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July 1, 2014
Consumer Voice Annual Conference Offers Advocacy Training, Continuing Education & More
 The Consumer Voice Annual Conference is back in 2014 and we are very excited about this year's progam!
- Learn more - a preliminary agenda is now available.
- Register - Register before July 22 and save $50 with our Early Bird rate.
- Contribute - Your contribution to the conference scholarships enables us to register individuals who cannot otherwise afford to attend.
- Sponsor - Make a contribution to underwriting the conference and receive benefits.
- Share - Spread the word about our conference with this flyer.
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Research from Coalition of Geriatric Nursing Organizations Supports 4.1 Nursing Hours Per Resident Minimum
New research released last week by the Coalition of Geriatric Nursing Organizations (CGNO) supports the CGNO's and the Consumer Voice's recommendation of a 4.1 nursing hours per resident per day minimum. According to CGNO's findings, nurses working in facilities that staff at 4 or more nursing hours per resident per day are more likely to agree that nurse staffing levels are adequate (71%), compared to nurses working in facilities with lower nursing hours per resident per day (49%).
As part of our newly launched nursing home staffing campaign, Better Staffing: The Key to Better Care, Consumer Voice is advocating for a minimum of 4.1 hours of nursing care per resident per day. To show your support of this campaign, individuals can send us a photo with the slogan "4.1 - It CAN Be Done" by tweeting us pictures @ConsumerVoices, posting on our Facebook or emailing your photos to info@theconsumervoice.org. Get the word out and encourage consumers to participate by sending in their photos too! You can join the Better Staffing: The Key to Better Care campaign, learn more about the campaign's goals, access the campaign advocacy toolkit, and take action at: www.theconsumervoice.org/betterstaffing.
Harris County Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program
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WINGS State Replication Guide Now Available Online
Working Interdisciplinary Networks of Guardianship Stakeholders (WINGS) are state collaborative groups that drive changes in the way courts and guardians practice. The creation of WINGS by all states was a core recommendation of the 2011 Third National Guardianship Summit sponsored by the National Guardianship Network and funded by the State Justice Institute and the Borchard Foundation Center on Law and Aging. The National Guardianship Network (NGN) includes 11 national organizations dedicated to effective adult guardianship law and practice .
NGN has piloted WINGS in selected states, and now has produced a replication guide to help other states launch and sustain WINGS groups. The Guide highlights ten hallmarks of WINGS and ten steps for establishing WINGS. See the Guide, WINGS Tips: State Replication Guide for Working Interdisciplinary Networks of Guardianship Stakeholders here.
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AARP Blog on Aging and Disability Resource Centers
 Recently, AARP Public Policy Institute posted a new blog on Aging and Disability Resource Centers (ADRCs). ADRCs are critically important to help consumers, family and friends find the services they need. ADRCS provide referral to services, help with transitions from different care settings, and can help consumers and families get their questions answered in one place. Read the blog here.
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Materials for Teaching about POLST in Florida Available from FSU
The Florida State University Center for Innovative Collaboration in Medicine and Law has been working on a project funded by the Retirement Research Foundation and administered through the Oregon Health & Sciences University. The purpose of the project was to produce a set of materials that medical schools and law schools in Florida could use in teaching their students about POLST. These teaching materials have been sent to medical, law, nursing and social work schools in Florida and are now also available to the public on their website.
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Participate in the 2014 Resident's Voice Challenge!
Residents' Rights Month is an annual event designated by the Consumer Voice and is celebrated in October to honor residents living in all long-term care facilities, including nursing homes, sub acute units, assisted living, board and care and retirement communities. It is a time for celebration and recognition offering an opportunity for every facility to focus on and celebrate awareness of dignity, respect and the value of each individual resident. The theme for Residents' Rights Month 2014 is, "Better Staffing: The Key to Better Care" with the goal of encouraging residents and others to be educated about staffing and long-term care.
The Resident’s Voice is an opportunity for residents from facilities across the country to share their ideas about this year’s Residents’ Rights Month theme with other residents, ombudsmen, families, community members and nursing home staff.
Residents are encouraged to think about and respond to the following questions:
- Why are adequate staffing levels in nursing homes important to you?
- Describe a time when a staff person has gone out of their way to help you or made you feel special.
- Describe a time when you raised a concern about staffing at your facility and your voice was heard.
- What do you think should be done to ensure there is enough staff to provide good care to residents in all nursing homes?
Residents can respond to the questions in writing (poems, stories), through art of any kind or with videos/recordings. We encourage facilities/families to frame resident entries and hang them in residents’ rooms or other areas of the facility.
Plus, we will be creating a calendar in honor of this year’s theme! Send us photos of residents and staff along with quotes from the residents about what the staff members mean to them, and we may include your picture in our calendar for sale during Residents’ Rights Month!
Send entries to info@theconsumervoice.org.
All submissions are due August 1, 2014.
For more information about the Resident's Voice Challenge and Residents' Rights Month, visit our website.
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Scholarships for Students with Disabilities Available from the American Association on Health and Disability
The American Association on Health and Disability has announced the Frederick J. Krause Scholarship for undergraduate (junior/senior status) and graduate students with disabilities who are majoring in a field related to disability and health. The scholarship is awarded annually to a deserving student enrolled in an accredited university who is pursuing studies related to health and disability, to include but not limited to public health, health promotion, disability studies, disability research, rehabilitation engineering, audiology, disability policy, special education and majors that will impact quality of life of persons with disabilities. Funds are limited to under $1,000. For the application, click here.
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In this Issue
Consumer Voice Annual Conference Offers Advocacy Training, Continuing Education & More
Research from Coalition of Geriatric Nursing Associations Supports 4.1 Nursing Hours Per Resident
WINGS State Replication Guide Now Available Online
AARP Blog on Aging and Disability Resource Centers
Materials for Teaching About POLST in Florida Available from FSU
Participate in the 2014 Resident's Voice Challenge!
Scholarships for Students with Disabilities Available from the American Association of Disabilities
Calendar of Events
Tuesday, July 8: PASRR and the Minimum Data Set, 1:00pm EST, Free webinar from PASRR Technical Assistance Center
Wednesday, July 9: Family Conflict in the Nursing Home, 4:00pm EST, Webinar from the University of Iowa School of Social Work
September 13-18, 2014: National Home & Community Based Services Conference, Arlington, VA
October: 2014 Residents' Rights Month, Better Staffing: The Key to Better Care
Monday, October 20: Discussing POLST with Persons with Early Alzheimer's Disease, 3:00pm EST, Webinar in yearly series from the National POLST Paradigm
November 15-18, 2014: Consumer Voice Annual Conference at the Hilton Crystal City in Arlington, VA Register now.
Join the conversation and follow us on social media!
Long-Term Care Resources & News
Sponsor the Gazette - Consumer Voice is now accepting sponsorship for each weekly issue of The Gazette. See this week's sponsorship statement at the top of the Gazette. As a benefit of sponsorship, the contributor may honor, remember, or thank an individual or organization. For more information, contact Richard Gelula at rgelula@theconsumervoice.org
Conference Scholarship Campaign - Contribute to the Conference Scholarship Campaign to enable us to register individuals including long-term care consumers and nursing home residents who cannot otherwise afford to attend the annual Consumer Voice conference. We would be delighted to obtain support for an additional 50 people. Provide a scholarship by making a donation of $295 x the number of scholarships you would like to give.
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