Blueprint for Long Term Care Redesign

Over the past several months, dozens of groups and organizations involved in Wisconsin’s long term care programs (including AARP Wisconsin

) collaborated to create a 40-page blueprint for redesigning the system to ensure that quality, independence, and local control remain a focus of the state’s long term care decision-making process.

The blueprint represents the Wisconsin Long-Term Care Coalition’s best ideas for satisfying the aspirations of the people who use the state’s long term care system and their families, all while working within the parameters of the 2015-17 state budget. We hope the blueprint will stimulate an important dialogue around the future of long term care in Wisconsin.

This plan builds on an already-good system. It gives people the resources they need to continue living in their own homes and communities, which is where they prefer to be. We know people prefer home-grown, local supports. This blueprint keeps the system regionally and locally based, which is much less disruptive.

The stakeholders who crafted the blueprint represent more than 60,000 people who are currently enrolled in Family Care, IRIS, Partnership, or other long term care programs. These people and their families rely on these services, which can range from help getting out of bed or using the toilet to finding a job and getting to work.

The coalition says one of its goals is to urge DHS and the Legislature to create an ongoing, open and transparent culture of dialogue that encourages new ideas and best practices.

Check out the full 40-page blueprint and Executive Summary