Each week the Office of the Secretary of Pennsylvania’s Department of Aging releases a Friday newsletter with information relevant to activities, issues and events for older Pennsylvanians and persons with disabilities across the Commonwealth.
Click here to download the newsletter as a .pdf file.
“Celeste Thompson, 57, a home care worker in Missoula, Mont., examines a pill bottle in her home. Thompson cares for her husband, and worries that if she loses her Medicaid coverage, she won’t be able to afford to see a doctor. (Mike Albans for KHN)”
“For more than two decades, Celeste Thompson, 57, a home care worker in Missoula, Mont., had not had regular contact with a doctor — no annual physicals and limited sick visits. She also needed new glasses.
“Like many others who work in the lower rungs of the health care system, she has worked hard to keep her clients healthy by feeding them, dressing them and helping them navigate chronic conditions.
“But because of the low wages and the hourly structure of this industry — which analysts estimate is worth nearly $100 billion annually and projected to grow rapidly — workers like Thompson often don’t have health insurance. Many home health agencies, 80 percent of which are for-profit, don’t offer coverage, or their employees don’t consistently clock enough hours to be eligible. They generally earn too much to qualify for public aid but too little to afford the cost of premiums.
“‘It’s a social justice issue.’”
Read this Kaiser Health News article in its entirety, click here.
Six more resources providers have aligned with the Pennsylvania Link to Aging and Disability Resources | Berks-Lancaster-Lebanon Service Area in the past 30 days.
The new partner entities are:
To align with the Berks-Lancaster-Lebanon Service Area as a partner entity costs nothing. The Pennsylvania Link to Aging and Disability Resources part of the national Aging and Disability Resources Center [ADRC) network.
For more information about how your agency, entity or organization can become a partner, text or call the Lead Link coordinator at 717.380.9714 or email blllink@mail.com.
Aging and Disability Resource Centers (ADRCs) are the first place to go to get accurate, unbiased information on all aspects of life related to aging or living with a disability.
Aging and Disability Resource Centers (ADRC) are a nationwide effort to take a seamless approach in the way we assist seniors and adults with disabilities who need help with activities of daily living. The ADRC in Pennsylvania is known as the Link.
“Researchers find that dementia patients who engage in activities such as gathering photographs and talking about family see improvements in their quality of life and are less agitated. – Owen Franken/Getty Images”
by Shirley S. Wang
“In nursing homes and residential facilities around the world, health care workers are increasingly asking dementia patients questions: What are your interests? How do you want to address us? What should we do to celebrate the life of a friend who has passed away?
“The questions are part of an approach to care aimed at giving people with memory loss and other cognitive problems a greater sense of control and independence. At its core is the idea that an individual with dementia should be treated as a whole person and not ‘just’ a patient.
“Scientists sometimes call this approach an ecopsychosocial intervention. The goal is to create environments that better meet patients’ psychological and emotional needs through strategies other than medication.”
Continue reading this article at NPR, click here.
“The goal was to make sure hospitals didn’t send patients home too soon, without a plan for following up or without enough support at home to recover completely. – Science Photo Library / Getty Images”
Commentary by Kumar Dharmarajan and Harlan M. Krumholz
“Too often, people return home from the hospital only to find themselves heading back soon after. Sometimes the need arises because, despite the best care, it is difficult to slow the progression of disease. But other times, it’s because we in the health care system fail to communicate, coordinate and orchestrate the care that people need to successfully make the transition from hospital to home.
“Historically, U.S. hospitals have had little incentive to keep patients healthy following discharge. Hospital discharge indicated success, and we paid little mind to what happened on the other side. Meanwhile, 1 in 5 patients returned to the hospital within 30 days of discharge, and the health system largely felt it had no responsibility for that. Hospitals were paid each time a patient was readmitted.
“Over time, it became clear that the risk for readmission could be reduced with improved quality of care. For this to happen, hospitals would have to institute programs that would take into account the challenges of managing the recovery period. They would also have to be sure people were strong enough to leave the hospital – and had the support they needed after discharge. And mistakes that were all too common, like sending people home with the wrong medication list, would need to be addressed.”
Read this NPR article in its entirety – click here.
