Category Archives: Transportation

“What Makes a Community Livable?” – AARP

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English-In a Livable Community Poster

“The formula for what makes a community livable isn’t particularly complex. For the most part, the features and needs are fairly simple.

“But living in a place that, say, requires having a car for every errand or outing can be a difficult place to live if you don’t have a car or can’t drive.

“Living in a place without access to outdoor spaces, good schools and healthy food isn’t very livable, especially for young families.

“Living in a community that isn’t safe, or offers few activities, can be isolating for people regardless of age.

“On the other hand, a community that includes all of the features pictured in our “In a Livable Community” handout can be great — for people of all ages!”

AND people with a disability!

Posted in: Aging, Disabilitiies, Events & Actvities, Food & nutrition, Health, Housing, Mental Health, Transportation

“The Transportation Quandary for Older and Disabled People Is Two-Fold” – Route Fifty

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bus

A recent survey shows the “great need” to serve those who can’t drive or will no longer be able to.

by Lauri Maggi

“Older people want to stay in their homes as they age. But a recent survey finds that when it becomes time to stop driving, they just don’t know what their options are to keep getting around—if any exist.

“A survey by the National Aging and Disability Transportation Center found that 68 percent of adults 60 and older who they polled this fall said it would be hard to find alternative transportation options if they needed to stop driving. The poll also included younger disabled people, who said they would struggle even more, with 80 percent responding that it would be difficult to find other alternatives.

“Virginia Dize, co-director of the center, said the survey reveals the ‘great need’ to provide for both older people and those with disabilities.”

Read this article in its entirety, click here.

Posted in: Aging, Disabilitiies, Transportation

“The Burgeoning Trend Of Age-Friendly States” – Forbes

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age friendly forbes

contributor: Richard Eisenberg, next avenue

“You’ve probably heard about age-friendly communities; maybe you even live in one of the 305 cities and towns with the AARP ‘Age-Friendly Community’ designation. But what you might not know — and what I learned attending the Gerontological Society of America (GSA) conference in Boston last week as a Journalist in Aging Fellow — is that a few states are now designated as age-friendly, too.

“So far, New York, Massachusetts and Colorado have been granted the age-friendly state designation by AARP, joining AARP’s new Network of Age-Friendly States. On November 14, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo issued an executive order to ‘improve health and well-being of New Yorkers across the lifespan.’ Other states, such as New Hampshire, Rhode Island (which has the highest proportion of residents over 85), New Jersey, Tennessee, North Carolina and Oregon may follow.

Click here to find out “What It Takes to Be an Age-Friendly State” as you read the this article at Forbes in its entirety.

Read these related articles, too:

Here are Pennsylvania’s Age Friendly Communities:

For more information, contact: AARP Pennsylvania, 866-389-5654, aarpa@aarp.org

 

Posted in: Aging, Aging in place, Transportation

REPORT: “Travel Patterns of American Adults with Disabilities”

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Transportation

This issue brief uses data from the 2017 National Household Travel Survey (NHTS) to examine the daily travel patterns of American adults with travel-limiting disabilities. It also explores data from the 2001 and 2009 NHTS to illustrate trends over time. Key statistical highlights of this report include:

  • 25.5 million Americans age 5 and older have self-reported travel-limiting disabilities.
  • Only one-fifth of people age 18 to 64 with travel-limiting disabilities work full- or part-time
  • 7 out of 10 respondents with disabilities reduce their day-to-day travel because of their disabilities

Although several groups of technologies might help people with disability-related transportation limitations, people with disabilities tend to use these technologies less frequently.
Click here to read the full report and see more statistics on income, employment, and travel patterns.

Posted in: Aging, Disabilitiies, Transportation

“Companies Respond to an Urgent Health Care Need: Transportation” – The New York Times

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“It’s no longer enough to call a taxi or regular car service and hope that frail seniors can get in and out — or through the entrance of a doctor’s office on their own as the driver speeds off.”

transportation

by Janet Morrissey

“As America’s baby boomers are hitting 65 at a rate of 10,000 a day, and healthier lifestyles are keeping them in their homes longer, demand is escalating for a little talked-about — yet critical — health care-related job: Transporting people to and from nonemergency medical appointments.

“‘It’s going to become a massive phenomena,’ said Ken Dychtwald, founder and chief executive of Age Wave, a consulting firm specializing in age-related issues. ‘This is an unmet need that’s going to be in the tens of millions of people.’

