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Advisory Council October 2014 Meeting Presentation: LTSS Federal Activities

Monday, October 27, 2014

LTSS Subcommittee Report
Federal Government Activities

Jane Tilly, DrPH

Goal 1: Prevent and Effectively Treat Alzheimer's Disease by 2025

Research Participant Recruitment (ACL, CDC, NIA)

  • 2014 Webinar Series on Alzheimer’s Disease Research & Resources
    • 3 webinars with 700+ registrants each
    • Topics: resources update, research update, successful community collaborations.
    • Materials
    • CEUs available
  • ROAR
    • materials tested July - Sep 2014. 
    • Toolkit. 
    • ROAR presentations at 2 national conferences & a webinar

Caregiver Research (NIA)

  • Translation of Care of Persons with Dementia in their Environment (COPE)
    • 4-month intervention using OTs & NPs in a person’s home to enhance physical function in older adults with dementia and improve dementia management skills of family
    • Takes place in CT’s Medicaid waiver program.
  • 2-year test of an intervention designed to test the effects of increased coping skills on distress and biomarkers of cardiovascular disease risk in older adult caregivers of spouses with Alzheimer’s Disease
  • New Center on Improving Healthcare for Cognitively Impaired Elders and Their Caregivers.
    • Identify and implement evidence-based social and behavioral interventions

Goal 3: Expand Supports for People with Alzheimer's Disease and Their Families

Dementia Capability (ACL)

  • Dementia capability issue brief (2014)
  • ADSSP: ACL’s 2014 ADSSP grants build dementia capable systems in the states
    • Award recipients: Colorado, Iowa, Nevada, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin
    • Award amounts ~ $450,000
  • ADI-SSS: ACL awarded 10 grants through Prevention and Public Health Funds to enable states and localities to better serve individuals living alone, those with intellectual disabilities, and those experiencing difficult behaviors
    • Award recipients: Alzheimer's Association of Los Angeles, Riverside, and San Bernardino; the District of Columbia Office on Aging; Family Services of Westchester County New York; Georgia Southwestern State University; Jewish Family and Children's Service of the Suncoast in Florida; Lutheran Social Services of Puerto Rico; Minnesota Board on Aging; Neighborhood Centers, Inc. in Houston, Texas; Southern Maine Agency on Aging; and Wisconsin Department of Health Services
    • Award amounts ~$900,000
  • ACL Legal assistance model grant activities:
    • National Legal Resource Center training Hawaii lawyers on dementia capability in 2015
    • Oregon grantee will target outreach to people with dementia who are in need of legal assistance and develop a lay guardian training manual and program in Oregon
    • Maine is developing cross discipline training for legal and aging network I&R on dealing with clients with possible dementia and their family

Caregiver support

  • Respite for Family Caregivers of Persons with Dementia, including Alzheimer’s Disease (ACL)
    • Brochure offers background for respite providers and will also help Lifespan Respite grantees create strategies to improve respite access and quality
    • Family caregivers may also find useful resources here
  • Resources for Enhancing All Caregivers’ Health (REACH) VA to Veterans living in tribal communities (VA, IHS, ACL). Progress to date:
    • 14 IHS staff trained & 8 veterans enrolled in 3 tribes (Whiteriver, Cherokee, Navaho)
    • Expand REACH into 50 tribal communities over the next three years
    • Develop materials and a detailed plan for expansion into 562 tribal communities through IHS or the Tribal Aging Network

Goal 4: Enhance Public Awareness and Engagement

  • ACL cognitive health awareness
    • Signed a contract w/ Ogilvy Public Relations
    • Outlining work plan
    • Specifying target market strategy and tactics, in consultation with experts inside and outside of govt

Goal 5: Improve Data to Track Progress

  • CDC updated the BRFSS optional Caregiver Module, based on input from experts and feedback from BRFSS coordinators:
    • The case definition question assesses whether a person has “provided regular care or assistance to a friend or family member who has a health problem or disability in the past 30 days?”
    • 8 questions for persons who answer “yes” and 1 additional question for those who respond “no”
    • New question about needed support services should help inform the HP 2020 OA objective on caregiving
    • New “forecasting” question that can help states better understand the potential prevalence of future caregivers 
  • CDC’s Healthy Brain Initiative supporting state implementation of the Module through an award to the Alzheimer’s Association
Files
Mtg14-Slides9.pdf (pdf, 518.54 KB)