PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — On Friday, a group of Aroostook County-based case managers, family coaches and care coordinators came together to discuss the recently finished Aroostook Pathfinder online resource portal to be officially published by early summer.
The Aroostook County Health Network is a group that consists of Pines Health Services, the Aroostook County Action Program and the Aroostook Agency on Aging. As part of their mission to remove barriers to healthcare and social services, the network has worked with Caribou-based Sweden Street Software and Consulting to design a new online portal in which folks in those fields can better connect with each other and seek quicker answers for clients.
Amy Kane, coordinator for the Aroostook County Health Network, said that the Aroostook Pathfinder came about after discussions with agency officials revealed that the print resource guide they had been using contained outdated information regarding northern Maine programs and services. The dilemma caused many advocates to become unsure whether their clients had successfully obtained referrals to other agencies.
During a special meeting held at Northern Maine Community College on April 26, social service experts from various agencies viewed a demonstration of the Aroostook Pathfinder and learned how to store and share information that they can utilize in helping each other and clients find answers to important questions.
Amy Kane, coordinator of the Aroostook County Health Network, demonstrates a pilot version of the new Aroostook Pathfinder online portal during a meeting of social services professionals held at Northern Maine Community College on Friday.
(Staff photo/Melissa Lizotte)
Anyone who wishes to use the Pathfinder will obtain permission from an ACHN official serving as a website administrator. While creating a profile, individuals will then select their areas of expertise — such as food, housing, family services, heat assistance, aging/disability, among others — and submit their professional contact information.
“We wanted to have a resource that we could sustain over time and consistently update with accurate information,” Kane said. “There will also be a print version of the Pathfinder that we will update every six months as opposed to the original guide that was updated every two years.”
The Pathfinder will provide an online portal for social service professionals to connect with one another and ask questions on behalf of their clients. For example, if a client did not live near an area food pantry and wanted to seek out alternative ways to obtain food, a social worker could post a question to the portal. Colleagues from across Aroostook County could then submit responses, with the goal of finding short-term answers such as agency contact information or viable suggestions.
Administrators will also have authority to mark discussions as “resolved” so that other Pathfinder participants will be aware that the initial question has been answered. Heidi Rackliffe, ACAP family coach and program supervisor, has been involved with the design of Pathfinder and praised the portal’s ability to always store past discussions among users, also known as “threads.”
“It’s all about sharing knowledge with each other, so having that information there can be another resource,” Rackliffe said.
The Pathfinder will also be linked to the statewide online resource 211 Maine, a free, confidential portal that lists agency programs, experts and contact information. Sherry Locke, executive director of United Way of Aroostook and member of the 211 Maine board of directors, encouraged folks to update their agency information on a regular basis, especially information pertaining to staff changes and programs that are new or no longer in existence.
“People can search for the type of agency they’re looking for with their zip code and all agencies that meet their specified need will be listed,” Locke said.
Kane noted that ACHN will use feedback from Friday’s meeting to finalize Aroostook Pathfinder’s design and features and plan to officially launch the portal within the next few months. They will then hold a launch event for the portal and begin meeting regularly as a group to discuss further feedback and provide networking opportunities for those who regularly communicate online.
“We want the portal to be a resource for us to communicate with each other and get questions answered quickly and thoroughly,” Kane said.
