|
Upcoming webinar, April 25, 2018:
Identifying Our Needs—A Survey of Elders:
Data Makes a Difference for Our Native Elders
|
|
|
|
LTSS Training and Technical Assistance Center
Visit the online LTSS TA Center for videos, best practices, toolkits, a resource library, and a step-by-step planning roadmap.
|
|
|
Culturally sensitive care in tribal nursing homes
|
|
Strong connections to culture and traditions enhance the quality of life for AI/AN elders as they age. Many tribal nursing homes and assisted living facilities have developed strategies for providing culturally sensitive care to their residents.
A new report from CMS (PDF, 11 pp, 4.1 MB) describes how four tribal long-term care facilities provide culturally sensitive care for elders. The report highlights recommendations other tribal programs can follow to provide care that honors individual lifeways and preferences. The report outlines tips for honoring tradition, coordinating cultural activities, incorporating spirituality into care, and training staff to be culturally sensitive.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Supporting elders' social wellbeing
|
|
|
|
Joining social activities helps elders stay engaged with their community and culture. Participating in social activities can make elders less likely to get certain diseases and help them feel happier. Read more from the National Institute on Aging about the importance of enjoyable activities in keeping elders healthy and happy.
Social activities could include classes, traditional activities like beadwork, and community activities like the Tlingit & Haida Community Council’s recent Valentine’s Day dance for elders, pictured below.
Photo courtesy of Juneau Empire, Richard McGrail (photographer), and Kevin Gullufsen (journalist)
|
|
|
Funding opportunities to enhance services for people with disabilities
|
|
Tribal governments and AI/AN organizations are eligible to apply for two new grant opportunities to enhance services for people with disabilities and help them live independent, healthy lives. Both funding opportunities are available through the Administration for Community Living’s Disability and Rehabilitation Research Projects and Centers Program.
|
For both grants, applications are due May 14, 2018.
|
CMS publishes new tribal nursing home directory
|
|
CMS recently released an updated directory of tribal nursing homes.
LTSS in Our Community: Tribal Nursing Home Directory (PDF, 725 KB, 10 pp) lists contact information for the 18 nursing homes in Indian Country that offer long-term services and supports (LTSS). It includes details about certification, the number of beds, and each facility’s ombudsman and Quality Innovation Network–Quality Improvement Organization.
|
|
Register for this summer’s Healthy Aging Summit
|
|
|
|
Caregivers and others involved in optimizing the health of older adults are encouraged to register for the 2018 Healthy Aging Summit, to be held from July 16–17, 2018, in Washington, DC.
|
|
|
The early bird registration deadline is June 5.
|
|
Visit the event information page for more information about the summit.
|
|
Help elders guard their new Medicare Cards
|
|
Beginning this month, elders enrolled in Medicare will start receiving new Medicare cards. As part of this process, you can share the information below to help elders protect themselves and their new Medicare Numbers from scam artists.
|
|
Is the call from Medicare?
Medicare will never call, uninvited, and ask for personal or private information. Medicare will only call beneficiaries to:
- return the beneficiary’s call if they received a message from the beneficiary or said they would call the beneficiary back
- discuss a plan that the beneficiary is already a member of
|
 CMS's Guard Your Card PSA
|
|
Is the call from a scam artist?
If the caller does any of the following, the call is most likely a scam.
- They ask for personal information or a Medicare Number
- They ask for money
- They threaten to cancel any health benefits if personal information or money is not provided
|
|
How to respond
Tell elders to hang up if they suspect a scam and report the issue by calling 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227).
|
Report on evaluation of Title VI Programs
A recently released Year 1 interim report (PDF, 6 MB, 10 pp) describes the planning and design of an ongoing evaluation of the Administration for Community Living’s Title VI Programs.
To help ensure that the multi-year project is culturally appropriate and useful to grantees, the evaluation team will collaborate with a 17-member steering committee and provide tribes with training and technical assistance.
If you are interested in evaluating a program in your own community, CMS’s online Long-Term Services and Supports Technical Assistance Center (LTSS TA Center) can help. For more information, visit the LTSS TA Center’s Introduction to Evaluation page.
|
|
New Medicare training modules
|
|
This year, CMS released two new training modules for trainers familiar with Medicare to present to caregivers who need to navigate Medicare for elders. The modules consist of prepared presentations with speaker’s notes, knowledge checks, and additional resources.
Understanding Medicare reviews Medicare coverage, benefits coordination, costs, enrollment, fraud, and abuse. With 98 slides, trainers can present this module in about 2.5 hours.
Medicare Prescription Drug Coverage explains the differences between Medicare Parts A, B, and D; eligibility; enrollment; and coverage determination and appeals. With 81 slides, trainers can present this module in about 50 minutes.
|
Tips to help caregivers stay organized
|
|
An important way caregivers can support elders is to help them maintain their personal, health, and financial information. Caregivers should ensure elders have multiple copies of paperwork and that important documents are easily accessible during emergency situations. Creating a checklist based on the National Institute on Aging’s definitions of important paperwork and organization tips can help caregivers and elders keep documents organized and up-to-date.
|
|
|
Join the conversation on LinkedIn
Want to learn more about or discuss LTSS in Indian Country? Looking to connect with others working in the same field? Join the Tribal Affairs Group on LinkedIn and join the conversation.
|
|
|
Identifying Our Needs—A Survey of Elders: Data Makes a Difference for Our Native Elders
|
Wednesday, April 25
Learn about data that makes a difference for Native elders. Collette Adamsen, Program Director for the National Resource Center on Native American Aging (NRCNAA) will discuss the Center, resources it provides, and how research into elders’ needs can help communities plan.
Adamsen’s presentation will cover Identifying Our Needs: A Survey of Elders. This survey helps tribes and villages examine their elders’ health and social needs. It also provides data that can enable tribes to plan for long-term care needs and apply for Title VI nutrition and caregiving and other grants.
In addition, the webinar will explore the research process and how data can be used to develop new programs, like the NRCNAA’s Well-Balanced: Wise Elders Living Longer and Native Elder Caregiver curricula.
Learning objectives
- Provide an overview of the NRCNAA and its available resources
- Discuss how communities can use Identifying Our Needs: A Survey of Elders
- Discuss programs developed based upon elder research data
Presenter
|
Colette Adamsen
Program Director
NRCAA, Center for Rural Health,
School of Medicine & Health
Sciences
|
|
Please note your
location's call-in time:
8 a.m. Hawaii
10 a.m. Alaska
11 a.m. Pacific
11 a.m. Arizona
12 p.m. Mountain
1 p.m. Central
2 p.m. Eastern
|
|
|
Send Us Your News
Do you have news to share about LTSS in Indian Country? Send it to ltssinfo@kauffmaninc.com, and we’ll include it in a newsletter. Contact us with other comments or feedback, too.
|
|
|
About the Newsletter
Long-Term Services and Supports Solutions is published monthly by the CMS Division of Tribal Affairs to share information, funding opportunities, and resources with LTSS planners, tribal leaders, and supporters.
Download Adobe Reader for the best reading experience with PDF files.
|
|
|
