At a time when government agencies in Idaho are trying to “do more with less,” the Area Agency on Aging of North Idaho and North Idaho College forged a partnership to provide services to the Panhandle’s growing elderly population.
“Our entire goal and mission of our agency is to offer things that help people live in their homes for as long as possible,” said Pam Pearson, program coordinator at AAA.
The agency on aging provides a variety of services from housekeeping to meals to rides between appointments. The agency both contracts with private businesses and reimburses clients’ friends and family.
North Idaho College provides business support to the agency by handling human resources, finances, facilities and technology.
“NIC benefits from the relationship as it allows us to serve and connect with more of our community,” Sarah Garcia, vice president of finance at NIC said. “We try to integrate programs and opportunities between the agency and students which creates enrichment opportunities in both organizations.”
Now, North Idaho’s agency is taking on even more, adding five more counties to its area, extending down to Idaho County and up to Boundary.
The agency falls under the Idaho Commission on Aging, which previously had six regions but this year is consolidating down to four.
“It’s kind of a consolidation of effort, a little bit of a consolidation of cost,” Pearson said. “Obviously, we’re in a time where everybody is trying to do more with less.”
In North Idaho, that has meant thinking of different ways to reach the aging population, especially in rural areas.
All agencies on aging across the state offer core services:
- Information and assistant units, that connect clients with meal service, housekeeping and respite care
- Adult Protective Services, which investigates abuse and neglect cases
- Ombudsman, who oversees facilities like assisted living and nursing care
In North Idaho, with so much of the area being rural, Pearson said the self-directed program, where clients’ friends and family get paid a small sum to provide services, has been very successful.
When someone goes into an assisted living or nursing care facility, “the cost to the system is so astronomical,” Pearson said.
For aging clients, asking for help can be hard.
“If we put ourselves in the shoes of a senior citizen who can’t do much at home anymore, we don’t like asking for help,” Pearson said. “It can cause a lot of stressors in the family. It can be embarrassing.”
When that elderly client can offer a small amount of compensation, it empowers them to ask for more help, Pearson said.
For people with dementia, having a stranger in their space can be very upsetting. And for family and friends, the money helps offset the cost of taking time off work or gas money to drive their loved one to appointments or help around the house.
“When we present this style of service to individuals, they are so relieved and have so much joy,” Pearson said.
Being under NIC’s umbrella helps the agency recruit and retain staff it wouldn’t be able to if the agency was managing its own human resources and finances on its $2.5 million a year budget.
“Because we get to be technically considered employees of the college, we get to retain a workforce in our office that is of high quality,” Pearson said.
Occasionally, the agency will bring in student interns or hire NIC alumni for one of the agency’s 16 positions.
While the agency isn’t part of what people may traditionally think of as a community college service, Pearson said, it’s a key part of NIC’s larger vision of a connected community.
“Their mission is obviously first and foremost providing learning opportunities,” Pearson said. “They really want to be recognized for cultural and civic and economic services. Our mission provides the kind of health and wellness of our civil and economic region.”
