It is important to understand that each area plan is based on plans that were developed in the past. Services will continue to be funded based on utilization, and clients can expect some consistency despite budget cuts. The SEAGO Advisory Council on Aging (ACOA) reviews all proposed funding allocations in detail, comparing them with those most recently approved.
For this Area Plan, the ACOA reviewed the minimum goals and objectives that the state unit on aging and the Area Agencies on Aging had agreed to include in their respective plans, and during the January and April 2010 meetings brainstormed activities that the SEAGO AAA should undertake.
At the April meeting, the results of the needs assessment questionnaires were also reviewed. The top problems identified were affordable dental care, cost of utilities, telemarketing/in-home sales, affordable assistive devices, and home maintenance and repair.
Possible solutions considered included: support for the Governor’s Advisory Council on Aging’s Oral Health Committee, the Saint Elizabeth of Hungary and the Chiricahua Community Health Clinics’ dental programs.
Other solutions were increasing community awareness of resources available by training the ACOA membership to be Ambassadors, armed with SEAGO’s Elder Resource Directories, and establishing links with a whole variety of community agencies. Therefore, the objectives were developed by the ACOA.
The AAA needs assessment included a review of:
A. Needs assessment questionnaires.
B. Demographic and census data for the region.
C. Service utilization.
A. Needs Assessment Questionnaires:
The AAA asked contract providers, local senior service programs, hospitals, health clinics, and our partners to distribute surveys in both English and Spanish throughout the region in the first quarter of calendar 2010. The Cochise College Center of Economic Research also created an electronic version of the questionnaire which was put on the SEAGO Web site.
The questionnaires were distributed at senior housing complexes, nutrition sites, and other senior group meetings. Case managers and home delivered meals staff provided questionnaires to those who were homebound and helped individuals fill them out. Many of the individuals who are case managed are at risk of institutional placement.
The Needs Assessment Questionnaires (Appendix E) were compiled and analyzed by the Cochise College Center for Economic Research, and the resulting document is attached in Appendix F.
B. Demographic Data
The 2000 Census was used to develop funding formulas for state funding and for Older Americans Act funding for county allocations. This same formula will be used for the term of this plan.
The demographic pattern of individuals receiving services is compared at least annually to each county’s census profile to ensure that minority and low income individuals are being served appropriately.
C. Service Utilization
Service utilization for case managed services is reviewed monthly to ensure that contract services are being used, and that case managers are authorizing service levels as budgeted. Where productivity and utilization have declined, a more in-depth review is made to determine whether the service in question is still relevant or whether a change in the service delivery process is needed. For example, because of under utilization of in-home respite in SFY 2009-10, funding levels for this service are being reduced in the upcoming year.
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