models of community-based services for older adults.
• Advocated for the passage of the Family Caregiver Support Act that would increase financial resources and support for family caregivers of older adults.
• Supported more than 90% of all senior centers accredited by the National Institute of Senior Centers in Pennsylvania.
• Created an assessment tool for senior centers that helped them evaluate their effectiveness and impact on older adults in their neighborhoods.

 

Your contributions to United Way Community Impact allow us to partner with nonprofit agencies that delivered the following results:

Impact on Health

A sample of your investment’s performance, YEAR TWO:
Goal		Actual
24,354	Homebound seniors who receive in-home physical health services	23,680
2,323	Number of home repairs	2,868
2,201	Senior attending centers reporting taking better care of their health	2,966
10,416	Older adults and caregivers received information and referral services	15,361

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