Older Adult Health
GOAL:
Older adults in Northeastern Pennsylvania have access to high-quality, age-friendly care and other health supports tailored to meet their needs.
Continue to support the Collaborative led by the United Way of Lackawanna, Wayne & Pike in their operation of a coordinated system to reduce isolation among older adults
Identify and invest in innovative programming that strengthens social connections and access to health care services for older adults
From July 2023 through June 2025, the Foundation supported
Living the Work
Within the Older Adult Health Focus Area, the Foundation invested much of its efforts in the past two years on continuing to support the growth and expansion of the Age Friendly Lackawanna Collaborative.
In 2018, the Foundation introduced a strategic initiative to increase social connection opportunities for older adults in Lackawanna County. The United Way of Lackawanna, Wayne & Pike together with nearly 30 other health and social services agencies, responded to the Foundation’s search for partners, committing to work together on a plan to create a community-wide system to reduce older adult isolation. Over the next several years, they completed their plan, as well as a pilot to test their system of integrating isolation and loneliness screenings into health and social services agencies and creating a team of older adult peer navigators.
As 2024 ended, the Collaborative successfully completed their pilot and transitioned into full implementation. However, the broader impact of their work started becoming clearer as a variety of spin-off projects and initiatives developed organically from their collaboration. Individual organizations expressed feeling more empowered to take on challenges and gaps in the system of older adult care, thanks to knowing they had each other to rely on. For example, a subgroup of members worked together to start Dementia Friendly Lackawanna, which is dedicated to making the community more aware and welcoming for people with dementia and their caregivers—work that the Foundation was also able to help fund. Other spin-off projects include an intergenerational tech tutoring program, holiday meal delivery for caregivers, and friendly caller program. Excitingly, the group applied for and received recognition from AARP as an Age-Friendly Community in 2025, cementing their commitment to continuing and broadening their efforts for years to come.
Looking Ahead
Going forward, the Foundation will continue to support the collective impact work of the Age Friendly Lackawanna Collaborative. As part of its AARP designation, the group will be undertaking a community gap analysis of older adult needs and collaborate on solutions to address the gaps identified over the next several years. Additionally, we at the Foundation are eager to support emerging opportunities to cultivate similar collaborative efforts in other counties within Northeastern Pennsylvania.
In recent years, the Foundation has also been learning more about the Age-Friendly Health Systems model, a national movement helping hospitals, medical practices, pharmacies, nursing homes, home care providers and others deliver age-friendly care. This model prioritizes what matters to an older adult, and aligns all aspects of care accordingly. The Foundation hopes to encourage more interest in replicating the model regionally, while also recognizing and respecting the many competing priorities and challenges health care providers currently face.