HSRC Webinar on Transportation and Housing Stability
Monday, February 27, 2023 | 1:00-2:00 PM ET Register for the webinar. Partnerships across housing, transportation, aging and disability, and
The following is a selection from NCMM’s recently released research paper on “The Role of Transportation in Addressing Social Isolation in Older Adults. You can download the full research paper below.
Social isolation and loneliness are persistent societal problems, and lead to poorer population health outcomes, greater mortality, and greater health care spending. Older adults face unique risks related to social isolation and loneliness, largely because of the many major life transitions that they are likely to experience, including retirement, death of a spouse, death of other social contacts, and changing health and functional abilities.
Given these many life changes and the diminishing independence that can come with aging, public transportation plays a key role in solutions to address social isolation in older adults. As the proportion of older adults in American society increases, it is imperative that we design solutions to increase the continued integration of older adults into their community. Robust public transportation, including human services transportation offerings, are an essential component of these solutions, especially for older adults who do not have access to private transportation or who are unable to drive.
Recognizing the importance of this topic and the need to raise awareness on key related issues, the National Center for Mobility Management contracted with the University of Minnesota to prepare a research paper to inform future stakeholder engagement, programs, and policy.
The University of Minnesota research team investigated the hypothesis that a lack of transportation can be shown to be associated with incidences of social isolation among older adults; specifically, that a lack of mobility directly affects patterns of social engagement by dictating people’s access to resources, amenities, and socializing opportunities. A second part of that premise is that an improvement in older adults’ access to transportation services that fit their needs—with regard to affordability, convenience, and safety—will meaningfully increase their access to life-sustaining activities. The University’s research focused on this research question: How can public transportation be used as a preventive intervention tool to address the potentially harmful effects of social isolation?
The resulting research paper summarizes key findings, showcases program examples, and offers recommendations for programmatic, policy, and research interventions to use public transportation to prevent and reduce social isolation and loneliness among older adults.
The following describes key findings from the literature review and key informant interviews:
Given the urgency of loneliness and isolation as public health concerns and the fundamental role that transportation plays in helping individuals to connect with one another, several recommendations emerged from this study that fell into three buckets: additional research, expanded collaboration, and operational improvements.
Additional research
Expanded collaboration
Operational improvements
The research team also identified three case examples (Nevada’s N4 Connect and Ride on Time, Minnesota’s Dakota Area Resources and Transportation for Seniors (DARTS) Loops, and Virginia’s Senior Connections, Ride Connection) that together illustrate several common ingredients for success: cross-sector collaboration and patience in generating it; diverse funding streams; the importance of keeping transportation services affordable; the ability to be nimble in terms of repurposing staff and resources when interventions are not in high demand or piloting program tweaks; and knowing who the client is and what the client needs.
Overall, the research illustrates that the prevalence of social isolation and loneliness among older adults, leads to unnecessary costs, poor health outcomes, and even mortality, requires urgent and coordinated action to ensure that all older adults have equitable access to destinations that support their well-being.
Monday, February 27, 2023 | 1:00-2:00 PM ET Register for the webinar. Partnerships across housing, transportation, aging and disability, and
Brookline Council on Aging – Brookline, MA
Transportation Resources Information Planning and Partnership for Seniors (TRIPPS) is an initiative of the Brookline Council on Aging. TRIPPS launched in 2015 with initial funding through a grant from the Massachusetts Department of Transportation using federal 5310 funding. We provide information, resources, and support to older adults in Brookline who are looking for transportation options. Our focus has been on older adults who are either not driving or are transitioning from driving to other modes. About 70 percent of our older adults who we work with do not own a vehicle.
Gloucester Health Department – Gloucester, MA
Cape Ann Seniors on the GO launched in October 2019 across the communities of Gloucester, Rockport, Essex and Manchester by-the-Sea to meet an identified need of improving access to healthy food and opportunities for physical activity among low income older adults through increased transportation access. This pilot grew out of the work of the Cape Ann Mass in Motion coalition, a part of the Massachusetts Department of Public Health’s Municipal Wellness & Leadership Program. The need for food and physical activity access was identified through root cause analysis and examining high rates of chronic disease among older adults in our Cape Ann communities. Over half of older adults who reside in Gloucester have four or more comorbidities.
Dakota County Community Services, “The Rapid” – Dakota County, MN
RideLink is a network of five area transportation providers that together provide older adults (age 60+) with door-to-door transportation as a complement to the fixed route bus. RideLink can be utilized for medical appointments, shopping trips, and recreational trips, which sets it apart from other options in the area that limit rides for older adults for specific purposes. RideLink’s providers have multiple types of vehicles that provide service to those who use a wheelchair accessible, and also accommodate service animals and caregivers.
SeniorCare Inc. – Gloucester, MA
Recognizing that they would not be able to fill all trip requests with just their volunteer driver program, they also set out to become knowledgeable about other transportation options in the region, and to share that information with their riders. SeniorCare began by reaching out to area Councils on Aging and the local transit authority to learn about their transportation services. They compiled a town-by-town listing of transportation resources, posted on the SeniorCare website. To keep the information up to date, SeniorCare does regular outreach. When a new caller requests a ride, SeniorCare’s Transportation Coordinator discusses all transportation options appropriate for them and mails them a welcome packet with that information.
OCCK Public Transportation – Salina, KS
On the Go: Enticing Seniors to Try Salina’s Public Transportation program began in 2022 as a partnership between the Salina Senior Center, OCCK Transportation and the Mobility Manager for North Central Kansas. The goal of the program is to increase the number of senior citizens using Salina’s public transportation system.
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Denver’s Union Station where RTD’s Mental Health Clinicians assist riders. Additional related example: Metro Transit (St. Louis MO) is partnering…
Have more mobility news that we should be reading and sharing? Let us know! Reach out to Sage Kashner (kashner@ctaa.org).
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