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Advisory Council October 2018 Meeting Presentation: Addressing Barriers to Accessing Quality LTSS

Friday, October 19, 2018

Printer Friendly Version in PDF Format (4 PDF pages)

 

Addressing Barriers to Accessing Quality LTSS for People Living with AD/ADRD

Debra L Cherry, PhD
NAPA LTSS Subcommittee Chair

2018 LTSS Recommendations

  • Recommendation 1: Improve access to long-term services and supports (LTSS) including nursing home care and home and community-based services (HCBS) among persons at-risk for and living with AD/ADRD and their caregivers.
    • The number and diversity of people living with AD/ADRD is growing, with the greatest burden for care falling upon family caregivers. There is a need for additional LTSS to assist this group.
    • Federal programs that provide HCBS to eligible individuals, their families and caregivers, such as those through ACL, the VA and CMS, must be brought to scale and should tailor programs to address the needs of an increasingly heterogeneous population.
  • Recommendation 2: Build more effective integration between clinical care and home and community-based services across the disease trajectory.
    • Caregivers are the backbone of the nation's community-based supports for people living with AD/ADRD. They also provide necessary care management, from medical follow-up to medication monitoring and personal care.
    • To assure that healthcare systems support people with AD/ADRD and their caregivers, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services should ensure people living with AD/ADRD and their caregivers receive ongoing disease information, care planning and coordination; caregiver assessment and supports; and improved connections to home and community-based services tailored to their needs.
  • Recommendation 3: Identify and address behavioral symptoms across the disease trajectory and in all care settings.
    • Behavioral symptoms of AD/ADRD are an integral part of dementia that increase morbidity and burden, affect quality of life, and impact cost of care. To more effectively address these issues across the full span of care settings, it is recommended that federal, state and community organizations increase provider and caregiver knowledge about person- and family-centered care through training and dissemination of evidence-based and evidence-informed interventions.

Overview of Sessions

  • Session #1: When Dementia is Different: Meeting the LTSS needs of a heterogeneous population
    • Organizers:
      • Cynthia Huling Hummel, DMin
      • Katie Brandt, MS
  • Session #2: Managing Behavioral Symptoms of AD/ADRD
    • Organizers:
      • Laura Gitlan, PhD, FAAN
      • Michelle Dianne-Vahalik, DNP, RN
  • Session #3: Integrating Clinical Care with Home and Community-Based Care
    • Organizers:
      • Becky Kurtz, JD
      • Debra Cherry, PhD

Charge to the Council

  • Consider how your federal agency can move these recommendations forward.
    • Can you support research into these subjects?
    • Can you provide community education or professional training to support the recommendations?
    • Can you fund programs that improve access to HCBS
      • For heterogeneous populations?
      • For people with behavioral symptoms?
      • By improving the integration of health care with community supports?