HELPING HANDS OUTREACH

“Helping Hands Outreach to Elders has saved my life!” is one comment from a woman in her 80s who had lost any hope of being able to stay in her lifelong home. Her sentiments are echoed by many others who have been helped by neighborly Helping Hands volunteers over the past 10 years. In fact, 345 volunteers have provided 510 persons with 47,630 hours of services like transportation, homemaking, chores, home repairs and modifications, respite for caregivers, and friendly visiting & companionship.

Our focus is on building healthy older adults and a healthy community. A key operating principle for us is to build relationships. We take seriously the last word in our name: outreach. By building solid relationships with our people we move beyond the stigma of aging and reticence older adults may have to ask for and/or receive help. We recruit and support volunteers throughout our service area who provide neighborly help to others living in their neighborhood. This “neighbor to neighbor” approach builds on trusting relationships, and links the older adults to the broader community.

Our Mission is To help create a healthy community where older adults and adults with disabilities want to live and be a vital part of the community. We connect with the inner circle of family members that support the person and then gently bring alongside them the support of friends and neighbors in the wider caring community. We have found it very important to listen to people’s hearts so we can best facilitate care. By listening and understanding, we can then help the person choose the best option for support.

We have also been providing an increasing amount of caregiver support services. Since family caregivers provide over 92% of all support given to persons in need, we provide the support and encouragement they need to help them deal with stress and challenges of their caregiving. We have 2 staff persons who have become trained caregiver coaches who are averaging 12 hours weekly supporting caregivers. We also are providing more in-home respite so caregivers can get a break and be refreshed. We have provided education/training sessions and a support group for caregivers that have been well-received.

Another core part of our program focuses on the quality of life of our older adults. We want to encourage our older adults to make healthy lifestyle choices. Studies are clear that sedentary lifestyles place one at risk for disease. Three years ago we began our “Minutes of Movement” fitness project to help our older adults increase the level of their daily physical activity. We enroll adults in the project meeting with them one-on-one and determining their baseline of activity and then setting some goals with them to grow. We then provide some movement/exercise suggestions. Many older adults have reported that they feel these activities have been a positive step for them toward better health. Our regular wellness activities include daily walking opportunities, weekly exercise classes and monthly health presentations, and materials for older adults to use in their homes. Our monthly newsletters always include helpful information, encouraging stories, and a bit of humor. Monthly social activities also help build the quality of life for our older adults. The health & wellness side of all we do is definitely expanding each year.

Three years ago we implemented the Stanford model of Chronic Disease Self-Management© series of classes which has received wonderful feedback from participants. We conduct 2 of these annually. The rate of falls leading to health decline in Minnesota is very high - In response to this challenge, last year we added the Matter of Balance© series of classes to help reduce the incidence of falls. We also conduct Falls Prevention evaluations of home safety and follow up with persons to assure mitigation of potential risk areas. The twice annual medication reviews by pharmacists complement our falls prevention activities. Our staff is also trained to provide Healthy Eating for Successful Living© classes in our community. All the classes we provide are evidence-based programs so we look forward to reports of improved health among those participants. Our staff nurse directs these activities with trained volunteer support.

We conduct outcome-based evaluation of our programming annually and adjust to better meet our people's needs. We follow the Standards of Excellence of the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits and have been recognized as meeting all Standards of the Minnesota Charities Review Council since 2006.