Quality

This document outlines a Forum Session which was sponsored by the National Health Policy Forum at George Washington University. The Forum topic focused on different state's approaches to managing overall long-term care spending, offering consumers broader access to home and community-based services, and coordinating long-term care services.

The growing elderly population is a persistent theme in policy deliberations. Gerontologists believe that policy discussions must go beyond population size and take into account socioeconomic characteristics such as living and employment situation, home life, culture, and education. Experts from the fields of economics, political science, and social policy do just that in this forum session, presenting in-depth demographics with a focus on economic security, electoral dynamics, and stereotypes.

Family responsibilities discrimination (FRD) occurs when workers are unfairly penalized based on family responsibilities, such as caring for a family member that is older or disabled. Despite the growing number of workers with such responsibilities and the dramatic increase in FRD lawsuits, policies in most states do not yet address it. Find here more information on FRD, a summary of proposed and existing state laws, and resources for further research.

Models, innovations, and best practices in case management and support coordination for persons with disabilities are described here. Policy issues, the CMS Quality Framework, and types of case management and differences in service by waiver group are given. The brief also links to innovative programs in 7 states and England.

The Quality Management Committee has released this second draft on the quality management plan for the last eight to ten months. A first draft was prepared and disseminated to a series of public forums. Based on the comments from the forums a second draft has been developed, which is what the Panel referred to for this report.

This quality services review consists of direct feedback from individuals who receive services, record reviews, observations, and discussions with agency staff. Agencies are reviewed against clear benchmarks and receive feedback from review staff throughout the process. Quality Action Plans address areas for improvement and are completed by each agency with technical assistance provided by the Quality Management Unit.

This resource guide gives consumers information about quality in long term care services, outcomes expected from services, and information about how the state of Vermont assures and improves its services. It also discusses the how consumers can receive more information or assistance and their role in assuring and improving quality of services. Other states can use this as a template when designing their own quality programs.

This report presents findings of a national review—or environmental scan—of caregiver training programs and curricula, conducted by the International Longevity Center (ILC) as an initiative of the Caregiving Project for Older Americans, a joint project of the ILC and the Schmieding Center for Senior Health and Education.

This report is the first product of the newly launched Caregiving Project for Older Americans, a multiyear, joint project of the International Longevity Center-USA (ILC) and the Schmieding Center for Senior Health and Education (SCSHE). The report focuses on integrating what is known about both the paid and the family caregiving worlds.

Mathematica created these compendia of abstracts, summaries, and references in an effort to provide to the public current and easily accessible research on the methodological issues of surveying persons with disabilities. Sources include online journals and websites, conference materials, citations from articles and books, and working papers and dissertations. Version 1, released June 2006, lists 150 resources. Version 2, released October 2008, adds 75.