For twenty years Lutheran Social Service has managed the Senior Companion Program throughout much of Minnesota.  This program has demonstrated the powerful impact of engaging committed older adults in serving frail elders.

As we contemplate the demographic shift of baby boomer retirees, we see enormous challenges to supporting independence in the community, and based on our experience with volunteers, we also see a silver lining.  The boomer generation wants to make a positive impact in their communities.  Through Senior Companion volunteers and by creating innovative new models, we will create opportunity for both young and old to serve and continue to reduce the public costs of long-term care, while helping older adults age in their own communities.

To help us meet these challenges, an innovative pilot project is underway.  In July, 2010 a partnership was launched with generous financial support from the UCare Fund, a community-directed initiative of UCare, the 4^th largest health plan in Minnesota. The pilot creates opportunity to demonstrate the powerful case that Senior Companionship is part of the overall solution to curtail escalating health care costs.   As we approach our one year anniversary of providing Senior Companions to UCare for Seniors (a Medicare Advantage Plan), we are currently serving 58 clients with an additional 20 client having had services but then stopped - most often due to major life changes.   The pent-up demand for these services is huge with over 100 clients expressing interest and currently on the waiting list.

We anticipate that our observations over the years will bear out in this pilot and provide the evidence needed to develop a new service oriented to the wider health care market. Senior Companionship service benefits all members of our communities through the improvement in quality of care coupled with systemic cost savings.

Program wide, the total cost to provide a year of weekly visits and transportation to one elder averages $950.00 a year.  This is provided at no cost to the family, but has the potential to save thousands of Medicaid dollars a year, at an average cost of $50,000 or more for a year in a nursing home.  

Of the 78 seniors that have had a Senior Companion with this initiative, there are 78 different stories of hope and joy.   One such story is of Roy and Shirley E.   The news that they were eligible to receive a Senior Companion through UCare came as a godsend.  Macular degeneration makes it impossible for Roy to drive and Shirley struggles with walking and mustering the energy to do creative things anymore.

Mary Jo, a Senior Companion, has literally come to their rescue and become a very important part of their lives.  Roy says “Mary Jo and Shirley have done things like baking Shirley's favorite cookie recipes, gone shopping for 'slightly used' clothing and checking out neighborhood yard sales. There's just no way to describe how much joy and love Mary Jo has brought to Shirley. She's become 'family' in a very short time.”