Service Coordination: Information for Older Adults

What if you had someone you could turn to if you needed help filling out a Medicare form, paying your utility bill, or arranging transportation to the grocery store? What if you could get that help without ever leaving your apartment building?

Some HUD housing developments in Hamilton County work with Council on Aging to provide service coordination for their elderly, frail and disabled residents. A service coordinator is stationed on site to serve as an advocate and a link between residents and community based programs and services that promote independence and dignity.

COA Service Coordinator Mary Martin, right, is popular with residents of St. Francis Court, S. Fairmount.

Client Story

Mary Martin had been service coordinator at St. Francis Court Apartments in S. Fairmount only a few months when her supervisor received a fan letter signed by 29 residents. "She has opened new doors and made life a lot easier," the letter said. "Mary never says 'no,' it's always, 'Now, let me see.'"

Service Coordination is a program to help landlords improve services to elderly and disabled residents of HUD-eligible housing. In 2007, COA served 716 seniors and disabled adults at six sites. Service coordinators are stationed at the site to link residents with services, present educational programs and do all manner of tasks to help improve their lives and maintain their independence. Ms. Martin, for example, arranged for free transportation to the grocery store and brought in medical experts for a women's health screening. 

"There are so many challenges," she said, "but endless opportunities for creative problem solving."

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How can a service coordinator help me?

Service coordinators become trusted, valued members of the residential communities they serve. Residents can turn to their service coordinator for help with issues ranging from utility bills and rent payments to Medicare and medical equipment. Service coordinators advocate for your needs and often serve as a mediator should you have problems with other tenants or building management.

There is no fee for the service and your personal information is kept confidential.

With a service coordinator in your building, you'll have access to:

• home and supportive services such as housekeeping, personal care, meals-on-wheels, transportation services  and medical equipment
• on-site health and wellness programs including: podiatry services; mammography screenings; blood pressure and glucose checks; vision screenings; bone density screenings; flu shots; exercise programs; and mini health fairs
• help with benefits applications; long-term care planning; financial and legal matters; prescription drug coverage
• and much more 

How can I bring a service coordinator to my building?

It is up to the property manager/owner to contract with a service coordinator to provide services to residents in qualified housing developments.

Depending on whether the development is privately owned or a HUD qualified development, there are a couple of options available to property managers.

At HUD developments (Section 8, 202, 221(d) (3), and 236), grants may be available to help pay for the cost of an onsite service coordinator. COA will work with the building manager/landlord to apply for those grants.

If the building is privately owned, building mangers/owners may still contract with agencies like COA to provide an onsite service coordinator.

Residents who are interested in having a service coordinator in their building should talk to their property manager/owner. If you are part of a resident council or resident management corporation, you may be able to use such an affiliation to lobby property management to bring a service coordination program to your community.

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Do I have to be a client of Council on Aging to use the service coordinator in my building?

No. Service coordinators are there to help every resident in the building, regardless of their status as a COA client, age, health or income level. Service coordinators can even help residents' family members or caregivers. 

It's also important to note that services are completely voluntary, and if you seek help from the service coordinator, your information is kept private. The service coordinator is there to help you in anyway she can. All you have to do is ask.

What properties have service coordinators?

Council on Aging Service Coordinators are stationed at the following sites to link residents with services, present educational programs and do all manner of tasks to help improve their lives.

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Testimonials

Here's what other older adults had to say about their Service Coordinator during a recent program survey:

• "[The service coordinator] has always been knowledgeable and helpful to me in getting services for my mother. I hope that this program continues and that the coordinator remains on-site."
• "If we need to know anything at all, we know we can go to [the service coordinator] and [she] will help us. It's a good feeling to know [she's] here."
• "The program has exceeded in meeting every need I have! Transportation, information, assistance, nursing care, physical therapy…"
• "It's nice to know she's there for us anytime we need her."
• "Every time I had a question about services, she helped me or led me to whom I should contact."
• "My service coordinator is an exceptional and caring professional."
• "Our [service coordinator] deserves praise and a raise, but don't promote her away from us. She has raised our standard of living."
• "If I have any questions about benefits, services or programs, they are answered promptly with positive results."
• "If thanks were money, they (service coordinators) would be rich!"
• "Both the coordinator and the aide bend over backward to help you."

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