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Ripples

The e-Newsletter of the Geriatric Social Work Initiative (GSWI)
Volume 7, Issue 5
May 21, 2008

Welcome to Ripples, an e-newsletter designed to keep interested deans and directors, faculty members, students, practitioners and others informed about the work of the Geriatric Social Work Initiative (GSWI). We welcome your feedback and encourage you to contribute any story ideas, stories, resources, news and other content to subsequent issues of the newsletter. To make a contribution, please contact Joe Hayes at jhayes@geron.org. If you have been forwarded this newsletter by a colleague and would like to subscribe, please reply to this e-mail and type the word “subscribe” in the subject line. Please be sure to visit our website at www.gswi.org.

In this Issue...
Announcements
Research & News
Funding Opportunities
Resources
Policy

*Ripples will not be distributed in June or July. You will receive the next issue in August.

ANNOUNCEMENTS
Congratulations to Anissa Rogers
Anissa Rogers, University of Portland, Hartford Faculty Scholar Cohort VII, was the recipient of the University of Portland’s 2008 Scholarship Award, which is based on scholarly, artistic and professional work of exceptional quality and significance.

YouTube™ Social Work Contest
AGE-SW and the Geriatric Social Work Initiative are teaming up to host a YouTube™ contest. All BSW, MSW and PhD students are encouraged to submit a video on the theme “This is Social Work and Aging” to YouTube™ for a chance at cash prizes. All videos will be screened at the CSWE Annual Program Meeting in Philadelphia, PA, October 30-November 2. Winning entries will be screened at the 2008 Gerontological Society of America (GSA) Conference in National Harbor, MD, November 21-25. More details forthcoming.

37th American Aging Association Annual Meeting
From May 30th to June 2nd, the American Aging Association will host its 37th Annual Meeting at Millennium Harvest House in Boulder, Colorado. The theme of this year’s conference is “The Role of Genes, Environment, and Chance in Determining Aging.”

Summer Announcements from the Gero-Ed Center
The CSWE Gero-Ed Center is happy to provide a preview of their upcoming summer events and announcements.
Registration for the 2008 CSWE Annual Program Meeting (APM) opens Monday, June 2 on the APM Web page. Join us in Philadelphia, October 30—November 2, for the APM Gero-Ed Track, including the Gero-Ed Track Kick-Off, Gero-Ed Center/AGE-SW Hot Topic Panel and Anita Rosen Student Poster Awards. Watch for an announcement of the Kick-Off speaker and Hot Topic panelists this summer.
This July, the Gero-Ed Center will publish the names of grantees for two new programs, the Cycle 2 CDI Program and the BEL Program.
If you would like to stay updated on all Gero-Ed Center activities during the summer, subscribe to the bimonthly e-newsletter Aging Times. This June, Aging Times celebrates the 10th Anniversary of the Hartford GSWI with a special issue.

11th International Conference on Alzheimer’s Disease
The Alzheimer’s Association is hosting the 11th International Conference on Alzheimer’s Disease July 26-31, 2008 at McCormick Place in Chicago, Illinois. This conference boasts more than 5,000 sessions designed to serve as a catalyst for generating new knowledge about dementia and fostering a vital, collegial research community.

2008 National Center for Health Statistics: Data Users Conference
The National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), an agency of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is hosting its 2008 Data Users Conference. In the past conferences, NCHS offered health statistical data collection, analysis, and dissemination activities. The conference will be held Monday-Wednesday, August 11-13, 2008, at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, D.C.

19th Annual NAPSA Conference
The National Adult Protective Services Association (NAPSA) is hosting
its annual conference, in collaboration with the Illinois Department on Aging, August 26-29, 2008 at the Sheraton Chicago Hotel and Towers in Chicago, Illinois. This year’s theme centers on “APS: Advocating, Protecting and Serving Vulnerable Adults.”

AGHE Opens 2009 Meeting's Call for Sessions
The abstract submission period for The Association for Gerontology in Higher Education’s (AGHE) 35th Annual Meeting and Educational Leadership Conference is now open. The meeting will take place February 26 to March 1, 2009, at the Crowne Plaza Riverwalk Hotel in San Antonio, Texas. The meeting theme is “Deep in the Heart of Aging: Promoting Healthy Futures through Education and Training.” For more information, or to submit your abstract online, go to www.aghe.org and follow the “Call for Sessions” box on the right side of the page. 