“It’s no longer enough to call a taxi or regular car service and hope that frail seniors can get in and out — or through the entrance of a doctor’s office on their own as the driver speeds off. For people requiring oxygen tanks and wheelchairs, it’s an even bigger challenge, and long waiting periods are often required to arrange for specially equipped vehicles. Those needing transportation and specialized drivers covered by their insurance often have to wade through another labyrinth of red tape.

“Many older people require sensitive, skilled or specially certified drivers who know how to deal with someone who’s frail, uses a wheelchair or has mild cognitive problems. ‘It’s more than pick up and drop off,’ Mr. Dychtwald said.”

Continue reading this article at The New York Times, click here.

Posted in: Aging, Aging in place, Healthcare, Transportation

Pennsylvania Launches Website to Help Seniors and People with Disabilities Find Services Near Home

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PALinktoCommunityCare
Harrisburg, PA – Yesterday, Governor Tom Wolf announced the launch of the Pennsylvania Link to Community Care website, which connects older Pennsylvanians and individuals with a disability or behavioral health need to services and support available in their community.The Pennsylvania Link to Community Care website provides users with a wide variety of resources including a home care directory and an information referral tool.

“We have been working hard to help individuals with a disability and older Pennsylvanians to live where and how they choose, just as any of us would want,” Governor Wolf said. “This new website is a tremendous tool to help you or your loved one make the best and most informed decision about care and services.”

The website is a collaboration between the departments of Aging (PDA) and Human Services (DHS), and serves as an extension of PDA’s Aging and Disability Resource call center. With this online resource the commonwealth is adding to its continuing efforts to help Pennsylvanians locate and get the best use of services at the local level.

“Our capacity to link seniors and their families with community resources is critical to helping them live and age well at home,” said Secretary of Aging Teresa Osborne. “Today’s launch empowers older Pennsylvanians and their caregivers to proactively explore the service options that are available to them as they seek to remain independent and age in place.”

The site features 12 service and support categories, including Advocacy, Behavioral Health, Employment, Finance, Health Care, Housing, In-Home Services, Legal, Meals, Protection from Abuse, Support Groups, and Transportation.

Users can find information about organizations, services, and programs within these categories. One major component to the site is its home care directory, which connects individuals to in-home services available in their county. More than 350 in-home service providers appearing on the searchable directory may offer personal care, assistance with activities of daily living, companionship services, respite care, and/or habilitation services.

“We are committed to serving Pennsylvanians where they want to be – in their homes and communities,” said DHS Acting Secretary Teresa Miller. “This website is a great resource to connect an individual to the services they need to provide a choice in where they live.”

Following the launch of Pennsylvania Link to Community Care, the departments of Aging and Human Services will continue to enhance the website using data and feedback from users, and expand the resources and information provided throughout the site. If you are a provider licensed by the Pennsylvania Department of Health, and would like to appear on the home care directory, you may submit your information by navigating to the footer of the site and clicking on “Apply.”

To learn more about the Pennsylvania Link to Community Care website, or to find information on resources available in your county, visit www.carelink.pa.gov.

Posted in: Aging, Disabilitiies, Mental Health, Money, Prescriptions, Transportation

Go Go Grandparents could be a transportation resource assist for some

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A person from Lebanon County sent this in an email. Though not available in every part of the Berks-Lancaster-Lebanon Service area, this service may be an answer for some persons with transportation challenges.

gogoClick on the graphic to download the brochure.

GoGoGrandparent turns on demand transportation companies like Lyft into services that help families take better care of older adults.

Step 1: CALL 1 (855) 464-6872 and wait to hear “thanks for calling GoGoGrandparent”

Step 2:

PRESS 1 for a car to your home

PRESS 2 for a car to where we dropped you off last

PRESS 3, 4 or 5 for a car to a custom pick up location

PRESS 0 to speak with an operator

https://gogograndparent.com/

Posted in: Aging, Caregiving, Disabilitiies, Transportation

Seven Quality of Life Nursing Home Transition Grants from the Paralysis Resource Center Announced

