Community Program Development
Program Development
The program developed for the Meals on Wheels (MoW) drivers and volunteers by collaborating with Marin County Census 2020
What?
The U.S. Constitution requires the government to count every people in the communities every 10 years through the Census. Based on the census data, federal government resources will be distributed to the community. Although the Census tries hard to count everyone in the community, there are hard-to-reach populations, and homebound older adults are one of them. The homebound older adults are undercounted because they often live with functional disabilities, cognitive impairments, and medical comorbidities which social isolate them from the communities. Their limited social interaction not only affects the count during the census but puts them in a vulnerable position and prone to get depression.
Whistlestop is an organization that provides quality programs and services to help older adults to be active in the communities. The programs include transportation and nutrition services. The Meals on Wheels is a delivering meals program that Whistlestop provides to homebound older adults. The MoW drivers and volunteers interact with the homebound older adults during the deliveries, and they can serve as a trusted messenger for the upcoming census 2020. The trusted messenger’s role is to raise awareness on the importance of filling out the census, and they can also help the homebound older adults to socially interact.
MoW Flyer.pdfSo What?
Our program development team collaborated with Marin Census 2020 and created a communication skills workshop for the MoW drivers and volunteers to be a trusted messenger. The program’s mission was to empower the drivers to develop trusting relationships with the homebound older adults to promote quality of life, and the vision was to develop a program that trains MoW drivers on effective communication strategies. Through the program, the drivers may become a trusted messenger and ultimately help keep the homebound older adults of Marin accounted for in the Census 2020.
Before we developed the program, our team conducted needs assessments by interviewing the Whistlestop program director and the MoW drivers. Also we participated in ride-along with the drivers. The ride-along experience helped us to identify needs within the homebound older adults. Most of the older adults lived alone and did not get enough social support. Few of the seniors wanted to socially engage more with the drivers, and others isolated themselves from the visitors. Clearly, we observed a lack of social interaction in the older adults and fall hazards in the house. Though we started the program to help Marin Census 2020, we felt that there were deeper issues that need to be addressed, which were limited social participation, interaction, and inclusion within the homebound older adults.
Our program contributed to ensuring an accurate count in the 2020 Census by providing the effective communication skills workshop to the MoW drivers and volunteers. The workshop will not only improve their communication skills with the older adults but improve the quality of life for older adults through social interactions.
FINAL Tri-fold (1).pdfTri-Fold Handouts
This trip-fold gives communication strategies the drivers can easily keep in their car to help them during their routes.
Pilot Reflection
Our team implemented 1-hr workshop on November 25, 2019 to road service safety and training supervisor and general manager of transportations at Whistlestop. The Marin County Census representative joined the workshop and presented regarding the census for 30 minutes, and we conducted the communication workshop.
Since our program includes discussion, examples, and video components, the program is self-explanatory and can be used as a webinar for newly hired drivers or volunteers. Both of the participants gave positive feedback on the program and expressed that they would like to re-film the video with current MoW drivers and volunteers to make it relevant and relatable.
Now What?
Social participation is one of the occupations that gives meaning and value to an individual. It relates to one’s health and wellness in the community. One of the many roles of OT is to promote health and wellness for community members. This program development experience enhanced my view as an OT to identify the importance of social participation within the older adult population and how to incorporate my skills as an educator and a program developer to create an effective program based on the needs of clients.
Also through the experience, I learned how to communicate effectively with the two different sites. Since we had to work with Whistlestop director and the census representative, it was hard to keep track with both of the sites. Having one main contact for each site helped and communicating and checking with the team members every day helped to finish the project in time.
For this project, I worked with two new members that I had never worked with before. Since I didn't know their working style, it was hard to adjust at first. I was so used to my cohort who I've worked and studied together for almost 3 years. This experience helped me to learn how to work with new people with different learning and working styles and prepared me for future OT practice in the real world.