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Quarterly Newsletter - July 2012

LeadingAge Connecticut Corner2012 EXPO Scores a Perfect '10'

A record number of attendees came to LeadingAge Connecticut's EXPO held on May

9th at The Aqua Turf Club in Plantsville, Connecticut. Close to 300 of Connecticut's

skilled nursing, assisted living, rehab and housing providers listened to the morning

keynote address delivered by Dr. Charles

Taylor. Dr. Taylor held everyone's attention

throughout the morning as he talked about

Person Centered Care in relation to taking

care of yourself. Too often, health care

professionals are too busy caring for

everyone else and forget the most important

person - themselves. Dr. Taylor was able to

entertain and educate the audience with his

personal anecdotes from his career as a

physician. Afterwards, the EXPO attendees enthusiastically attended the sold out trade

show and browsed through over 85 vendor booths. It was exciting to see that many of

the vendors this year were brand new to the LeadingAge Connecticut EXPO. Attendees

enjoyed the opportunity to talk to vendors and try out the many products on display.

In the afternoon portion of the EXPO, the Employee of the Year awards were presented

to the winners. Then attendees were entertained by Christopher Ridenhour's

presentation on burn-out and stress. The afternoon flew by as Ridenhour's engaging

and unique presentation kept everyone's attention. The program was concluded with

the presentation of the various raffle drawings. In all, it was a successful event and we

look forward to the next EXPO on April 23, 2013.

Dancing with the EXPO Stars

At the conclusion of the tradeshow, LeadingAge Connecticut held the first ever Dancing

With the EXPO Stars dancing competition. Four volunteers from member organizations

partnered with Arthur Murray Dance Studios in New Britain, CT to create this fantastic

entertainment for the EXPO. Each volunteer dancer was paired with a professional

dancer and performed their routine for the spectators. The panel of LeadingAge

Connecticut Member judges provided their feedback to each dancing couple and the

audience had the opportunity to vote for their favorite dancer. Gwynne Deveau from

Seabury Retirement Community took home the glittery disco ball trophy as she won

the audience vote for best dancer. Many thanks to our dance volunteers: Gwynne

Deveau from Seabury Retirement Community; Lynn Kirdzik from Elim Park Baptist

Home; Kevin O'Connell from Cherry Brook Health Care Center and Lisa Scribner from

St. Joseph's Living Center and to Arthur Murray for making this event possible.

LeadingAge Connecticut Honors Employees of the Year

LeadingAge Connecticut honored five employees in their Employee of the Year Award

Ceremony at the 2012 EXPO in May. Kathleen Johnson from The Orchards at

Southington; Mary Ann Lion from Leeway, Inc.; Christina Francello from The

Marvin/Under One Roof; Kathy Root LPN from Monsignor Bojnowski Manor; and Jake

Bompastore from Cherry Brook Health Care Center were this year's recipients.

Kathleen Johnson from The Orchards at Southington was honored for her dedication in

making The Orchards a "green" facility. Mary Ann Lion from Leeway, Inc. was selected

as an employee of the year for her devotion to Leeway's residents and their families.

Christina Francello from The Marvin/Under One Roof was honored for her constant

advocacy for The Marvin/Under One Roof and their residents. Kathy Root LPN from

Monsignor Bojnowski Manor is an employee of the year for her selfless devotion to her

residents, even on her own personal time! Jake Bompastore from Cherry Brook Health

Care Center was selected as an employee of the year for his dedication in making sure

Cherry Brook's residents enjoy their dining experience. For over eleven years,

LeadingAge Connecticut has proudly recognized employees from member

organizations who have distinguished themselves through exemplary service,

commitment and caring. Congratulations to this year's winners!

LeadingAge Connecticut Welcomes New Staff MemberNick DeFrancesco has joined the staff in a part-time role as the New England Marketing

Representative for the Value First Group Purchasing program. In his

role, Nick is available to assist our members regarding any aspect

of this program beginning with initial membership to reviewing the

contract portfolio and recommending various vendors based

on specific needs and objectives in reducing supply and service

expenses. Nick has extensive health care experience working with

several different Group Purchasing Organizations in a number of

hospitals. He has also worked with some nursing homes in the

purchasing area as well as performing A/P audits. Nick can be

reached at 860-828-2903 x16 or at valuefirst@leadingagect.org.

