Agenda

This session will provide a high‑level overview of the policy environment shaping aging services at the national and state levels. Amy Gotwals, USAging, will provide a federal update highlighting current priorities, emerging trends, and the status of the Older Americans Act as Congress considers the Act's future direction. Meghan Groen, Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, will share a statewide perspective, including departmental focus areas, policy developments, and key initiatives influencing Michigan’s aging network. Together, these updates will give attendees a broad understanding of the forces affecting programs, funding, and service delivery in the year ahead.

When Area Agencies on Aging thoughtfully and intentionally bring together their programmatic and fiscal departments for collaboration throughout the annual and multi-year planning process, it makes for more effective community plans and agency budgets.  Often, programmatic, and fiscal departments operate in silos, making it difficult for agencies to respond to unforeseen funding shifts, contract variances, and new initiatives.  But collaboratively drafted agency plans drive effective contract management, foster innovation and creativity (especially with stagnant funding) and better meet the needs of community members. This session proposes a foundational framework for collaboration between programmatic and fiscal departments, offering ready-to-use tools and workflows for immediate implementation.

Michigan’s AAAs are leading the way with community‑based caregiving models that improve health outcomes, stabilize families, and reduce caregiver strain. This session highlights innovative approaches: a care‑transition program that dramatically lowers hospital readmissions, expanded supports for kinship caregivers raising children, and a home‑safety initiative that reduces falls and eases daily caregiving. Together, these programs demonstrate how local innovation can strengthen caregivers and offer replicable strategies across the aging network.

The onboarding and development of healthcare staff require innovative, structured, and learner-centered approaches to ensure competency, engagement, and regulatory compliance. This presentation introduces the Learning Hub, an orientation and professional development model designed for multidisciplinary staff across community-based healthcare settings.
Participants will explore how the Learning Hub combines evidence-based teaching strategies, individualized learning style assessments, hands-on skills validation, and continuous quality evaluation to support staff throughout a three-month (or longer) onboarding process. Built with inspiration from nursing education models, this program integrates didactic instruction, simulation, role-play, and real-world application (“clinical” field experiences).
This session will also highlight how the Learning Hub promotes regulatory compliance, supports competency-based progression, utilizes technology (Learning Management Systems), and fosters a therapeutic learning environment. Attendees will gain practical strategies for implementing a scalable and adaptable workforce development framework within their own organizations.

Assistive devices help older adults stay in the community of their choosing by preventing falls, increasing social connection, and enhancing autonomy and independence. Low-cost low-tech, mid-tech and high-tech devices help older adults with activities of daily living, recreation, and communication and connection. Join us to learn about and try tools for aging in place and resources to help older adults access the devices for themselves through the Michigan Assistive Technology Program, a free, federally funded program serving all of Michigan.

Details Coming Soon.

Artificial intelligence is already changing how organizations work, but Area Agencies on Aging do not need to become technology experts to make thoughtful decisions about it. This interactive session will explore practical ways AI may help reduce administrative burden, support the workforce, strengthen documentation and compliance, improve access to information, and create more capacity for the human work at the heart of aging services. Through real-world scenarios, participants will consider where AI may be useful, where caution is warranted, and what should remain firmly in human hands. Attendees will leave with a simple leadership framework, practical guardrails, and actionable first steps for exploring AI responsibly while protecting trust, dignity, choice, and human connection.