Elder Adult Program

Latino Health Access’s Elder Adult Program is designed to provide in-home safety and support to assist low-income and hard-to-reach older adults ages 55+ through direct services and programs that support older adults and their caregivers. Aimed to reduce isolation, help to manage chronic disease and disabilities, and compassionately provide elders and their families with available home and community-based choices to protect and enhance the social and personal care necessary to live their lives with dignity and independence.

Promotores continuously work on developing trust and a genuine relationship with their participants and caregivers. They would systematically canvas targeted areas with door-to-door outreach identifying isolated elder adults, conducting health screenings and home safety inspections, providing home safety improvement items when available (e.g. night lights, shower railings, etc.), and make referrals to appropriate health, wellness, and support services while providing additional one-on-one support to address barriers to health. Educational sessions on disease self-management (e.g. Diabetes, arthritis, hypertension, osteoporosis, etc.), nutrition, physical activity, mental health, and fall prevention further complement the Promotor’s holistic wrap-around of the family. Additionally, the program offered monthly events intended to provide an opportunity for the elder in the community to come together, socialize and have a good time while making new friends. These arts and crafts workshops offered a socialization and learning opportunity to explore emotional wellness topics that directly impact our aging population (e.g. Alzheimer’s, Dementia, depression, etc.) while addressing the stigma surrounding emotional wellness diagnosis.

Latino Health Access (LHA) developed the first comprehensive response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Before the pandemic, LHA served as a place where older adults could overcome isolation through workshops, socializing activities, and health education. However, the pandemic forced older adults to remain at home and made it difficult to manage chronic diseases. LHA’s elder adult engagement team conducts regular wellness checks for our adult participants and provides case management and promotor-led one-on-ones. As the vaccine continues to offer individuals the opportunity to lower their risk for COVID-19, LHA needs to mobilize its Elder Adult outreach and engagement Promotores to support older adults during the COVID-19 recovery phase by intensifying chronic disease management, addressing mental health concerns, and connecting them to medical homes.