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January 9, 2019
WASHINGTON — Lutheran Services in America today announced it is launching Phase II of its “Great Plains Senior Services Collaborative.” The project is a collaborative, multi-year effort led by Lutheran Services in America in tandem with Lutheran Social Service of Minnesota, Lutheran Social Services of North Dakota, and St. John’s Lutheran Ministries, Inc. in Montana. The Collaborative is designed to leverage the unique assets and resources of rural communities and develop person-centered approaches to help seniors maintain their independence, remain in their homes and communities, and live with purpose and meaning.
Funded by a generous three-year grant from Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies, the Collaborative will work together to deliver services in over 22 communities across the three rural states addressing the unique challenges of rural aging. The Collaborative also will work with North Dakota State University to evaluate the success of different programs and approaches in rural communities and ensure that programs can be sustained beyond the grant.
“Older Americans in rural areas are no different from their urban and suburban counterparts when it comes to wanting to remain healthy, independent and connected,” noted Charlotte Haberaecker, president and CEO of Lutheran Services in America. “A major difference, however, is the significant challenge rural Americans face when it comes to accessing needed services and resources. This project is so promising because it incorporates social determinants such as transportation, nutrition, isolation and mobility that directly affect seniors’ health in rural areas.”
Building on Success
This second phase builds upon the success of an earlier grant also funded by Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies in which more than 1,500 older adults and their families were supported in over 70 rural communities across Minnesota and North Dakota, and where over 130 partners and stakeholders were engaged.
The project’s Phase II launching today incorporates valuable lessons learned and best practices gained from the project’s first phase, which emphasized the importance of local partnerships and the value of collaboration to expedite program delivery and improve program quality by leveraging a multi-state approach.
About Lutheran Services in America:
Lutheran Services in America is the national network of Lutheran social ministry organizations—connecting over 300 health and human services nonprofit service providers located throughout the country. Recognized by The Chronicle of Philanthropy and Forbes as one of the nation’s largest nonprofits, the Lutheran Services in America network operates with more than $22 billion in annual revenue and over 250,000 member employees. Together, the network lifts up the nation’s most vulnerable people from children to seniors—making a difference in the lives of one in 50 Americans every year. To learn more, please visit www.lutheranservices.org.
February 19, 2019
WASHINGTON — Harvard University scholar Dr. Antonio M. Oftelie has been elected to the Lutheran Services in America Board of Directors. The Board is comprised of 13 senior executives from health and human services, business, academia, and the Lutheran Church and social ministries who are dedicated to transforming the lives of people and communities. Lutheran Services in America leads one of America’s largest health and human services networks with over $22 billion in annual revenue. The Washington, DC-based organization consists of over 300 social ministry organizations working in over 1,400 communities nationwide.
“Dr. Oftelie’s unique, worldwide perspective on issues so directly tied to our work will strengthen our organization even more. His experience aligns with what we strive to do at Lutheran Services in America: build and enhance the value our network provides through inventive strategies that transform people’s lives,” noted Charlotte Haberaecker, president and CEO of Lutheran Services in America. “In particular, Dr. Oftelie’s focus on innovation will be invaluable, including his groundbreaking work creating the Human Services Value Curve to improve outcomes and value for human services organizations.”
“The work Lutheran Services in America and its member organizations are doing when it comes to transforming communities and the lives of those they serve is vital, particularly given stretched government resources and programs,” Dr. Oftelie added. “I am excited to further this mission by offering insights from my work tied to improving organizations, thereby adding value to the power and outcomes of the network.”
A Doctor of Law and Policy graduate of Northeastern University and Master in Public Administration graduate of Harvard Kennedy School, Dr. Oftelie is based at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences where he is an Innovation Fellow at the Technology and Entrepreneurship Center (TECH), as well as executive director of Leadership for a Networked World, an applied research and executive education initiative. In these roles, he conducts research and teaches at the intersection of policy, technology, innovation, and leadership. The Minneapolis native also has advised senior corporate and government officials, including a presidential administration and three governors, on creating performance and outcome measures.
About Lutheran Services in America
Lutheran Services in America is the national network of Lutheran social ministry organizations — connecting over 300 health and human services nonprofit service providers located throughout the country. Recognized by The Chronicle of Philanthropy and Forbes as one of the nation’s largest nonprofits, the Lutheran Services in America network operates with more than $22 billion in annual revenue and over 250,000 member employees. Together, the network lifts up the nation’s most vulnerable people from children to seniors — making a difference in the lives of one in 50 Americans every year. To learn more, please visit www.lutheranservices.org.
September 3, 2019
WASHINGTON — In a vote of confidence for Lutheran Services in America’s Connect-Home Learning Collaborative, The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation has awarded a $225,000 continuation grant to fund the Collaborative’s second phase. The Phase 2 grant enables the Collaborative to double in size from four states to eight. Connect-Home, the brainchild of Dr. Mark Toles of The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, is a team-based model designed to improve the delivery of transitional care during the critical time following acute care. The Collaborative empowers staff and family caregivers to support older adults in their efforts to successfully return home and avoid rehospitalization – an improvement so needed given our nation’s aging demographics and related challenges tied to post-acute care recovery time.
