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Award
Winners
2001
BUSINESS AWARD
The
ASA Business of the Year Awards, one for large companies and one for
medium/small companies, recognize exemplary company programs that meet
the needs of older people and their families, expand public awareness
of the private sector's increasing involvement with older people and
create performance models for other companies to emulate.
LARGE
COMPANY
Georgia Power
Atlanta, GA
For a number of years,
Georgia Power has demonstrated its support of aging services through contributions
of financial resources and human resources. It has formed partnerships
with such innovative programs as the Cobb County Senior Leadership Academy
and the Environmental Alliance for Senior Involvement (EASI). The corporation
also offers its older customers ongoing services such as energy assistance
and gatekeeper programs.
Georgia Power was
the first corporate partner to support the Cobb County Senior Leadership
Academy, which places older adults, much like college interns, into public
agencies, nonprofits and schools in the area for a year of service. Georgia
Power provides leadership training for each new class and helps identify
potential candidates as they leave the workforce. With Georgia Power's
help, this program is expanding into other counties in the region.
Georgia Power Ambassadors,
the company's 2,500-member retiree group, assist with social events, trips
and volunteer efforts for many nonprofit organizations. The group provides
assistance during the Mayors' Walk, an annual health and fitness walk
for 2,000-plus older adults. Georgia Power staff also serve on the planning
committee and help produce this huge event.
Georgia Power was
the first corporate sponsor to provide financial support when the decision
was made to organize EASI in the Atlanta region. EASI is a program that
establishes local Senior Environmental Corps, watchdog groups that use
the commitment of older adults.
In addition to partnering
with the Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC), the area agency on aging for
the Atlanta region, Georgia Power is a longstanding supporter of the Georgia
Gerontology Society (GGS), the Georgia Council on Aging and the Coalition
of Advocates for Georgia's Elderly (COAGE). For at least five years, Georgia
Power has also provided the printing for GGS publications and has provided
information to the aging network about the advantages and disadvantages
of electric utility deregulation.
Georgia Power offers
its older customers many customer service programs that offer cost breaks
and deadline extensions to those on fixed incomes, streamline the payment
process by accepting payment electronically, and provide information in
Braille or in large print. The company is in touch with those on life-support
equipment at home, and contacts assistance programs for customers who
are possibly in distress.
SMALL
COMPANY
Lifeline Systems
Framingham, MA
Lifeline Systems was
founded in 1974 by noted gerontologist Andrew S. Dibner with the mission
to help older adults live independently. It joins forces with some 2,000
community networks to ensure that elders have the support they need to
remain in their homes as long as possible. Lifeline also addresses the
needs of healthcare professionals through its referral programs, which
provide educational and technological support. In 1999 the system had
278,000 subscribers.
Lifeline's personal
response service provides 24-hour monitoring and personalized support
to older individuals with medical or age-related conditions and to physically
disabled people throughout North America. Subscribers in need of help
can signal a response center, where trained monitors identify the nature
and urgency of the person's need and notify the subscriber's contacts
and emergency professionals according to a preestablished protocol.
Another version of
Lifeline's home monitoring service provides social support for older adults
who live alone. Trained personnel are in contact with these elders as
often as daily, which can supply an important social connection.
Lifeline's equipment
includes a communicator connected to the home telephone line and a personal
help button worn or carried by the subscriber. The company's primary customers
are hospitals and other healthcare-services providers. Hospitals offer
Lifeline services to improve healthcare for their communities and to enhance
community relations in addition to reducing healthcare costs.
In 1988, Lifeline
entered into a partnership with the American Red Cross. This partnership,
along with the company's commitment to continually update its technology,
have greatly expanded providers' ability to maintain their at-risk older
clients at home safely.
Honorable Mention
CareGuide
San Francisco, CA
CareGuide is a leading
care management company that helps people at every stage of the aging
process lead more comfortable, secure and independent lives. The company
was founded to provide a comprehensive, free resource for national care
solutions, articles and tools to meet caregivers' needs. Started as a
purely online initiative, CareGuide has evolved into a full eldercare
management enterprise.
Caregivers actively
seeking products and services, from long-term healthcare insurance to
live-in care, can find access to both information and providers on the
company's website (www.careguide.com).
The site guides them through the caregiving process and helps them find
the best care management solutions.
The CareGuide website
features an online directory of more than 170,000 licensed or accredited
providers of eldercare and childcare services in all 50 states. The directory
provides such information as hours of operation, staffing, base services
and fees, incremental services and fees, special programs and discharge
policies. When available, "virtual 360-degree tours" and photos of facilities
are included. This information is free to all who visit the website. The
company also can help families locate providers to assess their care management
needs based on their unique situation.
CareGuide also makes
available a wealth of information, developed and selected by Neil Solomon,
MD, in-house medical director, and his team of industry experts. This
includes up-to-date articles, checklists and interactive tools on topics
such as finding and selecting care, balancing work and family, financial
and legal planning, and issues of daily living, health and safety. Some
of the information has been developed by working with key eldercare stakeholders
including the Administration on Aging, the Senate Special Committee on
Aging, industry trade associations and providers themselves.
CareGuide's "Community
& Support" area provides members with the opportunity to exchange
helpful information with others in similar situations and combat the isolation
often associated with caregiving.
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