• Eastern Maine Transportation Collaborative Health Services Initiative Funded by a Maine Health Access Foundation planning grant, the Center, in conjunction with Eastern Maine Healthcare Systems and the Eastern Maine Transportation Collaborative, studied the transportation needs of chronically ill patients 65 years and older in Penobscot, Washington, and Hancock counties in Maine. Final results included mapping patients' locations relative to the health care services they need, proposed protocols for health care and transportation schedulers, and tying into current regional transportation resource databases accessible via phone and Web for transportation providers and users. Recently the Center and its EMTC partners were funded by the Maine Health Access Foundation to implement the recommendations made in the planning grant.

• Maine Partners for Elder Protection
  
  Maine Partners for Elder Protection (MePEP)is an innovative partnership among rural primary care practices (PCPs) in Penobscot and Piscataquis Counties, an Area Agency on Aging (AAA), a university center on aging, and elder abuse community advocates. MePEP will demonstrate that primary health care is an effective and efficient site for early elder abuse screening because older adults will more likely utilize support when need is validated by a trusted medical provider and assistance is personally tailored.
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• A Whole Woman Strategy and Action Plan to Raise National Awareness About Osteoporosis
  This one year U.S. Administration on Aging-funded project teamed up the UMaine Center on Aging and the Maine Center for Osteoporosis Research and Education. Investigators conducted focus groups with older women through the United States and designed and pilot-tested a national strategy and action plan for osteoporosis education aimed at reducing risk-taking behaviors in older post-menopausal women. The project was carried out in collaboration with the National Osteoporosis Foundation and the Foundation for Osteoporosis Research and Education.
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• Bucksport Older Adult Housing and Service Preference Assessment
  The Center on Aging at the University of Maine partnered with the Town of Bucksport in performing a systematic community-wide assessment and analysis of the housing needs and preferences of residents 65 years and over in Bucksport, Maine. Support to carry out this study was made available through the generosity of the Bingham Group. Study findings are available.
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• Maine Primary Partners in Caregiving (MPPC) Project
  A 3-year U.S. Administration on Aging project of UMCoA and the Eastern Agency on Aging that forged an innovative partnership among health care professionals at Norumbega Medical, RossCare, Bucksport Regional Health Center, Horizons Health Services, Senior Spectrum, Aroostook Area Agency on Aging, and the Indian Township Tribal Health Center. Selected health care practitioners identified family caregivers in need of supportive services, and referred them to specialists within the AAAs who offered information, training, and other forms of assistance. UMCoA was responsible for educational and training aspects of the program and for carrying out formal project evaluation. The project partners show that a combination of information, support, and training can ameliorate the multiple risks of family caregiving.
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• Senior Companion Program Assessment
  Through the Geriatric Social Work Faculty Scholars program, funded by the John A. Hartford Foundation and administered by the Gerontological Society of America, Dr. Sandra Sue Butler received support for two years (2001-2003) to carry out an applied research project assessing the effectiveness of the Senior Companion Program (SCP). Dr. Lenard Kaye, Director of the Center on Aging, served as her institutional sponsor and Dr. Amanda Barusch, University of Utah, as her national mentor.

As part of the Corporation for National Service, the SCP is one of three programs in the Senior Service Corps; the other two are the Retired Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP) and the Foster Grandparent Program. The SCP provides volunteer work with stipends to low-income individuals, aged 60 and over, who have the capacity and desire to be productive and engaged in society but who may no longer be able—or may no longer wish—to be employed in the labor market. This corps of senior volunteers provides companionship and assistance to frail elders as part of efforts to help them remain in the community.

In Maine, the SCP is administered through the University of Maine Cooperative Extension, with Carla Ganiel serving as the Director. Maine's program currently has almost 100 volunteer Senior Companions working throughout the state; each Companion visits four or five clients on a weekly basis. Companions, who range in age from 60 to 96, must be low-income in order to qualify for the small stipend ($2.65/hour) they receive for their 15 to 40 hours per week of volunteer work.

In 1973, Washington County was chosen as one of the first national SCP pilot programs; today it remains a particularly active chapter, with about half the state's Companions and clients. Dr. Butler focused her examination of the SCP on this well-established program in Washington County. She chose this region in part because it is one of the poorest, most rural areas in New England. As in other rural areas, health and social services are sparse and not easily accessible, and isolation is a particular risk factor for elders.

Her method of inquiry was primarily naturalistic. She was interested in learning about the meaning of the SCP for her individual informants, and in attaining an understanding of the program's impact on the wider community. She interviewed all the Companions in Washington County (n=34), a number of their clients (n=32), and 31 key community informants.

In addition to the "thick description" data that resulted from these interviews, a secondary aim of the inquiry initiated development of instruments to be used by SCP staff for ongoing evaluation of their program. In order to maintain funding, the SCP, like most social service programs, is obligated to demonstrate the value of its services for the wider community. While anecdotal evidence is abundant about the success of this program, the collection of empirical data documenting its impact is politically necessary and ethically sound.