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July 24, 2018

Consumer Voice Accepting Applications for our Leadership Council 

Consumer Voice is accepting applications for our Leadership Council!
The Leadership Council is Consumer Voice's governing body that focuses on public policy and program agenda development and implementation.  We are looking for thoughtful leaders who can help us expand our influence and achieve goals such as raising the voice of long-term care consumers in national policy discussions, advancing quality in nursing homes and other long-term care settings, and expanding our expertise in home and community-based care settings.

To be eligible for the Leadership Council, an individual must fall into at least one of three categories:

  • Consumer Representative - including current and former residents of long-term care facilities, recipient of home care services, family members of individuals receiving services, or consumer advocacy organization representative
  • Long-Term Care Ombudsman
  • Issue/Policy Expert

Leadership Council Member terms are for 3 years.  Meetings are held every other month by conference call, with one in-person meeting a year at the Consumer Voice Annual Conference.  Leadership Council members are also expected to be members of the Consumer Voice.    More information about Consumer Voice and its Leadership Council can be found here.

Applications are due no later than July 31, 2018.
Click here for the application.  

*Please be sure to include a current biography and resume in your application.  If you have trouble including it in the online application, please email your bio and resume to info@theconsumervoice.org.

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Early Bird Registration for Consumer Voice Conference Ends in One Week

Register by July 31st to get the best possible rate for the 2018 Consumer Voice Conference October 22-24 in Alexandria, VA. Don't miss important sessions with presentations by experts:

  • Building the Right Supports: Resident Advocacy After a Crime
  • The Overlooked Party: Helping Families Become Positive Partners
  • Building Coalition Tables: The Consumer/Labor Connection
  • I'm Coming Out! In Support of Quality Living for LGBT Residents
  • Advocating for Older Adults who have Experienced Trauma
  • Bringing Hand in Hand to Life – A Competency Based Resource for Dementia and Abuse Training (post-conference intensive)
  • And many many more!  See full list of session descriptions and presenters here.  Find the preliminary agenda here.

Join us for a content-filled conference packed with expert speakers, sharing of nationwide best practices, skills training and the latest policy updates.

Register by July 31st and get up to $55 off of the regular conference rate!

Already registered? The hotel block is filling fast.  Reserve your hotel room soon!

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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Release New Tools to Aid Antibiotic Stewardship

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) rolled out the second installment of its four-part online training course tied to antibiotic stewardship on Monday. Two more segments are set to follow later this year. This latest release focuses on, among other topics: outpatient antibiotic use in the United States, along with inappropriate antibiotic use, and communicating with patients when these medicines are unnecessary. Participation in the online courses also qualifies participants for continuing education credit. Antibiotic resistant infections are a key concern for nursing home operators. One study earlier this year found that treatment costs tied to those infections have doubled since 2002, up to more than $2 billion annually. CMS' revised Final Rules of Participation require all federally supported skilled nursing facilities to have a trained infection preventionist on staff by November 2019. 

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CARE Documentary Illustrates Challenges in Home Healthcare 

The On Wednesday, July 18, the House of Representatives’ Assisting Caregivers Today (ACT) Caucus hosted a screening of CARE, a documentary about the future of long-term care, with a focus on home and community-based services. The event was co-hosted by Caring Across Generations, the Center for Medicare Advocacy, and the Paraprofessional Healthcare Institute, in partnership with Justice in Aging. Congresswoman Michelle Lujan Grisham (D-NM) spoke at the event about the need for a larger workforce of trained caregivers. Sarita Gupta, Co-Director of Caring Across Generations, and Robert Espinoza, VP of Policy at the Paraprofessional Healthcare Institute both spoke about the growing need for a Universal Family Care bill which would support family caregivers. Judith Stein, Executive Director of the Center for Medicare Advocacy, spoke about myths pertaining to Medicare coverage. The event also featured a special guest, Vilma, one of the caregivers featured in the documentary. Vilma shared her experiences as a caregiver and as an undocumented immigrant.

