As part of our mission to offer support for aging adults, UCH provides service coordination to more than 2,500 older adults living in owned and managed affordable housing communities, to more than 600 seniors living in the neighborhoods surrounding these communities and will soon offer this service to more of its independent living communities. In fall 2021, a team of service coordinators will be available to provide support to older adults and their families in the Columbus metro area.

Service coordinators operate as a personal advisor to residents and family members and connect older adults with services they need to lie a healthy and full life at every stage. They are an important liaison between community agencies and service providers, building a support plan tailored to individual needs.

“Our Service Coordinators provide relationship-based care rather than just transactional assistance,” said Dan Fagan, MPA, LSW, Director of Population Health. “They work together to reduce barriers and make sure people are connected to the care they need.”

While the service coordination model has been working well in affordable housing for many years, UCH is working to extend this relationship-based assistance program. UCH put a service coordinator in place at its Trinity Community at Miami Township independent living in 2020, plans to expand service coordination in its Niles and Brunswick communities, and is working to create connections in the community at large that benefit older adults regardless of geography, economics or need.

“We understand the trusted support and opportunities offered to residents can extend beyond the boundaries of our communities and into the surrounding neighborhoods,” said Fagan. “From people on waiting lists for affordable living to those living with chronic health conditions, there is an entire population in need of assistance now. We can assess what those individuals need immediately and connect them to those resources.”

“Aging abundantly means looking at all factors that contribute to health and longevity,” said Fagan. “Service coordination is about wrapping our arms around our aging population and meeting all the realities of life with them.”