Agenda - 05-01-2012 - 7a - Laserfiche WebLink

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2012-2017 Orange County Master Aging Plan Community Kick-off Event In October 2011, the OCDOA sponsored a community forum, attended by 113 people, to present the results of the government readiness assessment and the community assessment to a broader group of stakeholders and to identify gaps in the six existing priority areas. The event started with a series of presentations about the context of aging and the results of community assessment, and then moved into a series of small (eight to ten people) discussion groups to identify missing priorities. In total, seven additional priority areas were identified by these small groups, including 1) financial and economic security, 2) aging in place supports, 3) safety and security, 4) food and nutrition, 5) public education, 6) mental health, and 7) physician education. OCDOA staff compiled all 13 priority areas and projected them onto a large screen so that forum participants could vote on the issues they thought were most important for MAP to address. The purpose of this prioritization was to identify five priorities to become MAP work group topics. The five topics that received the most votes became work group topics, and all other priorities were merged under the five priority areas. Work Groups The five work group topics identified from the community assessment and the community forum were Housing, Health and Wellness, Aging in Place, Navigation and Transportation, and Community Engagement. Work groups met over a standardized five- meeting sequence from November 2011 to February 2012 that ensured parallel process across groups. One UNC graduate student and two OCDOA staff inembers co-led each work group, which consisted of anywhere from 10 to 30 community members. Work groups were responsible for researching the topic area, identifying problems within the topic area in Orange County, and formulating objectives and strategies to address that problem. The final output from each group was a concise list of objectives and strategies that were then filed under the eight MAP goals. Below is a summary of the main discussion points of each of the MAP Work Groups. Housing: • Information needs regarding housing stock, especially affordable housing • Alternate senior housing models • Regulations restricting new housing developments • Availability of housing subsidies • Universal design • Engaging community stakeholders in housing development planning Health and Wellness: • EMS Services for older adults, especially for falls prevention • Healthy lifestyles and chronic disease prevention • Spiritual counseling and chaplaincy services • Accessing appropriate medical care • Workforce training for medical professionals to serve and engage with older adults • Quality and access to mental health and substance abuse programs and services • Quality of programs and services provided in nursing homes, assisted living facilities, family care homes, and (ong- term care facilities • Marketing and information sharing about health and wellness programs and services available in the county 8