NY Connects: Choices for Long Term Care
NY Connects: Choices for long-term care (NY Connects) plays a pivotal role in public access to long term care information at the community and at state level. NY Connects is a state program that is implemented on the county level to improve access to long term care services through coordinated Information and Assistance. It minimizes confusion, supports informed decision-making and enhances consumer choice. It connects consumers of all ages needing long term care to the necessary services and supports regardless of available payment source; be it private pay, public or a combination of both.
Navigating the long term care system in order to access needed information and services is complex, costly, and difficult. Long term care services are administered by multiple agencies and providers and are supported by numerous funding sources. Individuals in need must contact multiple agencies to obtain information and access services. In addition, the need for long term care services will dramatically increase due to the impending demographic shift of individuals over the age of 60. As part of the national movement to redesign long term care , New York State Office for the Aging (NYSOFA), in collabortation with the New York State Department of Health (DOH) , established NY Connects in 2006, to improve New York’s long term care system to make it more effective, cost efficient and accessable.
NY Connects at the community level, is designed to coordinate and provide comprehensive, unbiased long term care information and assistance with accessing services through its organizational structure, which includes a formal collaboration between the local Area Agencies on Aging (AAA) and the local Departments of Social services (DSS). NY Connects
maximizes the use of existing health and human services staff across multiple local agencies, creating efficiency through consolidation and streamlining across agencies that serve mutual consumers (e.g. shared staffing and client tracking systems, co-location and/or cross-agency rotation of staff, etc.).
NYSOFA has invested significant resources to increase public access to information about long term care resources via a web-based Long Term Care Resource Directory. Through a contract with RTZ Associates, Inc., the agency has developed an online database of long term care services , which to date has over 20,000 county level governmental, not-for-profit and for-profit/proprietary provider listings. The directory will be housed within the existing public website
and will be made available to the public.
Local Long Term Care Councils, made up of staff from the local AAA and DSS, and stakeholders at the community level-- including consumers and advocates, are charged with developing a more cost-effective and responsive local long term care system and have produced tangible reform in many areas of the long term care system.
NY Connects defines long term care as medical and non-medical supports and services needed to improve or maintain one's health and daily living. Such services may be provided in the individual’s residence and other community-based settings. Examples of the vast array of long term care services include, but are not limited to transportation, home care, respite, home delivered meals, personal care services, and home modifications and repairs. Through provision of free, comprehensive, unbiased Information and Assistance about these services, NY Connects promotes the most integrated long term care setting and empowers consumers to identify appropriate types of services to prevent or delay the need for more costly institutional care. NY Connects consists of the following fundamental components:
- Information and Assistance - Local NY Connects programs
provide Information and Assistance on available long term care options specific to the sixty and older population, individuals of all ages with physical disabilities, and for caregivers.
Information and Assistance is available in various ways including telephone access, face to face meetings, off-site accommodation for people with special needs, email, or through a local web
site. Local NY Connects programs administer a comprehensive screening process
that guides the delivery of long term care options and possible avenues of direction
specifically tailored to each individual’s unique needs.
Access to a web-based long term
care resource directory will be available to NY Connects staff, helping
professionals such as discharge planners and the public through the current
NYConnects website
.
- County Collaboration - In each particiating county, NY Connects
is operated through collaboration between the Area Agency on Aging (AAA) and the
Department of Social Services (DSS). Some counties have included additional partners such as the Department of Health, Veterans Administration, or Youth Bureau. Although the program is operated through multiple agency collaboration, counties are able to provide Information and Assistance
that is promoted and recognized as a distinct service, independent of any particular partner
agency. Programs also utilize standardized screening elements to aid in the consistent delivery of service. These qualities ensure a streamlined public entry point to the program – the
cornerstone of NY Connects.
- Shared Responsibility - In order to share responsibility and enhance
collaboration in the provision of Information and Assistance, the various agencies involved in
NY Connects in each county have employed innovative approaches, such as the
co-location of staff from partner agencies to one location and the use of information technology and telecommunications.
- Public Education –Public education and outreach are conducted to increase
the visibility of the program and alleviate the mis-conception that long term care services can
be delivered only in institutional settings. Raising awareness of NY Connects
informs the general public and helping professionals that there is one easily accessible place
to get assistance about long term care options, the benefits of preparing for future long term
care needs, and the availability of long term care services in their community.
- Long Term Care Councils - NY Connects is the first program of its kind to
initiate state-wide long term care reform through the creation of local Long Term Care Councils. Long Term Care Councils in each participating county are made up of consumers, caregivers,
providers, advocates, government representatives (AAA Directors, LDSS Commissioners and others)
and key stakeholders who come together to analyze the local long term care system, identify
gaps, duplication and barriers in the system and make recommendations for improvements. The
Councils use their findings to work toward a system that is more streamlined, efficient, and
responsive - a system that helps consumers remain at home and in the community.
By establishing the NY Connects program, New York State has been recognized by AoA and CMS as having Aging and Disability Resource Centers, making New York eligbile for additional federal funding for targeted programs. NYSOFA has broadened the scope of NY Connects to further reform long term care and expand partnerships. This has been accomplished by developing and administering the following AoA funded programs in targeted counties.
- Nursing Home Diversion and Transition Program (2008) and the Community Living
Program (2009): Allows older adults to maintain their independence and remain in their
communities by offering consumer directed models of care, which allow individuals to be more
involved and have more control over the types of services they receive and how they receive
them.
- Veterans Directed Home and Community Based Services Program (2008): Allows
VA Medical Centers (VAMCs) to purchase consumer directed services and other home and community
based services directly from the aging network for qualified veterans of all ages who are at
risk of nursing home placement.
- Aging and Disability Resource Center Grant (2009): Improves access to long
term care through the provision of Options Counseling and improves transitions in care to
decrease preventable re-hospitalizations and support individuals to remain successfully at home. A major component is the development of a volunteer Community Supports Navigator program in
Albany and Tompkins Counties, which supports older adults transitioning from hospital to home by helping them follow their post discharge plan and access the services and supports that they
need.
- ADRC Evidenced-Based Care Transitions Program (2010): Assists older adults
with the transition from hospitals to home through evidenced based models, specifically, the
Coleman model. The grant builds on the ADRC model which is an essential required component.
- Chronic Disease Self Management Program (2009): Serves at least 5,000
community living older adults with chronic disease, engage providers already delivering CDSMP in a statewide system, and build a regional infrastructure to offer and sustain high quality
deliveries adhering to the fidelity of the CDSMP and other evidenced-based health programs.
Among the deliverables is integration with NY Connects as a referral source.
- Lifespan Respite Care Program (2010): Develops a coordinated system of
accessible, community-based respite services for family caregivers of children and adults with
special needs.
- Medicare Improvement for Patients and Providers Act for Beneficiary Outreach and
Assistance (2010): Expand, extend and enhance outreach efforts to increase
participation in the Medicare Savings Program and Low Income Subsidy Program, provide assistance with Medicare Part D and increase the use of preventive services for beneficiaries.
Collaboration between the State Health Insurance Program (known as HIICAP in NYS), Area Agencies on Aging (AAA) and Aging and Disability Resource Centers (NY Connects) are
required.
- Accelerating Sustainable Service Systems (2011): New York was one of four
states to receive 2011 funding geared towards further streamlining access to home and community
based services. New York will work with counties to create an integrated, evidence-based, and
sustainable service system which is dementia capable for older adults, individuals with
disabilities and family caregivers. Under this system, NY Connects will serve
as the hub of communication and referral/linkages to services.
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