Innovation: Tapping the truly experienced

Earlier this week Civic Ventures announced the winners of its Purpose Prize - five awards of $100,000 each to people over 60 who are taking on society’s biggest challenges.

Now before you think this is just another random award for people running after school programs for neighborhood kids (not that we don't need more after school program's for neighborhood kids) - take a look at some of the winners (courtesy of Civic Ventures Website):

Conchy Bretos
After a varied career in housing, marketing, health, and women’s issues, Conchy Bretos ran for a seat on the Dade County Commission in 1993 and lost. She was then appointed to the job of Florida Secretary for Aging and Adult Services, a position that allowed her to see firsthand the thousands of low-income elders and disabled adults who were not getting the service they needed to stay in their homes. As a result, many ended up in nursing homes prematurely, because they could not afford in-home care or assisted living facilities. Bretos became the driving force behind the nation’s first public housing project – the Helen Sawyer building in Miami – to bring assisted living services to older adults who just need a little help to stay in their homes. Today she runs a consulting company that has helped 40 public housing projects in a dozen states bring assisted living services to their residents.

Charles Dey
At 64, after a career in education and a record of starting programs to ensure equal educational opportunities, Charles Dey was looking for his next career. His long-time friend Alan Reich, who founded the National Organization on Disability years earlier when an accident left him a quadriplegic, told Dey to “do for young people with disabilities in the 90s what you did for minorities in the 60s.” So Dey created Start on Success, a National Organization on Disability program to provide paid internships and to assign workplace mentors to predominantly minority high school students with physical, mental, and emotional disabilities. To date, more than 1,500 disabled high school students have had internships at universities, hospitals, and small businesses in five cities. So far 85% of them have gone on to full-time jobs or further education. Without the benefit of any job training program, only about 30% of inner-city, minority students with disabilities have comparable success.

Frank Brady
A serious heart condition forced Frank Brady, a jet-setting international businessman, to retire 10 years ago. Recalling an earlier health crisis – he survived spinal meningitis as an infant thanks to experimental treatment with a new miracle drug called penicillin – Brady created Medical Missions for Children in 1999. The organization helps seriously ill children who lack access to quality medical care, and educates the medical professionals who care for them. Medical Missions for Children uses interactive video technology to allow pediatric specialists to remotely diagnose patients and recommend treatment, and internet and broadcast technology to collect and distribute cutting-edge information to thousands of medical professionals across the country.

After reading about the above three winners, I couldn't help but reframe the traditional view helath care providers take of their volunteers and retired community members. Why not ask some key members of our retired community who have worked in various industries and ask them to fix some of our deepest problems in health care? Issues might be:

• Developing a retail strategy for a health system
• Defining areas in which price transparency could be a competitive advantage
• Building a customer service strategy for physicians in our ORs
• Cost efficient ways of delivering preventative care to the uninsured

As more baby-boomers retire, live longer, use more health services, and look for a way to give back - accessing their help and expertise should become a strategic initiative itself.