Geriatrics Commons^™

Virginianavigator/Gwep Community Outreach Training For Older Adults, Caregivers, And Service Programs, Adrienne Johnson, Kim Tarantino

Case Studies from Age in Action

Educational Objectives

1. Demonstrate how VirginiaNavigator (VN) can support self-care and connecting with community resources.

2. Discuss how VN can assist service providers who work with older adults and their families.

3. Explain how VN relates to six focus areas of the Geriatrics Workforce Enhancement Program (GWEP) to improve the well-being of older adults.

The Senior Mentoring Program At Vcu’S School Of Medicine, Leland H. Waters, Madeline Mcintyre

Case Studies from Age in Action

Educational Objectives

1. To demonstrate the value of senior mentoring in geriatrics education for medical students.

2. To provide a framework for positively influencing student attitudes toward older adults.

3. To describe the underlying human relationships that contribute to patient-centered care.

4. To describe effective verbal and non-verbal skills to establish and build relationships.

Care Transitions: Empowering Older Adults With Post-Hospital Interventions, Karen Moeller

Case Studies from Age in Action

Educational Objectives

1. Understand how Care Transitions Interventions® (CTI®) can decrease hospital readmission rates among older adults, ages 60 and over.

2. Recognize how CTI® services assist older adults to stay in their homes after hospitalization for 30 days or more without unnecessary readmissions.

3. Appreciate examples of ways Senior Connections, The Capital Area Agency on Aging, collaborates with community partners.

4. Identify how Senior Connections refers older adults and caregivers to community resources for effective utilization and outcomes.

The Year In The Rear-View Mirror, Edward F. Ansello

Director's Editorials from Age in Action

The year 2018 is the Virginia Center on Aging's 40th anniversary. Our programs and activities have evolved over time but we have remained true to the charges given us in the Code of Virginia, essentially to conduct interdisciplinary studies, including training practitioners and offering educational opportunities for older adults, conducting research on and advancing knowledge about dementia, and serving as an information resource to those committed to the well-being of older adults. Our current operations feature four program areas: abuse in later life (domestic violence and elder abuse); dementia research; geriatrics and gerontology education; and lifelong learning.

Fighting Frailty With The Mediterranean Diet, Edward F. Ansello

Director's Editorials from Age in Action

It’s appropriate for each of us to examine our eating habits, not just our nutrition intake. The various aspects of the Mediterranean Diet hold potential benefits beyond the important feature of helping to reduce frailty.

Lewy Body Dementia, Edward F. Ansello

Director's Editorials from Age in Action

While Alzheimer’s disease is the most common and widely known cause of dementia, it is not the only cause. Dementia with Lewy Bodies (DLB), in fact, may be the second most common cause of progressive dementia but it is certainly less well known.

Our Anniversary, Edward F. Ansello

Director's Editorials from Age in Action

The Virginia Center on Aging celebrates 40 years.

Addressing The Spiritual Needs Of People Aging With Dementia And/Or Lifelong Disabilities, Kathy Fogg Berry

Case Studies from Age in Action

Educational Objectives

1. Present the need for spiritual care as part of holistic care for people living with dementia and/or lifelong disabilities.

2. Distinguish the difference between spirituality and religion.

3. Discuss how to assess the spiritual needs of people living with dementia and/or lifelong disabilities.

4. Show through case study examples specific ways to address the spiritual needs of people living with dementia and/or lifelong disabilities.

Gerontology Theory Communicated In The Primary Grades Through Picture Books, Edward F. Ansello

Case Studies from Age in Action

Educational Objectives

1. To recognize children’s first literature as a means of socialization to aging and older people.

2. To identify children’s books that reflect basic principles of gerontology theory.

3. To help primary school teachers, grandparents, and others interested in human development use books and activities to capture children’s attention.