The documentary follows several long-term care consumers and their caregivers as they navigate daily life in different cities around the country. Some of the consumers struggle to find caregivers capable of assisting with their needs, others fear running out of money and not being able to pay for services and caregivers. Viewers also see caregivers struggling to make a living and trying to balance caring for themselves and their own families with caring for their clients. The documentary is available for viewing through a number of public libraries and universities. For more information, visit http://caredocumentary.com/.

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New Advocates Guide to Accessibility in Medicaid Managed Care Grievances and Appeals

As states begin to incorporate new federal regulations into their Medicaid rules, there’s opportunity for advocates to help shape those rules to ensure that older adults and people with disabilities have equal access to the grievance and appeal and state fair hearing systems, as mandated by Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act (“Rehab Act”), the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”), and Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act (“ACA”). Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund (DREDF), Justice in Aging and National Health Law Program (NHeLP) collaborated on a new Advocates Guide to Accessibility in Medicaid Managed Care Grievances, Appeals, and State Fair Hearing.

This new Advocates’ Guide, provides guidance on how the federal framework can be made fully accessible to Medicaid beneficiaries who are older and/or have disabilities. While the Guide cites to California regulations as well as the federal rule, it includes detailed suggestions for state regulatory language, best practices, and practice tips for ensuring accessibility that will be useful for all states as they conform their grievance, appeal, and state fair hearing processes to the federal rule. Links to three accessible versions of the guide can be found here in PDF, Word, and HTML format. They can also be found on Justice in Aging’s website.

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Webinar on Understanding Legal Capacity and Ethics

The National Center on Law and Elder Rights will be offering a webinar entitled, "Legal Skills: Understanding Legal Capacity & Ethics" on Tuesday, July 31st at 2:00 pm ET. The workshop is the second in a skills-based training series which is designed for attorneys, supervisors, legal staff, and aging services providers. Each training will provide practical tools needed to effectively represent older clients. This legal skills webcast covers legal capacity and ethics as they pertain to consumers with early stages of dementia or mild cognitive impairment who may have subtle decisional challenges. Presenters include David Godfrey, Senior Attorney, ABA Commission on Law and Aging and Charles P. Sabatino, Director, ABA Commission on Law & Aging Register for the webinar here.

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Spotlight on Resources

The Consumer Voice and the National Ombudsman Resource Center (NORC) have a multitude of resources available online covering a wide range of long-term care topics.  Visit the Consumer Voice website and the NORC website to explore all the available resources.  Take a look at this week's highlighted resource:

Fact Sheet: Nursing Home Discharges - You've Been Told to Leave...Now What?

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In this Issue

Consumer Voice Accepting Applications for our Leadership Council

Early Bird Registration for Consumer Voice Conference Ends in One Week

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Release New Tools to Aid Antibiotic Stewardship

CARE Documentary Illustrates Challenges in Home Healthcare

New Advocates Guide to Accessibility in Medicaid Managed Care Grievances and Appeals

Webinar on Understanding Legal Capacity and Ethics


Spotlight on Resources


Calendar of Events

September 5-7: National Center for Victims of Crime 2018 National Training Institute

October: Residents' Rights Month, Speak Up: Know Your Rights and How to Use Them

October 22-24: Consumer Voice Annual Conference, Alexandria, Virginia


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Wednesday July 18:
President Trump has issued an Executive Order allowing Administrative Law Judges to be selected by political appointees.

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Tuesday, July 17:

Consumer Voice Public Policy and Program Specialist Alisha Lineswala at the 2018 National Senior Corps Convening


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About The Voice

The Voice is a weekly e-newsletter, published by the National Consumer Voice for Quality Long-Term Care. If you do not wish to continue receiving this publication, please unsubscribe below. Your contributions and comments are welcome and should be sent to info@theconsumervoice.org. Copyright © 2018.

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Consumer Voice is the leading national voice representing consumers in issues related to long-term care, helping to ensure that consumers are empowered to advocate for themselves. We are a primary source of information and tools for consumers, families, caregivers, advocates and ombudsmen to help ensure quality care for the individual. Consumer Voice's mission is to represent consumers at the national level for quality long-term care, services and supports.


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