After a rigorous collaborative review process, six organizations across the province were selected from 53 applicants to receive funding for the first phase of this project. Funding for Phase 1 will span from November 1, 2022 – March 31, 2025, with a total of $1,050,000.00 provided to applicants in this round.

We are happy to share the Phase 1 funding recipients:

• Wild Rose Community Connections through their SeniorConnexx Project, Wild Rose will provide assisted transportation, wellness check-ins, light yard and house maintenance, grocery delivery, meal prep, banking assistance, system navigation, and family/social connection services.
• Bashaw and District Support Services Association – Senior Rural Support Services will support rural aging in central Alberta, including errands, transportation, social visits and outings, house maintenance, and system navigation.
• Camrose & District Home Support Society – Seniors CHOICES will implement a wrap-around, holistic approach to care and aging in place. They optimize their volunteer network to provide home supports to folks with declining health needs while educating the public about in-home and social supports.
• Age-Friendly Cold Lake Society – Lakeland Regional Supports for Seniors will support aging in place with light housekeeping, assisted transportation, and meal preparation.
• Unison at Veiner Centre – Supporting Old Adults to Live Well in their Community in Medicine Hat will help build an older adult-centred approach through their Wellness Connection, Food Security Supports and Transportation programs.
• Westend Seniors Activity Centre – WESeniors Strathcona County Community Hub will enhance their outreach program, bring seniors-focused meal programs to the county and surrounding areas, and introduce affordable assisted transportation and meal delivery services.

Congratulations to all the successful recipients, and we look forward to sharing more about your initiatives!

Funding for Phase 2 will span from August 1, 2023 – March 31, 2025.

• Beaverlodge Food Bank in partnership with Beaverlodge FCSS are working to address food insecurity through their Meals on Wheels program by offering frozen meals to low-income seniors in the town of Beaverlodge and surrounding rural communities.
• Circle of Wisdom Elders & Seniors Centre’s Si’káán na (Blanket) Project will support Indigenous Elders and seniors living in Calgary. Circle of Wisdom is developing a triage assessment tool based on the Medicine Wheel using a wraparound holistic approach facilitating reconnections to community, resources, and culture to develop the capacity and resiliency of urban Indigenous Elders and seniors.
• Drumheller FCSS will support older adults with transportation and in-home supports including light housekeeping, meal preparation, and yard maintenance through their Drumheller/Starland Older Adult Community and Home Support Project
• Grande Prairie and Area Council on Aging’s Seniors Outreach program offers a coffee first approach to supporting older adults. As a one stop shop for seniors in Grande Prairie and the north region they offer support to older adults with any need they may have to help keep them informed, safe, and in their own home.
• Vulcan and Region FCSS is expanding their home support services to reach vulnerable older adults through coordinated service deliver to support people to age well in their own home, reduce vulnerabilities and enhance quality of life.
• Lamont FCSS will support older adults through their Aging Well in Community project with programs and resources to ensure that seniors are able to age in their place of their choosing with dignity, independence, and quality of life. The supports provided by their project include home visitation and grocery delivery/drop off.
• Bridge to Oasis Foundation’s ASCEND (Advocating for Seniors Community and Home Supports to Enable Aging in Place for Older Adults) project will support Black and Afro-Canadian seniors with food security, mental health and psychosocial supports, and systems navigation and supported referrals.
• Fort MacLeod & District FCSS will be enhancing supports to older adults in their community with the addition of a Healthy Aging Outreach Programmer who will facilitate activities and provide outreach and navigation supports for those that need help.
• Westlock FCSS is expanding their Home with Help program to include meal preparation in the town of Westlock, Westlock County, and Village of Clyde. Participants will gather in groups to prepare healthy, nutritious meals to bring home.

Please see previous details about this funding opportunity below. Applications are now closed and recipients have been announced.

Introduction

Older adults overwhelmingly want to live in their own homes but face barriers to accessing non-medical community supports they need to live independently and safely in the community while enjoying positive health and social outcomes.

