Unbefriended Elders Grant

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Date: August 27, 2008

Contact:        Mary Bornong, LISW
                    Lead Staff, Unbefriended Elderly: Matching Values With Decisions Project
                    Volunteers of America-Minnesota
                    612-617-7815, mbornong@voamn.org

Volunteers of America-Minnesota Wins Grant to Help Unbefriended Elders Convey Healthcare Preferences

(Minneapolis, August 27)—Volunteers of America-Minnesota has been awarded a project grant to support the rights and choices of unbefriended elders at risk of incapacity. The project is one of 42 Community Service/Community Services Development (CS/SD) awarded by the Minnesota Department of Human Services.

Unbefriended elders are older adults who have no identified family, close friends, or other support systems. When an unbefriended elder becomes incapacitated or experiences a medical crisis, they are at-risk of over- or under-treatment when admitted to medical or care settings due to inability to state their preferences and lack of surrogate decision maker. Individuals in this population may be denied comfort-oriented care or hospice care due to the lack of a surrogate decision maker.

The project, entitled “Unbefriended Elders: Matching Values with Decisions,” is aimed at proactive involvement with these seniors prior to incapacitation or a medical crisis. Through the project, Volunteers of America will help unbefriended elders, over age 65, who reside in Anoka and Hennepin counties establish health care directives (HCDs), which are documents stating surrogacy, medical treatment and care preferences. Additionally, Volunteers of America will develop and educate a network of professionals to identify and refer individuals for client-centered case management and support. The professional network will include medical facilities, insurance companies, housing staff, as well as county and community social service workers. Current community partners in the project include EverCare, Little Brothers-Friends of the Elderly, Anoka County Adult Protection and other Volunteers of America programs.

"We are excited to assist these seniors in establishing the directives necessary to help ensure that they receive care consistent with their values and health care wishes," said Alice Tennis, Vice President of Senior Services for Volunteers of America-Minnesota. "We know that early intervention will have a positive impact on both the elders and service providers."

Activities of the project include:

Locating estranged or lost family members of participants;
Facilitating increased communication between participants and their primary care physicians/practitioners;
Distributing participant HCDs to healthcare professionals and other professionals;
Increasing network partners’ knowledge of HCDs and working with unbefriended elders;
Developing and sharing a protocol for national replication of the project by Volunteers of America, as well as other agencies and organizations;
Increasing public policy attention to the needs of unbefriended elders whose number will increase with the aging “baby boom” generation.

VOLUNTEEERS OF AMERICA-MINNESOTA
Volunteers of America-Minnesota is a nonprofit organization founded in 1896 which offers a wide variety of services to more than 27,000 children, adolescents and their families, students, older adults, persons with disabilities and special needs, and ex-offenders each year. It is one of the oldest, largest and most comprehensive human service organizations in the state and has more than 60 programs, 700 employees and 4,000 volunteers. Volunteers of America has a rich history of developing innovative, quality programs to meet emerging social issues and prides itself on sponsoring programs which are able to articulate explicitly the outcomes achieved in its program participants' lives. For more information about Volunteers of America-Minnesota, visit www.voamn.org, or call (952) 945-4000.

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