NDP Case Study: No Wrong Door Virginia's Social Health Connector Tool
Background: No Wrong Door (NWD) is a national initiative supported by the federal Administration for Community Living. The vision of a fully functioning NWD system in each state is to improve and streamline access to long term services and supports. States across the country carry out the initiative by creating systems that coordinate individuals’ access to care and resources, regardless of age or disability.
In Virginia, the No Wrong Door initiative is supported by both the public and private sectors. When it was written into the Code of Virginia, 25 regional Area Agencies on Aging were established as the initial anchor organizations of Virginia’s NWD system.
Today, NWD Virginia helps people, regardless of age or disability, achieve their unique goals for community living by improving access and knowledge of services to people in Virginia through three key actions:
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Strengthening community networks
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Promoting person-centered practices, and
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Providing tools for individuals to evaluate options and make informed decisions.
In 2020 the Administration for Community Living (ACL) announced a MENTAL Health Innovation Challenge that would fund creative and pioneering solutions to combat loneliness and social isolation. In Virginia, there are abundant programs and resources available where people can engage in their communities, find meaning and foster healthy connections—but not everyone knows about them or how to get involved. Furthermore, the stigma around loneliness and social isolation may prevent people from truly checking in to their own social health and identifying areas where they may be vulnerable. No Wrong Door Virginia and its partners began a journey to leverage the technology and resources already available in Virginia to address the growing threats to social health. The goal was to create a tool that could not only improve awareness and understanding of social health, but also empower individuals with personalized solutions to strengthen their own connections and improve their life.
The Solution: The Social Health Connector is a digital tool created by NWD Virginia and its partners. It is an online questionnaire that anyone can use to reflect on the connections in their life and discover opportunities to improve their own social engagement. Prioritizing user confidentiality, the Social Health Connector offers people an opportunity to explore their existing social connections and preferences through a series of open-ended reflection questions. Questions can be answered on your own, or with the help of someone else.
Upon completing the reflection questions, every user receives a customized Social Health Connection Plan tailored to their needs—uniquely generated for everyone through the power of technology and data.
Every personalized Social Health Connection Plan offers insights into the individual’s specific social health risks and strengths. Plans also provide a list of locally recommended resources (for Virginia residents) and can be saved as a PDF or printed for future reference.
Impact: The Social Health Connector presents all of us with a meaningful way to improve our lives by improving our social connections. The tool was publicly launched and celebrated on marzo 20, 2024. Since its launch, it continues to be utilized and has provided users with more than 1,915 community resource connections. A few key initial findings from the tool include:
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73% of respondents felt like they are supported by the people around them,
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47% of respondents indicated they are younger than 60 years of age
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53% of respondents are age 60 or above.
No Wrong Door Virginia is committed to collecting feedback from our end users to improve the tools functionality and results and expects the Social Health Connector to be a very helpful resource in providing accurate recommendations.
Want your project featured in a case study? No Wrong Door Virginia utilizes the NDP to enhance and strengthen the work of their organization for the community. If your team is doing something great with the NDP, we would love to hear from you. Please reach out to Arethia.smith@uww.unitedway.org to schedule a time to talk!
