Puyallup, Washington is a thriving city located 40 miles southeast of Seattle. The AdvantAge Initiative is being co-led by two organizations, Pierce County Aging and Long-Term Care (the local Area Agency on Aging) and Good Samaritan Hospital. To maximize stakeholder involvement, they have developed four committees with well-defined roles and responsibilities, each of which makes distinct contributions to the initiative.

The AdvantAge Initiative of Puyallup Task Force has been operating for more than two years and has 20 members representing the local aging network and other stakeholders, including city government, local businesses, and other service providers. At its monthly meetings, members review information submitted from other committees, develop work plans and suggest additional partners for specific projects. Individual members work on specific assignments, including serving on other committees, according to their areas of expertise and interest.

For the first 18 months of the initiative, a Steering Committee provided overall direction for the project, developed agendas for Task Force meetings and ensured that tasks were completed on schedule. As data from the AdvantAge Initiative survey became available in the fall of 2002, however, the Steering Committee found itself at a crossroads. "The need to switch strategies became obvious," remembers David Hanson, Puyallup's AdvantAge Initiative liaison from Pierce County Aging and Long Term Care. "So members decided to dissolve the Steering Committee and create a Data Analysis Committee and a Marketing/Public Relations Committee."

Now, as findings from the survey are received from the AdvantAge Initiative Project Team in New York, the Data Analysis Committee examines the information, determines whether further study is needed in a particular area and frames problem/issue statements. The Task Force then develops action steps and recommends additional stakeholders in the community who could participate in strategic planning groups around specific issues.

The Marketing/Public Relations Committee is devising ways to communicate survey findings to stakeholders and the general public and to bring stakeholders from throughout the community together to collaboratively address various issues that are highlighted in the survey data.

Together, these four committees have afforded the AdvantAge Initiative of Puyallup the latitude it needs to engage stakeholders in the most efficient and meaningful way possible. "We're always asking ourselves, 'Who needs to be involved in this?'" notes Hanson. "At this point, we do not need to increase the size of the Task Force or the committees, but we are forming strategic planning groups to look at specific issues as we move forward."

* This population figure refers to the number of people age 65+ in this community as it was defined by the AdvantAge Initiative liaisons.