Nurturing Our Retired Citizens		Replication Guide

Senior Consumer Advisory Committee

Mission

• Empower older adults to participate in the community.
• Develop a collaborative mechanism to identify gaps, coordinate programs and avoid duplication of services.

Program Leadership

NORC Project Coordinator

• Sets agenda
• Facilitates meetings
• Follows-up on group recommendations

• Takes minutes, types and distributes
• Schedules meetings, dates, times, venues

Impact

Members of the committee were drawn from the community, and their work affected the local residents, social service providers and policy makers in that community. Their work also had an impact on other programs and government agencies.

Planning Timeline

Before the Meeting

• Set meeting times and reserve venue one year at a time
• Schedule speakers
• Two weeks in advance, set agenda
• Two weeks in advance, reserve electronic equipment
• One week in advance, order lunch and send reminder to members
• Three days in advance, prepare handouts

Day of the meeting

Materials needed:

• Lunch
• Handouts/flyers
• Pens
• Name tags/name cards
• Flip charts/ white boards
• Electronic equipment

• Type minutes and distribute by US mail
• Follow-up on group recommendations

PR Marketing & Dissemination

All communication is direct via email, phone or U.S. mail. This committee needs no PR or marketing.

Process and Outcomes

Establishing this committee was one of the first tasks of the project. This assured that the work of the project would be driven by and be important to seniors. The goal in selecting members was to have a diverse group representing the broader community. Members were recruited based on ethnicity, socio-economic level, religion, work history, physical ability and community activism. Members were recruited from the local senior program and notices in the local newspaper. Members could also be recruited from a wider variety of social and professional organizations in the community. Two members of the NORC Steering Committee served as liaisons to this committee. This group completed a training program on asset based community development called Building Communities from the Inside Out by Dr. Jodi Kretzman from Northwestern University. This training helped to create a group of well-informed senior advocates on behalf of other seniors. We arranged for those interested to attend our “Day On The Hill,” which provided an opportunity to meet with elected officials, learn more about the legislative process and inform them about NORC programs. We met at the Senior Center and were transported by mini-van. It was an empowering experience for those who attended. We chose to keep this group stable to allow time for them to bond and work more effectively together. They met monthly for lunch. The group was an important guiding force for the NORC program. Their input was critical in deciding on projects to undertake and on the way in which they were developed. They redefined the name of the initiative, formalized the choice of a logo and selected the official colors. They also helped design all aspects of the Senior Resource Directory and represented NORC at community events. Each of our projects benefited from their wisdom, expertise, and participation. Future recommendations for this committee should include the following:

• Recruit members from the wider community
• Create this committee through the City as a senior commission
• Committee Chair could be nominated from within the group.
• Fifteen is a good number of members of the committee, but appoint a few more to start since there will be attrition.

Click to view job description (pdf file)

Budget

Summary

This committee was established to set the overall goals of the project and to assure that all NORC efforts were relevant to the lives of seniors in the community. Through monthly meetings they monitored the progress of each program and made recommendations for future projects and improvements / modifications to current projects. It is important for this group to see the value of their commitment and contribution.