Aging/Older Adults

This report describes the State of Washington’s program to increase the support of family caregivers for people with Alzheimer’s disease in ethnically diverse communities. The program includes outreach, education, and culturally sensitive assessment. The implementation and impact are described in this report.

This report briefly describes the New Jersey Statewide Respite Care Program. The New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) administers a state-funded, Statewide Respite Care Program providing a wide variety of services to relieve unpaid, informal caregivers from the stress of caring for older people and/or people with disabilities. The respite program customizes services to the person and the caregiver, with a focus on alleviating caregiver stress.

Outlines the challenges facing service providers in addressing the needs of Latino caregivers. This monograph uses case studies to illustrate how specific cultural characteristics, such as language, customs and religion, can impact caregiving situations, and offers suggestions on ways cultural competency can be improved at organizational and policy levels. This publication is supported by a grant from the Archstone Foundation.

Traces the development of the oftentimes confusing array of programs and services in the U.S. health and long-term care system, and describes how service providers can help families pull the pieces together. The monograph examines the challenges facing caregivers and offers a list of useful resources available to providers and caregivers. Part of a series of reports from Family Careigver Alliance. This publication is supported by a grant from the Archstone Foundation.

How can person-level data in the Medicaid Analytic eXtract (MAX) data system be used to better understand Medicaid long-term care service use and expenditures? In the analysis, the authors: compare expenditure and utilization-based measures of the balance of institutional and community-based LTC services; examine Medicaid LTC expenditures and utilization for two key groups of enrollees; decompose community-based LTC service expenditures by type of service; and summarize other Medicaid services.

Transportation is an essential community element that is all too often overlooked. In New Hampshire, the failure to prioritize transportation issues at the state & community level is difficult to understand for two primary reasons. First, unmet need. Secondly, inefficiently spending on transportation with the result being duplicative efforts, lack of coordination among service providers, and a weak infrastructure. National studies show that fixing the second may, in fact, fix the first.

The Participant Experience Surveys (PES) is an interview tool developed by MEDSTAT under a contract from CMS. The surveys capture data that can be used to calculate indicators for monitoring quality within the waiver prograns. Two versions of the PES are included, one for frail elderly and adults with physical disabilities and another for adults with MR/DD. A Users' Guide accompanies each PES. Each survey can be conducted in a face-to-face interview in 30 minutes or less.

Under their Real Choice grant, Arkansas developed a training curriculum for people who wish to be advocates for people with disabilities and for people who are elderly. The purpose of the Arkansas Aging and Disability Leadership Academy was to identify, train and develop volunteer leaders and educators in issues related to aging and disabilities. Academy participants will be empowered to become effective advocate leaders to represent the interest of Arkansans.

AR-GetCare is Arkansas’ statewide listing of services for older adults and people with disabilities. AR-GetCare is designed to help you locate resources that may assist you or a family member to continue living at home or in your community. The Website’s Self-Assessment Tool can help you clarify your own needs or those of a loved one.

In this letter to State Medicaid Directors, Glenn Stanton (Acting Director, DEHPG, CMS) describes the modifications made to the HCBS Quality Framework. The modifications emphasize the importance of building quality into the design of HCBS programs. Included here are Mr. Stanton's letter, the final Quality Framework, and a working draft of \"sub-domains\" which provide specificity within each focus area. This letter is also referred to as CMS Quality Communication #3.