With investment from the Government of Alberta, Healthy Aging Alberta is offering funding to support programming focused on the coordination and delivery of community-based non-medical support services to older adults across Alberta who are experiencing or are at risk of experiencing, psychosocial, mental health, or addiction issues.

This opportunity is a multi-year investment which is a continuation of a phased approach to development and implementation of a provincial model for program delivery. Local community-based organizations that deliver a range of non-medical supports to older adults that promote their psychosocial and mental well-being in alignment with a coordinated provincial service delivery model can apply. The purpose of these non-medical supports will include:

• promoting physical and mental wellness and social connection for older adults and their
  caregivers
• addressing loneliness, isolation, and anxiety
• providing positive impacts for caregivers

Building on an initial investment in community-based home supports, this multi-year funding will allow for a sustainable approach to be developed in high-need communities. This project allows early recipients of funding in Phase 1 to act as mentors in a Community of Practice for organizations onboarded in this next Phase 2. The ability to collect and roll up local and regional data on a provincial scale will enable the senior-serving sector and allied systems partners (e.g. health and housing) to understand the benefits of holistic care for older adults. Implementing shared evaluation, common language, and mutual support are critical pieces to the long-term success of older adults aging in the community. This project requires funded organizations to actively engage with health care partners to develop referral pathways and collaborative approaches to service delivery.

Scope

This opportunity is open to qualified community-based senior-serving (CBSS) organizations with the capacity to introduce new non-medical home and community supports or expand the delivery of existing eligible non-medical home and community supports, for older adults who are experiencing or are at risk of experiencing, psychosocial, mental health, or addictions issues (see the Glossary of Terms for examples of home and community support services).

Phase 2 Projects will begin program implementation starting August 1, 2023 and ending March 31, 2025. Funding support will be given to up to a maximum of ten programs provincially.

CBSS organizations can apply for funding of activities with a budget maximum of $175,000, inclusive of direct and administrative costs.

In addition to providing eligible home and community supports, CBSS organizations will be expected to:

• Participate in a Community of Practice convened by Healthy Aging Alberta
• Work with Healthy Aging Alberta and its selected evaluation partner to develop a common measurement framework and collect results indicators.
  • This project will be informed by the Healthy Aging Framework and a Recovery Oriented Systems of Care (ROSC) approach.
  • Projects are intended to demonstrate a positive impact on older adults and their caregivers (e.g., physical health; mental health; social and community connection; ability to maintain residence) as well as develop and/or enhance collaborative work with health care partners and organizations serving populations who may struggle to access supports. (See Schedule A of grant agreement 1.2 outcomes: g(v and vi))
• Work with Healthy Aging Alberta to develop a sustainability framework for the provincial community and home supports service delivery model

Please note: Participation in the Community of Practice convened by Healthy Aging Alberta will provide CBSS organizations with additional training and knowledge-sharing opportunities, including support applying the ROSC and Healthy Aging Framework to the new or existing programming.

Fee-for-Service Model

Organizations are encouraged to consider implementing a fee-for-service model in their program design. A fee-for-service model for service delivery is based on an individual’s self-declared household income and a sliding scale. This type of approach encourages community contribution, strives for access for all, increases impact (number of persons receiving services) and avoids undermining other service providers in the market. Service fees will be determined by the CBSS organization, based on local costs and supply and demand. Non-subsidized fees should be comparable with the market rates of other service providers in the local area. Fees and donations collected will be directed back into service delivery.

Please note: EOIs without a fee-for-service model will also be considered.

Program Selection Methodology

CBSS organizations are encouraged to provide information about the needs of older adults in their specific communities as part of their EOI and describe how this project will lead to positive outcomes for individuals experiencing, or at risk of experiencing psychosocial, mental health or addiction issues. Healthy Aging Alberta will consider available demographic and health-related information.

CBSS organizations should have a purpose or mission, overall vision, and established history of delivering home and community support services for older adults in their community.

