The Area Agency on Aging of the Capital Area, a CAPCOG division, with funding from the St. David’s Foundation in January will begin a client-directed, home-based intervention program called CAPABLE in Bastrop County to increase older adults’ mobility, functionality, and capacity to age in place.
“The unique focus with this intervention is that it starts with the individual’s goal instead of the professionals, so they can set their own strategies with professionals to better function in their home,” said Patty Bordie, AAACAP director. “This a wraparound or comprehensive approach to addressing the individual’s unique needs and action plans for safely aging in place.”
CAPABLE offers a time-limited services from an occupational therapist, a nurse, and a home repair professional working with an older adult as a team. Each service builds on the others to increase the participant’s capacity to function at home and decrease the risk of hospitalization and nursing home stays by improving medication management, problem-solving ability, strength, balance, mobility, nutrition, and home safety while decreasing isolation, depression, and fall risk. To achieve program benefits, the participant works with the occupational therapist and nurse to identify three achievable goals per discipline and determine how to overcome their barriers. The home repair professional then makes home modifications to assist in removing barriers while the participant learns new skills, exercises, and how to work with additional tools and equipment between team visits.
CAPABLE is a program that allows AAACAP to monitor participant’s health improvements and address interventions around the social determinants of health, such as transportation, finances, education, family support, health literacy and home environment. While the program is only operating in one county, AAACAP is using the opportunity to pilot the program for the region. It will take lessons learned from the program to implement the CAPABLE model in other CAPCOG region counties as funding become available.
Contact Bordie to learn more about the program.
