Geriatrics Commons^™

Making Affordable Assisted Living Work: The Mountainside Senior Living Story, Cheryl Cooper, Gordon Walker

Case Studies from Age in Action

Educational Objectives

1. Describe the challenges of providing affordable assisted living in Virginia.

2. Describe the experience of the Jefferson Area Board for the Aging (JABA), an Area Agency on Aging, in becoming owner and operator of an assisted living facility.

3. Describe the culture change that made Mountainside a unique and award-winning facility.

The Aging Together Partnership: Collaborating To Improve Quality Of Life For Older Adults, April Holmes, Chris Miller

Case Studies from Age in Action

Educational Objectives 1. Demonstrate how the Aging Together experience improves services for older adults. 2. Describe the partnership structure and participation that makes this an effective model for community services amidst demographic changes. 3. Illustrate tangible service improvements resulting from Aging Together collaborations.

Acute And Chronic Pain Challenges For Arthritis Patients In An Acute Care Setting, Janet M. Bykowski

Case Studies from Age in Action

Educational Objectives

1. Demonstrate the importance of chronic pain management in an acute care environment.

2. Discuss the special impact of co-morbidity of arthritis upon pain management intervention.

3. Provide education to clinicians, patients, and caregivers that would promote an interdisciplinary plan of care for acute and chronic concurrent pain management.

“Powerful Tools For Caregivers”: Teaching Skills That Reduce Stress And Increase Self-Confidence, Ed Rosenberg, Natasha Gouge

Case Studies from Age in Action

Educational Objectives

1. Describe caregiving stress and burnout symptoms and effects experienced by older caregivers.

2. Report implementation and evaluation of the “Powerful Tools for Caregivers” workshop, which is designed to increase knowledge and skills in caring for elders and reduce caregiver stress.

3. Suggest ways to alleviate caregiver burden at both micro and macro levels.

Teens Teaching Alzheimer’S Caregivers To Become Tech- Savvy: The Power Of Community And Intergenerational Partnerships, Ann Bruner Duesing, Marilyn Pace Maxwell

Case Studies from Age in Action

Educational Objectives

1. Describe a successful technology project for Alzheimer’s caregivers in rural, far southwest Virginia which recruited and trained teenagers to teach computer skills to Alzheimer’s caregivers and taught the teenagers about caregiving and the disease.

2. Identify barriers for Alzheimer’s caregivers to learning and using technology to assist and support them in their caregiving, and identify successful ways to address these barriers.

Pace: Program Of All-Inclusive Care For The Elderly, Laura R. Gadsby

Case Studies from Age in Action

Educational Objectives

1. Describe the Program of Allinclusive Care for the Elderly model of care for frail seniors with chronic health care needs.

2. Demonstrate how PACE benefits providers in the delivery of services.

3. Explain how the PACE concept complements Virginia’s Long Term Care Reform, as well as initiatives to develop further the PACE program in Virginia.

The Shepherd’S Center Of Richmond: Opportunities For Meaning And Personal Growth Through Service, Linda Frank

Case Studies from Age in Action

Educational Objectives

1. To inform Virginians about The Shepherd’s Center of Richmond, a non-profit service organization by, with, and for older adults.

2. To demonstrate the impact of volunteer service as a means to finding a sense of meaning and purpose in later life.

Parish Nursing: A Vital Piece To The Puzzle Of Care For Older Adults, Donna B. Coffman

Case Studies from Age in Action

Educational Objectives

1. To generate awareness of the emerging practice of faith community/parish nursing and its implications for the overall improvement of health care.

2. To explore specific ways parish nursing can help meet the holistic health needs of older adults in local congregations

Elderfriends: Relieving Loneliness Among Elders, Kiersten Seeger Ware, Sarah Coble

Case Studies from Age in Action

Educational Objectives

1. To discuss social isolation among older adults.

2. To promote awareness of the ElderFriends program, an intervention newly established in greater Richmond

3. To seek friendly visitors for the ElderFriends program.

Brain Health: Mending The Mind After Age 50, Susan Hardwicke

Case Studies from Age in Action

Educational Objectives

1. Increase understanding of brain function and its potential to improve with age.

2. Describe an application of neuroscience, cognitive training, and nutrition for solving a problem associated with aging.

3. Evaluate neural plasticity with aging.

Spirituality And The Cognitively Impaired, Kathy Fogg Berry

Case Studies from Age in Action

Educational Objectives

1. Discuss the need to acknowledge and nurture the spirituality of older adults with cognitive impainnent to enhance their health and well-being.

