News In Brief - June 5, 2014

Saluting our 2014 LeadingAge Oregon award winners
Congratulations to LeadingAge Oregon Award winners and Silver Stars (25+ year employees) who were honored at this year’s Annual Meeting luncheon! It is always so inspiring to be able to recognize the amazing staff at our member organizations for their dedication and passion for serving elders. Check out our Facebook page for photos of the awardees:

Join us at the Elder Abuse Summit next week!
Please plan to join other aging services providers and elder advocates from throughout the state on June 10 at the Third Annual Elder Abuse Awareness & Prevention Summit, to be held at the Holiday Inn in Wilsonville. The focus of this year's summit is financial exploitation in all of its forms, from mis-use of money to medication diversion. As senior care and housing providers you are in a prime position to spot financial exploitation of elders. Please come to learn what to watch for and steps you can take to prevent or respond to this insidious form of abuse! LeadingAge Oregon is partnering with OHCA to sponsor this important event. Register for the summit.

Reminder – Nursing Facility Reduction Initiative meeting June 11
An informational presentation and question/answer session on Oregon’s Nursing Facility Reduction Initiative will be held next Wednesday, June 11, from 9:30 to noon at the Human Services Building in Salem, 500 Summer St. NE, Room 166. The goal of the initiative is to reduce excess nursing facility capacity by eliminating 1500 beds statewide by December 31, 2015. Under the initiative, nursing facilities that “buy and close” other nursing facilities between October 1, 2013 and Dec. 31, 2015 will be given an augmented rate of $9.75 per resident day for four years from date of purchase. To participate in the meeting via conference call, dial 1.888.398.2342, passcode 613002.

Alzheimer’s Association seeks partners to roll out new early stage memory care programs
The Oregon chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association has received funding from the Administration on Community Living Grant to offer two four-week programs targeted to individuals beginning to experience memory issues and their care partners. One program, “Staying in Motion,” focuses on movement and flexibility, and the other “Staying Connected,” focuses on social support and coping strategies. Read more detail about each program. Retirement campuses with an independent living component would be ideal locations to offer the programs. LeadingAge Oregon members interested in learning more can contact Dawn Iwamasa at the Alzheimer’s Association, [email protected], 503.416.0203. Although the initial rollout will focus on the Portland metro area, the association hopes to expand the programs statewide over the next two years.

Oregon Patient Safety Commission releases 2013 report
Nursing facilities in Oregon demonstrated a dramatic increase in adverse event reporting to the Oregon Patient Safety Commission in 2013, according to the Commission’s newly released annual report. Nursing facilities submitted 176 reports in 2013, compared to just nine reports for all of 2012. The increase does not mean there were more adverse events in nursing homes, but instead reflects a commitment by the reporting nursing homes to incorporate adverse event reporting into their quality assurance and performance improvement programs. Sixty percent of the adverse events reported by nursing homes were falls, followed by “other” (17 percent) and medication errors (11 percent). Read the report.

“Count the Ways” Campaign: Please participate in social accountability survey!
LeadingAge has embarked on a “Count the Ways” campaign to help not-for-profit aging services members identify and document the ways they benefit their surrounding communities. With tax exemptions under scrutiny nationwide, it is critical that not-for-profit providers devote time and dollars to their social accountability/community benefit programs. The public wants to know: Why should your community or organization be exempt from taxes or have access to tax-exempt bonds? What do you do that is different from the for-profit community down the street? To help LeadingAge on this new campaign, please complete the confidential Holleran survey on social accountability.

June webinars scheduled on how to use LeadingAge Insights
LeadingAge has scheduled webinars June 11 and 24 from 8 to 9 a.m. Pacific time on how to use LeadingAge Insights, a set of tools designed to help LeadingAge members better understand their own performance and market position. Read more.

Special lights improve behavior, sleep and eating for residents with dementia
A new study indicates that installing a particular kind of light in dementia care settings could soothe residents and improve their sleep and eating patterns. Installing blue-white lights of about 300 to 400 lux in resident rooms resulted in “very impressive” improvements in agitation and depression. Read more.

Time is running out to register for June 18 Dr. Al Power dementia program
You and your staff won’t want to miss the opportunity to hear international dementia expert and author Dr. Al Power, the speaker at the day-long June 18 Dementia Symposium sponsored by LeadingAge Oregon and the Alzheimer’s Network. Dr. Power rarely visits Oregon and will likely be in great demand after his new book is released this summer, so now truly is the time to take advantage of this affordable program. Read more. Register online.

Welcome new Business Associate member
A warm welcome to new business member Healthcare Services Group, which services over 4,500 Health Care Facilities in Dining/Nutrition Services, Housekeeping and Laundry. By partnering the company is able to offer no long-term contracts, fixed monthly budgets, increased operations and oversight, department specific training, and reduced Financial/HR/Litigation/Workman’s Comp exposure to the operator. The company focuses on enriching the lives of the residents by understanding their clients’ needs in order to deliver high quality care. For more information visit www.hcsgcorp.com or contact Shawn Barron at [email protected]

Thank you for completing our online conference evaluation
Thank you to the 155 conference attendees who completed our online evaluation! We appreciate your feedback and will be sharing it with speakers and our conference committee. Congratulations to Terry Wymore at Friendsview Retirement Community for winning our evaluation drawing for a $100 Amazon gift card.

Are you missing an alligator pin?
A gold alligator pin was found at the Eagle Crest Resort Conference Center during our conference. Please contact Denise Wetzel at the LeadingAge Oregon office, [email protected], 503.684.3788 ext. 305 if you attended the conference and are missing yours!