https://www.americancityandcounty.com/wp-content/themes/acc_child/assets/images/logo/footer-logo.png
  • Home
  • Co-op Solutions
  • Hybrid Work
  • Commentaries
  • News
  • In-Depth
  • Multimedia
    • Back
    • Podcast
    • Latest videos
    • Product Guides
  • Resources & Events
    • Back
    • Resources
    • Webinars
    • White Papers
    • IWCE 2022
    • How to Contribute
    • Municipal Cost Index – Archive
    • Equipment Watch Page
    • American City & County Awards
  • About Us
    • Back
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise
    • Cookie Policy
    • Privacy Statement
    • Terms of Service
American City and County
  • NEWSLETTER
  • Home
  • Co-op Solutions
  • Hybrid Work
  • Commentaries
  • News
  • In-Depth
  • Multimedia
    • Back
    • Podcasts
    • Latest videos
    • Product Guides
  • Resources/Events
    • Back
    • Webinars
    • White Papers/eBooks
    • IWCE 2022
    • How to Contribute
    • American City & County Awards
    • Municipal Cost Index
    • Equipment Watch Page
  • About Us
    • Back
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise
    • Cookie Policy
    • Privacy Stament
    • Terms of Service
  • newsletter
  • Administration
  • Economy & Finance
  • Procurement
  • Public Safety
  • Public Works & Utilities
  • Smart Cities & Technology
  • Magazine
acc.com

Commentaries


Photo by Sabine van Erp from Pixabay

Commentary

Community EngAGEment: University, nonprofit and municipal partnerships emerging from the pandemic

Community EngAGEment: University, nonprofit and municipal partnerships emerging from the pandemic

  • Written by Alexa Van Aartrijk, John T. “Jay” White, Gigi Amateau and E. Ayn Wellef
  • 12th July 2021

The COVID-19 pandemic has underscored the pre-existing public health crisis of social isolation among adults of all ages. Two recent nationally representative surveys revealed that American adults of all ages experience loneliness. For example, among adults ages 18 and older, 47 percent have reported not having meaningful daily social interactions and more than one third of American adults ages 45 and older have reported feeling lonely.

Seeing a need in the region, Henrico County, Va.’s Advocate for the Aging joined forces with the Longevity Project for a greater Richmond to create and launch create and launch a program that would address the growing social isolation prevalence. Leveraging available resources and a network of stakeholders, the team created the EngAGE at Home program to address social isolation challenges and positively impact social connectivity among older adults in the greater Richmond region.

EngAGE at Home participants were members of Henrico County’s Friendship Cafés. Funded through Older Americans Act Title III nutrition services and managed by the region’s area agency on aging, Friendship Cafés are a congregate meal program and gathering place where community residents receive a nutritious midday meal while interacting with good friends and participating in diverse activities. Friendship Cafés help fight social isolation in older adults by creating opportunities for making new friends and improving social connectivity, but due to the impacts of COVID-19, Friendship Cafés, along with congregate meal programs across the country, had to indefinitely close for safety reasons. The aging services network quickly came together to continue crucial nutrition services to participants, yet the social aspect of the Friendship Cafés could not be offered due to pandemic precautions. Twenty Friendship Cafés operate throughout the greater Richmond region, which includes the city of Richmond and suburban and rural counties, serving 500 older adults annually. Given that these Friendship Cafés served the entire region, Henrico County and the Longevity Project envisioned the EngAGE at Home program for everyone, regardless of where they resided.

Early in development, the partnership between the Longevity Project and Henrico County hosted listening sessions and an initial pilot to collect feedback prior to launch. Additional members of the Longevity Project team, including its Elder Voices group, were critical elements of EngAGE at Home’s creation and implementation. As a collaborative effort between the Longevity Project and Henrico County, insights from the stakeholders also played a crucial role. After gaining community input, each program partner contributed to the implementation and sustainability of the program. Henrico County’s Advocate for the Aging connected long-time Friendship Café attendees to the innovative educational program. Longevity Project provided access to instructors and weekly programming.

The EngAGE program, offered free of charge, was designed as a weekly virtual program that hosted opportunities for engagement, learning and sharing. Topics varied each week and included local resource updates, financial safety, long-term care continuum options, and more. A wide variety of local experts volunteered their time to provide session content and facilitation.

Input from the region’s elders indicated that technology, when accessible, can be used in innovative ways to keep community members connected and has become increasingly relied upon to manage daily functioning and social support. However, inequitable access to broadband, appropriate hardware and training/assistance with using technology posed barriers to delivering the program via the internet. Hence, EngAGE at Home was designed as a telephone only intervention. With the goal to make the program accessible to everyone, regardless of technology access, the program implemented Uber conference, a telephone-based conference call application that automatically calls participants at the start of the session. This was shown to be especially beneficial to participants in the height of the pandemic and was expressed as a helpful tool to bring structure to often mundane parts of the week.

The primary short-term goal of the EngAGE program was to promote social connectivity for older adults who were experiencing the effects of isolation during quarantine, a goal that was in immediate response to the pandemic lockdown. Long-term goals have evolved in addition to the original goal, and now hopes to foster natural conversation and connection between already-existing and new relationships of the participants, and to reach a wider population with evidence-based and supportive information.

Both Henrico County and Longevity Project share a goal to reduce social isolation among community elders; through combined effort and implementation of an innovative conference-call based program, results indicated that 80 percent of the 103 participants agreed or strongly agreed that the EngAGE at Home program made an impact on their social connectedness. Results indicated that participants used the program as part of a collection of resources to reduce isolation and promote positive connections in their lives. Furthermore, participants reported that the consistency of the program provided structure to their lives in these uncertain times. As doors begin to open again, the team envisions EngAGE at Home to remain virtual in a continued effort to combat social isolation in greater Richmond.

