Stop Elder Abuse
To report suspected abuse, neglect, or financial exploitation of an elderly person or an adult with a disability call the toll-free Elder Abuse and Neglect Hotline at 1-800-392-0210. Please click on the links below for more information:
Abuse, Neglect, and Exploitation of the Elderly and Disabled
Changing Antipsychotic Thinking (CAT) Tip of the Month
CAT Tip #2: Be a CAT Detective!
Click on the link above the view the second monthly tip in the new series from Primaris on the use of antipsychotic medications in nursing homes. Visit www.primaris.org/cat_tips to view all tips. The Missouri Local Area Network for Excellence (MOLANE) is the state coalition for Advancing Excellence.
Use Advancing Excellence Tools to Implement Consistent Assignment
Please view the flyer here: Consistent Assignment.
Quality Assurance and Performance Improvement (QAPI)
Section 6102(c) of the Affordable Care Act requires that all nursing homes develop Quality Assurance and Performance Improvement (QAPI) programs. These are different from Q.A. programs.
QAPI emphasizes prevention of adverse events rather than reaction to adverse events. It emphasizes promotion of safety and quality throughout the entire organization (not just nursing) and focuses on reducing risks to residents and caregivers both.
Please visit the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) website for more information at cms.gov/Medicare/Provider-Enrollment-and-Certification/SurveyCertificationGenInfo/QAPI.html.
Primaris is Missouri’s federally designated Quality Improvement Organization (QIO). QAPI information is available online at www.primaris.org/qapi.
More updates regarding QAPI will be announced over the next several months.
Caring for a Nursing Home Resident with Parkinson’s Disease
The American Parkinson Disease Association (APDA) has released the educational video, The Parkinson Journey: From Diagnosis to Treatment to Cure.
Bonus feature – Caring for a Nursing Home Resident with Parkinson’s Disease
This 35-minute feature provides information to help understand the disease and provides communication and movement techniques when caring for a person who has Parkinson’s disease.
This video is available for viewing on the Department of Health and Senior Services website at http://health.mo.gov/seniors/ombudsman/index.php. To advance to the bonus feature, select Parkinson’s Journey Part 3, or view here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4T0CTCWnvU&list=PLh5mk8BxSPgjkhqcKxCv5gWjH6zV8I5Qt.
The Parkinson Journey: From Diagnosis to Treatment to Cure
- Introduction with Joe Buck
- Chapter 1 – What is Parkinson’s Disease
- Chapter 2 – What Causes Parkinson’s Disease
- Chapter 3 – Changes in Mood and Thinking
- Chapter 4 – Treatment Options
- Chapter 5 – Managing Symptoms
- Chapter 6 – Living with Parkinson’s Disease-Personal Journeys
- Chapter 7 – Finding Out More (resources)
- Bonus Feature 1 – Parkinsonisms – “Look Alikes” (Dr. Joel Perlmutter)
- Bonus Feature 2 – Helping with Falls (Dr. Beth Crowner)
- Bonus Feature 3 – LSVT Lee Silverman Voice Treatment (Dr. Cynthia Fox)
- Bonus Feature 4 – Caring for a Nursing Home Resident with Parkinson’s Disease
For more information, please visit the Greater St. Louis APDA at www.stlapda.org.
April is Parkinson’s Awareness Month
Hand in Hand: A Training Series for Nursing Homes – A reminder from SLCR
(Person-Centered Care of Persons with Dementia and Prevention of Abuse)
Section 6121 of the Affordable Care Act requires the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to ensure that nurse aides receive regular training on caring for residents with dementia and on preventing abuse. CMS created Hand in Hand training in order to address the annual requirement for nurse aide training. While homes are not required to use Hand in Hand for their dementia and abuse training, it is a wonderful, free resource that CMS has provided to every nursing home in the nation. CMS sent the packet containing videos and training techniques to all homes in December of 2012.
The Section for Long-Term Care Regulation realizes that the information appears voluminous, but encourages homes to take a closer look and try to implement at least some of the videos for your direct care staff. The videos show staff how to relate to residents with dementia and how to appropriately respond to behaviors. The training is also timely with the CMS initiative to reduce the use of antipsychotics in nursing homes. The videos show staff how to get to know the person and understand why they are behaving a certain way, so that they can use alternative methods, rather than asking for an antipsychotic medication. Everyone’s time is valuable; however, there is no sense in reinventing the wheel when CMS has done it for you. We encourage you to take a look at the Hand in Hand information and try to implement some of the videos in your required training on dementia and abuse prevention. To inquire about replacement copies of the Hand in Hand toolkit, please visit www.cms-handinhandtoolkit.info/Index.aspx.
Volunteer to Advocate for Nursing Home Residents
The Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program will train you to advocate for these residents, ensuring their rights are protected. To learn more about Missouri’s Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program, please visit http://health.mo.gov/seniors/ombudsman/.
Nursing Home Leadership Assistance
In cooperation with the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, the MU Sinclair School of Nursing at the University of Missouri offers a Nursing Home Leadership Coaching Service to assist nursing home administrators and key operational leaders to meet the leadership challenges of the long-term care (LTC) industry. The services offered focus on helping nursing home administrators (NHA) deal effectively with the complex management issues they face each day in their business and personnel operations.
Designed as a voluntary service, the Nursing Home Leadership Coach assists with such issues as Operational Improvement, Corporate Compliance, Budget Analysis, Regulations, Process Improvement Leadership Skills, Staff Retention, Contract Review, Survey Readiness, Staff Training, Quality of Life, and Culture Change. The Coaching Service works collaboratively with our existing QIPMO program. Dave Walker, LNHA, functions as the NHA Coach. Nursing home administrators interested in consulting with Mr. Walker should contact Jessica Mueller, Project Coordinator at the MU Sinclair School of Nursing at (573) 882-0241 or by e-mail at muellerjes@missouri.edu. Please visit: http://nursinghomehelp.org/coaching.html