LTSS Newsletter—July 2025

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) sent this bulletin at 07/25/2025 09:00 AM EDT

LTSS webinar, July 30: Rezilient – Eldercare Campus Sustainability, Part 3
American Indian/Alaska Native Long-Term Services and Supports

Technical assistance for tribal health care
July 2025
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Robotic pet therapy

An article in McKnights Long-Term Care News highlights robotic pet therapy’s positive impact on care facility residents’ quality of life.

Thanks to Ageless Innovations’ Furry Friends Project, residents at a nursing home in Iowa had the opportunity to adopt 22 robotic cats and dogs that sound and move like real animals.

According to the facility administrator, many residents named their new friends after actual pets from years ago and fondly remembered the joy those pets provided.

     
   

Therapy dog visits

  
       
   

Animal companionship in long-term care settings evokes happy memories for many residents and may help facilities feel more person-centered in their approach.

 

While some care facilities allow pets to live on site, other facilities bring in animals to visit.

 

Is your facility exploring the possibility of therapy dog visits? Learn more by watching the LTSS webinar, Unique Benefits of Animal-Assisted Therapy for Individuals in Long-Term Care.

 

  

Easing care facility residents’ anxiety and discomfort

Recently, the Center of Excellence for Behavioral Health in Nursing Facilities (COE-NF) published Tips to Manage Challenging Situations (PDF, 476 KB, 1 p).

 

The tip sheet offers suggestions that may ease anxiety, fear, aggression, and agitation in care facility residents. It also references COE-NF’s Comfort Menu (PDF, 223 KB, 1 p), a checklist of non-pharmacologic options to help soothe or distract facility residents.

 
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Join the conversation on LinkedIn

Want to learn more about or discuss LTSS in Indian Country? Looking to connect with others working in the same field?

Join the Tribal Affairs Group on LinkedIn.
Upcoming webinar

Rezilient – Eldercare Campus Sustainability, Part 3

Wednesday, July 30

The evolution of post-acute care has challenged providers to reach beyond their individual care settings to better support relationships across the health care spectrum. Providing care via telehealth and remote therapeutic/physiologic monitoring can help increase the likelihood of successful care transitions. This webinar will share which organizational, financing, care, and technology models are being used to support Native elders.

 

Objectives:

 

  • Define current 638 tribes and the 105(l) facility lease program in the context of admission to and discharge from post-acute care
  • Suggest common-sense approaches to engagement with acute care partners, including collaborative use of clinical pathways and outcomes sharing
  • Explain how tribes can help elders continue aging in place after their return home from post-acute care

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 presenters? Let us know before the webinar by emailing LTSSinfo@kauffmaninc.com.

Register now.

Presenters
Dr. Kendall Brune.

Dr. Kendall Brune
UNITE Board Member
Adjunct Associate Professor
Meharry Medical College
Brandi Hodges.

Brandi Hodges
UNITE Secretary
Administrator
White River Health Care Center
Travis Le Duc.

Travis Le Duc
UNITE Board Member
Director of Operations & Communications
Tohono O’odham Nursing Care Authority
Caregiver's corner

Preventing pressure injuries in care facilities

An article in the June-July 2025 issue of Caring for the Ages reports that many care facility residents are at elevated risk for pressure injuries and other wounds because of immobility, dehydration, nerve damage, and poor circulation.

 

To help reduce that risk, the article suggests families take the following steps when visiting care facilities:

 

  • Wash hands before touching their loved ones to prevent transmission of harmful bacteria
  • Make sure the resident’s clothing and shoes do not rub or pull on the skin
  • Offer the resident water, juice, a protein shake, or another beverage to avoid dehydration

 

The article also recommends asking the health care team which measures they take to keep a resident’s skin as healthy as possible.

 
Funding opportunities

Tribal HUD-VASH Expansion Grants

Applications due: August 15
Learn more about the Tribal HUD-VASH funding opportunity (PDF, 65 KB, 11 pp)
Submit applications via grants.gov

 

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH) Expansion Grants support efforts to reduce the number of Native veterans who are homeless or at risk of homelessness.

 

HUD anticipates making seven awards of about $300,000 each. Tribes and Tribally Designated Housing Entities are welcome to apply. View the 2018 Consolidation Notice (PDF, 229 KB, 10 pp) for a complete list of program requirements.

 

Disaster reimbursement and assistance

Applications due: September 2
Learn more about the disaster reimbursement and assistance funding opportunity

 

In the event of a major disaster in their geographic area, tribal organizations receiving a grant under Title VI of the Older Americans Act could be eligible to apply for disaster reimbursement and assistance funds. Before applying, potential grantees should consult:

 

  • State and local emergency managers
  • Administration for Community Living regional staff, if available

 
Upcoming events

2025 Tribal Elder Abuse Code Summit

August 13
Tulsa, Oklahoma
Register for the Tribal Elder Abuse Code Summit

 

Hosted by the International Association for Indigenous Aging and AARP, the Tribal Elder Abuse Code Summit will support the efforts of tribal communities to develop and enhance culturally relevant elder abuse codes. AARP membership is not required to attend.

 

Circle of Harmony HIV/AIDS Wellness Conference
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August 26–28
Albuquerque, New Mexico
Register for the Circle of Harmony Conference

 

Plan to attend the Circle of Harmony HIV/AIDS Wellness Conference, which will address HIV/AIDS services and related syndemic impacts from an Indigenous perspective. The conference theme is “Cultural Threads of HIV Wellness: Weaving Healing, Partnerships, and Care.”

 

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.
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Indian Health ServiceAdministration for Community Living