Thank You For Your Assistance
Thank you to all the activity directors that assisted the Office of the State Long-Term Care Ombudsman in providing information about this office to residents by passing out the booklets we distributed to nursing facilities during the past few weeks.
World Elder Abuse Awareness Day
June 15 is World Elder Abuse Awareness Day. Unfortunately, far too often residents and tenants of long-term care are preyed upon by those they rely on to safeguard their finances. As COVID-19 scams are becoming more numerous, the sum of money residents and tenants received from the CARES Act stimulus funds become a great temptation to those who take advantage of the elderly. Sometimes this same temptation is experienced by those who the residents and tenants have entrusted to assist them with their financial decisions. If those entrusted with assisting residents and tenants with their finances give in to this temptation it becomes financial exploitation. Financial exploitation is elder abuse. If you suspect a resident or tenant is being financially exploited, please contact the Iowa Attorney General’s office Consumer Protection Division at 888-777-4590 to report this type of activity.
Outreach Effort
In spite of the current visitation restrictions imposed for nursing facilities, residential care facilities and assisted living programs, the advocacy work of the Office of the State Long-Term Care Ombudsman continues. During this time of the COVID-19 public health crisis, the Office of the State Long-Term Care Ombudsman conducts outreach to residents and tenants of long-term care via telephone and technology. This will occasionally require that a Local Long-Term Care Ombudsman will reach out to long-term care facilities and request information. We want to assure you that we are affording facilities every opportunity to ensure that they are interacting with an authorized representative of the Office of the State-Long-Term Care Ombudsman before sending any requested information. Many of you have worked with representatives of the office before and we are familiar to you. In addition, the name of the Local Long-Term Care Ombudsman requesting information should be familiar to you from the informational posters we have provided to the facility. For any requests to email information, the email address will always end in iowa.gov. The fax number for the office is 515-725-3313. Will not ask you to fax information to any other number.
Finally, if you have any questions about whether or not the party requesting the information is legitimately a representative of the Office of the State Long-Term Care Ombudsman, please feel free to contact me at 515-393-1710.
Cindy
CMS issued guidance in QSO-20-30-NH regarding the reopening recommendations of nursing facilities to state and local officials.
Check our website for updated information regarding various facets of COVID-19 such as the revised FEMA fact sheet about PPE packages, Consumer Financial Protection Division information about prepaid debit cards and National Center on Law & Elder Rights' tip sheet about stimulus payments and representative payees.
Representatives of the Office have created presentations to assist residents and tenants during the COVID-19 pandemic. COVID-19 and Long-Term Care and Electronic Communication Series presentations may be viewed on our website or on our YouTube channel.
Activities
Cottage Grove Place in Cedar Rapids celebrated nursing home week with a live outdoor concert for residents and staff click to view the article.
Tenants listened to violinist Genevieve Salamone perform outside at Edencrest at Green Meadows in Johnston in this article.
Members of veteran's organizations, patriot riders, Coast Guard and Honor Flight along with family and friends paraded through the parking lots of Senior Star Assisted Living in Davenport to celebrate one resident's 100 birthday in this article.
Classic cars cruised in a parade around Dubuque assisted living and retirement homes calling the event "Smiles for Miles" in this article.
Equipment
New viral filtration used by Xlerator and Xleratorsync Hand Dryers seems to remove 99.999% of viruses from the air. See the article for more information about the study.
Disinfect & Shield solution for surgical disinfectant which kills the virus causing COVID-19 is now available for purchase. View the article for additional information.
The National Long-Term Care Ombudsman Resource Center has issued a fact sheet titled Taking Care of You. This fact sheet focuses on Long-Term Care Ombudsman and Volunteer Ombudsman ensuring to take care or yourself so you may be the best advocate for those living in long-term care facilities.
VOP Statewide Conference Call
This month's statewide call will be held on Wednesday, June 10 at 2:00 pm. Iowa Department on Aging, Case Management & Health Promotion Manager Alicyn Reimer will be presenting on elder abuse awareness and prevention. Notes from the past calls may also be found on the website. If you do view a recording of a previously recorded statewide conference call be sure to email volunteervop@iowa.gov to receive one hour of continuing education credit.
VOP CEUs
The COVID-19 and Ombudsman Programs: Understanding How Trauma Impacts You, Residents and Your Advocacy webinar series is available for CEUs. The second of the four-part series was held on May 20. If you view the presentation and recording be sure to fill out the VOP CEU form to receive credit.
The featured webinar/video this time is Dementia Care and Assistance with Personal Care. Be sure to fill out the CEU form if you do attend.
Cultural and Linguistic Competence: What it Means for Ombudsman Programs
VOP CEU Eligible
June 10 (2 pm)
More Information | Register
Iowa Elder Law Webinar Series: World Elder Abuse Awareness Day Event
VOP CEU Eligible
June 15 (11 am)
More Information | Register
Identifying and Addressing Nursing Home Abuse & Neglect
VOP CEU Eligible
June 16 (12 pm)
More Information | Register
To participate by phone, at the time of the program call (712) 770-4010. When prompted, enter the Access Code, 878277, followed by the pound (#) key.
COVID-19 and Ombudsman Programs: Understanding How Trauma Impacts You, Residents, and Your Advocacy
VOP CEU Eligible
Webinar series: June 17 and June 29 (2 pm)
More Information | Register
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