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reeve foundation logo

reeve foundation

Short Hills, N.J. (July 13, 2017)- The Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation, a national nonprofit dedicated to improving quality of life for individuals living with paralysis, is awarding seven Quality of Life Nursing Home Transition (NHT) grants totaling $280,000 to seven Centers for Independent Living (CILs) nationwide. Quality of Life grants of $40,000 support fellow nonprofits that mirror the Reeve Foundation’s mission and commitment to foster community engagement, enhance independence, and promote healthy self-esteem. The Quality of Life Grant program to date has awarded more than $22 million in grants to more than 2,900 programs since its inception in 1999. Funding for the grants is made available through the Paralysis Resource Center (PRC) operated by the Reeve Foundation under a cooperative agreement with the Administration for Community Living at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

The PRC’s Nursing Home Transition Grant Program funds Centers for Independent Living across the country to transition people with paralysis living in nursing homes back into their homes or a community-based setting of their choice. Under the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) passed in 2014, CILs are charged with supporting individuals to transition into community-based settings as a new core service, but CILs often lack the resources to do so robustly. The PRC’s NHT grants serve to supplement the work CILs are already doing to fulfill their responsibilities under WIOA and to help achieve the Reeve Foundation and ACL’s shared mission of full community participation for people with disabilities. For this grant, paralysis is functionally defined as a difficulty and/or inability to move one’s arms and/or legs due to a neurological condition such as spinal cord injury, traumatic brain injury, spina bifida, cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis, ALS, and many other chronic conditions that coexist with developmental, congenital, and acquired disabilities.

“These grants are intended to improve the quality of life for individuals by becoming part of the solution nationwide to decrease the unnecessary segregation and isolation of individuals living with functional paralysis,” said Maggie Goldberg, VP of Policy and Programs at the Reeve Foundation. “Our new program funding allows us to further help the aging and paralysis populations and create more community inclusion, which is our ultimate goal. We are excited to have this opportunity to expand our grant program, and hope to work with them again in the future.”

These organizations were awarded 2017 Nursing Home Transition Grants:

  • Communities Actively Living Independent & Free (CALIF), Los Angeles, CA
  • Kansas Association of Centers for Independent Living, Topeka, KS
  • Liberty Resources, Inc., Philadelphia, PA
  • Memphis Center for Independent Living, Memphis, TN
  • Progressive Independence, Norman, OK
  • Resource Center for Independent Living, Inc., Utica, NY
  • The Whole Person, Kansas City,MO

These applicants were chosen based on their innovative project designs and scaling up capacity. These funds will allow flexibility in purchasing a variety of nursing home transition needs that are not currently covered by other funding sources such as rental and utility deposits; first month’s rent; moving costs; and startup cost and services. The majority of the funds will be used to purchase home furnishings, assistive technology, personal care attendant services, and internet access. These CILs will also now be able to hire more staff or increase staff hours to help address rural isolation, assist very low income individuals, and provide post transition services.

SOURCE: news release

Posted in: Disabilitiies, Transportation

NPR : “Workplaces Can Be Particularly Stressful For Disabled Americans, Poll Finds”

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disability employmentJason Olsen, a 39-year-old policy advisor for the Department of Labor and uses the Washington, D.C., Metro to commute to work three times a week. On the other days of the week Olsen telecommutes from home to avoid the challenge of taking the Metro. Ruby Wallau/NPR

“More than 4 in 10 working Americans say their job affects their overall health, with stress being cited most often as having a negative impact.

“That’s according to a new survey about the workplace and health from NPR, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health.

“While it may not sound so surprising that work affects health, when we looked more closely, we found one group was particularly affected by stress on the job: the disabled.

“More than 60 percent of people with a disability in our poll say their job has a bad impact on their stress level.

“Jason Olsen says he’s not surprised by the poll’s findings. As I met him at his home in Gaithersburg, Md., we start trading commuter complaints. Traffic was terrible getting here, I say.

“But his story wins out.”

Read Jason’s story and the rest of this NPR article here.

Posted in: Disabilitiies, Transportation

Need help identifying long term services and supports, read this!

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dhsirt

Here’s a Webpage with a “tool (that) will help you and/or your caregiver to identify beneficial long term services and supports based on your specific needs. This tool is NOT meant to: tell you if you qualify for services; provide a diagnosis; and it will not save any information on any specific individual.

If you have any questions or require any assistance, please call the PA Link Call Center at 1-(800)-753-8827.

Posted in: Aging, Disabilitiies, Education, Food & nutrition, Health, Housing, Mental Health, Technology, Transportation