2. Provide tools and suggestions for use in nurturing the spirituality of older adults with cognitive impainnent.

3. Review the response of one resident with cognitive impainnent to spiritually-based programming and support

Case Study For People Who Are Aging: Workworld© Choice Exploration Software, David Ruth, Mark Hill

Case Studies from Age in Action

Educational Objectives

1. To illustrate the usefulness of WorkWORLD, a software package for older Americans with disabilities who have not yet reached retirement age, to determine the financial effects of earnings and the use of work incentives associated with benefits.

2. To show how the software can be accessed and continually updated.

3. To explore the possibility of enhancing WorkWORLD to be useful for those who have reached retirement age but who desire to continue or begin working.

Male Caregivers: Breaking Through The Male Self-Sufficiency Barrier To Help Those In Need, James J. Hutchinson

Case Studies from Age in Action

Educational Objectives

1. To generate awareness of characteristics and issues specific to male caregivers;

2. To examine successful strategies for education and awareness programs that motivate male caregivers to request services when needed;

3. To identify effective services targeted to male caregivers that have been initiated by three Area Agencies on Aging that received funding from the Virginia Department for the Aging.

Partnership For Prescription Assistance Of Virginia (Pparx), Sarah Huddle

Case Studies from Age in Action

Educational Objectives

1. To inform Virginia's older adult population and those who serve them about the Partnership for Prescription Assistance, a new program to help qualifying patients who lack prescription drug coverage get the medicines they need through the public or private program that best suits them, including the new Medicare prescription drug benefit.

2. To demonstrate, to older adults and those who assist them, the accessibility and ease of use of the Partnership for Prescription Assistance of Virginia.

Meeting The Challenges And Opportunities Of Aging With Lifelong Disabilities: The Area Planning And Services Committee, Allison Wilder, Edward F. Ansello

Case Studies from Age in Action

Educational Objectives

1. To generate awareness of needs and capacities of aging adults with lifelong disabilities and their effect upon human services

2. To understand the challenges and opportunities facing aging adults with lifelong disabilities in accessing appropriate community supports and services.

3. To illustrate the benefits of intersystem collaboration among human services providers through the vehicle of an Area Planning and Services Committee.

Mental Fitness And The Lifelong Learning Movement, Jane F. Stephan, Debbie Leidheiser, Edward F. Ansello

Case Studies from Age in Action

Educational Objectives

1. To identify the functional benefits of continued mental activity

2. To examine the role of Lifelong Learning Institutes in later life

3. To describe the motivations of participants in lifelong learning

Law Enforcement And Adult Protective Services Working Together: A Team Approach To Elder Abuse Cases, Anne Douglas Palmer

Case Studies from Age in Action

Educational Objectives

1. Familiarize readers with the different roles and responsibilities of Adult Protective Services and law enforcement in elder abuse cases.

2. Demonstrate the benefits of working collaboratively to resolve complex elder abuse and domestic violence cases.

Congregate Nutrition Programs Can Alleviate Loneliness And Isolation, Carol Cooper Driskill

Case Studies from Age in Action

Educational Objectives

1. Familiarize readers with the Older Americans Act congregate nutrition services provided to community-residing older adults.

2. Demonstrate how congregate nutrition services can alleviate isolation and loneliness in community-residing older adults.

Caregiver Education And Service Utilization In African American Families Dealing With Dementia, Constance L. Coogle

Virginia Center on Aging Publications

For more than a decade attention has been focused on Alzheimer’s family caregivers in African American communities. The Fourth Report of the Advisory Panel on Alzheimer’s Disease to the U. S. Congress and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services calls for “…public education and outreach efforts specifically targeted to ethnic elders and their families and communities through the development and dissemination of culturally relevant materials emphasizing both the established facts about [Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Disorders] and the efficacy of seeking treatment.” (Advisory Panel on Alzheimer’s Disease, 1993, p. 50). While federal financing and state initiatives have addressed …

Social Integration Of Older Immigrants In 21st Century America, Janet Wilmoth

Center for Policy Research

There are various reasons for the burgeoning interest in detailed research into the determinants of social well-being among older immigrants in this country. As a result of shifting federal government policies, the total volume of immigrants has increased significantly, the countries from which they migrate have changed, and more immigrant families have brought their parents into the United States than ever before. Consequently, the older adult population is becoming more diverse due in part to the aging-in-place of younger immigrants and an increasing number of immigrants who are older upon arrival in the United States. These trends create challenges for …

