News

The impact of the coronavirus goes beyond physical health. The mental health and wellbeing of residents, clients, leadership, and staff are also at risk. We are sharing free, on-demand, short-form learning opportunities to help you address these aspects of this pandemic. 

In response to COVID-19, the Alzheimer’s Association has developed a special topic Project ECHO series based on their guidance Emergency Preparedness: Caring for persons living with dementia in a long-term or community-based care setting. 

LeadingAge Minnesota is participating in an effort that recruits people interested in long term care using the Caring Careers Start Here platform. Caring Careers Start Here originally began as a campaign from HealthForce Minnesota focused on recruiting students into long term care careers and is now being redirected to recruit displaced workers specifically during the COVID19 pandemic.   

LeadingAge Minnesota is participating in an effort that will soon begin recruiting people interested in long term care through Caring Careers Start Here. 

We are taking over a week traditionally dedicated to skilled nursing and focusing it on all senior care settings! A new resource will help you celebrate caregivers, and support residents and families during Long Term Care Week that takes place May 10-16.  

In this time of the COVID-19 pandemic, there are instances when residents are cared for by new or temporary staff or need to be transferred without family to accompany them.  As staff work to provide the best possible care to residents, a brief information sheet about the individual that can be kept in the person’s room or apartment for easy reference can be very helpful.  

Adding humor and lightness to daily staff messages or sharing with your residents can help during the COVID-19 crisis. Based on a member request, we’ve found a few resources that could inject some levity into your day and for your team.  

The COVID-19 pandemic doesn’t have an end in sight. Although we have heard from some members that staff are coping well, we need to consider the long-term effect of working in a crisis mentality. Now, more than ever, our ability to keep staff morale high is of utmost importance.

More than 1,000 Nursing Assistants have been trained using the OnTrack Nursing Assistant Training curriculum. With a pass-rate trending higher than the state average, OnTrack continues to see success in the second year of operation. 

The American Association of Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), which include many plans that offer Medicare Advantage plans to Minnesota consumers, recently announced that they are going to be matching the recent “blanket” CMS waivers on the three day stay and benefit period requirements. 

It’s a statistic that can’t be ignored: 54% of the 14.4 million middle-income older adults in 2029 will lack the financial resources to pay for seniors housing and care. We know it will take public and private collaboration to address this looming crisis. We also know there are steps providers should be taking now to be best positioned for these partnerships.  

We are in the process of filling our open Director of Clinical Care/Nurse Consultant position. In the meantime, we are pleased to announce that Kari Everson, RN, BSN, MSN, MHA, LNHA, has been engaged by LeadingAge Minnesota to provide clinical support to our members until a permanent replacement is found.   

It’s been five months since the Patient-Driven Payment Model (PDPM) went live. What have we learned since then? Let’s check in with Health Dimensions Group, who recently shared some early learnings at our Institute & Expo and recapped their presentation in a new blog post “The Real Truth of PDPM.” 

The Robert L. Kane Endowed Chair in Long-Term Care and Aging has announced it will provide $40,000 in scholarship funding during the 2020-2021 academic year. 

A new study shows dramatic changes in nursing home over the past 30 years: a loss of 400 nursing homes, significant growth in post-hospital admissions and dementia care, a growing number of residents who are racial or ethnic minorities residents, and a dramatic drop in the use of restraints and inappropriate antipsychotic use.  

What’s the Economic Benefit of Workforce Investments? A new LeadingAge study will attempt to answer this question by exploring how increased compensation for direct care workers could favorably impact the national economy, the field of long-term services and supports and individual direct care workers.  

Superior Health is inviting Minnesota nursing homes to participate in a free quality improvement collaborative designed to enhance performance in nursing homes and reduce the burden associated with achieving that quality.    

Rahul Koranne, M.D., MBA, FACP, has been named president and CEO of the Minnesota Hospital Association (MHA). Koranne has served as MHA’s senior vice president of medical affairs and chief medical officer since 2015. 

To help our members achieve high excellence in clinical practice, survey compliance and quality outcomes, LeadingAge Minnesota is seeking a Director of Clinical Care & Nurse Consultant. 

In many areas of Minnesota, people don’t know where to turn when their aging loved ones need help. Even those of us who work in senior care are often at a loss when we are in that situation. In four rural Minnesota communities, an initiative called Silos to Circles Age Well is tackling these challenges through local coalitions of aging services professionals.