Access Choice and Control: A Comparative Analysis of Maine\u27s Personal Assistance Services Programs

The purpose of this analysis was to identify opportunities for eliminating unnecessary inconsistency and increasing consumer choice and control across Maine\u27s personal assistance services (PAS) programs. Thirteen recommendations were made based on the findings which indicated that Maine PAS programs vary in the level of support they offer but the difference in support cannot necessarily be explained by differences in the level of need. Additionally, Maine PAS programs have been and are currently working toward increasing opportunities for expanding consumer choice and control over services

Brain Injury in Maine: A Needs Assessment

This document reviews existing Maine policy and programs to evaluate how well they meet the needs of persons with brain injury

Multiple Roles of Medicaid ...and the Administrative Capacity to Support Them

Slides presented at the NAMD 2014 Fall Conference, November 4, 201

Profiling Maine’s Long Term Support System [Project Brief]

A recent report by the Muskie School and the Maine Department of Health and Human Services provides a new way of looking at the state’s long term support system. With an emphasis on developing a common approach for description and analysis across programs, the profile reveals that users of long term services and supports in Maine span all age groups and types of service users. In fact, 28% are ages 17 or younger and 29% are between the age of 35 and 64. Long term service users include people with physical impairments, cognitive and intellectual disabilities, and people who need behavioral health support. In Maine, these long term service users account for two-thirds of total Medicaid expenditures. A Cross-System Profile of Maine’s Long Term Support System: A New View of Maine’s Long Term Services and Supports and the People Served is a baseline assessment of Maine’s current long term support systems serving: Adults with mental illness Older adults and adults with disabilities Adults with brain injury Adults with developmental disabilities Children with disabilities This profile gathers information that can help DHHS answer the question: Does our long term service system provide the right balance of supports and services across all institutional, home, and community-based settings

Access to Housing for Persons with Disabilities: Lessons Learned from Three Demonstration Projects, Cutler, Disability and Aging

The Quality Choices for Maine project was conducted from 2001-2004. This report focuses on Access to Services, one part of the three-year RCSC Quality Grant. The specific housing related goal was “to improve access to community housing for people with disabilities of all types.” Project activities were overseen by the Access to Services Technical Assistance Group and a variety of stakeholders. Read the activity summaries, lessons learned and recommendations on how to sustain the work

Charting a Pathway Forward: Redesigning and Realigning Supports and Services for Maine\u27s Older Adults

The current growth of the population age 65 and older is one of the most significant demographic trends in the history of this country and is especially significant for Maine, where the number of people age 65 and older is growing even faster than the rest of the nation. By 2025, over a quarter of Maine’s population is expected to be age 65 and older. Because the cost of long term paid support is out of reach for many Mainers, public financing—particularly Medicaid financing—is an essential tool for addressing the long term support needs of older adults. But Medicaid is only one tool, not enough to get the job done. As Maine prepares itself for increasing demand on public resources, it needs to use those resources as cost-effectively as possible by finding new ways to use Medicaid, leveraging and supporting the power of community, and fostering cost-effective innovations to make living at home—the preferred option for most people—a reality whenever possible. This report provides a snapshot of Maine’s older adults, the primary service options in place now, and the key policy levers available for ensuring that public resources are put to their optimal use to make sure that, as we age, we are able to live healthy, active, secure and engaged lives no matter the type of support we might need

Activity-promoting gaming systems in exercise and rehabilitation

Commercial activity-promoting gaming systems provide a potentially attractive means to facilitate exercise and rehabilitation. The Nintendo Wii, Sony EyeToy, Dance Dance Revolution, and Xbox Kinect are examples of gaming systems that use the movement of the player to control gameplay. Activity-promoting gaming systems can be used as a tool to increase activity levels in otherwise sedentary gamers and also be an effective tool to aid rehabilitation in clinical settings. Therefore, the aim of this current work is to review the growing area of activity-promoting gaming in the context of exercise, injury, and rehabilitation

Adult Day Services in Maine: Benefits, Challenges, and Opportunities

In Maine and nationally, adult day services tend to be underfunded and underutilized compared to other types of long term services and supports (LTSS). In part, investment in adult day services is hampered by a lack of standardized data collection and limited research on issues of accessibility, cost-effectiveness, and the impact of adult day services on the broader health system. Lack of uniformity in state regulatory frameworks for licensing, program design, service delivery, and other administrative requirements further complicates cross-state comparisons. Considering these limitations, a key goal of this report is to provide a more detailed and comprehensive understanding of the current capacity and role of adult day services providers in Maine, the regulatory environment in which they operate, barriers and challenges to access and operations, and potential opportunities for expanding access. For more information, please contact Elizabeth Gattine, [email protected]

Addressing Potential Conflicts of Interest Arising from the Multiple Roles of Colorado’s Community Centered Boards

This document summarizes the information we gathered, our analysis of potential conflicts of interest, and recommendations for addressing opportunities for improvement. The information we gathered is based on document review, input from stakeholders, and a review of practices in four other states

Integrated Care for Older Adults in Rural Communities

Recognizing that traditional models of health care delivery and payment often produce fragmented and costly care and poor outcomes for those with the highest needs, many reforms under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) focus on realigning payment incentives and integrating care. These reforms presuppose the existence of supporting infrastructure and capacity, including dedicated care management staffing and health information technology and exchange. With a focus on community-dwelling older adults in need of integrated physical, behavioral health services, and long term services and supports (LTSS), this brief reviews the opportunities and challenges these reform initiatives present for rural communities: How easily can current models for integrating care be adapted to a rural context and culture? How well do they account for gaps and variations in local delivery systems, capacity, and infrastructure? Which strategies offer the greatest promise for addressing the needs of rural residents? Because Medicaid is a primary source of funding for LTSS, we focus this inquiry on models serving Medicaid-eligible individuals; in some cases these programs may also serve individuals who are also eligible for Medicare