Monthly Archive

In the limited years that remain, I pledge

• to save from harm this Earth that bears me,
• to cherish the variety of species keeping me company on my short journey,
• to honor those laws of nature making this fragile planet habitable,
• to respect my fellows as members of my larger family,
• and to conserve for the future the resources whose abundance, now waning, has made my life possible.

Reduce, reuse, recycle goes the saying, but what does that mean for aging-services providers? Determining what you can do to fight global climate change while still providing quality care and services can be a challenge.

There are many great resources available to help you on your journey to sustainability. The following are two that I’ve found helpful:

GrayisGreen.org is a Web site run by the residents of Whitney Center, a retirement home in Hamden, Connecticut. They have put together a handbook for aging-services providers, called The Handbook on Conservation for Retirement Communities: a practical guide to the green life. This resource is helpful for providers regardless of where they are in developing their sustainability plan. It contains information on topics ranging from energy saving to gardens, lawns and housekeeping.

Elder-Friendly, Earth-Friendly Design discusses how sustainable building and elder care go hand in hand. This paper divides the benefits of green design into four categories: air and climate, light and views, community and nature, and cost control.

There are more environmental stewardship resources available here.

What are you doing to help curb your organization’s footprint? What resources do you find helpful?

There’s no question that states feel the impact of our growing aging population. Especially those who need Medicaid money to pay for their long-term care. Last year, the care those people needed cost federal and state Medicaid program $100 billion dollars. You can’t blame states for looking for solutions. But is promoting long-term care insurance the right one?

This article from today’s Wall Street Journal investigates how 14 states like California and New York are working with insurance companies to encourage their older residents to purchase private long-term care insurance. And more than a dozen others are planning similar campaigns. 

Right now, millions of seniors are recieving these materials and may be considering purchasing a policy. I can’t help but wonder if this is best way for states to help the majority of their senior citizens. Citizens who can’t afford to pay for a policy and could easily qualify for the program.

 Or folks like 92-year-old  Rudolph Heyd. He could afford a policy, but his insurance company suddenly stopped paying benefits for his nursing home care. Why? According  to the Journal, “despite his diagnoses and letters indicating otherwise from his attending physician, the insurance company deemed Heyd cognitively intact.”  That meant this former grain farmer had to start paying out of pocket for his expensive care.

Instead of  selling, I think states should consider “buying” something else: our solution for long-term care financing.  A solution that would help all people who need long-term care, regardless of income,  receive the services they need while allieviating the burden on state Medicaid programs at the same time. Sounds like a smart investment to me.

A few weeks ago, the Changing Aging blog had an interesting post on marketing to seniors. They interviewed Tom Mann, a brand consultant, about his thoughts on why he thinks marketing to seniors “stinks”.

Mann notes in the interview:

They want to call the age group beyond the “Boomers” the “The Silents.” I guess the experts think that those born earlier than 1946 have nothing to say. And if that doesn’t fit, your other option is “The Matures.”

Sadly, this incessant labeling overlooks one key fact . . . regardless of age, we are all individuals.

If your marketing doesn’t meet the individual where they are, then it will be difficult to connect with them. Catering towards each consumers needs will help your organization provide quality care and services.

What types of things is your organization doing to personalize your marketing?

To view more resources to help you develop consumer-friendly materials, click here.

For infants and their parents, it’s Dr. Spock.  For future financiers it’s Donald Trump or Suze Orman.  Now, there’s a whole list of another type of experts: the leaders and experts who are changing the way Americans age.

Yesterday, The Wall Street Journal published this list of the 12 people who are “changing aging.”

It’s no surprise that three of these famous faces have AAHSA roots. Eric Dishman is the chairman of our Center for Aging Services Technologies.  John Erickson is an AAHSA member, a former AAHSA board member and works with AAHSA CEO Larry Minnix on his Erickson School of Aging Studies at the University of Maryland.

Many AAHSA members have worked with their fellow member and colleague Dr. Bill Thomas to transform the culture in their organizations.

