Progress 09/15/07 to 09/14/10
Outputs
OUTPUTS: The overall goal of Planning for Long-Term Care: Increasing Accessibility for Rural Older Adults was to help individuals and families plan effectively for their needs as aging adults, in order ultimately to increase their accessibility to more long-term care options. Specifically, this project aimed to: Increase people's awareness of the wide-range of housing options for older adults - from aging in place to assisted living to nursing homes. To encourage caregivers to take care of themselves so that they can continue to provide caregiving services. To provide family members with strategies and tools to manage emotions and communication challenges that arise when a family member needs long-term care services. To help people assess their financing options for long-term care. This project focused on the holistic approach of providing educational programming - we felt that the topic demanded this approach to truly help people plan for long-term care. The educational information developed was initially presented at workshops in rural Illinois communities. Content topics include housing options, family dynamics and communication, caregiving issues, and financing long-term care. Depending on the community's needs, between two and four of these topics were presented. Most of the workshops featured all four of the content topics and were held as a one-day workshop. The curriculum format is flexible; however, a minimum of 45 minutes per topic is required. No more than five hours is needed to present all the lessons. Curriculum materials for each content area include PowerPoint presentation, teaching and discussion guide, and participant handouts and activities. Six workshops in rural Illinois served as a pilot study for the curriculum. The workshops' evaluation results were used to modify the curriculum and to provide guidance in the development of the Long-Term Care: Talking, Deciding, Taking Action website, www.longtermcare.illinois.edu. This new website went live in the fall of 2010 as a result of this project. The website provides a sustainable way to provide this important information to people 24/7, nationwide. The website structure includes four main topic areas: housing, family dynamics, caregiving, and financing. The website includes much more than just web pages of text. Features include: over 80 minutes of multi-media presentations including two downloadable podcasts; 16 printable activities and handouts that allow the users to apply information learned to their personal situation; and more than 20 annotated links to resources. Much thought was put into the design element of the website. Planning for long-term care can be a difficult topic for many people. We wanted a warm, inviting website; we believe we've achieved that with a colorful website with inviting images. We have shared the results of this project at professional conferences and with educators both in Illinois and nationally. Our hopes are that the curriculum and website will be used by professionals with their clients, as well as by individuals and families. PARTICIPANTS: The Long-Term Care: Talking, Deciding, Taking Action development and teaching team consisted of Paul McNamara, Extension Specialist and Associate Professor, Consumer Economics, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; Katherine L. Sweedler, Extension Educator, University of Illinois Extension; Amy Griswold, Extension Educator, University of Illinois Extension; Molly Hofer, Extension Educator, University of Illinois Extension; Katherine Reuter, Extension Educator, University of Illinois Extension; and Cammy Seguin, Extension Educator, University of Illinois Extension. TARGET AUDIENCES: The target audience for this program is primarily families and caregivers who face the challenge of planning for and delivering long-term care services. The project is intended to assist families in their efforts to plan effectively for the risk of long-term care. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Not relevant to this project.
Impacts
Six workshops in rural Illinois served as a pilot study for the curriculum. Participants were asked to complete a short questionnaire at the end of each workshop to assess change in knowledge and awareness as well as plans for action. Data analysis indicates that participants increased their understanding and intend to take action towards planning for long-term care needs. According to respondents' answers from a two-page questionnaire administered after each workshop (from a 5-point scale ranging from strongly agree to strongly disagree): 82% strongly agree or agree, "I have a better understanding of the potential costs of long-term care"; 83% strongly agree or agree, "I know the pros and cons of aging in place"; 81% strongly agree or agree, "I realize that family conflict can be reduced by using communication skills"; and 80% strongly agree or agree, "I have gained ideas for managing caregiver stress." In addition, 65% of respondents said they plan to discuss their plans for long-term care with family members and others. Communicating plans is an overlapping theme throughout the curriculum. The website incorporated the insights from the workshop evaluations into its design in order to maximize the education impact on families and caregivers.
Publications
- Conference Presentation: Long-Term Care: Talking, Deciding, Taking Action presented at the 2010 National Extension Association of Family and Consumer Sciences Annual Meeting, in Portland, ME in October of 2010 by A. Griswold and K. Reuter.
