Advisory Council January 2015 Meeting Presentation: LTSS Federal Activities

Monday, January 26, 2015

Washington, D.C.

LTSS Subcommittee ReportFederal Government Activities

Jane Tilly, DrPH

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

• NIA funded study - Consequences of Reduced Antipsychotic Prescribing in Nursing Homes
  • Project will follow a group of nursing home residents; many with dementia and disabling chronic conditions, enrolled in the Medicare prescription drug benefit (Part D).
  • Purpose is to examine the drug coverage in the nursing home setting, identify factors that influence Part D enrollment, and estimate how drug coverage influences the use of medications.
  • Findings could inform the Medicare program about the experience of nursing home residents under Part D.

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

• ACL facilitating the Chicago Volunteer Representative Payee Pilot Program in coordination with Social Security
  • Chicago AAA recruiting and training volunteers to serve as Representative Payees for older adults with dementia and other conditions who lack capacity to manage their finances. 
  • Designed to help people stay in their own homes and maximize their independence. 
  • Client service implemented ~ 1/31/15.
  • Funding from the Corporation for National & Community Service.
• ACL, with IHS, developed and distributed the “Dementia and Indian Country” Fact Sheet to Tribal Leaders at the December meeting of the Secretary Tribal Advisory Council and on www.Olderindians.aoa.gov
• The Rx Foundation is funding expansion of REACH to 50 tribal communities through the University of Tennessee
  • Joint venture of IHS and ACL
  • Caregiving challenges for persons with dementia in Indian Country are amplified by the relative lack of formal long term services and supports and by the rural and frontier setting of many Tribal communities
  • Program provides a strategy and framework for health and social support professionals from Indian Health Services and Tribal Public Health Nursing programs and ACL/AoA’s Native American Caregiver Support programs to help family caregivers with the behavioral symptoms of elders with dementia and their own stress and coping

Goal 4: Enhance Public Awareness and Engagement

• ACL and Banner Institute are planning the 3rd Annual Alzheimer’s in Indian Country Conference scheduled for September, 2015 on the Gila River Reservation in Arizona.

Goal 5: Improve Data to Track Progress

• ASPE report, Disability and Care Needs of Older Americans by Dementia Status: An Analysis of the 2011 National Health and Aging Trends Study. Report uses the National Health and Aging Trends Study (NHATS), to describe late life disability and care needs of older adults with dementia.
• ASPR report, Informal Caregiving for Older Americans: An Analysis of the 2011 National Health and Aging Trends Study. Examines the role and experiences of unpaid caregivers for the older population, including those with dementia, using the new National Survey of Caregiving (NSOC).
• In 2014, CDC released BRFSS data focused on self-reported increased confusion or memory loss (i.e., cognitive impairment or CI)
  • 2011 BRFSS data and CI and co-occurring conditions among adults aged 60 or older
  • 2012 BRFSS data and examined CI and discussions with health care providers among adults aged 45 years or older
  • data brief shared with states