4. To identify a unit of six brief, overlapping modules, each with objectives, activities, and recommended readings.

Into The Elder Law Trenches At Wake Forest University School Of Law, Kate Mewhinney

Case Studies from Age in Action

Educational Objectives:

1. Examine the benefits of a medical-legal partnership for training law students how to represent older clients.

2. Review common legal issues in the field of elder law.

3. Explore broader policy concerns facing an aging population.

Silver Saddles: An Equestrian Intervention For Older Adults With Dementia, Christine Jensen, Jessica Lyon, Tina Thomas, Rachel Scrivano

Case Studies from Age in Action

Educational Objectives

1. Demonstrate the encouraging outcomes therapeutic horseback riding programs can have for older adults with memory loss.

2. Describe the importance of trained volunteers and staff at both the riding center and the long-term care community for aiding older adults with memory loss during the therapeutic riding program.

3. Showcase the research process and pilot results.

4. Highlight lessons learned and future directions for Silver Saddles.

Meeting Aging-Related Needs In 2016, Edward F. Ansello

Director's Editorials from Age in Action

Our Virginia Center on Aging has four program focuses. These programs are: dementia, elder abuse and domestic violence in later life, geriatrics education, and lifelong learning. Each achieved substantially in calendar 2016.

Abuse And Neglect Of Animals And People, An Update, Edward F. Ansello

Director's Editorials from Age in Action

Veterinarians have noticed for quite some time that individuals who mistreat their animals may not stop there, carrying over their behavior to spouses, parents and others. Research articles and “overview” publications have increased in number, as have advocacy groups and just the beginnings of connections between domestic violence and animal rights groups.

Oral Health And Aging, Edward F. Ansello

Director's Editorials from Age in Action

The sooner we recognize the importance of oral health to our well-being as older adults, the better we age. We need to consider our dentist as part of our health care team. For those of us in health professions, we should work together more to incorporate oral health into primary care.

Laughter And Well Being As We Age, Edward F. Ansello

Director's Editorials from Age in Action

Laughing at mistakes is demonstrably healthy. As we get older, we have accumulated a lifetime of mistakes. Humor and laughter, laughing at ourselves or our circumstances, can be therapeutic.

Safe Driving For The Mature Adult: Selected Issues, Rebecca Parsio

Case Studies from Age in Action

Educational Objectives

1. Examine issues related to aging and driving assessment.

2. Review Virginia’s Mature Drivers Study.

3. Discuss the levels of care for prevention of driving disability and resources available at each level.

4. Explore the impact of medications and substances (both prescribed and not prescribed) on driving ability.

Utilizing Older Adult Standardized Patients To Enhance The Education Of Health Professional Students, Kimberly Davis

Case Studies from Age in Action

Educational Objectives

1. Identify the uses of standardized patients in geriatrics education.

2. Compare the advantages and limitations of older adult standardized patients.

3. Discuss how competencies can guide simulation development.

4. Describe methods for evaluation of learner performance when using older adult standardized patients.

Integrating Geriatrics In Primary Care: Progress And Prospects, Daniel A. Bluestein, Ryan M. Diduk-Smith

Case Studies from Age in Action

Educational Objectives

1. Demonstrate the need for primary care redesign to better meet the needs of older patients.

2. Identify prospective redesign solutions.

3. Appreciate educational implication that redesign engenders.

Living Well With Chronic Health Conditions: Chronic Disease Self-Management Education In Virginia, April Holmes, Dianne Duke, Joyce Nussbaum

Case Studies from Age in Action

Educational Objectives

1. Review the impact of chronic disease on population health and health care costs.

2. Describe Chronic Disease Self- Management Education (CDSME) programs.

3. Discuss research findings that demonstrate how the Chronic Disease Self-Management Program addresses the triple aims of better care, better health, and lower costs.

4. Explain how CDSME programs are delivered through the Live Well, Virginia! Network.

5. Highlight initiatives to expand CDSME to new target areas and populations.

What Are The Needs Of Older Adults?, Edward F. Ansello

Director's Editorials from Age in Action

Mobility, social connections, health declines, lifelong learning, safety, caretakers or caregivers speak to interdependence or assisted autonomy, rather than to independence. Realizing the best of ourselves means that we are engaged or interdependent with others.