 We know that these people can do great things. Now it’s time for them to take our “graying nation” by storm!

The Newshour recently ran an interesting piece on Green Houses. Green houses are “small, homelike settings where care for elders, rather than the demands of the institution, (come) first.” This model is a unique take on culture change that actually changes the physical environment.

According to the Commonwealth Fund there are 4 stages of culture change:

• Stage 1—Institutional model is a traditional medical model organized around a nursing unit without permanent staff assignment.
• Stage 2—Transformational model is the initial phase when awareness and knowledge of culture change spreads among direct care workers and the leadership team.
• Stage 3—Neighborhood model breaks up traditional nursing units into smaller functional areas and introduces resident-centered dining.
• Stage 4—Household model consists of self-contained living areas with 25 or fewer residents who have their own fully functional kitchen, living room, and dining room. Staff work in multi-disciplinary self-directed work teams.

Green houses fall into stage 4. The organization has created smaller houses where there are fewer residents and staff are permanently assigned. Dr. Bill Thomas thinks this is what makes green houses special. He says, “In long-term care, love matters. And the heart of the problem is institutions can’t love.” The setup of green houses allows the group to feel more like a family.

The things that make the green house model different are fairly simple in design. Dr. Thomas notes, “We wanted there to be a heart, a center, a focus of the house. So, you know, what you have in the hearth is sort of food on one end, fire on the other, and a place to share convivium or the pleasure of a good meal sort of in the middle. And this house really does that.”

Green houses are just one of the healthcare models out there to help providers in their efforts to provide more person-centered care. Check out some of the tools available to help you transform your services.

What types of things has your organization done to increase the focus on the resident?

Football season may be months away, but all the talk around here is about homecoming. Why? Because AAHSA is hosting our first annual homecoming celebration.

Want to host an event? The site also features program ideas and more information how you can showcase how your organization makes your community a better place to live.

Want to attend an event? I’ll update the blog with the latest list of events from across the nation. I may even get the chance to blog live from an event in my hometown: Groveport, Ohio (home Apple Butter Day and the horse that inspired the book and movie Seabiscuit…who knew!?!?)

Forget football. Homecoming is coming soon to your community…and it’s time to celebrate!

This May brings the first inaugural AAHSA Homecoming. This exciting event is an opportunity for you to showcase what you do day-to-day and the benefits you provide to your larger community.

Open your doors and invite your community and your elected officials to learn about your work and meet your community’s treasures: the people you serve. Host an open house, introduce them to your residents over a meal or coordinate a staff community service project. Whatever you do, this is your chance to showcase how you make your community a better place to live.

Use your AAHSA Homecoming event to highlight your community involvement and Quality First programs. Talk about your activities and commitment in your speeches and mention them in your event materials. AAHSA Homecoming is about celebrating your residents/clients and sharing all that you do, so don’t be afraid to mention any and everything.

When your organization gets involved in the community-at-large, it enhances the quality of life of the people you serve and the people in the local community. By celebrating your residents/clients and your good work at your AAHSA Homecoming event, you are doing just that.

To learn more about Homecoming, click here. Also, once you’ve set a date, tell us what you’re planning. We look forward to hearing all about your events.

I don’t claim to know much about long-term care financing, but two Florida lawmakers are proposing the most interesting idea I’ve ever heard about the topic.

What’s their plan? To put a dollar tax on all strip club admissions in the state and give the money to low-income nursing home residents who receive Medicaid for their personal expenses (like haircuts and movie tickets).

Call me old-fashioned, but I’m not sure I’d want to tell my Grandma that a strip club’s profits paid for her weekly perm.  There’s got to be a better way to pay for Mom’s manicure or Uncle Frank’s favorite food than this. A way that isn’t dependent on ticket sales or schedules. A way that gives these individuals a sense of choice when it come to how and where their money is spent.

Luckily, AAHSA has a plan that would do just that. And I know I’d be happy to share with the elderly people I love.

