To help residents address depression, anxiety, and loneliness, consider using the new Telewellness Playbook as a resource. Developed by the Front Porch Center for Innovation and Wellbeing (FPCIW), the playbook helps those who provide affordable housing for older adults to build technology-based behavioral health programs in their own communities, tapping local resources.

In an early stage of this work, the LeadingAge Innovation Fund funded a pilot study in 2016 for senior living provider Front Porch. There, participants who received counseling for depression via web-based videoconferencing software experienced clear changes in their depression level. Pilot participants either lived in affordable housing communities or participated in activities at a local senior service agency. The pilot has since expanded to multiple locations, says the FPCIW website.

A recent article in McKnight’s Senior Living covered a presentation that Davis Park, vice president of the Front Porch Center for Innovation and Wellbeing, made on a LeadingAge membership call. Park noted that social isolation brought on by the pandemic broke down stigmas and made residents feel more comfortable engaging with counselors through their devices or on phone calls, according to the article.

Telewellness Playbook

The Telewellness Playbook has six parts.

• Overview: Defines telewellness, summarizes research on social isolation and loneliness, and references the impact of COVID.
• Evaluating Fit/Readiness, Measuring Impact, Collecting Data: Includes assessing community culture and establishing staff and resident receptiveness.
• Assessing Community Need and Impact: Discusses baseline surveys and behavioral health tools plus program tracking and reporting.
• Assessing Community Behavioral Health Services and Resources.
• Technology Evaluation, Selection, and Deployment: Covers broadband/ Wi-Fi connectivity support and device selection and adoption.
• Designing an Outreach and Recruitment Plan: Includes developing outreach materials and resident and staff trainings, as well as cultural and linguistic considerations.
• Program Design and Implementation: Covers kick-off event and community program awareness, as well as establishing protocols and procedures.

LeadingAge CAST Patron AARP Foundation made this resource possible and freely available to senior affordable housing providers, senior service organizations, and community mental health programs, says the FPCIW website.

Other Telewellness Guides

If you are considering a telewellness program for older adults with disabilities, you may want to check the Telewellness Guide, which focuses on Tele- Tai Chi. Majd Alwan, CAST executive director, serves on the Advisory Board for the Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center on Technologies to Support Aging-in-Place for People with Long-Term Disabilities (RERC TechSAge), which developed this guide. 

Related Sessions at LeadingAge Annual Meeting + EXPO

Several sessions at the upcoming LeadingAge Annual Meeting + EXPO, to be held in Denver Oct. 16-19, 2022, give you additional relevant resources:

• How Technology Can Support Life Enrichment Programming (Session 2-B)

  Sunday, October 16, 2022

  2:45 – 3:45 p.m.

   

• Engagement Technology: A Post-Pandemic Necessity (Session 4-C)

  Sunday, October 16, 2022

  4:30 – 5:30 p.m.

   

• How Can Affordable Housing Promote Digital Inclusion? (Session 10-H)

  Tuesday, October 18, 2022

  2:45 – 3:45 p.m.

Register today!

Relevant Tools and Resources from LeadingAge CAST

If you are considering adding telewellness to your organization’s programming and are choosing your technology solutions, be sure to check out the LeadingAge CAST Technology Selection Tools.

The Social Connectedness and Engagement Technology Tool and the Telehealth and RPM Selection Tool may be of assistance. Their white papers, interactive tools, and provider case studies can help you learn about these technologies and narrow your choices of solutions on the market.

You may also want to consult CAST’s Resident/Client Technology Support Guide and Broadband in Affordable Housing portfolio.