Social Interaction And The Health Insurance Choices Of The Elderly, Eldar Beiseitov, Jeffrey D. Kubik, John R. Moran

Center for Policy Research

Using data from the 1998 wave of the Health and Retirement Study, we examine the effect of social interactions on the health insurance choices of the elderly. We find that having more social interactions, as measured by contacts with friends and neighbors, reduces the likelihood of enrolling in a Medicare managed care plan relative to purchasing a medigap policy or having coverage through Medicare alone. Our estimates indicate that social networks are an important determinant of the health insurance choices of the elderly and provide suggestive evidence that "word-of-mouth" information sharing may have played a role in the preference of …

Income And The Use Of Prescription Drugs By The Elderly: Evidence From The Notch Cohorts, John R. Moran, Kosali Ilayperuma Simon

Center for Policy Research

We use exogenous variation in Social Security payments created by the Social Security benefits notch to estimate how retirees' use of prescription medications responds to changes in their incomes. In contrast to estimates obtained using ordinary least squares, instrumental variables estimates based on the notch suggest that lower-income retirees exhibit considerable income sensitivity in their use of prescription drugs. Our estimates are potentially useful for thinking about the health implications of changes in transfer payments to the elderly and for evaluating the benefits of the recently enacted Medicare prescription drug benefit.

Montessori-Based Activities For Dementia: A Walk Down Memory Lane, Janina C. Bognar

Case Studies from Age in Action

Educational Objectives

1. Familiarize readers with the Montessori method as used with participants who have dementia.

2. Demonstrate the role of Montessori-based activities for dementia in an adult day care setting.

The Value Of Multidisciplinary Care In Parkinson's Disease, Miriam Hirsch, Mark Baron

Case Studies from Age in Action

Educational Objectives

1. To recognize the signs and symptoms of Parkinson's disease (PD).

2. To identify key treatment and management strategies for PD.

3. To discuss the importance of multidisciplinary care and the need for individualized treatment of PD.

Abuse, Neglect, And Exploitation Of Vulnerable Elders, Sheila Crossen-Powell, Kira R. Holland, Marjorie L. Marker

Case Studies from Age in Action

Educational Objectives

1. To describe the variety and dynamics of self-neglect and abuse.

2. To illustrate cases of familial self-neglect and of financial exploitation.

3. To demonstrate the roles that Adult Protective Services (APS) plays in the investigation of adult abuse, neglect, and exploitation.

4. To describe the protections available to vulnerable adults in the Commonwealth.

Aging In Place -- Can Universal Design Make It A Reality?, Helen Eltzeroth

Case Studies from Age in Action

Educational Objectives

1. Comprehend the principles of universal design

2. Understand the barriers to aging in place

3. Learn what resources are available to facilitate aging in place

Using Validation As A Consultant In A Richmond, Virginia Continuing Care Retirement Community, John Colletti

Case Studies from Age in Action

Educational Objectives

1. Familiarize readers with the intricacies of setting up a behavioral program for persons diagnosed with Alzheimer's type dementia in a long term care facility.

2. Exemplify importance of interdisciplinary work.

3. Outline the future of the Validation Method in Virginia.

Older Adults, Social Techniques, And Memory, Karla K. Ziegenbalg

Case Studies from Age in Action

Educational Objectives

1. To use a social psychological perspective to examine memory abilities of older adults.

2. To understand in what ways the social environment, through direct social interaction, affects the memory performance of older adults.

3. To find out what, if any, social factors support memory performance in older adults.

Older Homeless Women: Beneath The Safety Net, Anne J. Kisor, Lynne Kendal-Wilson

Case Studies from Age in Action

Educational Objectives

1. Discuss how there is no stereotypical experience of, or explanation for, homelessness among older women.

2. Discuss why it is important to study the experiences of older homeless women.

3. Discuss policy and practice recommendations and specific ways to bridge efforts of aging and homeless service providers.

Are You At Risk For Blindness? Don't Keep Glaucoma A Family Secret! Older Age Is A Risk Factor, Mary Price

Case Studies from Age in Action

Educational Objectives

1. Raise awareness of risk factors for glaucoma.

2. Encourage health care providers to educate the patient about glaucoma risk factors.

3. Educate glaucoma patients to encourage family members to seek a glaucoma examination.