COMMITTEE ON AGING MINUTES

May 22, 2012

 

This meeting and all other meetings of this committee are open to the public. Proper notice has been posted and given to the press in accordance with Wisconsin statutes so that the citizenry may be aware of the time, place, and agenda of this meeting.

 

Chairperson Patricia Craig called the meeting to order at 9:02 a.m. at the Waupaca County Courthouse, 811 Harding St., Waupaca, WI  54981

 

MEMBERS PRESENT: Steve Stead, Wayne Laux, Patricia Craig, James Boyer and Robert Miller (9:23 AM).

 

MEMBERS EXCUSED: Caroline Murphy

 

ALSO PRESENT: Pat Enright, Beverly Laux, and Peggy Strey.

 

I.       ADOPTION OF AGENDA:

Motion to accept agenda made by James Boyer and seconded by Steve Stead. Motion carried.

 

II.     REVIEW AND ACCEPT MINUTES OF MARCH 27, 2012:  Motion to accept agenda made by Steve Stead and seconded by Wayne Laux. Motion carried.

 

Public Comment:  None

 

III.    ADRC/AGING DIRECTOR GENERAL REPORT – Pat Enright

ü  This is our second meeting since new Director Chuck Price came on board. Staff appears comfortable with him.

ü  Family and Community Services Manager, Vicki Gehrke, retired on 5/18/2012.

ü  Community Behavioral Health Services Manager, Lynn Christian, resigned on 5/14/2012.

ü  Because of the departures of both Vicki and Lynn, there will likely be a realignment of managerial duties within those areas. Director Price is very community focused and customer friendly oriented.

ü  Share The Care Stations are now in place within the county; a great support to our seniors and caregivers.

ü  Work on beefing up donations is occurring with the help of the Nutrition Advisory Council.

 

IV.     AGING NETWORK REPORT – Pat Enright

A.  Aging Plan Assessment Approval – Pat felt it best to get formal approval of the Aging Plan, therefore, he reintroduced the plan as written and requested formal approval. Motion by Steve Stead to approve the plan and seconded by Wayne Laux. Motion carried.

B.  Aging Plan Amendment for Title III-D Funding –Pat routed Section 4 – Federally Required Focus Area – Evidence-Based Disease Prevention and Health Promotion Programs – of the Aging Plan. Nancy Krueger oversees this within our consortium, but in addition to the services she offers, has been able to offer additional Strong Women, Living Well with Chronic Conditions, and Stepping On: Falls Prevention classes to our county residents. They have been well received in the Fremont, New London and Waupaca areas. Steve Stead is familiar with similar video exercises often utilized at nursing homes and assisted living facilities and recommended their use whenever possible. Our nutrition sites offer similar video and other type of exercise and we promote this. Motion to approve this Aging Plan Amendment made by James Boyer and seconded by Wayne Laux. Motion carried.

C.  Other – No report at this time.

 

V.        COMMITTEE MEMBERSHIP – New Member Recommendation

There were no members to recommend at this time. Discussion on the committee makeup ensued as there is some confusion about vacancy and replacement. The committee has expanded and contracted throughout the years. There are currently seven positions in total, with one vacancy yet to fill.  Pat will try to get clarification before we meet again.

 

Not all members had met Bob Miller, so he provided a brief introduction and bio.

 

VI.     NUTRITION PROGRAM

A.  Site Updates –

ü  Marion - Recently converted to the Oliver tray system and like it.

ü  Weyauwega – The Legion has asked us to share in some supplies (as other landlords have done in the past) and we have agreed to work out an agreement. There is some talk of a new city hall building which would incorporate the nutrition site, which could be detrimental to the Legion as they rely on our rent. More to come when and if this develops. It was suggested that a pedestrian crossing with a flashing light be considered for installation as a secure crossing for seniors who park across the street in the local grocery store’s parking lot. Pat Enright will check on this. Mayor Don Morgan participated in Mayors for Meals in May.

ü  Waupaca – Numbers are slightly down, but they are still very busy. Nutrition Advisory Council member Dr. Janet Reilly has offered to have her UW-GB students complete our home delivered reassessments to assist us in this need. If it goes well, we may consider expanding to other sites.

ü  Iola – Pat E. has received a letter from Iola Living Assistance Administrator Greg Loeser – who also oversees our caterer Living Oaks, asking for an increase due to the rising cost of food etc. Pat will research this more before bringing it to this committee for further discussion/approval.

ü  Manawa – Mayor Debby Nolan participated in the Mayors for Meals in May. The site has also received additional help via an Experience Works employee.

ü  New London – Occasionally offers performances from the Hortonville Middle School Jazz Band, but has added the New London MS Jazz Band to the mix. The site remains busy with nutrition, exercise, transportation, etc.

ü  Clintonville – Just purchased a new refrigerator, table and chairs. Jessie also has a new boss due to Dick Writt’s recent retirement.  

ü  GWAAR will be coming on 5/30 to complete an inspection at our Clintonville and New London sites.

B.  Nutrition Advisory Council –March 14th Minutes included in this agenda mailing. The next meeting is June 13th.

C.  Donation Strategies –With a need for program sustainability comes a need for increasing revenues. One way other counties have been successful in this is by billing for home delivered (and even some congregate) meals. We are transitioning to this slowly and are starting this offering with new customers during the initial meeting with our I & A workers. We also plan on offering this option during the annual reassessment. We wish to slowly build upon this.