“Connect-Home is a model poised to help address the post-acute care needs of so many more older adults in America, and we gratefully acknowledge The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation for supporting such a unique, active learning environment that paves the way for it to scale nationally,” said Charlotte Haberaecker, president and CEO of Lutheran Services in America. “Phase 2 of our Connect-Home Learning Collaborative is an opportunity to build on the success of our national network’s efforts to help older adults recover and live independently in their homes, where they want to be. Through Connect-Home, providers now are well-positioned to improve outcomes and reduce rehospitalization for low-income older adults.”
More than three-quarters of 30-day hospital readmissions are estimated to be preventable, according to the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission. To return home successfully and avoid hospital readmission, older adults need better transitional care, Haberaecker emphasized. To achieve this, participants in the Connect-Home Learning Collaborative use tools developed by Toles and his team to train patients and caregivers on how to safely transition from a post-acute care facility to home care with few complications.
Under the 12-month plan of Phase 2 of the Collaborative, Lutheran Services in America will expand implementation of Connect-Home to 275 low-income vulnerable adults transitioning from post-acute to home-based care. The Phase 2 expansion grows Lutheran Services in America’s partner sites to locations in Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York and Wisconsin.
The Collaborative’s Phase 2 extends the results-yielding work of its successful first phase, whichreached over 325 vulnerable older adults in Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey and North Carolina. Phase 1 sites that implemented the Connect-Home model witnessed 90 percent of caregivers attending both midpoint and discharge meetings, more than 90 percent of discharged patients scheduling and confirming physician appointments, and 90 percent of patients completing follow-up calls within 72 hours after discharge. In addition, one site reported the lowest hospital readmission rates in its county.
These results speak collectively to the importance of implementing a multi-disciplinary approach early in the patient’s admission to a post-acute care facility. Clinical leaders who implemented Connect-Home during its first phase reported improved processes and outcomes in patient care, with one nursing leader noting that Connect-Home “helps us pull all the disciplines together.” Without such organization, important individual steps can fall through the cracks for older adults and their caregivers that too often leads to avoidable rehospitalization.
“Our ability to integrate discharge planning early in a patient’s post-acute stay is what sets Connect-Home apart,” Haberaecker added. “Given the impressive results we saw from our Phase 1 efforts, by doubling the size of Connect-Home to four additional partner sites in four more states we expect we’ll be able to help transform the lives of so many more underserved seniors and their caregivers.”
For further information about the Connect-Home Learning Collaborative, contact David Zauche at 202-499-5837.
Lutheran Services in America is the national network of Lutheran social ministry organizations—connecting over 300 health and human services nonprofit service providers located throughout the country. Recognized by The Chronicle of Philanthropy and Forbes as one of the nation’s largest nonprofits, the Lutheran Services in America network operates with more than $22 billion in annual revenue and over 250,000 member employees. Together, the network lifts up the nation’s most vulnerable people from children to seniors — making a difference in the lives of one in 50 Americans every year. To learn more, please visit www.lutheranservices.org.
September 18, 2019
WASHINGTON — Adriene Iverson, president and CEO of the California-based Elder Care Alliance, has been elected to the Lutheran Services in America board of directors. Iverson’s term begins this month and runs through June 2021. She replaces Jodi Harpstead, who was appointed in August by Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as commissioner of Minnesota’s Department of Human Services after serving four years on Lutheran Services in America’s board.
Iverson brings a wealth of knowledge from the senior living, nonprofit and faith worlds with her to Lutheran Services in America. Since 2010, she has been a leader at the senior living-focused Elder Care Alliance, which has been serving seniors across California for more than 20 years. In her post with Elder Care Alliance, Iverson was instrumental in implementing electronic health records and ushering in evidence-based dementia care programming. She also has been active in the senior living industry through board service, and served as vice president of operations at the CNH District Church Extension Fund, a $60 million church loan fund. Iverson holds a bachelor of science in marketing from Santa Clara University.
“When it comes to America’s most vulnerable populations, our nation in many ways is facing unprecedented challenges,” Iverson noted. “With a rapidly aging population and growing workforce shortage, the efforts of Lutheran Services in America’s national network of health and human services organizations are needed now more than ever. This reality, combined with this trusted organization’s broad, national reach, makes me proud to be able to join and support its active efforts. I look forward to using lessons learned here in California on the national level to help create communities free from ageism and ableism.”
“Adriene’s years of experience and diverse portfolio will add another fresh perspective to our board that will help inform our work,” said Charlotte Haberaecker, president and CEO of Lutheran Services in America. “We’re crafting novel solutions and forming nontraditional partnerships that leverage our network’s role in enabling people to live fuller, healthier lives. Adriene’s insights will help us expand our initiatives that look at solutions through an entirely different lens.”
Iverson’s appointment follows three other recent additions to Lutheran Services in America’s board of directors. Colleen P. Frankenfield of Lutheran Social Ministries of New Jersey and Karen L. Himle of Thrivent joined the organization’s board in July; Harvard University scholar Dr. Antonio M. Oftelie joined in February.
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About Lutheran Services in America
Lutheran Services in America is the national network of Lutheran social ministry organizations, connecting over 300 health and human services nonprofit service providers located throughout the country. Recognized by The Chronicle of Philanthropy and Forbes as one of the nation’s largest nonprofits, the Lutheran Services in America network operates with more than $22 billion in annual revenue and over 250,000 member employees. Together, the network lifts up the nation’s most vulnerable people from children to seniors — making a difference in the lives of one in 50 Americans every year. To learn more, please visit www.lutheranservices.org.
