News and Updates for June 2024

News & Updates

June 2024 | Volume 2, Issue 9

Upcoming Events

Amplify POC's Summer Festival is coming soon. Show you care about eliminating the racial wealth gap on Cape Cod and learn about some fabulous local businesses owned by people of color. While you're there, visit our table! We're looking forward to making friends and a fun day on the Hyannis Village Green.

As part of its commitment to expanding digital equity, Elder Services is offering two Senior Planet Computer Essentials classes this summer. These free 5-week courses designed with older adult learners in mind will cover the essentials of how to use the basic functions of a personal computer, how to safely navigate the internet, how to organize electronic files, how to send and receive email, and much more. Enrollment now open. Click here to learn more.

ESCCI Says Goodbye to SCSEP

SCSEP Director Kerri Lyford caught up with Dave Bassett following his meeting with jobseekers in the program at Elder Services last week.

Management of the Senior Community Service Employment Program for Cape Cod and the Islands will be transferred to the Center for Workforce Inclusion, a national SCSEP grantee, on July 1st. Elder Services had operated the program as a subgrantee of the Center. Level federal funding and rising Massachusetts minimum wage meant that the program was increasingly difficult to administer. Jobseekers currently enrolled in the program will continue in their training assignments but will now report their hours to Dave Bassett, a program officer based off-Cape.

At Monday's hand-off meeting, Dave said he's looking forward to the challenge: "You have some great people enrolled in this program. I've been handling payroll for jobseekers in a program in Wisconsin for months now. It's difficult to overcome the distance but there are ways to make it work." He anticipates that sometime later this summer, the Center will issue a RFP seeking a new subgrantee for our area to assume the role played by Elder Services for over forty years.

Educating to End Elder Abuse

Cape and Islands District Attorney Rob Galibois joins ESCCI staff at the Sandwich Council on Aging.

ESCCI Employees Organize "Lunch & Learns"

Employees of Elder Services fanned out across the Cape to lead discussions about elder abuse and neglect on Thursday, June 13 in advance of World Elder Abuse Awareness Day. We partnered with four municipal Councils on Aging to hold "Lunch & Learn" workshops raising awareness about the risk factors and signs of abuse and exploring different ways individuals and organization's can respond when they have concerns.

“Elder abuse is a sensitive topic that is rarely discussed yet too many people over the age of 60 are abused, neglected or exploited,” according to Chris Hottle, Director of the Provincetown Council on Aging, one of the COAs hosting an event.

Elder abuse affects 1 in 6 community-dwelling older adults globally every year and can lead to great bodily and psychological harm and death. But, research suggests that as few as 1 in 4 cases of elder abuse come to the attention of authorities. Elder Services receives about 180 reports of suspected elder abuse occurring in its service area of Barnstable, Dukes, and Nantucket every month.

Protective Services Worker Haley Weden shared this information as part of the formal presentation at the Harwich COA. Mark Dennen, an ESCCI board member who attended the event was dismayed by these statistics of which he feels most people are unaware. Mark thought the video vignettes shown later in the program really helped bring the numbers to life.The short video dramatizations, produced by the government of Alberta, Canada, all reinforce the responsibility to report.

Participants at the event hosted by the Sandwich COA had a lot of questions about reporting. Elder Abuse reports can be filed 24 hours a day either online (https://www.mass.gov/reporting-elder-abuse-neglect) or by phone at (800) 922-2275. Elder abuse includes: physical, sexual, and emotional abuse, caretaker neglect, financial exploitation and self-neglect. Elder Protective Services can only investigate cases of abuse where the person is age 60 and over and lives in the community. To report abuse of a person with a disability under the age of 60, call the Disabled Persons Protection Commission at (800) 426-9009. To report abuse of a person by nursing home or hospital, call the Department of Public Health at (800) 462-5540.

Anyone with concerns may file a report and may choose to remain anonymous. If the situation is putting someone at immanent or serious risk, it is probably better to call. And, of course, if the situation is life-threatening or an emergency, you should call 911 or your local police.

In their investigations, the Protective Services Unit works closely with law enforcement or other resources and partners as appropriate to remediate the situation. Effective intervention after harm has already been done is important, but it is better for everyone if the harm can be prevented.

Learn more about prevention by listening to this 5 minute interview with CEO Maryanne Ryan that aired on WCAI's Morning Edition on June 12.

Action Plan Refresh Community Listening Session Coming in July

In 2019, Massachusetts unveiled a plan to amplify, align, and coordinate local, regional, and statewide efforts to create a welcoming and more livable Commonwealth for residents of all ages. The Age-Friendly Massachusetts Action Plan is an articulation of the state’s vision and aspirations for what it looks like to grow older as a Commonwealth.

This year, Massachusetts is working to update and refresh the plan to guide the state’s age- and dementia-friendly actions for the next 5-10 years. We want to hear your thoughts on what should be included.

What is working well to support people aging in our communities?
Looking forward to the next 5 – 10 years, what are the top three ways we can best support people to age well?

Please join us at the upcoming community listening session to tell us about your priorities, how you have contributed to your communities’ efforts to support positive aging, and what big actions or policies you think will support people to age well in our communities in the future.

When: Tuesday, July 16th

Time: 1:30 PM to 3:30 PM

Where: Barnstable Adult Community Center,

(825 Falmouth Road, Hyannis)

Refreshments Provided! Free Parking.

RSVP at https://forms.office.com/g/t24LxbF23P

Jointly co-hosted by Barnstable County, Regional Government of Cape Cod, Barnstable Council on Aging, Massachusetts Councils on Aging, and the Executive Office of Elder Affairs, this listening session welcomes all members of the public who wish to attend.

Elder Services to Partner with Cape Cod Health Care in Hospital to Home Program

Elder Services of Cape Cod and the Islands was chosen as one of six Aging Services Access Points (ASAPs) across the state to receive funding from the Healey-Driscoll Administration to expand the state’s “Hospital to Home Partnership Program.” The program provides specialized expertise to hospitals to support discharges directly to a patient’s home, rather than to a skilled nursing facility or other long-term care setting.

This program has been highly successful in other parts of Massachusetts. ASAP liaisons received more than 1,800 referrals from their hospital partners in just the first eight months of the program, helping to divert nursing home placements and facilitating safe and supported discharges to patients' homes!

“This investment in community-based care comes at a time when it is needed most,” said Health and Human Services Secretary Kate Walsh. “In addition to providing individuals with the supports they need after leaving the hospital, this program will also help open beds for other patients who require an acute level of care.”

Elder Services’ Chief Executive Officer Maryanne Ryan said “we are excited by this opportunity to strengthen our relationship with Cape Cod Healthcare. We think this program will result in better and more sustainable home care planning." . . .