 

We are also looking at setting up a not for profit which will make contributions to our program tax deductible. We have been fortunate in recent months to have received some generous memorials and feel this would be a good way to capture an even bigger interest.  Our health department and UW-Extension are interested in this concept and are willing to help us with this along with Pat Enright’s brother in law who is an attorney and has offered to help set this up free of charge.

 

Steve Stead routed an example of a coupon book he purchased at Younker’s, the proceeds of which were earmarked for Portage County’s Meals on Wheels program. He suggested we utilize similar promotions.

 

10:00 AM - Pat Craig called for a 5 minute break

10:05 AM – Pat Craig called for the meeting to resume.

 

VII.  AGING PROGRAMS UPDATES – Pat Enright

A.  Planning for 2013 to 2015 Aging Plan -

Dr. Janet Reilly is also helping to research a questionnaire and survey tool for our use as part of the required Public Hearings, which we must offer every three years as part of our Aging Plan. The Feds require that we offer these to address issues like transportation and other needs. The hearings have been scheduled to take place in each community from late June to early August. The schedule will be included in the next ADRC Connection, due out in mid June in local area Buyers Guides.   Pat E. encouraged this committee’s attendance.

B.  Volunteer Program – Kristine Wiegman

§  Since March 28th there have been 8 new volunteer drivers, 7 new site volunteers and 3 new guardians.

§  Volunteer Appreciation Week was successfully celebrated at each nutrition site in April.

§  Preparations for the annual Volunteer Picnic (9/14/2012) are in motion. Community First Credit Union has once again agreed to provide all the graphics: posters, invitations, and mailing. Kristine has asked them to provide her with a dollar value when complete. The Shamrock Club donated $575.00 for the band – the Geriatric Gentlemen of Jazz.

§  Offered Mayors for Meals in May. Mayors that actively participated were from Weyauwega and Manawa. Kristine played phone tag with Waupaca Mayor, Brian Smith, and has extended an invitation for him to participate whenever his schedule allows. The Clintonville and New London sites regularly deal w/their mayors as city/county sites. An invitation was extended to Iola’s Village President and Scandinavia’s too, but they work elsewhere so participation is difficult. Marion’s mayor also declined citing other employment as the issue.

§  Kristine has an open invitation to participate in the WDUX Breakfast Show and takes advantage of this whenever she can. She will plug for new committee members at her next visit. She is also happy to put in a plug for MOW and ask for people and business to lend their support. It was suggested that offering match dollars to businesses would make the venture more enticing. Steve Stead recently read an article claiming General Motors annual advertising budget to be 4 billion dollars. Kristine suggested bringing businesses like Neuville’s on board who might be able to offer money drives like Bergstrom’s does for Breast Cancer with each test drive bringing in $20.00 for BC research, which is subsidized by GM.

C.  Elderly Benefit Specialist – Kathy Austin remains busy although there is nothing imminently pressing. She continues to partner with volunteer Kris Shambeau on the process of advocating for Medicare premium assistance which was a regularly scheduled offering at each site. Kris felt it more time effective for people to contact her directly for individual appointment scheduling, but the newspaper, who ran the schedule for free, decided that the latter fell under the guise of an ad and therefore, would be charging for that publicity. They are reworking a more defined schedule in order to retrieve the free advertising.

D.  Transportation Program – The final hurdle with Logisticare is in payment. Overall, the program has been operating well. Our county is not getting complaints like other counties at this time, Winnebago most recently wrote a letter to Dennis Smith, Secretary of Health Services, requesting a legislative audit.

E.  National Family Caregiver Support Program

§  Have very strong Caregiver Coalition in place. The coalition is taking a summer break until fall.

§  Alzheimer’s Walk taking place in Waupaca on September 8th. To join a team, or create one, go to www.alz.org/gwwi. Other communities are participating in other ways: New London is offering a Bowl-A-thon and Clintonville an Ice Cream Social.

§  Share the Care – organizing a team around someone who is sick. We will not begin marketing our Share the Care Station, which means we have volunteers who are trained and ready to help people interested in setting up a care team. This information will be included in the next ADRC Connection newsletter.

 

VIII.        AGING AND DISABILTY RESOURCE CENTER REPORT

A.     Waiting List – Waupaca Branch wait list numbers routed. To qualify for the assistance one must be on Medical Assistance and meet “functional” eligibility. The total wait list is now at 136, 72 of which are in hover status, meaning they are financially eligible for the waiting list but not yet on Medical Assistance.  The governor had capped the wait list from 7/1/11 to 4/1/12, however that cap is now lifted and we are playing catch up. We must help those who were eligible during that time period and offer them this option. In addition, we can take 4 new people off the list each month. We hope to be caught up soon and by the end of summer will most likely be at the end of the waiting list.  Although we don’t reach official entitlement until July, 2013, once we have no one waiting, people who are eligible can begin services without being told they’ll have to wait.  A career goal for Pat.

 

Community Relocation is a program that offers people who are in institutional settings (nursing homes, etc.) the ability to be moved from that setting to a more independent setting of their choice. The monies follow the person. Waupaca County has a large number of nursing home beds and a fairly steady number of people falling within this category of interest.

 

B.     Other – No discussion

 

IX.     NEXT MEETING - July 24, 2012 – 9:00 A.M. – New London Senior Nutrition Site. – 9:00 AM.

 

X.        ADJOURN – Motion by James Boyer, second by Wayne Laux, to adjourn at 10:38 AM. Motion carried.

 

Respectfully submitted by

 

 

Peggy Strey, Secretary - Aging and Disability Resource Unit