News from Community Care Corps

March 2023

Grantees in the News

AVUS Connect Pals^TM was recognized in a press release by Generations United as a Program of Distinction, meeting the highest standards of intergenerational effectiveness, sustainability, and capacity to achieve outcomes. 

New Resource from Dementia Action Alliance

Dementia Action Alliance has released a first-of-its-kind manual, Pathways to Well-Being with Dementia: A Manual of Help, Hope and Inspiration, for people living with dementia and those who care about them. Featuring practical information grounded in science and first-person experiences from 48 people living with dementia, care partners and leading dementia specialists, the 428-page manual is an essential resource about living with dementia. The manual is downloadable at no cost with printed versions available for purchase.

American Indian and Alaska Native Grandfamily Toolkit

American Indian and Alaska Native children are more likely to live in grandfamilies than any other racial or ethnic group. Natural disasters, epidemics and other tragedies have challenged existing and created new grandfamilies. To respond to elevated needs, Generations United published a toolkit complete with resources to help organizations better serve American Indian and Alaska Native grandfamilies. This toolkit addresses both strengths and needs of grandfamilies and refers users to organizations that can offer culturally competent supportive services. The toolkit is available here.

Home Modification Toolkit

With support from the U.S. Administration for Community Living, the USC Fall Prevention Center of Excellence developed a new toolkit to promote awareness and availability of home modification resources. Created with empirically supported findings, the toolkit includes a collection of materials to equip professionals with tools and resources to enhance home modification and promote aging in place for older adults and people with disabilities

Congressional District Health Dashboard

Launched in January, the Congressional District Health Dashboard (CDHD) helps address a lack of data on health and health equity in congressional districts. The CDHD provides actionable measures of health and drivers of health at the congressional district level, presenting district health outcomes, social and economic factors, and other important data. Grossman School of Medicine partnered with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to create this resource with the aim to provide policymakers, advocates and community members with health data that may initiate change at the district, state and national levels. 

Practices to Advance Equity in Health and Human Services Programming

To promote collaboration and best practices, the U.S Department of Health and Human Services released tools and tips on how to address equity in program design, implementation and evaluation. These leading practices were developed for organizations focused on programs and policies in health and human services. Some of the tools and tips include an equity assessment guide, tips on equitable communication and practices for meaningfully engaging people with lived experience. 

Save the Date: Aging Network Social Engagement Virtual Summit, May 9-10

Are you interested in creative solutions to help the older adults, people with disabilities and caregivers you serve stay socially engaged and connected? Then you won’t want to miss the Social Engagement Virtual Summit, taking place May 9-10 from 1:00 to 4:00 pm ET on both days! Co-hosted by engAGED: The National Resource Center for Engaging Older Adults and Commit to Connect, the Summit will bring together national, state and local leaders for interactive discussions on social engagement in rural communities and supporting the social connection needs of unpaid caregivers. The Virtual Summit is open to the public and does not require paid registration. Questions? Contact [email protected].

Community Care Corps Blog Series

The March blog post reflects on the pandemic's effect on social isolation and loneliness, both of which have a profound impact on health. The blog post highlights key strategies Community Care Corps grantees have implemented to address social needs in their communities. Catch up on previous blog posts here!

Caregiving in the News

• New Report Highlights Increasing Cost of Family Caregiving in the U.S. (AARP, March 8, 2023)
• The Women Working To Solve The Home Health Caregiver Crisis (Forbes, February 28, 2023)
• Opinion: Who will care for the caregivers (CNN, February 15, 2023)
• Supporting Navajo Caregivers: A Call to Action (Next Avenue, February 10, 2023)
• Family caregivers of people with long COVID bear an extra burden (NPR, February 6, 2023)