Disaster readiness begins with planning, but for professionals and consumers alike, taking steps to be prepared for an emergency or disaster isn’t always easy. The COVID-19 pandemic, recent natural disasters, and other emergency situations have offered many lessons for disaster preparedness and response. In 2022, ADvancing States’ National I&R Support Center held a contest to identify promising practices in the field, recognizing how vital I&R/A services are to communities experiencing disasters. Join this webinar to learn about key themes from contest submissions and hear from the Aging and Disability Resource Center - Hawaii Island. The ADRC developed and implemented a Person-Centered Emergency Planning Program to encourage greater disaster preparedness among older adults, people with disabilities, and caregivers and to strengthen people’s connections to community resources and natural supports.
This webinar was held on March 15, 2023.
COVID-19 is a long-lasting and complex disaster situation involving a public health emergency and an economic crisis, with particularly acute impacts for older adults, people with disabilities, and others with certain health conditions. In response, the federal government and state and local agencies have sought to address basic needs, provide access to certain benefits, and modify service delivery for vulnerable populations. Due to changes in federal regulation and law, states are responding with changes in policies and procedures to ensure individuals have access to public benefit programs, such as the Medicare low-income subsidies, SNAP, and LIHEAP. Presenters described examples of opportunities and adjustments that states have made to connect older adults and persons with disabilities to critical benefit programs during the pandemic. Data from an ADvancing States COVID-19 membership survey will be shared. Additionally, Massachusetts’ SHINE program described how they are operating and responding during the pandemic to continue to connect consumers to benefits such as Medicare and the Medicare low-income subsidies.
The COVID-19 pandemic has taken the lives of over 400,000 Americans, the majority of whom are older adults or other high-risk individuals. This webinar highlighted the online, free, and confidential tool, CV19 CheckUp, which is available to help users across the country evaluate their own risk levels associated with COVID-19 through a personalized and comprehensive questionnaire. ADvancing States is pleased to partner with the team that developed the CV19 CheckUp with the mission of helping millions of individuals identify and reduce risks. Data collected through CV19 CheckUp so far is already helping to highlight why it’s so critical to focus efforts around helping older adults understand and mitigate risk; as illustrated in this national infographic, older adults may underestimate the risk levels of their own behaviors.
This training provides an overview of COVID-19 risks for populations served by I&R/A programs, vaccine distribution nationally, and considerations of what lies ahead. See data on the impacts COVID-19 has had on I&R/A programs. Hear from the Georgia Institute of Technology Center for Inclusive Design and Innovation about accessible materials and resources from existing CDC COVID-19 guidance developed for disability audiences. Leave with real-time resources for you to access as the field collectively works to distribute vital health information to those who need it most.
As states across the country have transitioned to new levels of opening up during the COVID-19 pandemic, organizations have a moment to look back, consider lessons learned, and what can change moving forward with programs and services available to consumers. This webinar discussed how COVID has impacted caregivers and people living with dementia, how delivery of services had to be adjusted including the adaptation of previous solutions for caregivers that would no longer work because of COVID safety procedures, and what will continue when more programs and services can be offered in-person.
ADvancing States’ I&R Support Center conducted a national survey of aging and disability Information & Referral/Assistance programs during the spring to learn about technology use and trends in the I&R/A field reflecting developments in response to the COVID-19 pandemic as well as longer-term developments. This webinar held on September 8, 2021 presents changes and innovations in key areas including service delivery, social media, remote work, staff and client engagement, community resource information, and more! Findings from the survey can provide ideas and examples to take home to your agency from peers across the country.