Rebalancing Initiative (REBAL)

ILLINOIS

Target Population

Seniors residing in nursing facilities who are eligible to reintegrate back into the community, seniors wanting to remain in the community but who need additional support, and caregivers in need of information or services to help the senior remain in the community.

Geographic Focus

Statewide

Primary Focus

The State will focus on developing the strategy, tools, and resources necessary to increase access to home and community-based services for seniors who want to, and can safely, transition out of institutions. The project will result in a comprehensive inventory and database of available services and a mechanism by which the State can prioritize the need for new services. In addition, the project will acquire a quality management mechanism by creating an effective quality assurance and improvement framework for evaluation and monitoring of the program.

Goals, Objectives, and Activities

Goal: Determine the capacity of the current long-term care (LTC) service system to identify deficiencies and any barriers to filling gaps.

Objectives/Activities

  • Clarify roles and responsibilities of existing aging network providers participating in the transition process.
  • Create an inventory and analyze services available by county and by Chicago neighborhood.
  • Create an inventory and analyze available, affordable, and appropriate housing options by county and by Chicago neighborhood.
  • Assess the level of funding or lack of funding to provide services to transitioning seniors.
  • Develop a strategy to address funding needs for transitioning seniors.

Goal: Identify consumer needs and preferences for LTC services.

Objectives/Activities

  • Convene focus groups of seniors to identify and prioritize additional service needs.
  • Convene forums of the Illinois Department of Aging (IDoA) stakeholder network to develop a strategy to meet consumer needs and preferences.

Goal: Develop a quality assurance strategy and tools to ensure quality of LTC services.

Objectives/Activities

  • Establish uniform quality assurance standards that are benchmark performance, person centered, data driven, and focused on consumer direction.
  • Conduct comparative analysis of the actual costs associated with nursing facility residents returning to their homes and communities.

Key Activities and Products

  • Clarify roles and responsibilities of existing aging network providers participating in the transition process.
  • Create an inventory and analyze services available by county and by Chicago neighborhood.
  • Create an inventory and analyze available, affordable, and appropriate housing options by county and by Chicago neighborhood.
  • Assess the level of funding or lack of funding to provide services to transitioning seniors.
  • Develop a strategy to address funding needs for transitioning seniors.
  • Convene focus groups of seniors to identify and prioritize additional service needs.
  • Convene forums of the IDoA Consumer Direction Stakeholder Network to develop a strategy to meet consumer needs and preferences.
  • Establish uniform quality assurance standards that are benchmark performance, person centered, data driven, and focused on consumer direction.
  • Conduct comparative analysis of the actual costs associated with nursing facility residents returning to their homes and communities.

Consumer Partners and their Involvement in Implementation Activities

  • Seniors will be recruited to participate in focus groups held at several points in time during the 3–year grant period to prioritize services needed by seniors, thus resulting in a systematic approach to adding and funding new core services.
  • Seniors will be recruited to participate in a series of forums with IDoA's Consumer Direction Stakeholder Network to develop a strategy to meet consumer needs and preferences.

Public and Private Partners and their Involvement in Implementation Activities

  • Area Agencies on Aging (AAAs), Case Coordination Units (CCUs), and Centers for Independent Living will work with IDoA to identify and provide intensive support to nursing home residents who want to transition to more independent living settings.
  • AAAs will work with IDoA to clarify roles and responsibilities of existing aging network providers participating in the rebalancing process and assist with the data collection to inventory/analyze available services and housing options for seniors.
  • A coalition, with representatives from Jane Addams Senior Caucus, Centers for Independent Living, and Housing Opportunities for Minority Elderly (HOME), will work together to assure high quality transition services are available to seniors.

Advisory Body, Committee, or Task Force

  • The Illinois Long Term Care Council will advise the IDoA. This council is responsible for ensuring quality of life for residents in long-term care facilities. Members consist of nursing home residents, representatives from the nursing home industry, and State Ombudsman officials.
  • The Older Adult Service Advisory Committee will also advise the IDoA. This committee is responsible for studying and recommending long-term care system restructuring initiatives. The 40–member committee includes representatives from government agencies, advocacy and service provider agencies, and the health care industry.

Formative/Process Evaluation Activities

The Program Manager at IDoA will establish uniform quality assurance standards that are benchmark performance, person centered, data driven, and focused on consumer direction, to measure how and if service capacity effects the success of an individual's ability to maintain independence in the community and to measure the ongoing success of each individual demonstration site.

Summative/Outcome Evaluation Activities

  • The Program Manager at IDoA will conduct comparative analysis of the actual cost associated with nursing facility residents returning to their homes and communities and will present results in a cost analysis report.
  • The IDoA will conduct a series of focus groups throughout the duration of the grant to identify and prioritize service needs and preferences of seniors. This will enable the IDoA to develop a systematic strategy to pursue additional financial resources to fund those services that are identified by consumers to be the most beneficial.

Strategies to Ensure Sustainability

  • The completion of an inventory and database of services and available, affordable, and appropriate housing options for Illinois' seniors will be utilized to assist seniors who seek to remain in or return to their communities.
  • Participation of consumers in focus groups to identify and prioritize service needs and preferences will enable the IDoA to develop a systematic strategy to pursue additional financial resources to fund those services that are identified by consumers to be the most beneficial.
  • A comparative analysis of the costs associated with nursing facility residents returning to their homes and communities will contribute greatly to the State's ability to support budgetary enhancements.
  • Ensuring the development of a comprehensive quality assurance program will enable the IDoA to ensure that standards are adopted that are benchmark performance, person centered, data driven, and focused on consumer direction.