The Texas LTCI Outreach Program: A Site Report

The seminars were scheduled to coincide with Dr. Marion's 12-week, cross-country bus tour.

The seminar series started in Austin, on July 18 and July 19, and then continued in San Antonio, Houston, and Dallas/Fort Worth.

Although I attended only the Houston seminars, I am told that the Austin seminars were well attended, especially the kickoff seminar, given by Dr. Marion. Many of the senior staff of HHS attended and were able to see how organized, professional and effective we were.

While Dr. Marion was in Houston, her bus pulled up to the Oak Branch Public Library, the location for the Houston seminars. It was very exciting for me to finally see the bus in person.

The bus was built in 1967 by Greyhound and is very large and impressive, a sight that you can't miss. I'm told it averages 5 to 6 miles per gallon, weighs 25,000 pounds and is converted inside to support A film crew and its editing needs.

I had time to visit with Dr. Marion while she was in Texas and I am convinced the 3in4 Association could never find a better spokesperson. She is warm, engaging, eloquent, and a true believer in our cause.

Here's an example of some of the great press coverage Dr. Marion and the tour received while in Texas. 

We are not quite sure why we had paltry attendance at the Houston presentations. We have many theories. The location was convenient. The seminar itself is about 20 minutes long, with plenty of time afterwards for Q & A. It's a fun seminar. The slides are concise; offer good content, and even contain humor.

Speaking on behalf of myself and my Houston teammates on this project, Grace Harrington, Mary Dillon, and Kevin Cain, we feel this project was a success, despite lackluster seminar attendance. Perhaps this is because we feel deep conviction about the need for reaching out to the public with this very important information.

Here are some comments from Jonas Roeser, president and founder of the 3in4 Association:

None of the success we have had thus far would have happened without your support. The hard part is over! As a group we have earned the trust of Health and Human Services of Texas (HHST) through transparency and selfless acts. We have built a unique program, marketed the program to the public and received national coverage for the effort. The only thing that seems to be missing is the willingness for large numbers of the public to step inside for our education process. I have been informed by a number of you that daytime seminars are a bad idea, night is better. Summer is tough compared to fall, do it when children are back in school, etc. Thank you for the feedback and for your willingness to continue to serve.

"Build it and They Will Come," is a famous quote from the "Field of Dreams" movie. In time, this program will scale and be worth the time of LTC specialists who support them and the consumers who attended them.

I am hoping that this collaboration will be replicated over and over, not only in Texas, but in other states.