LTSS Newsletter—September 2024

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) sent this bulletin at 09/23/2024 09:03 AM EDT

LTSS webinar, September 25 – Fall-Free Fridays: Expanding Education to Prevent Injuries
American Indian/Alaska Native Long-Term Services and Supports

Technical assistance for culturally competent care
September 2024
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Preventing falls to promote healthy aging

Many elders fear falling and are more likely to limit their activities as a result.

In observance of both Healthy Aging Month and Falls Prevention Awareness Week (September 23–27), check out a toolkit created by the National Council on Aging (NCOA) and the Falls Free® Initiative.

The toolkit is intended to help elders feel more confident about getting out and staying socially engaged.

Falls are not a natural part of aging. Most falls are preventable.
– NCOA

Also, share the link to NCOA’s Falls Free CheckUp, which elders can use to assess their falls risk and identify steps to prevent falls based on that risk.

Additionally, read about the impact of the 2023 Falls Prevention Awareness Week, and help NCOA track momentum of this year’s Falls Prevention Awareness Week by completing their impact and reach survey by October 31.
     
   

Improving balance to reduce falls risk

  
       
   

The LTSS TA Center includes two webinars about how LTSS programs can help Native elders lower their falls risk. In Fall Prevention for Native Elders, a tribal injury prevention specialist shares:

 

  • Four evidence-based interventions to prevent falls
  • Basic fall prevention strategies and assessments
  • Simple activities elders can do each day to improve their balance

 

And in Preventing Elder Falls with Tai Ji Quan,, presenters from Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians share:

 

  • How their Elders Department adapted tai ji quan for their Better Balance program
  • Tips to increase awareness about falls risk among elders and how programs can help prevent falls

 

 

  

Vaccines for elders and LTC facility residents
Elder hugs a visitor. Message reads "RSV can spread quickly in long-term care homes. Risk Less. Do More. Get this season's vaccines."

Recently, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services launched a public education campaign to increase uptake of vaccines that help prevent severe illness from influenza, COVID-19, and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).

 

The campaign offers fact sheets, posters, social media graphics, and other resources that prioritize engagement with:

 

  • Elders ages 60 and up
  • Adults living in long-term care (LTC) facilities
  • Family members and friends who help elders access care and make health-related decisions

 

Title VI survey findings and fast facts

Grants provided through Title VI Native American Aging Programs help support nutrition and health-related social needs of American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian (AI/AN/NH) elders and provide caregiver services. The goal of Title VI programs is to keep elders in their communities as long as possible.

 

2024 Title VI Chartbook: Title VI in AI/AN/NH programs

 

Every 3 years, the National Resource Center on Native American Aging conducts the Title VI Native American Aging Program survey with AI/AN/NH elders across the country. USAging’s 2024 Chartbook: Supporting Native Elders in Their Communities: Title VI Native American Aging Programs and Services (PDF, 14 MB, 40 pp) presents key 2023 survey findings about the services and supports available to elders within grantees’ communities, including:

 

  • Service provision
  • Nutrition and traditional foods
  • Services and supports for kinship caregivers
  • Transportation services
  • Elder abuse prevention and intervention
  • Title VI program staffing and funding
  • Partnerships and LTSS

 

The Resource Center on Native Aging and Disability (RCNAD) is creating data sheets summarizing each state’s Title VI options based on the Title VI elder survey findings. The center has already completed the data sheet for Oklahoma, where more than 3,000 Native elders participated in the survey.

 

Programs that serve elders are encouraged to reach out to RCNAD to see how Title VI may fit into their services. RCNAD is funded by the Administration for Community Living and the Administration on Aging Office for American Indian, Alaskan Native, and Native Hawaiian Programs.

 

Fast facts about services supported by Title VI funding

 

For at-a-glance information about services supported by Title VI funding, download 2024 Fast Facts: Title VI Native American Aging Programs (PDF, 2 MB, 2 pp).

 
Top 10 Services supported by Title VI funding. 1. Congregate meals. 2. Home-delivered meals. 3. Information and referral/assistance. 4. Family caregiver support services. 5. Respite care. 6. Services for elder caregivers of children (grandparents raising grandchildren). 7. Telephone reassurance/friendly visiting. 8. Senior center activities. 9. Special events for elders. 10. Outreach.
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Join the Tribal Affairs Group on LinkedIn.
Upcoming webinar

Fall-Free Fridays: Expanding Education to Prevent Injuries

Wednesday, September 25

This webinar will highlight Fall-Free Fridays, an award-winning social media livestream to educate the community about falls prevention. The initiative is the result of a partnership between the Area Agency on Aging District 7 (AAA7) in Ohio and the occupational therapy program at Shawnee State University.

