Partnering with Assistive Technology Programs

Join Christina Neill Bowen as she discusses strategies on how to partner with assistive technology programs during the COVID-19 pandemic with Mystie Rail from Assistive Technology of Alaska and Lisa Morley from the Division of Senior and Disability Services.

Transcript

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Narrator 0:00

Welcome to the No Wrong Door podcast series, brought to you by the Administration for Community Living. In this episode, we’ll focus on ways ADRCs can partner with Assistive Technology programs to better support individuals and staff during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our featured host, Christina Neill Bowen, with the No Wrong Door Technical Assistance Team, talks with Lisa Morley, Grants Unit Manager with the Division of Senior and Disability Services, and Mystie Rail, Executive Director of the AT programs in Alaska.

Mystie Rail 0:38

“… if you’re with the No Wrong Door System or an ADRC, please reach out to your AT Act. You might be surprised how much they can help you and get you information. That’s what we’re here for, to provide Assistive Technology to people.”

 Narrator 0:55

This interview highlights how Lisa and Mystie’s partnership formed and how it has created new opportunities for ADRCs to connect with the individuals they serve using Assistive Technologies. So now, let’s hear from our featured host, Christina Neill Bowen. 

Christina Bowen 1:15

I'm Christina Bowen and I'm joined today by Lisa Morley and Mystie Rail, from the great state of Alaska. Lisa Morley is with the Alaska Division of Senior and Disability Services, known as the State Unit on Aging. She's been working on developing ADRCs in Alaska since 2008, so for 12 years. She also manages the other ACL funded programs, like the Older Americans Act, and the Centers for Independent Living, and the Alzheimer's Disease Initiative grant program. Mystie Rail is the executive director of the AT program in Alaska, and she's been working in special education and accessible technology for 20 years. Since that time she's developed her technical and management skills, and overseas Alaska's Assistive Technology project that provides complete wraparound services to Alaskans of all ages. She refers to herself as an AT evangelist. So we hope to share some of that with some of you all today. Thank you both for being here.

Mystie Rail 2:15

Thank you for having us.

Lisa Morley 2:17

Yeah, thanks.

Christina Bowen 2:19

All right. So we want to find out a little bit, I know the audience is curious. So, what kind of partnership did you have prior to this pandemic, between Assistive Technology and the ADRC? We'll start with Lisa.

Lisa Morley 2:33

Okay. Actually, we didn't have a formalized partnership between ATLA and the ADRCs. ALTA had been working on some other projects with our state Division of Senior and Disability Services. Through the ADRC specialists, we knew about Assistive Technology, but really there was no formalized training for our ADRC specialists and no formalized connections. So, this was the first for us to really be connected with Assistive Technology in Alaska.

Christina Bowen 3:08

That's great. I think so many states could say they're in your position, they might just have a little awareness, but their partnership isn't really solidified. So, how did the pandemic change that? Mystie, do you want to share?

Mystie Rail 3:22

The pandemic has changed everything with Assistive Technology, no matter what state you're in. Our partnership was inspired when the first kick-off meeting happened and we found out about the possible funds. I reached out to Lisa and to STS and spoke with some of the ADRCs, and started creating a roadmap, I'd say for them, and opening the doors, so that we could basically so that they knew ATLA was here and we were available to help them and to see what kind of partnership and collaboration we can do. From there, over the summer snowballed into a really great partnership now and we're working very closely, with them.

Christina Bowen 4:18

That’s great. I think the thing that struck our attention a lot, was how you really re-vamped how the calls were answered at the ADRC. Do you want to talk a little bit about that process and how you're re-evaluating what a caller might experience, when they call in?

Mystie Rail 4:34

For us, yeah. We worked with Lisa and Christine and her group, and were able to come up with a really simple one-page questionnaire, and include that within their intake process. Then included in our contractor, our partnership with them, was also the professional development piece. So all of the intake specialists, it is required that they go through a two hour AT 101 training first. Then after that training, they get additional hours throughout the year for professional development in specific topics. But we really wanted them to have the AT 101 so that when people did call the ADRC, they were comfortable and had enough knowledge to talk about ATLA or Assistive Technology and explain it to people, before doing the referral and that they would know who a good referral was.

Christina Bowen 5:35

That's excellent. How has that gone, Lisa, in terms of promising practices and implementing that at the ADRC?