Have You Been Earning Your CEU's This Year?

Attending LeadingAge Connecticut's programs is a great way to earn your Nursing

Home Administrator CEU's throughout the year. To date, we have offered opportunities

to earn approximately 30 CEU's this year. If you still need to earn more, we have many

other opportunities coming up the second half of the year. Look for the Save the Date

newsletter for upcoming programs.

Upcoming Programs

LeadingAge Connecticut has a busy second half of 2012 planned for members. Please

share these educational opportunities with your staff.

July:24th - MDS Webinar - The Finish Line: RUB IV and Medicare Skilling

31st - Director of Rehabiliation Council Meeting. Location-LeadingAge Connecticut,

Berlin

August:30th - Wearing Two Hats: How to Achieve Balance in both Clinical & Financial

Outcomes by Millennium Pharmacy. Location-Workers Compensation Trust, Wallingford

30th - Person Centered Care Webinar - Person Centered Care Basics

September:6th - Person Centered Care Webinar - Building a Person Centered Care Team

13th - Person Centered Care Webinar - Creating a Person Centered Care Program

18th - Pain Assessment and Management in Patients with Dementia by Dr. Joseph W.

Shega from University of Chicago Section of Geriatrics and Palliataive

Medicine. Location-Duncaster, Bloomfield (Fulfills annual dementia training

requirement!)

19th - Director of Nursing Council Meeting. Location-LeadingAge Connecticut, Berlin

20th - Person Centered Care Webinar - Shaping a Person Centered Care Environment

27th - Director of Social Services Council Meeting. Location-LeadingAge Connecticut,

Berlin

October:11th - Director of Human Resources Council Meeting. Location-LeadingAge

Connecticut, Berlin

12th - Therapeutic Recreation Director Council Meeting. Location-LeadingAge

Connecticut, Berlin

15th - LeadingAge Connecticut Annual Meeting. Location-The Aqua Turf Club,

Plantsville

30th - Director of Rehabiliation Council Meeting. Location-LeadingAge Connecticut,

Berlin

November:1st - Essentials of Culture Transformation Webinar - Person Directed Care

5th - Annual Survey and Certification Seminar with DPH and a Nursing Leadership

Aftersoon Workshop. Location-Masonicare at Ashlar Village, Wallingford

8th - Essentials of Culture Transformation Webinar - Primary/Consistent Assignments

8th - Business Affiliate Council Meeting. Location-LeadingAge Connecticut, Berlin

15th - Essentials of Culture Transformation Webinar - Peer Mentoring

15th - Administrator Council Meeting. Location-LeadingAge Connecticut, Berlin

Date TBD - Nursing Home Regulation 101: Admissions and Resident Rights training

Webinar

December:4th - Insight into Memory Loss Webinar - Understanding Dementia

5th - Senior Living Symposium. Location-Whitney Center, Hamden

6th - Insight into Memory Loss Webinar - Consequences of Brain Changes

11th - Insight into Memory Loss Webinar - Communication Strategies

13th - Insight into Memory Loss Webinar - Future Direction

20th - Director of Nurses Council Meeting. Location-LeadingAge Connecticut, Berlin

Please look for detailed information to be mailed for each program or view our

upcomping events calendar on our website

http://www.leadingagect.org/upcoming-programs

Attention Business Affiliates

LeadingAge Connecticut is looking for business affiliates to sponsor our remaining 2012

programs. Please contact Andrea Bellofiore at abellofiore@leadingagect.org if you are

interested in learning more about sponsoring a particular event.

LeadingAge Connecticut Went to the Hill

In April, LeadingAge Connecticut

members attending the

LeadingAge PEAK Conference

desended on Capitol Hill to lobby

for Connecticut aging services

and senior housing. Many thanks

to the best grassroots lobbying

team on the Hill: Trish Walden,

Patty Morse, David Hunter, Ami

Desai, David Bordonaro, Zell

Gaston, Kristen Kinney, Dana Paul,

Steve McPherson, Ronald

Dischinger, Renata Ogrodnik,

Laura Snow, David Houle and

Marcia Hickey.

