To print a copy of the text below, click here

COLLAGE is a national membership consortium of older adult communities and aging services providers -- including continuing care, community-based, home care and housing residences -- dedicated to improving the lives, wellbeing and health of their residents/clients. The program provides member organizations with a framework for the application of standardized, systematic and integrated health and wellness assessment information to advance and promote healthy aging.

How does COLLAGE work?

If you choose to take part in COLLAGE, a staff person will meet with you for a one-on-one conversation. Questions focus on your interests, needs, experiences, preferences and challenges. The more accurate and complete the information you give, the greater our ability to evaluate and deliver high quality programs and services that match your needs.

Who developed the program?

COLLAGE was initiated and developed in 2003 by Kendal Outreach, LLC (KOLLC), an affiliate of The Kendal Corporation, and the Institute for Aging Research at Hebrew SeniorLife (IFAR), a Massachusetts not-for-profit corporation. KOLLC and IFAR collaborate with interRAI, a network of researchers, policymakers and clinicians in over 25 countries committed to improving health care for older people and people with disabilities. interRAI promotes evidence-based practice and informed program development through the collection and interpretation of high quality data from scientifically derived assessment systems.

What will COLLAGE do for Residents/Clients?

COLLAGE will affect residents in different ways. The COLLAGE conversation will give your community staff a better chance to know your interests, needs and preferences, and better plan for the future. It opens ways to enrich your life, within or outside the community, which you may not be aware of. COLLAGE has helped residents who want to develop their own health and wellness plans that may include preventive health maintenance; yoga, balance or exercise training; nutrition; chronic fatigue; and shower assistance. Armed with a deeper knowledge of resident needs and interests, your community is in a better position to develop programs and services that will improve your healthy aging and quality of life.

How is my privacy protected?

If you choose to take part in the COLLAGE conversation, information you supply will be recorded and stored at your organization. In addition, the information is encrypted (made totally unintelligible) and electronically sent to the COLLAGE information repository. Your social security, medicare and medicaid numbers are stored and encrypted making it impossible for anyone to read them without the key. Over 6000 COLLAGE conversation records are housed in the COLLAGE information repository presently. The repository was established so that two non-profits, Kendal and Hebrew SeniorLife, through research that involved COLLAGE consortium organizations, could positively impact the field of aging and public policy in areas including but not limited to nutrition, depression, memory, falls and fitness.

How often will community staff want to meet with me?

COLLAGE encourages residents and staff to meet once every nine months to a year. If health situations were to change, it may be good to have additional conversations to review temporary services that may be needed.

What will COLLAGE cost me?

Your community has funded the seed money for COLLAGE. There is no fee to you for this service.

Why did my community join the COLLAGE consortium?

To provide a better range, quality and depth of services for the wellbeing of those who live in your community. COLLAGE is one step in an effort to support independence, flexibility and choice for all residents and maintain ways to enrich wellbeing for each person in five core areas: physical, social, emotional, vocational and intellectual. COLLAGE often fits perfectly with the goals of member communities for healthy aging – to strengthen the body, inspire the mind and nurture the spirit of each person.

What residents in other communities are saying about COLLAGE:

"The lingo of COLLAGE is fresh and alive -- it focuses on the positive, what is right in a person’s life, it’s engaging and collaborative. As an example, during the assessment conversation my wellness coach would repeatedly say, what can we do with you to support your healthy aging rather than what can we do for you. There is an important difference here."

"I found COLLAGE to be much more creative and holistic then the wellness tools Alexian Live at Home Program has used in the past. The COLLAGE approach is interested in me -- what’s important to me, what I’m feeling and doing -- and helping me plan for the future. COLLAGE has raised my awareness."

"COLLAGE is a gigantic program for us. It gave me a chance to analyze what has happened in my life, what is going on today and will continue to give me hope for the future. COLLAGE gave me an opportunity to rethink my life. I feel lucky -- life isn’t easy but because I’m here there are opportunities to positively share and plan for the future."



AUTHOR & EDITOR INSTRUCTIONS

You should only add, change or delete information in the Content Panel to the right. DO NOT modify any of the other elements on this page or it will not work properly when web-delivered.

Please refer to the Collage Corporate Web Site Documentation - Author/Editor Section for tips on entering different content types (e.g. graphics, movies, links etc.) as well as formatting techniques. Several important points:

  • The width of the content display panel is FIXED at 504 pixels wide (inside the display margins). Graphics and other inserts (e.g. movies, etc.) can not exceed this width.
  • Where possible, use the Paragraph tag to wrap text and image inserts in order to keep proper spacing and alignments.
  • On FORM pages you can only edit/change the title graphic, field captions and the text above the form.

Keep in mind that you must update the Site Navigation File if:

  • You have created a new web page from one of the pre-defined page templates
  • You want to change where the page is displayed in the site's navigation menu
  • You want to restrict the page viewing to Members ONLY
  • There is no need for the fixed-height scroller display (all of your content for this page is above the bottom of the page's picture graphic (not the reflection)

Please note that when this page is delivered to a browser on the web, the top and bottom menus will be dynamically valued, the content panel to the right will be a fixed height and this information panel will NOT be displayed.