Coping With COVID-19 16. April 2020 Admin COVID-19 (0) Dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic has not been fun for anyone. It’s changed the American mindset and culture. It has forced us to become isolationist, and more reliant on technology than ever. There are fields and industries that still have to operate that can’t rely on technology to get the job done. [More]
The Safest Home Care During COVID-19: Self-Directed Home Care 30. March 2020 Admin COVID-19 (0) The Coronavirus is presenting unprecedented challenges for individuals, families and friends who need to maintain their health while keeping social distance. The evidence is clear: the most vulnerable to this virus are aging adults with underlying health conditions, individuals with disabilities and the chronically ill. Care and support workers – already a vital resource for this population – are now more important than ever to ensure an individual’s health, safety and care. [More]
5 Good Reasons Why You Should Consider Self-Direction 11. May 2019 Admin Participant (0) Self-direction, also referred to as participant-direction or consumer-direction, is an approach that helps aging adults and people with disabilities maintain their independence and stay in their homes and communities. With this approach, Medicaid recipients have more control over their approved services and supports. They hire service providers they want to work with and pay them using individual budgets that are available through a Medicaid waiver program. [More]
Necessity is the Mother of Invention 8. February 2017 Admin Participant (0) Since 2005, The Chanda Plan Foundation has promoted wellness and healing to persons with physical disabilities through integrative therapies including acupuncture, massage, adaptive exercise and adaptive yoga. Founder Chanda Hinton Leichtle realized the benefits of integrative therapies when faced with her own mortality at age 21. Through her determination to help other persons with physical disabilities, Leichtle has worked with Colorado policy makers to create the SCI Waiver, which will evaluate the cost efficiency and the value of integrative therapies for persons with physical disabilities over an eight-year span (2012-2020). Based on the data, Colorado could choose to cover integrative therapies, providing better health outcomes at low costs. The legislation could serve as a model and be used nationally. For Leichtle, this is far bigger than her. She says, “I can’t wait to see the impact we will make on our community and the opportunity this model will offer to others because we made sure to make it possible to replicate.” [More]
Penetration Rates in Participant Direction 1. April 2016 Admin Client (0) We have long observed that there are different penetration, or utilization rates in participant direction across the country. We know there are many reasons for this: state program priorities, budgets and waivers for new services, impact of advocates, legislative politics, state leadership, But we also know that there are differences among populations who are served. In a recent international conference presentation Val Bradley, President of the Human Services Research Institute in Cambridge, MA, presented national data on penetration rates for participants with developmental and intellectual disabilities. Val stated that these rates have plateaued at 8% to 10% nationally. Looking at the data that PCG-Public Partnerships has collected from various states shows that the population with DD and IDD is usually in the single digits. In contrast, the penetration rates of those with disabilities and problems of aging are much higher -up to 40% to 45%. [More]
Thoughts on Self-Direction 30. March 2016 Admin Participant (0) What does it mean to self-direct your services and supports? Two words come to mind: “Choice” and “Control”. You have choice over the services you purchase, who provides them, and how much you pay for them. You have control over when and how those services are delivered. You are in the driver’s seat. You call the shots within the program rules set by state and federal agencies. Our job is to support you. Much of what we do, such as paying taxes on your behalf, goes on behind the scenes. If we do our job well you might not even notice us. That’s how it should be. We want you to be able to stay focused on living your life. [More]