Animal Cruelty And Elder Abuse, Edward F. Ansello

Director's Editorials from Age in Action

Continuing and expanding the American Psychological Association's guidance that those in counseling roles be alert to and ask questions about care of animals could provide some early warnings, perhaps in time to avoid harm to both animals and people. Encouraging our children to interact with kindness towards animals can’t help but pay dividends over the life course. We need to pay attention to the link of indifference or neglect of pets leading to the same with humans, with those in later life.

Fix And Fit To Age In Place, Edward F. Ansello

Director's Editorials from Age in Action

If aging in place is the goal, simple targeted improvements to one’s home and ability to function in it may be central.

Neighborhood Walkability And Health, Edward F. Ansello

Director's Editorials from Age in Action

The apparent benefit of neighborhood walkability suggests that it may be an important health-related consideration in the lives of everyday people. Most of the elements in the walkability index reflect components in the environment, so these may be relevant across the continuum of impairments, meaning that walkable neighborhoods themselves may have positive impact on the daily lives of people with physical or intellectual disabilities.

Palliative Care Is More Care, Not Less, Rachel Selby-Penczak

Case Studies from Age in Action

Educational Objectives:

1. Discuss the origins of hospice and palliative care.

2. Compare and contrast Curative, Palliative, and Hospice Models of Care.

3. Identify when palliative care is appropriate.

Palette: An Intergenerational Art Program To Improve Health Care Delivery And Health Outcomes Of Older Adults, Sadie Rubin

Case Studies from Age in Action

Educational Objectives:

1. Demonstrate the positive out-comes of the PALETTE model in training and educating health pro-fessional students in gerontological experiences.

2. Describe the partnerships devel-oped and their importance in exe-cuting PALETTE programs.

3. Highlight student experiences in intergenerational visual arts and intergenerational movement arts.

Evaluating Commonwealth Coordinated Care: The Experiences Of Individuals Dually Eligible For Medicare And Medicaid, Gerald Craver, Alison Cuellar, Gilbert Gimm

Case Studies from Age in Action

Objectives

1. To understand Virginia’s rationale for implementing the Commonwealth Coordinated Care Program and its approach to evaluating it.

2. To provide a framework for examining the health care experiences of individuals with behavioral health and/or long-term service and support needs who are enrolled in the Commonwealth Coordinated Care Program.

3. To inform policy on future options for improving the quality and health care experiences of similar groups of individuals in Virginia and other states.

Averting Financial Exploitation And Undue Influence Through Legislation, Kathy Pryor

Case Studies from Age in Action

Objectives

1. Explain what financial exploitation is.

2. Examine the elements of undue influence through case studies.

3. Consider the reasons undue influence is so difficult to address legislatively.

We Happy Few: Accomplishments In Calendar 2014, Edward F. Ansello

Director's Editorials from Age in Action

The Virginia Center on Aging recognizes strides its staff has made in confronting elder abuse and domestic violence in later life; building and improving lifelong learning opportunities across the Commonwealth for mid-life and older adults; delivering interprofessional geriatrics training for health care providers and measuring the impacts of this training upon the patients they care for; training clinical students to partner across professions to improve geriatrics care; developing and delivering education and training programs to audiences in state, regional, and national conferences and webinars on topics ranging from gerontological education to aging with lifelong disabilities, community health to interdisciplinary teamwork; …

Disappearing Before My Eyes, Edward F. Ansello

Director's Editorials from Age in Action

Dr. Edward Ansello details the last memories he made and recalled with his mother, who struggled with memory loss in later life.

Preventing Financial Exploitation, Edward F. Ansello

Director's Editorials from Age in Action

Financial exploitation of older adults isn’t going away. We each need to be aware and proactive.