Hawaii seeks long-term services and support awareness proposals

Officials in Hawaii want an outside bidder to create a long-term services and supports (LTSS) education and awareness campaign — and they want the bidder to help separate that concept from the concept of long-term care insurance (LTCI).

The procurement officer at the Hawaii Department of Health’s Executive Office on Aging talks about the goals of the office in a request for proposals (RFP) that was posted Dec. 23. Bids are due Jan. 23.

Part of a new Hawaii law, Act 151, requires the office to conduct an LTSS education and awareness campaign, and it requires the office to report to lawmakers on the effectiveness of the campaign during the 2017 regular session.

“Vendors should create new messaging for LTSS,” officials say in the RFP. The phase “long-term services and supports’ is widely misunderstood and evokes negative feelings about fear of the unknown and the loss of independence. Many people immediately think of long-term care insurance and/or nursing homes when the phase is heard,” says the RFP.

Officials want the campaign managers to clarify the concept of caregiving, emphasize that “caregiving” includes unpaid caregiving, and emphasize the positive benefits of planning for LTSS.