(This is the first of a regular (I hope) series of email newsletters from
the Elder Care Initiative. I will both paste and attach. Feedback is
welcome. Bruce Finke) <<2003 11 final.doc>>
Notes from the Elder Care Initiative
November 2003
What's New
The Elder Care Initiative Office Moves East
In August Dr. Bruce Finke and the office of the IHS Elder Care Initiative
moved from the Zuni-Ramah Service Unit of the Albuquerque Area to the
Nashville Area. The work of the Elder Care Initiative will remain much the
same, with national scope. Major areas of effort for the Elder Care
Initiative are to strengthen and support the Indian Health elder care
network, to support clinical sites as they strive to provide excellence in
clinical care, and to work with AIAN communities in the development of long
term care systems and services. Contact information for the new Elder Care
Initiative office:
IHS Elder Care Initiative
Bruce Finke, MD
45 Vernon Street
Northampton, MA 01060
413-584-0790
[log in to unmask]
Pearls from the Literature
Influenza Vaccination
Comparing vaccinated to nonvaccinated persons aged 65 and older over two
influenza seasons, researchers found a 20% reduction in hospitalization for
cardiovascular and cerebrovascular events in addition to a 30% reduced
hospitalization for influenza and a 50% reduction in death from all causes.
Elders who get influenza are at increased risk of hospitalization and death
from cardiac disease and stroke. Vaccination reduces that risk. We need to
be sure our elders know this!
Nichol KL et al. Influenza vaccination and reduction in hospitalizations
for cardiac disease and stroke among the elderly. NEJM 2003 Apr 3;
348:1322-32
Grants and Funding News
IHS/ANA LTC services capacity development grants.
In September 2003 the Indian Health Service awarded 20 grants to tribes,
tribal consortia, and urban programs for the development of
reimbursement-based or otherwise sustainable long term care services for the
elderly. Successful applications included plans to develop personal care
services for the elderly, elder day health, and reimbursable case-management
services. The Administration for Native Americans (ANA) joined the IHS in
this grant program, providing funding for 6 of the 20 grants. All of the
grant awards were for between $30,000 and $50,000 per year for up to three
years.
Grants were awarded to the following tribes, tribal consortia, and urban
programs
Trenton Indian Service Unit, Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe; Seattle Indian
Health Board; Lac Du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa; Indian
Health Center of Santa Clara Valley; Citizen Potawatomi Nation; NW
Washington Indian Health Board; Poarch Band of Creek Indians; Eastern
Shoshone Tribe; Aleutian/Pribilof Islands Association, Inc; Port Gamble
S'Klallam Tribe; Native American Community Health Center, Inc;
Inter-Tribal Council of California, Inc.; Inter Tribal Council of Arizona,
Inc.; Lummi Indian Business Council; Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians;
Indian Health Council, Inc; Ute Indian Tribe; Pueblo of Isleta; Kaw
Nation of Oklahoma.
Robert Wood Johnson Community Partnerships for Older Adults - Grant Program
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has announced a new cycle for funding of
the Community Partnerships for Older Adults program. This is something some
of our communities should look closely at.
Community Partnerships for Older Adults is an eight-year, $20 million
grant initiative of The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
In this second round of funding, a maximum of 17 communities will
receive development grants of up to $150,000 for 18 months. Letters
of intent are due January 9, 2004.
This national program fosters community partnerships that will improve
long term care and supportive services systems to meet the current and
future needs of older adults. The program challenges partnerships to
build on their experience, share and learn from other communities, and
help to shape state and national policy as solutions are developed and
implemented for the future.
Diversity is a guiding principle of this initiative. The program seeks
applications from existing community partnerships or collaborative
groups with broad and diverse memberships from communities throughout
the United States.
The full Call for Proposals and information about how to apply are
available online at the program Web site:
<http://partnershipsforolderadults.org/>
RWJF is looking for certain key components in a successful letter of intent:
1. A defined community.
2. A group of programs or agencies within that community who
have been working together for at least 2 years to improve care of the
elderly.
3. This group will need to show evidence activities over the
previous two years:
* Ongoing conversation and coordination around
existing programs
* Collaboration to develop new programs or
services for the elderly.
This is a highly competitive program but program officials at the Community
Partnership for Older Adults are interested in getting applications from
Indian country and understand some of the unique characteristics of our
communities and health systems. This includes a willingness to consider
applications from tribal communities smaller than those described in the
announcement. Tribes which have had task forces or committees made up of
representatives from multiple programs working on developing services for
the elderly would be ideally placed to apply.
Please take a minute to read through the program announcement. The folks at
the Community Partnerships for Older Adults encourage you to contact them if
you have any questions. Feel free also to contact Dr. Bruce Finke with
questions.
Conferences and Training Opportunities
May 2004 (tentative): National Team Training in Palliative and End of Life
Care, Albuquerque, NM. This is the second of three funded annual team
trainings, focusing on interdisciplinary approaches to palliative care in
Indian country, provided by the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium under
contract from the Indian Health Service. This series of trainings aims to
develop a cohort of professionals with expertise in palliative care in
Indian country. An interdisciplinary team from each Area will be funded for
the travel and training. Slots are available for additional teams and
individuals who have funding for travel and per diem. For information,
contact Dr. Judith Kitzes (505-272-9134 or [log in to unmask]) or Torie
Heart (907-729-3642 or [log in to unmask]).
June 17-19: NMGEC Geriatric Summer Institute, Albuquerque, NM; an
interdisciplinary conference focusing on major themes in the care of the
elderly, with special emphasis on the specific needs of American Indian and
Alaskan Native Elders. Tentative title for 2004: Care of the Acutely Ill
Elder: Scholarships available for Indian Health professionals. Contact
Darlene Franklin at [log in to unmask] <mailto:[log in to unmask]>
or at 505-272-4934.
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