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Progress 09/15/08 to 09/14/09
Outputs
OUTPUTS: This project's goal is to help rural older adults and their families to plan effectively for future long-term care needs by providing people with educational information that will allow them to make informed choices. In the project's second year, our work continued to meet this goal. In addition to the five workshops held in rural Illinois in 2008, another workshop was held in May 2009. This workshop also was well-received by both consumers and professionals who work with older adults. From the feedback received from these workshops, the workshop curriculum content has been revised and additional information added. The workshops address the following objectives: 1) increase people's awareness of the wide-range of housing options for older adults; 2) encourage caregivers to take care of themselves so that they can continue to provide caregiving services; 3) provide family members with strategies and tools to manage emotions and communication challenges; and 4) help people assess their financing options for long-term care. The curriculum is presented in four interrelated lessons, each of which provides workshop participants an opportunity to engage in activities and discussions that increase their comprehension of the material. Participants also receive resources and tools to take home. The curriculum is now finalized and is currently being packaged so that it can be disseminated to educators to use nationwide. We have begun to further disseminate this educational curriculum through presentations at conferences such as the Association for Financial Counseling and Planning Education Conference. Also, a one-day intensive professional development workshop was held at the Illinois Governor's Conference on Aging. The next step is to reach more people with this information through a website. Evaluation comments from the workshop participants have helped shape the website content. Currently, the website design is complete and content is being added to the development website. The website will include the educational content presented at the workshops, plus more. Multimedia elements are being produced to further facilitate consumers' learning. Workshop participants requested links to related resources, and these are being added to the website. PARTICIPANTS: The primary project personnel include Paul E. McNamara, Kathryn Sweedler, Katherine Reuter, Molly Hofer, Cammy Seguin, and Amy Griswold. All project members contributed to the development of the Long-Term Care: Talking, Deciding, Taking Action workshop curriculum and the delivery of the rural workshops. In addition, all of these team members contributed to the design and development efforts on the website. Marlene Stum has contributed her expertise about family communication in regards to financial decision-making through a multimedia presentation that will be added to the website. The primary project personnel shared the new curriculum with other University of Illinois Extension Educators during a professional development training held in October 2009. TARGET AUDIENCES: The primary audience for this effort of adult and family education is rural people at risk for using long-term care services or who will be impacted by long-term care as care-givers and care providers. The secondary audience includes long-term care and aging professionals in need of professional development training related to the issue of planning for long-term care. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: The project has received a one year no-cost extension.
Impacts
Evaluation data from the workshops continues to be collected and evaluated. Participants were asked to complete a short questionnaire at the end of each workshop to assess change in knowledge and awareness, as well as plans for action. Preliminary data analysis indicates that participants increased their understanding and intend to take action towards planning for long-term care needs. Participants responded to a series of statements based upon a 5-point scale ranging from strongly agree to strongly disagree. Over 80% of the participants indicated they strongly agree or agree with these statements: 1) I have a better understanding of the potential costs of long-term care, 2) I know the pros and cons of aging in place, 3) I realize that family conflict can be reduced by using communication skills, and 4) I have gained ideas for managing caregiver stress. In addition, 65% of respondents said they plan to discuss their plans for long-term care with family members and others. Communicating plans is an overlapping theme throughout the workshop. Workshop evaluation results are being used to develop the Long-Term Care: Talking, Deciding, Taking Action website.
Publications
- Sweedler, K.L., McNamara, P., Griswold, A., Hofer, M., Reuter, K. and Seguin, C. 2009. Long-term care: Talking, deciding, taking action. Proceedings of the Association for Financial Counseling and Planning Education Conference. Scottsdale AZ.
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Progress 09/15/07 to 09/14/08
Outputs
OUTPUTS: This project has received a one-year no-cost extension. The objective of our project is to develop an educational program aimed at rural consumers and families that will assist them in planning for the possibility of long-term care. During the period ending September 2008, we developed a curriculum for rural workshops and worked on developing a website that will be launched in 2009. Our program is titled Long-term Care: Talking, Deciding, Taking Action. The program emphasizes the importance of communication and it provides tools to assist families in discussing their expectations regarding care-giving, care resources, and financial resources in the long-term care area. The program also provides the families with resources to understand and choose between the different options they face in the financing area: long-term care insurance, reverse mortgages, savings and investments, Medicaid, and other sources of funds. Rural workshops were held around the state of Illinois in five sites during October and November of 2008. The website is under development and the launch is planned for August or September of 2009. PARTICIPANTS: The primary project personnel include Paul E. McNamara, Kathryn Sweedler, Katherine Reuter, Molly Hofer, Cammy Seguin, and Amy Griswold. All of these project participants contributed to the development of the Long-Term Care: Talking, Deciding, Taking Action workshop curriculum and the delivery of the rural workshops. In addition, all of these team members contributed to the design and development efforts on the website. TARGET AUDIENCES: The primary audience for this effort of adult and family education is rural people at risk for using long-term care services or who will be impacted by long-term care as care-givers and care providers. The secondary audience includes long-term care and aging professionals in need of inservice training related to the issue of planning for long-term care. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: This project has received a one year no-cost extension for its efforts.
Impacts
In terms of impacts, our preliminary impact data from the rural workshops indicates a high degree of learning and knowledge gain from the workshop on the part of the participants. For example, we analyzed 72 complete evaluation surveys (16 males and 56 females) and found mean scores (on a scale of 1=strongly agree to 5=strongly disagree) of 1.6 for "I am better able to recognize the warning signs of stress" and 1.4 for "I realize that family conflict can be reduced by using communication skills." Additionally, we found average knowledge scores on the program evaluations of 2.0 for "I am more aware of different options to finance LTC needs" and 2.0 for "I have a better understanding of the potential costs of LTC" and 2.0 for "I am more confident in my ability to evaluate a LTC insurance policy." Moreover, the participants reported they intend to take specific planning actions as a result of the workshop. Many (47 of 72) intend to discuss their long-term care intentions and plans with their families or other significant friends. Others (27 of 72) plan to practice methods to better manage stress. These preliminary evaluation figures are being analyzed to be included in a paper on the project as well as for the final report. Also, the information learned from the evaluations will be used in the design and implementation of the website.
Publications
- No publications reported this period
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