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2004 Awards Programs 2004 Healthcare and Aging Awards: Recognizing Innovation and Quality And the winners are...
Senior Extension Nutrition Program, Aging and Adult Services
Coeur d'Alene, Idaho Aging and Adult Services (AAS) of North Idaho works with University of Idaho Extension in Kootenai County to provide nutrition, money management, and food safety education tailored to suit the unique needs of seniors living in their homes. This program is called the Senior Extension Nutrition Program (SENP). Nutrition Advisors, trained by University of Idaho Extension, travel to AAS clients' homes to provide educational lessons in the importance of a healthy diet for long-term health; planning meals using the Food Guide Pyramid; how to prepare quick, low-cost and nutritious meals; the health benefits of eating fruits, vegetables, and whole-grain foods; medications and health conditions that affect appetite; implications of sudden weight gain or loss; how to make eating alone a pleasant experience; the importance of washing hands, kitchen surfaces, and kitchen utensils; and managing money to make it last throughout the month. Caregiver Access Project, Alzheimer's Disease Resource Agency of Alaska
Anchorage, Alaska The Alzheimer's Disease Resource Agency of Alaska has created the Caregiver Access Project (CAP) to identify and support potentially isolated individuals who are providing care for a senior. CAP staff conduct extensive outreach to identify caregivers with poor access to information and services in the southcentral region of Alaska. Identified caregivers receive home visits from CAP staff, individualized needs assessments, referral services, telephone and/or on-line support, educational workshops regarding Alzheimer's disease and related disorders and caregiving issues, library resources, and Safe Return Scholarships. Project staff refer families to other services available in their community, including respite, support group, or personal care attendant services. CAP provides educational presentations for family and professional caregivers and distributes Alzheimer's Resource Kits to provider organizations for both employee education and distribution to families. LEAP: Learn, Empower, Achieve, Produce, Mather LifeWays
Evanston, IL LEAP is a comprehensive long-term care (LTC) workforce initiative that aims to educate, empower, and retain both nurses and certified nurse assistants (CNAs) through unique components including a resident-centered approach to develop qualified, effective nursing staff; interactive teaching methods based on adult learning concepts; assessment of the LTC organization's learning culture; research-based evaluation mechanisms targeting key staff and resident outcomes; and a Train-the-Trainer course preparing staff to effect and sustain change in their own LTC settings. During the past year, LEAP has been successfully implemented in 13 LTC organizations, reaching over 1,000 nursing staff providing care to over 2,500 residents in nursing homes in Illinois, Wisconsin, California, and Georgia. Outcome measures include significant reductions in turnover rates, increased staff job satisfaction and empowerment, and improved resident quality indicators. Keep Moving Program, Office of Elder Health, Massachusetts Department of Public Health
Boston, MA Keep Moving, a statewide initiative to increase physical activity among persons over age 50, is changing the profile of older adults in Massachusetts through a network of walking clubs that are community-based and member-centered. Program activities are directed by an Advisory Committee comprised of public/private partners including the State Unit on Aging, the State Department of Public Health, the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University, the Governor's Committee on Physical Fitness and Sports, the Boston Commission on Affairs of the Elderly, BlueCross BlueShield of Massachusetts and older consumers. Currently, there are 155 walking clubs and 2,500 participants in rural, suburban and urban areas. Clubs, under the auspices of local senior centers, churches, housing sites, and park and recreation departments, are growing at a rate of approximately 12 per year. The newer clubs reflect Keep Moving's current focus to increase the racial/cultural diversity of walkers, recruit more male walkers, and build capacity for increasing walking among older adults in both urban and rural areas. Volunteer leaders, recruited and trained by Keep Moving, are the heart and soul of the program. They enroll their peers, organize club activities, preview walking routes, and serve as Keep Moving's community liaisons. Montessori-Based Programming for Long-Term Care Residents with Dementia, Myers Research Institute, HCR Manor Care Corporation
Beachwood, OH Myers Research Institute of Menorah Park Center for Senior Living in Beachwood, Ohio and HCR Manor Care joined forces in early 2001 to implement "Montessori-Based Dementia Programming" with the residents of HCR Manor Care facilities. Since 1995, Myers Research Institute has been researching the use of Montessori methods in programming for persons with cognitive impairments to see if this method of programming increases the overall participation of residents in activities and/or maximizes the skills and abilities of residents, thereby improving their overall quality of life. "Montessori-Based Dementia Programming" is based on the educational methods of Maria Montessori. This programming method focuses on an individual's personal strengths, preferences, and abilities to increase a person's participation in facility activities and/or personal self-care, improving their independence and self-esteem. The programming has increased the residents' participation in activities and gets high marks in staff satisfaction. The SilverSneakers® Fitness Program, HealthCare Dimensions
Tempe, AZ HealthCare Dimensions Incorporated (HCD) is a national company that promotes health through unique physical activity programs and venues. HCD manages and sells its programs to large consumer group such as health insurance companies. The company's SilverSneakers® Fitness Program, the nation's leading fitness program designed exclusively for seniors, is offered through fifteen health plans who provide it at no additional cost to more than 600,000 Medicare-eligible members through a network of over 300 contracted fitness centers across the United States. Components of the SilverSneakers® Fitness Program include a comprehensive network of senior-friendly fitness centers; methods for reducing the barriers to exercise by addressing health concerns, safety, affordability, fear, motivation, transportation, location, and accessibility; and fitness programming that appeals to all levels of fitness for seniors and focuses on improving strength, flexibility, balance, and coordination, including the signature SilverSneakers® class and social and educational programming. Celebrating Intergenerational Artistic Achievement, NewCourtland Elder Services
Philadelphia, PA Celebrating Intergenerational Artistic Achievement is the display of the culmination of five years of artwork from the intergenerational programs offered through NewCourtland Elder Services' Comfort & Joy program an arts and entertainment-based initiative with an intergenerational component. The participants in Celebrating Intergenerational Artistic Achievement are elders from the six NewCourtland network nursing homes: Care Pavilion, Cheltenham York Road, Cliveden, Germantown Home, Maplewood Manor and Tucker House, and students from the Philadelphia school district. Celebrating Intergenerational Artistic Achievement gave the elders and students a place to express their creativity; a place to show the tremendous amount of pride they have for their collective artwork; a place to meet to create new works of art in the Esther M. Klein Art Gallery with staff and their children creating a multigenerational activity; a starting point for the exhibit to travel for the community to view; and most importantly the opportunity for both groups to be agents of change in helping to change the perception of elders ASA wishes to acknowledge the members of the review panel for their work in reviewing award submissions: Lynne Anker-Unnever, New Mexico State Agency on Aging, Albuquerque, NM; Jodi Cohn, SCAN Health Plan, Los Angeles, CA; Connie Evashwick, Center for Health Care Innovation, California State University, Long Beach, CA; Linda Fitzpatrick, Fallon Healthcare System, Worcester, MA; Nancy Gorshe, Lake Oswego, OR; Marcie Parker, Optum, Golden Valley, MN; Jean Polatsek, National Pharmaceutical Council, Reston, VA; Terrie Raphael, Brooklyn, NY; Cheryll Schramm, Aging Services Division, Atlanta Regional Commission, Atlanta, GA; and Helene Weinraub, Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield, Pittsburgh, PA. |
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