Toolkit

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently released a set of resources addressing the needs of adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) living with, and receiving care from, aging parents or guardians. The resources cover a range of topics, including interagency partnerships, engagement and navigation support, person- and family-centered support systems, and future planning, all designed to aid state Medicaid and partner agencies in better serving this population. The resource set also describes state policies and practices for understanding current and future service system needs for serving adults with I/DD and aging caregivers, as well as policies for states to implement person-centered planning...

Join the Partnership to Align Social Care, the Aging and Disability Business Institute, and Camden Coalition for a webinar series offering a deep dive into leading contracting practices to effectively and efficiently address health-related social needs (HRSNs). Each webinar in the series will focus on the essential elements of contracting between health care and community partners and feature leading practices from the field. Each event will also highlight key findings from a four-part toolkit, Healthcare Guide to Contracting with CBOs, developed with extensive input from CBOs, health plans, and health systems....

The Administration for Community Living (ACL), in collaboration with the disability and aging networks it funds, is committed to protecting the voting rights of older adults and people with disabilities. Through ACL's programs, a variety of resources are available, including information, education, supportive services, and legal assistance, all aimed at improving voting process accessibility in partnership with states and communities. ACL has released a dedicated webpage to serve as a resource "hub" to make it easier for people with disabilities and older adults to find the voting resources they need.

The Employer Assistance and Resource Network on Disability Inclusion (EARN) has released a toolkit highlighting the significance of promoting mental health equity in the workplace, particularly for underserved communities. The organization's recently updated Mental Health Toolkit offers a structured approach, centered around the "4 A's" framework—awareness, accommodations, assistance, and access—to help employers create a mental health-supportive workplace culture. The toolkit addresses challenges arising from the COVID-19 pandemic and emphasizes strategies for acknowledging and addressing systemic issues, providing summaries of research, case studies, and accessible resources for initiating workplace mental health initiatives.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has developed a series of practical guides centered around housing and home equity for aging adults. Given the complexities of retirement, debt, and savings, these guides cover essential subjects including managing changes in health, passing down homes to children/heirs, utilizing home equity for financial needs, and addressing the loss of a spouse/partner. These guides offer insights and considerations to assist older individuals in making informed decisions regarding their homes and financial security in later stages of life.

The Rosalynn Carter Institute for Caregivers, the Virginia Caregiver Support Program, and the Virginia Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) have recently released a toolkit for caregivers of Veterans for disaster preparedness. This resource is designed to empower caregivers of Veterans, providing them with essential tools and knowledge to navigate the challenges of caregiving during disasters. With a focus on increasing caregiver confidence and preparedness, this toolkit aims to help caregivers prepare both themselves and the Veterans they care for in the face of crisis.

The National Institute on Aging (NIA) has released a resource offering insights and guidance on legal and financial planning for people living with Alzheimer's disease or related dementias. This article emphasizes the importance of early preparation and covers essential legal and financial planning documents, including advance health care directives and directives for financial and estate management. This resource offers guidance on seeking assistance with legal and financial planning, including advice on advance care planning discussions with healthcare providers and locating support from elder law attorneys. Additionally, it provides information about available resources for low-income families.

The National Institute on Aging (NIA) has created a series of caregiver worksheets designed to assist in organizing and managing caregiving responsibilities effectively. These worksheets cover a range of topics, including coordinating caregiving tasks, ensuring home safety, hiring care providers, considering the option of moving an older adult into one's home, managing medications, and organizing important documents. Caregivers can download and utilize these worksheets to streamline their caregiving efforts and maintain essential information in an organized manner.

The National Aging and Disability Transportation Center (NADTC) has published a comprehensive resource guide that offers guidance to transportation providers on how to better serve older passengers with vision loss. The guide addresses the pervasive and often unrecognized issue of age-related vision changes, the unique challenges that older adults with vision loss face when using transportation services, and effective strategies that transportation providers can use to improve their services. This resource also discusses the critical role of effective communication in addressing these challenges and provides travel training and orientation and mobility (O&M) to help older riders with vision loss navigate the transportation system.

KFF unveiled their “Medicaid Enrollment and Unwinding Tracker” featuring state-level Medicaid/CHIP enrollment data for the 50 states and the District of Columbia as well as any unwinding or monthly renewals, disenrollments, and other measures that may be available for states. The tracker also provides information on state-specific Medicaid renewal policies, eligibility policies, and system capacity measures. The tool includes national data on Medicaid enrollment as reported by the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services (CMS); however, these data lag by several months and do not provide a current picture of net changes in Medicaid enrollment.