 

Alexa Van Aartrijk, MS is a gerontologist and serves as the director of education and engagement for the Longevity Project for a greater Richmond (LPgR).

John T. “Jay” White, MS, EdD, CDP is a gerontologist with the LPgR.

Gigi Amateau, MS, PhD is a gerontologist and director of research for the LPgR.

Ayn Welleford, MS, PhD, AGHEF is a gerontologist, associate professor and gerontologist for Community Voice with Virginia Commonwealth University’s Department of Gerontology.

 

Tags: homepage-featured-3 homepage-featured-4 Administration Commentaries Commentaries Commentary

Most Recent


  • businesses
    Engaging businesses to strengthen your community
    A prosperous business community epitomizes effective city leadership and fuels economic growth. But to fully understand and address specific needs within your community, cities must engage with local stakeholders and businesses to cultivate and maintain a strong business ecosystem. Business engagement plays an essential role in a city’s retention of businesses, helping to foster organic […]
  • Report: Some public employees face financial hardship; comprehensive pay packages proved 'a pathway toward economic security'
    Many who work in public service, in professions that center around helping others, are themselves struggling to make ends meet and face financial hardship. Addressing these needs, the public employers they work for are well positioned to help them out, according to a report published Thursday by the MissionSquare Research Institute, “Examining the Financial Wellbeing […]
  • public health
    How public health can build a “one health” infrastructure for the future
    Public health challenges—like antibiotic resistance, vector-borne disease and a global pandemic—have eluded traditional public health tools and frameworks. As a result, public health leaders focus more and more on the intersection between the environment and human health. Searching for a better framework to understand emerging threats to human health, many in public health circles have […]
  • Phoenix
    Federal funds help fast-growing Arizona city address several infrastructure challenges and needs
    Joe Giudice, public works director for the city of Phoenix, says the influx of new residents is driving a lot of construction in his community. “Phoenix is the fifth largest city in the United States. It is one of the fastest growing cities in a fast-growing region, which influences infrastructure product and service demand. This […]

Leave a comment Cancel reply

-or-

Log in with your American City and County account

Alternatively, post a comment by completing the form below:

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Related Content

  • man working from home
    The pandemic and digital optimization — what does it mean for municipal HR?
  • Community EngAGEment: University, nonprofit and municipal partnerships emerging from the pandemic
    A healthy community starts with a healthy public workforce

WHITE PAPERS


Modernizing government services for today’s resident expectations

24th January 2023

Preparing Your Community Now for the Next Generation of Older Adults

18th October 2022

Helping Government Fleets Achieve Their Goals

30th September 2022
view all

Webinars


Future-proof Your State and Local Government Finance: 5 Key Trends for 2023

6th February 2023

How To: Evaluate Digital Government Service Delivery Technologies

23rd January 2023

Using Technology to Enhance Communications

29th November 2022
view all

Podcast


Young Leaders Episode 4 – Cyril Jefferson – City Councilman, High Point, North Carolina

13th October 2020

Young Leaders Episode 3 – Shannon Hardin – City Council President, Columbus, Ohio

27th July 2020

Young Leaders Episode 2 – Christian Williams – Development Services Planner, Goodyear, Ariz.

1st July 2020
view all

GALLERIES


These 10 American cities are well prepared for a tech-based future

1st February 2023

Report: While remote work is causing offices to empty out, walkable cities are still in high demand

26th January 2023

10 American cities with a great downtown

24th January 2023
view all

Twitter


AmerCityCounty

Future-proof Your State and Local Government Finance: 5 Key Trends for 2023 dlvr.it/Sj1KxB

6th February 2023
AmerCityCounty

Amid spike, federal transportation department launches initiative to curb traffic-related deaths dlvr.it/Shvs31

3rd February 2023
AmerCityCounty

Engaging businesses to strengthen your community dlvr.it/ShvZn0

3rd February 2023
AmerCityCounty

Report: Some public employees face financial hardship; comprehensive pay packages proved ‘a pathway toward economic… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

2nd February 2023
AmerCityCounty

Strategic Budgeting for Modern Government dlvr.it/ShrHmD

2nd February 2023
AmerCityCounty

These 10 American cities are well prepared for a tech-based future dlvr.it/Shp7sH

1st February 2023
AmerCityCounty

How public health can build a “one health” infrastructure for the future dlvr.it/ShnlKm

1st February 2023
AmerCityCounty

Four Steps to Better Municipal Fleet Fuel Purchasing dlvr.it/ShnbWP

1st February 2023

Newsletters

Sign up for American City & County’s newsletters to receive regular news and information updates about local governments.

Resale Insights Dashboard

The Resale Insights Dashboard provides model-level data for the entire used equipment market to help you save time and money.

Municipal Cost Index

Updated monthly since 1978, our exclusive Municipal Cost Index shows the effects of inflation on the cost of providing municipal services

Media Kit and Advertising

Want to reach our digital audience? Learn more here.

DISCOVER MORE FROM INFORMA TECH

  • IWCE’s Urgent Communications
  • IWCE Expo

WORKING WITH US

  • About Us
  • Contact Us

FOLLOW American City and County ON SOCIAL

  • Privacy
  • CCPA: “Do Not Sell My Data”
  • Cookie Policy
  • Terms
Copyright © 2023 Informa PLC. Informa PLC is registered in England and Wales with company number 8860726 whose registered and Head office is 5 Howick Place, London, SW1P 1WG.