Connected Communities is an initiative of national, state and local innovators to build and sustain community-driven continuums of health and social support that reflect local character, honor the lives of older adults and individuals with disabilities, including those living with dementia, and augment collective well-being —together.
Connected Communities include:
Affordable, comfortable housing in a variety of styles
Integrated supportive services and health care, available when and where people need them.
Mixed-age, mixed-ability residents, including people who need no support and people who provide support
Assisted living and skilled care options, especially for those with cognitive or physical impairments
Green spaces, gathering places, and amenities that promote social connection and joy
A shared community asset, designed to be inclusive, intergenerational, and accessible.
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Person-Directed Approach to Well-Being
Comprehensive person-directed care education for all team members, including leadership, grounded in high-quality, evidence-based “culture change” programs (e.g., those rooted in Pioneer Network principles and offered by the Eden Alternative, Live Oak Regenerative Community, Green House Project and EmpowerED Education, Action PACT Households, EduCatering & the Artifacts of Culture Change, Quality Improvement Organization/Veterans Health Administration HATCh training, PHI Coaching Supervision and other successful approaches).
photo credit: Age Without Limits
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Redesigning Home
State plans to capitalize the building of small homes and/or renovated household models with private rooms and private bathrooms, shared living, cooking and dining and easy access to common outdoor green space and connected to the community.
photo credit: Age Without Limits
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Empowering the Care Force
Develop innovative training and career advancement opportunities for direct care professionals that are grounded in person-directed LTSS core competencies and ultimately incorporated into state and federal training standards while being championed by organizations investing in person-directed care education.
photo credit: Clinton Manor
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Assembling the Continuum
Convening key partners, including community economic development organizations, to plan "Connected Communities" that feature placed-based investments in transformative housing + health + community supports in a continuum-of-care services model braiding public and private resources.
photo credit: Nate Smallwood
“All that we do is directed towards supporting the human spirit to thrive in each person and in each community. And we continually strive to eliminate policies and practices that diminish the human spirit.” – Barry Barkan
In 2025, the Connected Communities team is spending time building momentum at the local level. We are creating building blocks for a long-term services and supports (LTSS) continuum in communities — geographies where local leaders, advocates, housing and LTSS providers express interest in organizing to build a continuum of care that normalizes the provision of LTSS.
We will work to encourage community leaders, organizations and collaboratives — including new ones that barely existed a decade ago (e.g., the Age-Friendly Community network) - to convene and nurture forward looking conversations in creative ways.
Below are the values and principles developed by the Pioneer Network decades ago:
1. Know each person.
2. Each person can and does make a difference.
3. Relationship is the fundamental building block of a transformed culture.
4. Respond to spirit, as well as mind and body.
5. Risk-taking is a normal part of life.
6. Put person before task.
7. All are entitled to self-determination wherever they live.
8. Community is the antidote to institutionalization.
Connected Communities foster multi-ability, multi-generational life by offering easy access to health care and a person-directed continuum of long-term services and supports – cultivated in a culture honoring individual preferences, needs and goals and integrated with the local neighborhood.
Three essential qualities:
Dignity
Each person is respected for who they are, where they come from
Equity
Each person has a voice and a choice in the decisions that impact their lives.
Accountability
All deliverers of care and services are held responsible in measurable ways for working collaboratively
