Outreach, engagement and education are greatly needed especially among African American seniors and their caregivers, many of whom are impacted by the new changes to Medicare and Medi-Cal under Cal MediConnect.
Advocates for African American elders address the need for outreach and education to seniors in the New 9th District on March 13th
New changes to Medicare and Medi-Cal will impact health care to seniors. It is estimated that almost 300,000 Medicare and Medi-Cal beneficiaries are eligible for passive enrollment into a Cal MediConnect health plan in Los Angeles County. Cal MediConnect, the name for the state’s dual eligible demonstration project, is part of California’s Coordinated Care Initiative (CCI). LA County has the most complex enrollment strategy and the largest population affected by the CCI.
The Cal MediConnect program includes five health plans and seeks to improve care coordination and quality of care for dual eligible beneficiaries – those with both Medicare and Medi-Cal benefits. Due to the complexity of the CCI, there is great potential for consumer confusion and limited access. This is especially the case for low-income, African American seniors, who experience barriers to health care information and access due to cultural and socioeconomic differences and low literacy.
African Americans comprise 11% or over 30,000 of the dual eligible population in LA County. Outreach, engagement and education are greatly needed especially among African American seniors and their caregivers, many of whom are impacted by the new changes to Medicare and Medi-Cal under Cal MediConnect. Knowledge gained from AAAE’s involvement in other related arenas including CCI stakeholder meetings, the LA CCI Communications Workgroup and the L.A. Care Advisory Committee for the Transition of Seniors and Persons with Disabilities Project, has reaffirmed the growing need for these outreach and informational activities tailored for African American seniors.
Implementation of the CCI began in 2013. However, findings from a survey conducted by Advocates for African American Elders (AAAE) of 550 African American seniors in South LA and South Bay neighborhoods of Los Angeles County indicated that 81.5% of seniors had never heard of the CCI. Findings from this study are published in a report, Understanding the Service Needs of African American Seniors in Los Angeles County: Findings from the Advocates for African American Elders Community Survey that can be downloaded from the AAAE website (www.aaaeonline.com).
Dr. Karen Lincoln, Associate Professor at the USC School of Social Work, Director of USC Hartford Center of Excellence in Geriatric Social Work and Founder and Chair of AAAE, mentioned these results in her remarks at Councilman Curren Price’s 2014 Celebrating Our Seniors Luncheon and the need for outreach and education in the New 9th District. There is a high number of Medicare and MediCal beneficiaries residing in the New 9th District who have not been reached by current methods of information dissemination and messaging, and who could benefit from AAAE’s outreach and education initiatives.
Advocates for African American Elders (AAAE) is an outreach and engagement program whose mission is to engage African American elders in enhancing their quality of life through advocacy, education and increasing access to community resources. To accomplish this mission, AAAE focuses on: 1) educating and disseminating information about health care policies and resources through fact sheets and educational forums, community presentations, and the AAAE website; 2) collaborating with local health care providers to improve outreach and engagement efforts, and 3) assessing service needs/resources via surveys in South Los Angeles and other underserved communities. The primary goal of AAAE activities to increase the quality of life for African American seniors and their families.
The primary goal of AAAE activities to increase the quality of life for African American seniors and their families.
AAAE was founded by Dr. Karen D. Lincoln in 2012, is chaired by Dr. Lincoln and is staffed by Co-Chair and Project Assistant, Bryan F. Gaines, MSW. AAAE has several core volunteers and a Senior Advisory Committee (SAC) that is comprised of 14 African American senior volunteers. The SAC has two subcommittees: one that focuses on the CCI and another on affordable housing. AAAE activities are currently supported by a grant from The California Wellness Foundation and funding from the USC School of Social Work.
AAAE has achieved several key accomplishments, including: (1) provided outreach and engagement activities to over 10,000 people throughout Los Angeles County; (2) increased awareness and knowledge of seniors living in underserved communities about health care resources; (3) produced the 2014 report, Understanding the Service Needs of African American Seniors in Los Angeles County; (4) disseminated the report to over 500 policy makers and community stakeholders which resulted in numerous “tweets,” many of which were “favored” and “retweeted” on Twitter; (5) provided access to the report’s recommendations to inform and be included in the Los Angeles Department of Aging’s new strategic plan, and (6) produced the 2015 research brief, New Research Highlights the Benefits of Community Programs for Older African Americans in Los Angeles County.
Two particular key accomplishments are worth noting. First, AAAE has developed partnerships with the five participating Cal MediConnect health plans. As a direct result of AAAE’s successful initiatives, these health plans are now co-sponsoring AAAE events in addition to participating in the Health Plan Information Clinic component of CCI outreach and education events. Second, AAAE has developed an issue brief, Thinking Outside the Box: Creative and Culturally Competent Outreach and Education Strategies, in collaboration with staff attorneys from the National Senior Citizens Law Center. The issue brief describes the AAAE outreach and education model and recommends it as an effective method to reach, engage and educate members of underserved communities.
AAAE has organized and hosted three successful and interactive CCI Comprehensive Educational Town Hall Talk Shows in South LA and Inglewood where hundreds of participants learn about the CCI and their health care options in a fun and entertaining way. Participants also engage directly with representatives from each of the five CCI health plans and receive an informative CCI handbook created and published by AAAE.
In an effort to continue providing critical outreach to seniors in the New 9th District, AAAE, in collaboration with WLCAC-Theresa Lindsay Senior Center, is hosting its fourth Coordinated Care Initiative Town Hall Talk Show and Health Plan Information Clinic on March 13, 2015. All are welcome to attend!