The hurricane season of 2005 taught long-term care providers some valuable lessons in disaster planning. Mainly, be prepared to evacuate and care for your residents yourself; you can not rely on outside groups.

In a McKnight’s article today, Lambeth House, an AAHSA member located in New Orleans, discusses their lessons learned from Hurricane Katrina.

Because of their experiences with Hurricane Katrina, Lambath House changed their emergency preparedness plan. According to Scott Crabtree, executive director, “he has two evacuation sites in Baton Rouge at the ready. He has his own vehicles. And if worse comes to worst, he has an agreement with an ambulance company, and access to a school bus. Beyond his transportation plans, he has no shortage of supplies. These include a generator that is 13 feet above sea level and can run 10 days without refueling. Preparedness also includes food for 30 days.”

You can find their emergency preparedness plan listed prominently on their Web site.

“After Katrina, you don’t know anything for sure,” says Crabtree. It is important to be prepared for almost any scenario imaginable when you are caring for others.

The following tips for lining up transportation in advance of a disaster where given in the article:

- Know your residents. Identify their acuity levels. That will help determine the type of transportation you will need.

- Be a partner with the local emergency preparedness department. Once you establish contracts with transportation providers, run those contracts by the department for review. It should find out if the company will be able to accommodate your needs or is already overly committed.

- Establish a relationship with a local transportation association.

- Keep costs in mind. Decide what you are willing to spend for an evacuation contract with a transportation company. Talk to state transportation association about reasonable amounts.

- Consider talking to local churches or schools about using their means of transportation if necessary.

Disaster planning materials are also available on the AAHSA Quality First Web site. Click here to view them.

Forget Mardi Gras. The excitement around here goes by another name: Super Tuesday. A day when 24 states have their presidential primaries and nowadays, each party’s presidential candidate will be determined. For us political junkies, it’s like Super Bowl Sunday and the Final Four combined.

But it’s also an important day for America’s seniors. Why? Because the votes cast today could determine how our country’s government and its citizens take on challenge of providing and paying for the care these individuals deserve. Not a small task.

That’s why I was relieved when I saw this article in today’s Ledger. It includes several resources people can use to figure out where a candidate stands on issues ranging from Social Security to paying for long-term care.

 Even if you’re a twenty-something like me, checking them out is great way to find out the vote you cast today will affect your older loved ones tomorrow. I know I’ll be before I vote next week.

Members often ask us how other members are implementing Quality First; so, we turn to you in search of the answers. Every three months, we will have a new Quality First Question of the Quarter. These surveys will have a few simple questions that will shed some light on how your organization has moved forward with AAHSA Quality First.

Click the question on the left hand navigation of this blog or here to answer three short survey questions to help enhance our work to help you along your Quality First journey.

Your answers to the questions will help other AAHSA members learn more about how implementing Quality First can help aging-service organizations achieve excellence and earn the public’s trust.

This quarter’s question focuses on whether or not members’ have Quality First committees. New questions will be coming out quarterly so keep an eye out.

When most people think of Congressional meetings, they picture policy debates or panel discussions, not computerized “brain fitness” games  or “smart” canes.

But those are just some of the products our Center for Aging Services Technologies (CAST) and the Senate’s Special Committee on Aging and Medical Technology Caucus set up in a Senate office building last week. The reasons? To give a “hands-on” look at how public policy could unleash technology’s potential to transform the way we age.

Take Honor Hacker. She’s a former teacher who now lives in a community where automatic sensors are installed to monitor her health without interrupting her routine and games help keep her memory strong.  She even told members of Congress about the growing “brain game” rivalry between her and her sister, a retired nun. That’s certainly sounds like a strong competition to me!

Experts also testified about how a law the Senate’s considering could help more seniors like Honor benefit from technology now and in the future.  It would bring together the experts and use their knowledge to develop a plan for taking aging-services technology to the next level.

 I don’t know about you, but passing that law means I may get a prescription to play video games in 60 years, I’m all for it!