How to Build Community Connections for Healthy Aging

Posted on January 21, 2020 by Terri Foley

In many areas of Minnesota, people don’t know where to turn when their aging loved ones need help. Even those of us who work in senior care are often at a loss when we are in that situation. In four rural Minnesota communities, an initiative called Silos to Circles Age Well is tackling these challenges through local coalitions of aging services professionals.

A guide for building a community-based effort based on these pilots, funded by the LeadingAge Minnesota Foundation, is www.stcmnguide.org.

“We started with a belief in the power of collaboration and breaking down silos between social services and healthcare,” says Gayle Kvenvold, President and CEO, LeadingAge Minnesota. “With financial backing of a funder, we supported dedicated teams in Crosby, Clay County, Perham, and Southern Chisago County who engaged more than 6,500 people in improving connections to aging services in their communities.”

The four pilots all followed the steps below:

Step 1: Convene Local Partners. Each community started by identifying and bringing together area professionals with a stake in aging. In northwest Minnesota, Perham Health led efforts to gather input from area professionals. These gatherings evolved into the monthly East Otter Tail Senior Network meeting. A community resource navigator was hired, and a new service called “The Connection” is now being used by local seniors and their families to get service referrals. Watch a short video on The Connection.  

Step 2: Connect providers and professionals. This was the cornerstone for each of the Silos to Circles pilots. In the Crosby area, more than 50 community, government, faith, and healthcare organizations worked to build the Cuyuna Area Connections. Based out of Cuyuna Regional Medical Center, it serves residents in Crosby, Ironton, Deerwood, Aitkin, and surrounding towns. Watch a short video on Cuyuna Area Connections.

Step 3: Equip the Community. Community members need access to tools like printed and digital resource guides as well as educational events to highlight local services. This step looked different in different communities.

• The Clay County Age Well initiative is using video conferencing technology to offer enrichment and education sessions such an exercise program called Bone Builders. The class is shot live in Moorhead and streamed to smaller towns that are now equipped with a smart TV and videoconferencing technology. Watch a short video on the Clay County Age Well initiative.
• Dine & Discover is a quarterly education event sponsored by Chisago Age Well, serving the Chisago Lakes, North Branch, and Wyoming area.  About 120 people attend one of three sessions each quarter to learn about advanced care planning, how to avoid scams, and beating the holiday blues. Watch a short video on Dine & Discover initiative.

In addition to providing grand funding, the LeadingAge MN Foundation partnered with the Collective Action Lab to provide assistance for these initiatives. For more about Silos to Circles, visit the About section of Silos to Circles Community Guide or contact Terri Foley, LeadingAge MN Foundation program officer, at tfoley@leadingagemn.org.