Multidisciplinary Caregiving Initiative Will Publish Final Report
The National Advisory Committee of the Nurses and Social Workers Supporting Family Caregivers project, an initiative funded by the John A. Hartford and the Jacob and Valeria Langeloth Foundations, met at the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) offices earlier this month to discuss future interdisciplinary plans to better serve family caregivers, including the development and dissemination of competencies for social workers and nurses. As part of the committee’s dissemination plan, a special September 2008 supplemental issue of CSWE’s Journal on Social Work Education will publish the project’s final report, including peer-reviewed papers focused on family caregiving practices, education, research, and policy. This ongoing initiative is a partnership between CSWE, AARP, American Journal of Nursing, Family Caregiver Alliance (FCA),and Rutgers University. 

RESEARCH & NEWS
“Falls Clinics” Help Cut Elderly Fall Risk
By listening to advice from clinics that specialize in falls, elderly patients cut their risk of falling by half, according to a report in the Journal of American Geriatrics Society. Results after a 6-month period also yielded small positive improvements in balance, mobility, and leg strength. To learn more about this study, click here. 

Nursing Homes Undertreat Dementia Patients’ Pain
A new study in the Journal of Pain and Symptom Management finds that nursing home residents with dementia appear to be less likely to receive pain medication than other residents, even though they have just as many painful health conditions. This study examined data for roughly 550 residents scattered among six nursing homes. The findings do not necessarily mean undertreatment stems from neglect. However, the study reveals that it is more difficult to recognize pain in dementia patients. To learn more, click here.

Plants Benefiting Alzheimer’s Patients
A study supported by the National Institutes of Health and the Johnnie B. Byrd Sr. Alzheimer’s Center & Research Institute discovered that a set of molecules found in certain plants appear to have a beneficial effect in brain tissue associated with Alzheimer’s disease. The results might offer a new approach to therapy for patients suffering from Alzheimer’s, which is the most common cause of dementia and is estimated to affect more than five million people in the U.S. alone. To learn more, click here.

Trends in Influenza and Pneumonia among Older Persons in the United States
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently released a report outlining Trends in Influenza and Pneumonia Among Older Adults. This report finds that influenza and pneumonia ranked seventh among leading causes of death for persons 65 years of age and over, accounting for 3 percent of total deaths in that age group. The death rate from influenza and pneumonia is nearly 130 times higher among persons 85 years of age and over than among persons 45–54 years of age. To learn more, click here.

Mentally Ill Seniors Have Someone to Lean on
A new California program, Older Adult Mobile Services, sends help directly to the homes of seniors with mental illness. Advocates hope home-based programs like this one will reduce the number of people who have to be admitted to inpatient care. According to Nancy Borchard, chairwoman of the county Mental Health Board, “there were practically no services” available for mentally ill seniors. To be eligible, seniors must have a serious mental illness and be at least 60. To learn more about this program, click here.

FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES
Hartford Doctoral Fellows Program
On the verge of beginning your doctoral dissertation? If so, this program may be just what you need to take your career to the next level! The Hartford Doctoral Fellows Program is funded by the John A. Hartford Foundation of New York City and administered by The Gerontological Society of America. The program offers grants of $25,000 a year for up to two years, supplemental academic career guidance and mentoring, professional development through institutes held at three annual meetings, and cohort building and peer networking. Application deadline is August 1, 2008.

Transdisciplinary Research on Fatigue and Fatigability in Aging
The National Institute on Health recently announced a funding opportunity announcement to encourage submission of exploratory or developmental research applications on fatigue and fatigability in aging. This grant is intended to promote research studies employing transdisciplinary approaches that could lead to increased understanding of mechanisms contributing to, assessment of, or potential interventions for, increased fatigue or fatigability in older persons. To learn more, click here.

RESOURCES
AHRQ Effective Health Care Summary Guides Available for Distribution
The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality provides short, comprehensive summaries of research reviews. They are produced by the John M. Eisenberg Clinical Decisions and Communications Science Center. These reports are designed for clinicians, consumers, and policymakers with topics of diabetes, digestive system conditions, heart and blood vessel conditions, mental health, and muscle, bone, and joint conditions. To learn more, click here.

Retooling for an Aging America: Building the Health Care Workforce
The Institute of Medicine of the National Academies released a report titled, “Retooling for an Aging America: Building the Health Care Workforce” (Full Text). The report identifies that America’s aging citizens are facing a health care workforce that is too small and unprepared to meet their needs.  Key findings suggest that more health care providers need to be trained in the basics of geriatric care and should be capable of caring for older adults. Social workers are specifically addressed in Chapter 4, The Professional Health Care Workforce (pages 115-117). To learn more about this study, click here.

