NEW YORK, NEW YORK November 7, 2017—United Hospital Fund (UHF) is pleased to announce the transfer of its website NORC Blueprint: A Guide to Community Action to the New York State Office for the Aging (NYSOFA), effective immediately.
Designed in 2008 to spur the development of supportive services programs in naturally occurring retirement communities (NORCs), the website provides information for community groups and organizations on how best to develop, plan, manage, implement, and sustain programs to improve the health of older adults and encourage healthy aging. The Health Indicators section of the website provides tools so that clients' risks and needs can be systematically assessed and interventions can be strategically developed and their impact tracked.
“We have been proud to partner with the United Hospital Fund to strengthen and expand NORCs to help older New Yorkers successfully age in place,” said NYSOFA Acting Director Greg Olsen. “We thank UHF for their continued leadership and commitment to New York communities through the NORC blueprint website. The Health Indicators section of the site has created a direct link between identifying needs and risks and turning them into actions to improve health and autonomy.”
The content, tools, and guides in the Health Indicators section of the website were developed and pilot-tested by UHF with grants from the Altman Foundation and the UJA-Federation of New York and fundamentally change the way aging service providers can develop and assess programs to support seniors in their communities through a more proactive and targeted approach.
The website was developed under the leadership of Fredda Vladeck, former director of UHF's Aging in Place Initiative, highly regarded for its work conducting community, program, and policy analyses; fostering partnerships of health care, social service, and housing organizations; and facilitating the development of innovative model programs to support the expansion and improvement of New York City's aging services. Support for development of the website was provided by the Daniels Fund, Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation, and Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation.
“We are very pleased that the content and material on the NORC Blueprint website will be even more broadly available and accessible as an important source of information and support for a wide range of aging and other service providers, funders, policy makers, and others,” said Anthony Shih, president of United Hospital Fund.
The NORC Blueprint website, now hosted by NYSOFA, can be found on its website at https://aging.ny.gov/norcblueprint. While work is being done to complete the Health Indicators component on NYSOFA's website, the Health Indicators tools and materials can still be found at http://www.norcblueprint.org on a temporary basis. This content, now owned by NYSOFA and under its auspices, will remain available on UHF's NORC Blueprint website until NYSOFA completes its website development, with anticipated completion this fall.
About United Hospital Fund
United Hospital Fund works to build a more effective health care system for every New Yorker. An independent, nonprofit organization, we analyze public policy to inform decision-makers, find common ground among diverse stakeholders, and develop and support innovative programs that improve the quality, accessibility, affordability, and experience of patient care. For more on our initiatives and programs please visit our website at www.uhfnyc.org and follow @UnitedHospFund on Twitter.
About New York State Office for the Aging
The mission of the New York State Office for the Aging (NYSOFA) is to help older New Yorkers be as independent as possible for as long as possible through advocacy, development and delivery of person-centered, consumer-oriented, and cost-effective policies, programs, and services that support and empower older adults and their families, in partnership with the network of public and private organizations that serve them. Stay connected to the New York State Office for the Aging—download the NYSOFA mobile app for iOS or Android; visit the NYSOFA Facebook page; follow @NYSAGING on Twitter; or visit www.aging.ny.gov