LeadingAge Connecticut Legal CornerReminders about Bad Debt

Bad debts are a constant challenge. For resident accounts in arrears, early

intervention is key according to Maureen Weaver from Wiggin and Dana. Your first step

should be to stop the debt from growing. Consult with legal counsel and consider the

possibility of Probate Court intervention to appoint a responsible conservator who can

ensure that the proper steps are taken to pay bills or, if assets are diminished, to apply

for Medicaid assistance. If you suspect that a responsible party may have acted

illegally to misappropriate resident funds, then consider your reporting obligations. For

example, federal and state laws require that you report any allegations or incidents

involving misappropriation of resident funds to DPH and state law requires that you

report to the Ombudsman when you have reasonable cause to suspect or believe that

a resident has been exploited; in some cases, these actions might be considered a

crime and therefore require reporting under the Elder Justice Act to both DPH and state

or local law enforcement authorities.

Undue Hardship Waivers

If one of your residents or clients is subject to a Medicaid transfer of assets penalty,

Maureen Weaver from Wiggin and Dana, would like you to remember that you have

the ability to work with the resident or client and his or her representative party to file a

request with the Department of Social Services for a waiver.

Under Public Act No. 11-176, DSS may waive the penalty if the applicant (1)

suffers from dementia or other cognitive impairment and cannot explain the

transfer of assets; (2) suffered from dementia or other cognitive impairment at

the time the transfer of assets was made (3) was exploited into making the

transfer or (4) did not authorize a transfer made by his or her legal

representative or a joint owner of the assets.

In addition, DSS may not impose a penalty period if doing so will create an

"undue hardship" in that (1) the applicant's life or health would be endangered by

the deprivation of medical care, or the applicant would be deprived of food,

clothing, shelter or other necessities of life; (2) the applicant would otherwise be

eligible for Medicaid; (3) the applicant has been notified either that he or she will

not receive, or will not continue to receive, long-term care services (which could

not receive, or will not continue to receive, long-term care services (which could

be either home health or nursing home services) and (4) no other person is

willing and able to provide long-term care services to the applicant.

Public Act No. 11-176 outlines the undue hardship application process. A nursing

facility may file an application on behalf of a resident if the resident or responsible

party consents. When a resident is facing a transfer of assets penalty and has no legal

representative, the nursing facility may request an extension of time to claim undue

hardship if the facility provides certification from a physician that the resident is

incapable of caring for himself or herself or incapable of managing his or her affairs.

LeadingAge Connecticut Member CornerNoble Horizons Celebrates 40 Years

The commemoration of the 40th anniversary of Noble Horizons

has been in full swing this summer and celebratory events will

continue into the fall. The banners lining the drive reading "40

Years Young" set the theme for a varied line-up of events that hit

a historic note yet range from art shows to a chili cook off to

distinguished guest speakers. A professional designed timeline

chronicling Noble's growth and development in words and

photographs is on display at Noble Horizons. On Memorial Day

weekend, the 40th Anniversary Invitational Sculpture Show

opened and 17 new sculptures were installed on the grounds.

This fall, an exhibit of paintings by nine noted artists will open in

the Life-Long Learning Center and the ever popular chili cook

off, complete with Latino music, will enliven the campus. Special guest speakers are

scheduled to speak on decorating for the holidays and healthy eating and living. The

anniversary celebration will conclude with the Noble Horizons Auxiliary's annual

Festival of Trees, an event that has become a beloved holiday tradition for residents

and staff alike.

Mulberry Gardens Held Mrs. Senior Mulberry Pageant

Mulberry Gardens of Southington held its

third annual Mrs. Senior Mulberry Pageant

and crowned Faith Simonoko, a resident at

the community, this year's "Mrs. Senior

Mulberry Queen 2012." The pageant's First

Runner-Up was awarded to Florence

Lecuyer and Second Runner-Up was Rosa

Coppola. Other winners were: Betty

Parenti who won the title of Mrs. Sunshine

for the Best Smile Award; Martha Witkins,

winning the Mrs. Friendship for the

Congeniality Award; Gloria LaQuerre taking the title of Mrs. Young at Heart for the Spirit

Award; and Ingrid Maracoux winning the Mrs. Sweet Heart Award.

