According to Margo, "As healthcare professionals, we tend to look only at acute care when dealing with the elderly. We forget about the other needs faced by the seniors in our communities. Our goal, with education as an objective, was to expose the participants to the wide spectrum of community services available. Seniors are not a homogeneous group; they have different levels of wellness and skills and need a variety of different services. The educational component of the Aging Plunge helped to introduce some of those services that do not concentrate primarily on acute care."

By including healthcare providers and physicians in the Aging Plunge, some of the best links in the chain of service got educated. Healthcare professionals can be the most important liaison between an elderly person and their caregivers, and the available community resources. Margo Demont believes that a senior is much more likely to investigate a program or service upon the recommendation of a physician, discharge planner, nurse, social worker or other healthcare professional. The Aging Plunge helped make that initial connection. Hospital Board members also participated, once again broadening the network of those educated about issues facing seniors, and the resources available to them.

Margo explained that, "Community programs and agencies list a breadth of services, but first-hand knowledge is needed to truly acquaint oneself with the depth of any program. Market research is not only knowing the strengths of the available resources but also the weaknesses. The questions that needs to be answered is, 'where are the existing service gaps?'

During the Aging Plunge we asked the program directors what they did especially well and where did they need help. We asked the seniors at the sites what their perceptions were of the aging resources available. Our goal in senior programming is not to wastefully duplicate what is being done well, but rather to ferret out the under-served areas and to determine if we have the resources to meet those needs."

In a sense, the Aging Plunge provided an opportunity for the participants to rejoice with the seniors, to better understand the joy of aging and the ability to overcome potentially disabling conditions to enhance the quality of senior life. It also acquainted the participants with the realities of the need for assistance that many seniors have. Assistance that is necessary to maintain a crucial part of life-quality: independence.

A very important goal of the Plunge was to build a base of support to help Memorial fulfill the mission of helping older adults and their caregivers. The nature of the Aging Plunge allowed participants to build up a great deal of enthusiasm and excitement. A special camaraderie was formed among the members of a each Aging Plunge, breaking down the resistance and leading to wonderful exchanges of ideas. Margo remembers that, "Group members began to personally identify with the seniors and share anecdotal remembrances about their own parents or grandparents. As empathy and understanding increase, the buying-in process unfolds and the essential base of support is built."

In addition to building from within, the Plunge enabled the hospital to build relationships with agencies in the community. Programs that offer exemplary services are most willing to showcase their efforts and are quite honored to be invited to participate in the Aging Plunge.

The Aging Plunge was an investment in building partnerships. Partnerships with some very significant players in our community - agencies that serve the seniors, our board of trustees, the medical staff, hospital administrators and, most importantly, with the seniors themselves.