Herald Journal Health & Medical Resources Guide: New Web tool helps seniors with long-term care

Covering the west metro area including parts of Wright, Carver,
McLeod, Hennepin, and Meeker Counties

New Web tool helps seniors with long-term care

The Minnesota Board on Aging has introduced a new interactive Web tool to help seniors, their families, and caregivers make decisions about housing and care options available in Minnesota. The tool helps seniors:

• Create a plan specifically for them, their parent, spouse or friend;

• Figure out what they need to live well and age well;

• Guides them to resources in their communities.

In addition to housing and care options, users of the tool will receive a personal plan based on their needs identified through each section.

The Web tool can be found at www.minnesotahelp.info or directly through www.longtermcarechoices.minnesotahelp.info. It is the first of several decision-making and planning tools that will be available at www.minnesotahelp.info. It is the first such tool in the US to provide interactive decision making to help with long-term care issues.

The Minnesotahelp.info Long-term Care Choices Web tool is a collaborative effort between the Minnesota Board on Aging, the Center on Aging at the University of Minnesota, and Hennepin County Human Services and Public Health Department. The Web tool was developed to help older adults identify and meet their specific needs. The web tool has a step-by-step process by which a user chooses services after answering a series of questions about daily living needs, safety and security, long term care financing, and housing options.

A portion of the Web site was developed as part of research conducted by the University of Minnesota Center on Aging. The Center collected opinions from more than 200 long-term health care experts representing various backgrounds. The data was tabulated and used to create recommendations from experts.

“We’re very excited about the potential for this site to help many older adults throughout Minnesota,” said Jim Varpness, executive director, Minnesota Board on Aging. “Making decisions about care can be very difficult. The new Web tool helps to simplify the decision making process and provides information people need to make decisions.”

Published August 2006
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