Saint Joseph Living Center Awarded "Community Leadership Award"

Saint Joseph Living Center was recently awarded the "Community Leadership Award"

from EASTCONN Adult Services. The award is in recognition of Saint Joseph Living

Center and their providing adults with opportunities for advancement. EASTCONN and

Saint Joseph Living Center have collaborated on many projects, including numerous

training sessions for employees, summer work internship programs for students, as

well as a new initiative as a vocational training site for students.

Masonicare Health Center Celebrates Volunteers

In celebration of National Volunteer

Services Week, and in keeping with an

annual tradition, Masonicare Health Center of

Wallingford honored more than 200 adult

volunteers from in-house and the

community at the 39th Annual Volunteer

Recognition Luncheon held on April 15th.

Volunteers who contributed a minimum of 25

hours during the year received a pin in

recognition of their service. Altogether, 498 volunteers contributed 48,568 hours this

year! George W. Smith of North Haven, Eleanor Lianos and Evelyn Della Rocco of

Wallingford and three in-house volunteers Marge Butler, Alcine Reed and John

Buchanan received special recognition for contributing the most hours throughout the

year-a combined total of 5,593 hours!

McLean Opens The Atwater

McLean held an open house on June 4th

for their new memory care assisted living

neighborhood in the McLean Health

Center, called The Atwater. David

Bordonaro, President, explained "We have

been planning this for a long time.

Extensive research went into every detail

of the design of the environment and the

program to maximize people's

independence and their enjoyment of life,

while providing a safe, supportive place for those with Alzheimer's and other

dementias. With this new program McLean offers a full continuum of lifestyle options

and healthcare for elders." Photo: Terry Holm (Director of Assisted Living & Dementia

Care), Mark Wetzel (Chair, McLean Trustees), Charity Folk (Executive Director,

Simsbury Chamber of Commerce), John Hampton (Deputy First Selectman), Mary

Glassman (First Selectman), David Bordonaro (President), and Midge and Ship Atwater.

Canton Intermediate School Lights up Hallways at Cherry Brook

This summer, Canton Intermediate students and their art teacher have loaned Cherry

Brook some very beautiful art work to display in the front lobby and in the hallways on

the first floor. "Cherry Brook Health Care Center is very excited and honored to be able

to showcase the artwork on Canton's talented local students and share it with our

community for the public to see. Cherry Brook would like to send a special thank you

to Deborah Beaudoin and her very creative art students for lighting up the hallways

and faces at Cherry Brook and getting our summer off to a bright start." Rebecca

Stevenson, Director of Admissions at Cherry Brook said. The show consists of

drawings, painting and magic masks showing a range of lessons taught at the grade 4-

6 level.

David Oberg Retires

Elim Park Baptist Home's VP of Health Services, David Oberg,

recently retired at the end of June. LeadingAge Connecticut would like to

thank David for all of his contributions throughout his career to the field of

aging services. Good luck and enjoy your retirement!

Mary Wade Home Celebrates Homecoming Week

About 700 parade guests marched in the May 30th

parade in honor of the LeadingAge Homecoming

week. LeadingAge established Homecoming week

to provide opportunities for elders to share and

remember their youth while bringing diverse

members of the community together in

celebration of the Memorial Day weekend. State

Sen. Martin Looney, State Rep. Roland Lemar, both

D-New Haven; U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-

Conn; Mayor

John DeStefano; New Haven Superintendent of

Schools Reginald Mayo and many other city

officials and local community leaders joined in on

the march. David V. Hunter, CEO of Mary Wade

said, "It is a great way to celebrate Mary Wade's

commitment to the community for over 145 years

and have our residents enjoy the talent that exists

among our youth."