New DVD Teaching Resource—Rewarding Challenges: Social Work with Older Adults
This DVD was published to help meet the growing need for social work resources pertaining to working with older adults. By 2020, it is estimated that one in six Americans will be 65 or older. Because people are living longer, there is a higher demand for gerontological social workers. To learn more about this DVD go through CSWE’s Online Bookstore at www.cswe.org or by calling CSWE’s distributor at +1.800.633.4931.
                                    
The State of Aging and Health in America 2007 Report
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and The Merck Company Foundation have recently released The State of Aging and Health in America 2007. This report is a useful resource for a variety of audiences committed to improving and preserving the health of older adults, including public health and aging professionals, policymakers, and researchers. It is designed to present information and data from a variety of sources in a straightforward, easy-to-read format. To learn more about the report, click here.

The Need for Drug Safety- The Older Person and Ageism
The International Longevity Center (ILC) released a report titled, “The Need for Drug Safety-The Older Person and Ageism.” Due to errors in the administration of drugs and adverse reactions accounting for more than 100,000 deaths annually, Dr. Robert N. Butler, president and CEO of the ILC-USA, addresses the urgent need for clinical trials that include older adults and careful monitoring of drugs in the years following approval by the FDA. To view the report, click here.

Nursing Home Compare
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services provides, Nursing Home Compare, a tool with detailed information about past performance of every Medicare and Medicaid certified nursing home in the country. This resource allows one to search by geography, proximity, and name. To view this resource, click here.

Book: Always by My Side
His voice is familiar to millions of sports enthusiasts of golf’s Masters, basketball’s Final Four, and football’s Super Bowl. In his book, Always by My Side: A Father’s Grace and a Sport’s Journey Unlike Any Other, well-known sports announcer, Jim Nantz, takes time away from announcing sports to announce his life story of slowly losing his father to Alzheimer’s disease. To learn more, click here.

POLICY
Caring for an Aging America Act
U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer has introduced federal legislation (March 5, 2008) aimed at addressing the critical shortage of health care workers for older Americans. Called the Caring for an Aging America Act of 2008, the bill would provide a number of incentives to attract healthcare workers to the long-term care field, including loan repayment programs for physicians, psychologists, physician assistants, clinical nurse specialists, nurse practitioners and social workers who agree to work for two years in a long-term care setting. After being referred to the Senate committee, it was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. To learn more, click here.

Dorothy I. Height and Whitney M. Young, Jr. Social Work Reinvestment Act
The Dorothy I. Height and Whitney M. Young, Jr. Social Work Reinvestment Act is aimed at addressing the significant workforce challenges facing the profession of social work. Representative Edolphus Towns (D-NY) introduced H.R. 5447 and Senator Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) introduced the Senate companion bill, S. 2858. These bills would establish a Social Work Reinvestment Commission to provide independent counsel to Congress and the Secretary of Health and Human Services on policy issues associated with recruitment, retention, research, and reinvestment in the profession of social work, and for other purposes. To learn more, click here.

President Signs Falls Prevention Bill
The Safety of Seniors Act of 2007 (S. 845), a bi-partisan bill designed to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to expand research into and raise awareness of falls in the elderly population, has been signed into law by President Bush. This legislation is expected to help educate the public on fall prevention, encourage research to identify at-risk populations and support projects designed to prevent falls among seniors. To view the Congressional Research Service (CRS) summary and full text, click here.

Seniors Lead the Way in Voting
Much has been written during the Presidential Primaries about the impact of the youth vote, specifically those under 30. Despite the record turnout, voters over 60 are still a more reliable voting bloc than the younger generations, according to exit polls. Those over 60 have accounted for at least one-third of all voters of this year’s primaries, twice that of voters under 30. To learn more, click here.   

In the Hands of Strangers: Are Nursing Home Safeguards Working?
On May 15, 2008, Representative Bart Stupak (D-MI), chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, held an oversight hearing on nursing home care. The hearing titled, “In the Hand of Strangers: Are Nursing Homes Safeguards Working?” is the first in a series of hearings the subcommittee plans to hold on long-term care financing and quality-of-care-issues. To learn more, click here. 

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July 1, 2008