Riverside County's Healthy Aging-in-Place with Partners Involved (HAPPI) Initiative

About the Program

Category: Human Services (Best in Category)

Year: 2018

The Healthy Aging-in-Place with Partners Involved (HAPPI) Initiative is an innovative approach to providing collaborative, client-focused care to our most complex and high-risk older adult clients. These clients are often at high risk of abuse or neglect, have high behavioral health needs and multiple chronic diseases that result in frequent hospitalizations and significant use of costly emergency room care. To address these issues, Riverside County Adult Services Division (ASD) established the HAPPI Initiative to increase the provision of quality, efficient care for its seniors and persons with disabilities through In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS), Adult Protective Services, the Public Authority, and key community partners. Riverside County ASD partnered with the county’s two largest health plan providers to provide care coordination to IHSS recipients under California’s Coordinated Care Initiative (CCI), which was subsequently ended by the state. The HAPPI Initiative expands and focuses this partnership on specific, shared, high-risk clients to ensure continuity of care through the use of a comprehensive client and caregiver assessment, a targeted care coordination team approach with healthcare partners, clients, and caregivers, and increased frequency of contact between IHSS social workers, clients, and healthcare partners. This expanding coordination has led to improved client outcomes and collaborative partnerships.