Hebrew Health Care's Homecoming Week: A GroovySuccess

Hebrew Health Care celebrated LeadingAge's Homecoming week with a 60's themed

week which included a mock game of "The Price is Right," a traveling musician and

various sing-a-longs. The main event was a "Variety Hour" in which the residents

played the game show "What's My Line?". Game show "guests" included Marilyn

Monroe, Jimmy Hendricks, James Brown and Andy Warhol. Residents researched the

life histories of the 60's icons and developed their own questions for the show. "My

family and I had so much fun learning about our nation's first African-American woman

elected to Congress," said Dorothy, who was Shirley Chisholm. Hebrew Health Care's

Adult Day Center and Life Enrichment put a lot of energy into making the week an

enjoyable and memorable experience for residents, guests, family members and

friends. The week was a tremendous success and love, peace and "grooviness" filled

the halls.

Noble Horizons Receives School's Award

Maplebrook School recently presented Noble Horizons with the Maplebrook School's

President's Award. The Maplebrook School is a coeducational boarding and day school

in Amenia, NY for students with learning differences and/or attention deficit

disorder. Noble Horizons partners with Maplebrook School through a

Volunteer/Internship program in which Maplebrook students work as volunteers in a

variety of Departments at Noble Horizons to learn job skills. Several students have

acquired sufficient skills through the internship program to become certified nursing

assistants. The school will establish a scholarship to be awarded to a Maplebrook

Student annually.

Twelve Masonicare Nurses Recognized

On May 10th, the Connecticut Nightingale

Awards for Excellence in Nursing were

presented to 12 nurses nominated by

Masonicare. The Nightingale Awards

program recognizes hundreds of nurses

throughout Connecticut for their

dedication, commitment and generous

contributions to the field of nursing. The

program is open and inclusive of all

healthcare settings - hospitals, home

health care, health centers, schools, health

departments, long-term care, nursing schools, agencies and medical practices. The

following nurses were recognized for their outstanding service to Masonicare: Vanessa

Doyle, RN, BSN; Maria Helena Sola, RN; Irene Waterman, LPN;, Michelle Welles-Ferraro,

RN; Jackie Murillo, RN; Tammy Casson, LPN; Amy Crowell, LPN; Kimberly Doerfler, RN; Jo-

Ann Perrson, RN; William Phinney, RN; Nancy Walker, RN, BSN; and Donna Dow-Conklin,

RN, BSN, MSN.

Seabury Welcomes Reverend Bergner

Seabury is pleased to announce that Rev. Robert Bergner is the

new Chaplin and Director of the Center for Spirituality. He will

provide pastoral and spiritual support as a resource to

Seabury's residents, families and staff. Rev. Bergner will also be

actively involved with the Bloomfield Ministerial Association."One

of the principal delights of my ministry - and one of its principle

catalysts - has been ministering to and with people of retirement

age and beyond," says Rev. Bergner. "I am a fervent believer -

and participant - in life-long learning and activity. Seabury's

commitment to active retirement living for those seeking to live

life to the fullest, is exciting and inspiring. It will be a great

pleasure and honor to share my pastoral, liturgical and artistic abilities as well as my

commitment to the resilient, engage living, with the Seabury community."

Deborah Braddock Honored by American Red Cross

Cherry Brook Health Care Center employee, Deborah Braddock, was

recently honored at the 2012 Heroes Celebration of Northern and

Central Connecticut as a Medical Professional Hero. The Heroes

Celebration is a special event to recognize those people in our

community who represent the American Red Cross values of

prompt and compassionate response by ordinary people in

extraordinary situations.

LeadingAge Connecticut Business Affiliate CornerNational "Hospital 2 Home" Campaign

Article submitted by Qualidigm

Qualidigm's "Health Talk: Living with Heart Failure" video series is now part of the toolkit

for the national quality improvement campaign, Hospital 2 Home (H2H). Led by the

American College of Cardiology and the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, H2H

aims to reduce hospital readmissions and improve the transition from inpatient to

outpatient status for individuals hospitalized with cardiovascular disease. H2H provides

a variety of educational tools and resources for hospitals to improve care transitions

and reduce hospital readmissions within their facility. Qualidigm developed the Heart

Talk videos to guide health care providers, patients and their families in managing

heart failure. The video files can be downloaded directly from www.qualidigm.org and

saved to a DVD for use by provider facilities and patients. Currently, providers in 14

states, Puerto Rico and the Philippines are using the Heart Talk videos.