Phase 2 EOIs will be shortlisted based on the following required criteria:

• Identify how proposed services will have a positive impact for older adults with mental health and addiction issues or older adults at-risk of mental health and addiction issues (and their caregivers).
• Include or contribute to providing services known to help older adults live in their own homes and communities, such as (but not limited to):
  • Housekeeping
  • Meal preparation and/or delivery
  • Transportation
  • Social connection programming
  • Education/recreation programs
  • Home maintenance (snow, yard, handyperson)
  • System navigation and supported referrals – includes helping seniors access housing, financial and social programs, complete forms, and accompaniment to appointments
• Services will be developed or delivered in a community with high needs for the service(s) (e.g., high density of seniors; services do not exist or are insufficient in the community).
• Services will include underserved populations such as LGBTQ2S, immigrant and refugee, and Indigenous older adults.
• Ability to implement evaluation measures to demonstrate results (e.g., positive impact on physical health, mental health, social connection, ability to maintain residence)
  • This project will be informed by the Healthy Aging Framework and a Recovery Oriented Systems of Care (ROSC) approach.
• Description of how they currently work with, or plan to work with, other community organizations and health care providers for home and community support service delivery.
• Have the capacity and willingness to be an active participant in a Community of Practice for the duration of the funding period.
• We are excited to share that in light of recent changes, community-based, senior-serving, non-profit organizations without charity status will now be eligible to apply for the Provincial Community and Home Supports Funding for Older Adults. There will be additional process documents required for those without charity status, but these are currently being developed. Please direct any questions to funding@healthyagingalberta.ca.

Additional considerations that will inform the selection process include:

• Ability to explore fee for service/sliding scale service model.
• Existing relationships or clear plan to develop relationships with healthcareproviders
• Currently working with multiple relevant partners that may include CBSS organizations and/or allied systems partners.
• Experience with data collection and evaluation.
• Experience completing program outcome reporting.
• Familiarity with the Recovery-Oriented Systems of Care (ROSC) approach.
• Familiarity with the Healthy Aging Framework (HAF).
• Experience working collaboratively with other service providers and/or in a Community of Practice.

Program Selection Process

The program selection process will take place in two parts:

1. An open call for high-level Expression of Interests (EOIs) from which potential funding recipients will be shortlisted based on the identified criteria
2. Shortlisted organizations will be invited to submit comprehensive funding applications including detailed program design, collaboration partners, evaluation approach, and project budget.

The application review process will be led by HAA staff and informed by community experts who have experience evaluating proposals within the funding opportunity objectives.

In order to avoid any possible conflicts of interest, members of the Community Leadership Council for Healthy Aging Alberta (HAA) will not be involved in any part of the EOI or application review process.

Following the selection of the shortlisted organizations from EOI submissions, Regional Community Developers with HAA will reach out to all organizations to provide support working through the application process.

Process and Timelines

Glossary of Terms

Allied Partners: Other sectors and systems partners such as government, health, justice, and business.

Collaborative: Intentional partnerships working together towards a common agenda. For the purpose of this EOI, at minimum collaboratives should be engaged in working together to achieve a common purpose or outcome while sharing certain resources, building each other’s capacity and reporting on common outcomes.

Community-Based Senior Serving (CBSS) organizations: Non-profit or public organizations that provide non-medical home and community supports to seniors. For profit businesses are not included in the scope of this funding.

Home and Community Supports, for the purpose of this funding may include:

• Housekeeping
• Meal preparation and/or delivery
• Assisted transportation (this includes helping seniors exit/enter their home and to/from appointments)
• Social connection
• Yard maintenance and snow removal
• System navigation and supported referrals – includes helping seniors access housing, financial and social programs, complete forms, and accompaniment to appointments

Home and community supports are non-medical in nature and intended to supplement existing services, for example, those services provided by community health workers such as personal hygiene assistance and help with medical needs or physical mobility.

Partnership: An ongoing intentional relationship, where trust is a foundational principle, and the risks and rewards are shared.