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Category: Featured – News & Insights

The Robots are Here

September 28, 2022

BY: Charlotte Haberaecker

This weekend the Washington Post ran an article titled “The robots are here. And they are making your tacos.” It was a story of how fast-food restaurants are addressing workforce shortages by using robots to fry French fries, tortilla chips and tacos. It’s seen as a wave of the future—even though the robots occasionally freak out when encountering tacos requiring a human worker to toss them in the garbage.

While there is increased technology, including robots, in Lutheran social ministry organizations, it’s not as straightforward given the “high touch” nature of our work in caring for people. It also takes capital to invest in technology—capital that is scarcer in the non-profit sector. Yet we know that increased and innovative technology is crucial to our future.

We have partnered with the Consumer Technology Association Foundation (CTAF) over the past few years to enable Lutheran social ministry organizations to innovate. Through our partnership with CTAF, Graceworks Lutheran Services is currently increasing access for low-income older adults to telehealth, cognitive tools and virtual visits with family and friends in its 17 affordable housing communities. Previously, Samaritas provided assisted reality devices to formal and family caregivers caring for older adults diagnosed with dementia so they could receive realistic dementia education and training through an evidence-based program. Bethany Village provided “mobile communication stations” to allow frail older adults to visit with loved ones and healthcare providers, and Lutheran Social Service of Minnesota provided technology for family caregivers in rural communities to access support groups, counseling, companionship programs, and other services during the early days of COVID.

We’ve also worked with technology providers to create solutions that allow our members, including Genacross Lutheran Services and Lutheran Social Services of Northern California, to evaluate the social determinant of health needs of their clients, connect them to services in the community and enable them to live in their home and community. And our CEO Summit and Strength & Service Series feature workforce experts as well as our members as they share their insights, experiences and innovations.

But there’s a long way to go. Join us by sharing your ideas, your innovations, and your experiences. Together we can advance the ability of Lutheran social ministry organizations to expand innovation and automation and enable all people to lead their best lives.

Heritage, Vision and Mission: How Lutheran Services in America is Building a Healthier Future

September 12, 2022

BY: Cameron Zargar, Experience Care

The Lutheran Services in America network has over 150 years of dedicated service in the way of caring for older adults in America. That sustained success is largely due to the Lutheran tradition of empowering people and communities. “What makes us unique is our shared heritage, vision and mission,” said Charlotte Haberaecker, president and CEO of Lutheran Services in America, on the LTC Heroes podcast.

It is that shared sense of duty that makes teamwork possible amongst the 300 health and human services organizations of the Lutheran Services in America network in over 1,400 communities across 45 states. “Our organizations trust each other, collaborate and innovate together,” Haberaecker told Experience Care’s Peter Murphy Lewis, who hosts the podcast.

Needless to say, that sort of reach results in making a positive impact on the trajectory of long-term care in the United States. “We utilize the collective power of our national network with national partners to advance innovation and achieve a healthier, more equitable future for people in America,” she said.

According to Ted Goins, the president and CEO of Lutheran Services Carolinas — a member organization of Lutheran Services in America — this camaraderie is faith-inspired. “We are all friends at Lutheran Services in America,” he said. “It’s just baked into the network, which was created by the Church. That sponsorship has taught us all to work closely together without hesitation.”

Perhaps most remarkable is that the Lutheran Services in America network has been able to maintain the highest standard of care for older adults with diverse needs despite a challenging environment and workforce shortage. “Our network has been caring for people with a broad range of continuum of services, from home community-based services to affordable housing and full senior living facilities,” Haberaecker said. “And we have cared for all of the older adults in our care with dignity, respect, health and independence for well over a century.”

Lutheran Services in America is sincerely dedicated to older adults across America. This means remaining humble, unselfish and well-coordinated across the nation to facilitate the most appropriate care for all our older adults.

The Power of Partnership

September 1, 2022

BY: Charlotte Haberaecker

One of the key areas where Lutheran Services in America brings together our members—along with strategic national partners in philanthropy, academia, healthcare and more—to advance innovative solutions is in enabling older adults to live with dignity, health, meaning, and independence in a place where they call home.

We recently partnered with our member NYU Langone Family Health Centers (formerly Lutheran Family Health Centers), the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC), and The Harry & Jeanette Weinberg Foundation to empower older adults in affordable housing—particularly those transitioning from the hospital or post acute care—to remain living independently in their community.

The work builds on a four-year partnership with UNC and The Harry & Jeanette Weinberg Foundation where we worked with seven members in seven states to successfully transition 875 older adults from post-acute care to home, demonstrating improvement in care transition and quality of life.

The current two-year project will expand UNC’s Connect-Home transition care model to strengthen the capacity of staff to identify affordable housing residents most at risk of hospitalization, address gaps in care that lead to increased isolation and emergency room visits and enable older adults to live independently. Genacross Lutheran Services is providing peer support and expertise based on the extensive work they have done to assess and connect their affordable housing residents to services in the community.

Why is this important? According to CMS, 76 percent of 30-day hospital readmissions are preventable.  And we know the transition from hospital to home places older adults at risk.  We also know that when we bring together our members with expertise and funding from partners in academia, philanthropy and healthcare that we can tackle tough challenges and make a meaningful difference in the lives of people.

We look forward to sharing with you the learnings and results of the work and partnership in the future.

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