Optimizing Your Rehab Program

Article submitted by HealthPRO Rehabilitation

The long term care industry's approach to therapy services has historically been to

either fully outsource physical, occupational and speech therapy services to

organizations specializing in rehabilitation therapy (full service programs) or provide

these services themselves through their own therapy program (in-house programs).

There is also a new approach to therapy services called "In House Management

Model."

No matter what model your facility utilizes for therapy services, it is important to

identify opportunities to strategically manage and grow a therapy program, particularly

in today's challenging environment. Be sure to:

Periodically conduct a rigorous evaluation of your current program to identify

opportunities for enhancement. For example, ensure Medicare Part B

programming is robust and determine whether RUGS levels are optimized.

Compare the performance of your therapy services using national and state

benchmarks, such as the CMS RUGS National Average 2011:Ultra High 52%; Very

High 30%; High 11%; Medium 8%

Ensure your therapy program uses real-time, prospective information to monitor

and manage daily therapy utilization

Request a complimentary, "no obligation" analysis from a therapy management

company

Seek out therapy management companies which offer value-added services

that enhance not only the rehab program, but will also benefit other departments

and the facility as a whole. For example: MDS consulting to ensure integration of

therapy with nursing services and documentation; Support for census

development; Ongoing documentation audits with OIG focus; Provide ongoing

CMS, OIG and other Federal and state regulatory updates; Post-offer fitness

screens for your facility's new employees

By providing innovative clinical programming, in combination with monitoring and

managing daily operations and services, all types of therapy programs should

consistently serve residents' needs and be a significant financial contributor to the

facility's overall operational success.

The Therapist's Role in Dementia Management

Article submitted by Select Rehabilitation

CMS announced on May 30, 2012 the Partnership to Improve Dementia Care, an

initiative aimed at reducing use of antipsychotic drugs in nursing home residents by

15% by the end of this year. This is the right time to partner with your therapy

department to achieve this goal. The therapist's role in dementia management is to

evaluate the resident's current cognitive, linguistic and behavioral functioning, identify

a stage of dementia, and identify barriers to function and determine remaining or

"spared skills." For pain management the therapist can establish a therapeutic

exercise program to maintain ROM, normalize muscle tone and promote flexibility;

establish compensatory strategies for communicating pain and implement a resident-

specific pain scale; utlize modalities such as neutral warmth to manage pain; and

analyze the environment for things causing distress that may be misinterpreted as

pain. For ADL's the therapist can complete an activity analysis to determine which

components of the ADL task the resident can complete; use task simplification

principles to make ADL more manageable for residents and staff; determine a cueing

hierarchy and daily routine that directs the resident toward goal achievement; and

modify the environment for function and safety considering task set-up, lighting, noise

and distractions. For functional mobility and transfers the therapist can assess the

environment for safety taking into consideration footwear, environmental hazards,

lighting; access ability to use an assistive device for gait and train in use; and

determine most effective cueing to enhance mobility (verbal, visual, tactile). For

swallowing and self-feeding the therapist can analyze diet for safety and efficiency of

swallow to maintain nutrition and hydration; develop compensatory strategies to

ensure safety with least restrictive diet; modify dining environment to facilitate

performance including such things as limiting people or distractions at the dining table,

food presentation, positioning at the table, utensil choice or adaptive equipment.

For communication the therapist can develop cognitive-communication strategies to

facilitate social interaction, identification of wants and needs; behavior management

strategies including how the task/environment is structured and approach methods;

and develop external memory and communication aides for residents with appropriate

visual acuity and visual graphic skills. For activities the therapist can determine

activities of interest based on history and adapt these for current dementia stage;

analyze activities for constructs such as attention span, problem solving, sequencing

and new learning ability to determine leisure pursuits with which the resident will find

success; and determine compensatory techniques, adaptive equipment,

environmental modification and cueing strategies.

For upcoming LeadingAge Connecticutprograms and events, please visit our

website. http://www.leadingagect.org/upcoming-

programs

To submit articles for the nextLeadingAge Connecticutnewsletter, please email

Andrea at

abellofiore@leadingagect.org

1340 Worthington Ridge | Berlin, CT 06037860-828-2903 leadingagect@leadingagect.org

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