Lisa Morley 5:43

Well, the ADRCs, we do have a person centered intake. This is a questionnaire that we ask individuals who call, who are seeking other long-term services and supports. The person centered intake is really meant to, it's a pre-assessment really, which would guide the individual into what services they may be likely to qualify for, many public services. But then it's also a precursor and it guides the options counseling process. When we first entered into this project, the thought of having the ADRCs assist people, getting Assistive Technology seemed so incredibly overwhelming for ADRC specialists, so really, having these questions, which Mystie developed, were really instrumental in helping the ADRC's so they could assess somebody's need, a caller's need, as to whether or not this would be appropriate for them. So that was incredibly helpful. Also having the training available and having the knowledge that the ADRC specialists don't have to be experts in all Assistive Technology, but they have enough knowledge and information that they can refer that person to ATLA. Then ATLA then actually trains the individual and ATLA is the one that gets them set up with the proper equipment. So those questions in that process, have been very helpful.

Christina Bowen 7:20

That's fantastic. So it sounds like you broke it down into manageable chunks and made it less scary for the ADRC specialists. Fantastic. What would you all say are some of the promising practices, that if the state is listening to this and they want to start enhancing their partnership a little more, what advice would you have?

Lisa Morley 7:39

Well, I guess I would say mainly it's just to reach out to your state's AT provider, they are the experts and to develop those pathways for an individual to learn about Assistive Technology. So, I think a lot of it is education. The Centers for Independent Living have knowledge of Assistive Technology and they're a lot more connected with the Assistive Technology services and ATLA's program. But really educating different systems, the aging and disability resource centers, senior centers, anyone that works with individuals with disabilities and making that possible, making that link possible, I think would be a promising practice.

Mystie Rail 8:27

I know for us it's relationships, and that was key. My staff and I had relationships with some of the ADRCs, and enough that we could call and I could say, "What are you needing? First of all, what do you think would be helpful?" Of course, out of all of the different regions and sites, we receive different answers to that. That's how the contract or the proposal was set up, was a la carte system, so that we could meet the need of each area, no matter what geographical needs they had, client needs, whatever, that they could really tailor it to what they wanted and needed at each site.

Christina Bowen 9:18

Yeah. I'm so glad you mentioned that, Mystie. What would you say are the impacts or what impacts are you looking at? What kind of information are you collecting to assess how this is all working?

Lisa Morley 9:30

Well, I'll start, and then I'll let Mystie go ahead because I know they're going to be collecting a lot of additional data around this. Currently, each of the ADRCs received a budget from the grant, and so their budget was based on the population that they serve, the communities, and also in their past performance data. So, they each had a budget and with that budget, they were able to pay for training and then select a demo kit. So they were able to purchase Assistive Technology, that then they would have and be able to demonstrate to individuals coming through. Also, then additional funds to pay for individuals to actually receive the Assistive Technology and the training. So we're still finalizing those budgets with our ADRCs, but everyone has been working with Mystie and she's been helping each ADRC to develop their specific plans. So we're looking forward to getting some outcome information.

Mystie Rail 10:30

Yeah. We are evaluating and surveying each of our clients, each of the contacts. We're tracking if they were referrals, directly from each ADRC site and what the person's needs were for AT, and then how satisfied they were, if there were additional needs. We're tracking that on which programs we were able to provide AT for that referral through ATLA. When we needed to go back to the ADRC and request for more funds, to give the person everything that they need. So the wonderful thing about this is that, it's set up so that when we receive a referral and the person needs this Assistive Technology, we're able to provide it through ATLA's programs, but then also go back to ADRC and request additional funds, if there was something we couldn't provide them. So people will really get, I think, all of the AT they need, through this partnership right now. Like I said, we'll be collecting data on that and be able to really narrow it down to both quantitative and qualitative, get the stories and include how much money was spent, what area of need was, where the person was, their age, all of that information.

Christina Bowen 11:58

That's fantastic. Thanks so much, Mystie. So I'm wondering too, if people aren't as familiar with what their state AT program provides, could they expect a certain baseline of services, in terms of the demos and the re-utilization? Can you say just a few words about that?

Mystie Rail 12:16

Sure. Each state has an Assistive Technology Act and each state is charged with doing similar activities. So, every state you can receive demonstrations, you can receive short-term loans, re-utilization of equipment, awareness and outreach. So I encourage, if you're with a No Wrong Door System or an ADRC, please reach out to your AT Act, you might be surprised how much they can help you and get you information. That's what we're here for, to provide Assistive Technology to people.

Christina Bowen 12:55

Well, that is a great commercial to end on. Thank you so much, Mystie, and thank you, Lisa, both of you.

Narrator 13:04

Thanks for listening. For more information, visit TA-Community.com. Views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the presenters and do not necessarily reflect the view of ACL or any of its officials.