 

Objectives:

 

  • Explain how the partnership between AAA7 and Shawnee State University came about
  • Discuss the role of each partner in developing, implementing, and sustaining the Fall-Free Fridays initiative
  • Provide an overview of efforts to make sure the livestream reaches a wide audience
  • Describe how Fall-Free Fridays complements AAA7’s other programs to reduce the fear of falling and help elders stay active

Please note your

location's call-in time:

 

8 a.m. Hawaii

10 a.m. Alaska

11 a.m. Pacific

12 p.m. Mountain

1 p.m. Central

2 p.m. Eastern

 

Have questions for our presenter? Let us know before the webinar by emailing ltssinfo@kauffmaninc.com.

Register now.

Presenter
Jenni Lewis

Jenni Lewis
Director of Community Outreach
Area Agency on Aging District 7, Inc.
Caregiver's corner

Mental health needs of grandfamilies

Based on findings from their 2022 USAging survey, the Grandfamilies & Kinship Support Network identified training to support mental health among kinship and grandfamily care providers as a major need.

 

To address that need, the network published the Guide for Providers: No-Cost Training Resources on Kinship/Grandfamily Mental Health Needs (PDF, 558 KB, 27 pp). Geared toward frontline workers, organizational managers, and kin caregivers, most of the resources can be read, reviewed, or completed within 60 minutes. Topics of those resources include:

 

  • General challenges, stressors, and grief
  • Managing challenging behaviors in young children, older children, and adults
  • Trauma, secondary trauma, and trauma-informed principles

 

The guide also lists resources specific to American Indian and Alaska Native populations, such as:

 

  • A toolkit and tip sheet for Native grandfamilies to help children thrive through family connections and culture
  • A webinar on resources to improve understanding of historical trauma

 
Grandfamilies & Kinship Support Network logo
Funding opportunities

Tribal Transit Program grants

Applications due: November 13
Learn more about the Tribal Transit Program funding opportunity

 

For Fiscal Year 2024, the Federal Transit Administration’s Tribal Transit Program will provide more than $9 million in total funds through 50 competitive grants for tribal public transit services in rural areas.

 

Planning project grants will be capped at $50,000, and grants for capital and operating projects will have no caps.

 

Eligible applicants include federally recognized tribes and Alaska Native villages, groups, and communities that provide transit services in rural areas with populations of fewer than 50,000 people.

 

Continuum of Care grants

Applications due: November 21
Learn more about the Continuum of Care funding opportunity

The Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Continuum of Care (CoC) Builds Grant Program will provide $175 million in total funds through 25 discretionary grants to help communities provide new, permanent supportive housing for people with disabilities and their families.

 

Federally recognized tribes and tribal organizations are encouraged to apply.

 
Upcoming events

Senior Center Summit

September 26 at 1 p.m. Eastern
Register for the Senior Center Summit

 

The National Council on Aging will host a three-session summit to celebrate National Senior Center Month. Themed “Powering Connections,” the summit will cover:

 

  • Engaging with elected officials to raise awareness of the impact of senior centers
  • Identifying and addressing gaps in a senior center’s formal and informal networks
  • Increasing social connections among elders within communities

 

LeadingAge Annual Meeting + EXPO

October 27–30, in Nashville, Tennessee
Register for the LeadingAge event

 

Leaders in aging services are encouraged to attend this year’s LeadingAge Annual Meeting + EXPO, which will offer sessions on topics such as:

 

  • Federal policy updates
  • Trauma-informed care
  • Intergenerational programs to promote social engagement
  • Workforce recruitment and retention

 

LeadingAge Annual Meeting banner

 

Send us your news

Do you have news to share about LTSS in Indian Country? Send it to ltssinfo@kauffmaninc.com for possible inclusion in an upcoming newsletter. Contact us with other comments or feedback, too.

 

About the newsletter

American Indian/Alaska Native Long-Term Services and Supports Solutions is published monthly by the CMS Division of Tribal Affairs to share information, funding opportunities, and resources with LTSS planners, tribal leaders, and supporters.
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