Collaborative efforts helping people to live in their communities

Good things are happening at the Louisiana Department of Health, and we’d like to share them with you.

In the coming months, we will be sharing stories from people receiving services from the Office for Citizens with Disabilities and the Office of Aging and Adult Services. Both Offices have been hard at work finding ways to help Louisianans continue to live in the communities they love while receiving the services they need to help them live independent, productive lives.

Our hope is that by sharing these stories of success, others may learn about programs and services that may be beneficial to them or to someone they love.

For instance, Medicaid recipient Franklin Wells, 61, suffered a stroke in 2011 that landed him in a New Orleans-area nursing facility. But through the coordinated efforts of the My Place Louisiana and Louisiana Permanent Supportive Housing programs, he has returned to living in his community.

Franklin Wells transitioned back into the community from a nursing facility thanks to coordinated efforts of the My Place Louisiana and Louisiana Permanent Supportive Housing programs.

You may be wondering: What are these programs?

My Place Louisiana is a program of the Department of Health, incorporating efforts between the Office of Aging and Adult Services (OAAS), Office for Citizens with Developmental Disabilities (OCDD) and Bureau of Health Services Financing (Medicaid).  The program helps Medicaid recipients transition from institutions and return to the communities in which they live. For OAAS, this means transitioning nursing home residents to live in their own home, an apartment, at home with family, or with roommates with the support of waiver services from OAAS.

Permanent Supportive Housing is a joint initiative of LDH and the Louisiana Housing Corporation, led within LDH by OAAS. It links affordable rental housing with voluntary, flexible and individualized services. This program has served more than 6,000 households since its creation, allowing people with disabilities to live in their communities.

To transition back into the community, Mr. Wells needed assistance with dialysis, affordable housing and daily tasks such as meal preparation. He qualified for the OAAS Community Choices Waiver, which provides him with services for assistance with meal preparation and other tasks. Staff with the Permanent Supportive Housing program helped him find an apartment in his old neighborhood that was made affordable through the partnership with the Louisiana Housing Corporation. Mr. Wells will receive dialysis close to home three days a week, with transportation provided by the dialysis center.

Franklin Wells, center, received transition assistance from Permanent Supportive Housing tenant service manager Travis Wain, left, and My Place Louisiana transition coordinator Andrea Cressionnie.

Now that he is back in his community, Mr. Wells is looking forward to spending time with friends and getting to know his city again.

Mr. Wells is just one of many people receiving the right care in the right place. His story also shows how addressing important social determinants of health, such as affordable housing with supports to assure successful tenancy, can contribute toward more cost-effective care and better outcomes for those LDH serves.

Continue to follow the LDH blog for more success stories.