Supporting People as the Age

Editors' Notes

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Frontline Initiative connects direct support professionals to issues that matter by telling stories, sharing best practices, and sharing resources that are important to their work

Julie and Chet, two women stand close to each other and look directly at the camera smiling. They are standing in front of a window with a large blue pillar behind them and a snow-covered building and tree branches. Julie Kramme on the left, smiling, shoulder length brown wavy hair, brown eyes, and wearing a plaid pink, orange, green, and tan top, with a collar open and zipped down a few inches. Chet Tschetter is on the right, smiling, with short brown and white hair, black-rimmed glasses, a blue oxford button-down shirt, with a blue tie, with "Peanuts: characters in small circles: Snoopy, Woodstock, Peppermint Patty, and Charlie Brown, with a black collar-less jacket with a white logo M, Institute on Community Integration, University of Minnesota.

Chet Tschetter and Julie Kramme are co-editors of Frontline Initiative. They can be reached at frontline-dsp@umn.edu

DSPs Supporting People as They Age

As a direct support professional, you work with people across their lifespan. Sometimes you work with several different people; sometimes you work with one person for years. Each life stage presents different opportunities and challenges. As a person ages, their decisions and body may change. Observing and listening to people is critical for DSPs. How is the person you support feeling? Are they still interested in the same activities? What are their current and future plans? Because of your frequent contact with the person or people you support, you probably have detailed answers to these questions. You can provide important feedback on a person’s support team if the person you support is experiencing age-related changes. We gathered authors on the topic of supporting people as they age so you have resources for planning and responding to the people they support across the lifespan. This issue of Frontline Initiative highlights the important, consistent role that DSPs can play in supporting people with IDD as they age.

In this issue, direct support professional Tom Heaton reflects on supporting Wayne through aging, and an Alzheimer’s diagnosis, while maintaining quality support. Michelle Reynolds and Colette Canchola share Charting the LifeCourse planning resources that DSPs can use. Leigh Ann Kingsbury also shares person-centered planning resources as well as information for DSPs on common age-related conditions among people they support. Cindy Reed reflects on making and adapting plans in response to her daughter Eva’s shifting goals. Marie Green tells how DSPs support her brother while she lives far away. Mahdi Warsama reflects on assets in Somali culture and planning for aging in autistic children.

In support of active aging, the authors in this issue encourage DSPs to support people to remain active throughout life, offering tips and recommendations. Sometimes people want to transition gradually from work to retirement. Sarah Hall and Roger Stancliffe provide recommendations and resources for DSPs to help retirees connect to inclusive activities. Michelle Leo and Tony Philips share stories about retirement – encouraging people to remain as active as they want and to make their own choices.

DSPs’ day-to-day knowledge of the people they support is highlighted in Crystal Janis’ support for Michael. Kathie Bishop shares her own experience in aging, giving tips to DSPs. Brooke Graff and Lori Shay tell how, with well-equipped DSPs, they built a system to maintain supportive relationships for people supported across the lifespan. Lisa Burke and Kim Tarver and Henry Teal describe the role of DSPs in dementia support and even in identification.

DSPs often support people through the end of life. Debra Shumard recalls her late brother’s meaningful experience in hospice. Bethany Chase recommends resources for DSPs supporting people through grief and loss. Roger Stancliffe shares resources from Talking End of Life—simple language end-of-life resources for DSPs and people with IDD to understand and plan for end-of-life.

The Direct Support Workforce Update focuses on issues in the DSP workforce that we need to talk about—Medicaid funding cuts, revisions to the NADSP Code of Ethics, and advocacy for a standard occupational classification for direct support professionals. As always, DirectCourse Connect provides DirectCourse training resources, helping DSPs and FLSs learn more and seek badges in the E-Badge Academy on Supporting People as the Age.

A Closer Look Podcast

Listen to ten episodes of A Closer Look—Frontline Initiative’s podcast —where hosts Chet Tschetter and Julie Kramme talk with authors from the magazine's latest issue about their experiences and best practices for supporting people. A Closer Look is available on Spotify, Apple podcasts, and many other places to access podcast content. Follow to receive alerts when new podcasts become available.

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Frontline Initiative • Volume 21, Number 2 • 2025

Editors: Julie Kramme and Chet Tschetter

Marketing and Communications: Jerry Smith

Graphic design: Connie Burkhart and Sarah Curtner

Web developers: Jonathon Walz

Institute on Community Integration Director: Amy Hewitt

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Editorial Board:

  • Tony Anderson, Executive Director, Valley Mountain Regional Center
  • Wesley Anderson, Director of Employment & Community Services, National Association of State Directors of Developmental Disabilities Services
  • Susan Arwood, Director of Certification, NADSP
  • Lisa Burck, Project Director, The Arc of Mississippi
  • Mary Lawson, Executive Director, PAKS Developmental Services
  • Colleen McLaughlin, Associate Director, The Boggs Center on Developmental Disabilities, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Department of Pediatrics, Rutgers University
  • Diane Potts, Adjunct Professor, Tulsa Community College, NADSP Accreditation Review Team Coordinator
  • John Raffaele, Director of Educational Services and Editorial Board Chair, NADSP
  • Robert Schier, III, Down Home Ranch, Elgin, Texas
  • Eryn Starck, Executive Assistant, Oregon Resource Association
  • Janet Wilson, Manager of Customer Relations, NADSP

Web: ici.umn.edu and nadsp.org

If you wish to contribute to Frontline Initiative, please contact Julie Kramme or Chet Tschetter, Institute on Community Integration, University of Minnesota, email: frontline-dsp@umn.edu

View past issues of Frontline Initiative: z.umn.edu/frontlineinitiative

Frontline Initiative is supported through a cooperative agreement between the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research, U.S. Department of Education (#90RTCP0003) and the Research and Training Center on Community Living (RTC-CL) at the Institute on Community Integration (ICI), University of Minnesota, and the University Centers of Excellence in Developmental Disabilities (#90DDUC0070). This issue is also supported through a cooperative agreement between the Association of University Centers on Disabilities (AUCD), the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (#03-8818-22), and the National Alliance for Direct Support Professionals (NADSP). The opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the RTC-CL, ICI, University of Minnesota, NADSP, or their funding sources.

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