Project Title:   Training Care Managers to Promote Physical Activity in Home-Dwelling Frail Elders

Amount Funded:   $24,800

About the Organization/Coalition:
Partners in Care Foundation is a non-profit corporation dedicated to acting as a catalyst for reshaping health and social services to better meet the changing needs of the diverse population of California. Other partners will include the Los Angeles County Area Agency on Aging and the City of Los Angeles Department on Aging. The collaboration includes 28 care management programs serving 18,000 diverse, frail, low-income seniors annually in Los Angeles County.

Project Objectives:
The project builds upon the National Council on the Aging pilot program currently underway at Partners that seeks to raise awareness among care management professionals at four sites about the value of increasing physical activity in their client's lives and to train care managers in a specific evidence-based intervention strategy to increase physical activity. The pilot project has selected four local community-based agencies that operate large care management programs. The intervention is modeled after a research-tested approach called LifeSpan: A Physical Assessment Study Benefiting Older Adults. Specifically, the objectives include:

1. Develop culturally sensitive curriculum and materials for care manager training sessions.
2. Develop a physical activity kit of materials including the assessment, prescription, and motivational tips for clients. Materials will be translated into Spanish.
3. Conduct four all-day training sessions with CEUs for approximately 150 care managers plus supervisors and volunteers.
4. Film a video of a training session for on-going use.
5. Develop a self-study module and web-based tools to be available on Partners' website.
6. Conduct a follow-up survey.

Progress Report:  
Under the leadership of June Simmons, LCSW and President and CEO of Partners in Care Foundation, this project seeks to support dissemination of a pilot-tested model to promote physical activity for diverse, frail, and low-income elders within a collaborative of 28 care management programs serving 18,000 seniors annually in Los Angeles. Four free four-hour professional training sessions will be offered to publicly-funded geriatric care managers and their leaders within Los Angeles to build their knowledge base and skills relative to promoting the most recent evidenced-based models of physical activity to their clients. The care management programs invited include the MultipPurpose Senior Services Program (MSSP) that has multiple sites in L.A. County, the City of L.A. Department of Aging Care Management Program, and the L.A. County Area Agency on Aging Integrated Care Management Program.

New, safe, and simple evidence-based care management techniques will be presented at each session to teach care managers the skills they need to enhance targeted physical activity among frail elders. The training sessions will begin by defining the target population, which includes physically frail older adults in the secondary stage of aging when chronic disease begins to impact the quality of life.

Once the target population is defined, the project coordinators will define the chronic disease conditions that are associated with aging. Then they will discuss how strength exercise can help manage each of these conditions and improve walking speed, balance, flexibility, functional activity, and quality of life. They will also address concerns about client safety and falls prevention. The training sessions are designed to teach care mangers how to preserve and improve lower body strength and balance, reduce falls and injuries, and increase the quality of life for their frail elderly clients.

Contact Information:
June Simmons
Partners in Care Foundation
101 S. First St., Suite 1000
Burbank, CA 91502
(818) 526-1780