Short Hills, N.J. (July 13, 2017)- The Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation, a national nonprofit dedicated to improving quality of life for individuals living with paralysis, is awarding seven Quality of Life Nursing Home Transition (NHT) grants totaling $280,000 to seven Centers for Independent Living (CILs) nationwide. Quality of Life grants of $40,000 support fellow nonprofits that mirror the Reeve Foundation’s mission and commitment to foster community engagement, enhance independence, and promote healthy self-esteem. The Quality of Life Grant program to date has awarded more than $22 million in grants to more than 2,900 programs since its inception in 1999. Funding for the grants is made available through the Paralysis Resource Center (PRC) operated by the Reeve Foundation under a cooperative agreement with the Administration for Community Living at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
The PRC’s Nursing Home Transition Grant Program funds Centers for Independent Living across the country to transition people with paralysis living in nursing homes back into their homes or a community-based setting of their choice. Under the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) passed in 2014, CILs are charged with supporting individuals to transition into community-based settings as a new core service, but CILs often lack the resources to do so robustly. The PRC’s NHT grants serve to supplement the work CILs are already doing to fulfill their responsibilities under WIOA and to help achieve the Reeve Foundation and ACL’s shared mission of full community participation for people with disabilities. For this grant, paralysis is functionally defined as a difficulty and/or inability to move one’s arms and/or legs due to a neurological condition such as spinal cord injury, traumatic brain injury, spina bifida, cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis, ALS, and many other chronic conditions that coexist with developmental, congenital, and acquired disabilities.
“These grants are intended to improve the quality of life for individuals by becoming part of the solution nationwide to decrease the unnecessary segregation and isolation of individuals living with functional paralysis,” said Maggie Goldberg, VP of Policy and Programs at the Reeve Foundation. “Our new program funding allows us to further help the aging and paralysis populations and create more community inclusion, which is our ultimate goal. We are excited to have this opportunity to expand our grant program, and hope to work with them again in the future.”
These organizations were awarded 2017 Nursing Home Transition Grants:
These applicants were chosen based on their innovative project designs and scaling up capacity. These funds will allow flexibility in purchasing a variety of nursing home transition needs that are not currently covered by other funding sources such as rental and utility deposits; first month’s rent; moving costs; and startup cost and services. The majority of the funds will be used to purchase home furnishings, assistive technology, personal care attendant services, and internet access. These CILs will also now be able to hire more staff or increase staff hours to help address rural isolation, assist very low income individuals, and provide post transition services.
SOURCE: news release
The Aging and Disability Business Institute [operated by National Association of Area Agencies on Aging (n4a) and a team of partners] has launched a request for information (RFI) survey to better understand the relationships and contracts between community-based organizations (CBOs) and health care entities (such as hospitals, health systems, or payers).
The evolving health care environment has created many new care delivery opportunities that require better integration between the services provided in the medical setting and services/programs provided in the community. Gathering insights into the successes and challenges of partnering with health care entities has become especially critical. Please help strengthen the aging and disability networks by sharing your expertise and experience.
The results of the RFI will help the Business Institute better support disability and aging community-based organizations and others as they capitalize on opportunities to engage in new business arrangements with health care partners and diversify their funding streams—ultimately modernizing their organizations from those dependent on government grants to more entrepreneurial organizations funded in part by health care dollars.
Yesterday, “Veterans Affairs Secretary David J. Shulkin … removed the two top officials at the Manchester VA Medical Center and ordered a ‘top-to-bottom’ review of New Hampshire’s only hospital for veterans.
“Shulkin’s action came within hours after The Boston Globe published a Spotlight Team report detailing what several doctors and other medical staffers allege is dangerously substandard care given at the facility.”
“Portrait of a four-star veterans’ hospital: Care gets ‘worse and worse’ – The Boston Globe SPOTLIGHT REPORT
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs annually rates its facilities; the 2016 End of Year Hospital Star Rating lists its healthcare facilities. Lebanon Veterans Affairs Medical Center received a four-star rating as did the Manchester, NH hospital.
Here’s the link to the Manchester, NH VAMC Website and the link to its facebook page.
Each week the Office of the Secretary of Pennsylvania’s Department of Aging releases a Friday newsletter with information relevant to activities, issues and events for older Pennsylvanians and persons with disabilities across the Commonwealth.
Click here to download the newsletter as a .pdf file.
“Innovation and technology go hand in hand in developing the vision and strategy for the business solutions these leaders employ to engage current and new customers (boomers and beyond), and to establish new business models. Explore the best practices in innovation that drive new revenue generation. How is innovation affected by the adoption of technology by older consumers? Lee Rainie and Andrew Perrin present what works and what doesn’t when innovating in large public and nonprofit organizations at the Boomer Summit in Washington.”
