Boards, Councils, and Commissions

Rebuilding Together Arlington/Fairfax/Falls Church has developed a new delivery system called Rebuilding Together Express to make home modifications and repairs to help many more low-income seniors age in place in their homes. For the past 29 years, Rebuilding Together-AFF has mobilized scores of community partners and hundreds of volunteers each year to make health and safety repairs at no charge to low-income homeowners. But so many older homeowners’ need for limited repairs and home modifications to age in place far outstripped capacity to respond. Similar to the supermarket express lane, Rebuilding Together Express offers much faster service for “fewer items.” Small teams of 4-5 volunteers typically work 4-5 hours on each home and spend about $400 - $500 for materials to correct 30 health and safety hazards common in older homes. Fall safety is a top priority, with grab bars, double stair rails, comfort-height toilets, and brighter lighting leading the list of repairs. But Rebuilding Together Express also addresses fire safety, security, moisture and ventilation problems, and energy upgrades. Rebuilding Together Express teams completed 35 homes in 2017. Camaraderie among volunteers is steadily increasing their ranks and building capacity will be for at least 50 homes in 2018.

The Caregivers Community Network (CCN) is a collaborative effort between Valley Program for Aging Services (VPAS) and James Madison University's Institute for Innovation in Health and Human Services (JMU-IIHHS). It is the only program in the state of Virginia which pairs college students with caregiving families to provide intergenerational care and in-home caregiver respite. Students enroll in Issues and Applications of Family Care Giving: Interprofessional Perspectives which is the elective course affiliated with CCN. They are trained to work with older adults, especially those who are frail and who have cognitive impairments. Students are paired and spend 3 hours each week in local homes where they offer respite to caregivers. They work closely with each family to determine the needs and interests of the care recipient, and they plan activities accordingly. While many of our students are nursing and health science majors, CCN's work is a non-medical model and is based on the social and emotional aspects of care.

The Dementia Care Coordination Program is a model integrated and coordinated care system for individuals with dementia and their caregivers undertaken in partnership between the Jefferson Area Board for Aging (JABA), the University of Virginia’s Memory and Aging Care Clinic (MACC), and DARS. The partners developed this program with the aim of creating a replicable best practice for dementia care coordination in Virginia. Individuals with a recent diagnosis of a neurodegenerative process causing dementia (such as Alzheimer’s disease) or Mild Cognitive Impairment are eligible for the program. JABA and MACC each hired a Care Coordinator (CC) with backgrounds in health, social work or nursing, and experience in aging, medical or mental health. A comprehensive 30-hour training program was developed using existing materials available through the Commonwealth of Virginia (alzpossible.org) and the Alzheimer’s Association and others. In addition, CCs are certified as Options Counselors under Virginia standards and utilize the statewide No Wrong Door (NWD) tool. CCs provide coordinated care including options counseling, education on dementia, behavioral symptom management training and expert consultation, and eligibility assistance. Both CCs are embedded in the MACC and work in partnership with the interdisciplinary care team.