Stay up-to-date with industry news and initiatives led by EPGS members.
The unseen sexuality of seniors: ‘It’s not over until it’s over’
When it comes to desire, we don't change that much when we age. There's no such thing as a dirty old man or woman….
Quotes by our very own: Allen Glicksman & Ilene Warner Maron
Philadelphia tests FDA-approved drug for Alzheimer's disease in The AHEAD Study trial
Stephanie Stahl is an Emmy Award-winning health reporter. She can be seen daily on CBS3 Eyewitness News and The CW Philly.
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Can Alzheimer's disease be prevented? It's something millions of families are hoping will eventually be possible…
Welcome to our newest corporate sponsor!
NewCourtland is a Philadelphia-based nonprofit provider of housing, health, and social services to older adults with a 150-year legacy. NewCourtland owns and operates over 600 senior apartments, two senior centers, one nursing home, and provides services on site via social workers in multiple low-income senior buildings. NewCourtland’s embedded research department, led by Dr. Ashley Z. Ritter, APRN, PhD, works closely with residents and providers to implement best practices and pilot innovative solutions to accelerate access to coordinated health, housing, and social services for underserved populations. Recent initiatives include Housing with Services for Veterans, a supportive housing program for Veterans who previously experienced homelessness. Future developments include an Inclusive Housing community which intentionally co-locates people with various strengths and needs across the continuum of age and income and investigating issues of trust by older adults in the health care system. NewCourtland chose to join the Eastern Pennsylvania Geriatrics Society as an institutional member to collaborate with like minded professionals and organizations working to advance the health and quality of life of older adults. To learn more about NewCourtland click the button below.
NewCourtland Center for Transition and Health
“As a geriatrician specializing in the care of the elderly, I have found that one of the most interesting as well as challenging aspects of my role is…”
Todd H. Goldberg MD, CMD, FACP, AGSF, Chief of Geriatrics, Abington Jefferson Health and Medical Director, Artman Lutheran Home
June 2022
Congratulations to EPGS Board Members, Todd Goldberg, MD (Abington) and William Zirker, MD (Crozer) for being named 2022 Top Docs in Geriatrics by Philadelphia Magazine!
May 2022
Philadelphia Alzheimer's disease patient involved in groundbreaking trial
Article Featuring: Dr. Cherian Verghese & Keystone Clinical Studies
“With a love that's endured half a century and a doctor on the cutting edge of treatment, the couple is holding onto hope….
Geriatricians and the Difference they can make!
Geriatricians can help older adults function better as they age.
Watch this ABC6 Art of Aging video regarding geriatricians today, featuring Dr. Charles Breish, a Main Line Health Geriatrician.
VICENews
How Nursing Homes Hide Profits While Residents Suffer
Featuring an interview with our EPGS Board Member, David Hoffman, JD
Root cause analyses (RCAs) are powerful systems analysis tools that inform performance improvement, drive purposeful change to prevent harm, and improve outcomes for all stakeholders. With a focus on organization-wide system improvements, RCAs operationalize stronger care and service delivery processes. Due to their benefits, federal regulations for skilled nursing facilities require provider organizations to conduct quality assurance and performance improvement (QAPI) activities that include processes such as RCAs. Compliance with these regulations is required in other parts of the aging services continuum, including assisted living facilities, home health, hospice, and Programs of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly, as some states, in addition to the Federal government, now include continuous quality improvement requirements for licensing.
However, RCAs are not without challenges.
Based on data received through ECRI and the Institute for Safe Medication Practices and experiences from the field, this white paper highlights the importance of:
Implementing the Root Cause Analysis and Action (RCA2) model
Overcoming common challenges in conducting RCAs in aging service settings
Ways to streamline and enhance existing performance improvement efforts
White Paper | Root Cause Analysis in Aging Services
Disrespectful Behavior in Long-Term Care: New Survey From ISMP
Disrespectful behavior has flourished in health care for years. In fact, disrespectful behavior occurs more frequently in health care than in other industries, largely because of the demands and pace of the dynamic, complex, and often stressful work environment along with dysfunctional hierarchies that nurture a sense of status and autonomy.
Homicide-Suicide in Long-Term Care: Risk Management Strategies for Providers
Authored By:
Ilene Warner-Maron, PhD, RN-BC, NHA
Katherine E. Galluzzi, DO, CMD, FACOFP dist
Anna Zacharcenko, PsyD
Abstract:
Long-term care facilities have witnessed an increase in homicide-suicide occurrences across the United States. There is a lack of research about these tragic events in the long-term care setting and how facilities can implement meaningful changes and policies to prevent them. This report examines the interpersonal stressors and possible risk factors contributing to the perpetration of homicidal-suicidal acts in a nursing home setting and provides practical strategies to help facilities mitigate the risk of harm for residents, staff, and visitors.
Mandatory Staff Vaccinations: Short-Term Benefits vs. Potential Unintended Consequences
Authored by: Victor Lane Rose, MBA, NHA, FCPP, CPASRM
Mar 9, 2021
Should Frontline Health Care Workers Be Mandated to Receive the COVID-19 Vaccine?
Authored by: Ilene Warner-Maron PhD
February 2021
AMDA/PALTC’s “COVID-19 Vaccine Education Toolkit
The toolkit includes:
Questions and Answers about the COVID-19 Vaccines for PALTC Staff, Patients, Residents and Family Members
COVID-19 Vaccine: Answers to Your Questions (PowerPoint Presentation for Staff and Residents)
Letter from Medical Director to Residents and Families About the COVID-19 Vaccines
Strategies for Improving Staff and Resident Confidence in the COVID-19 Vaccines
An episode of AMDA COVID-19 Grand Rounds: Pearls from Your Colleagues Focused on the Vaccines
NOTE: AMDA membership is not required to access the toolkit, however you will need to create an account, which is free.
A Culture of Safety: It Takes a Community
“In aging services, a culture of safety is critical to ensuring safe, high-quality care and services. In fact, numerous studies show a link between a positive safety culture and
improved safety within a health care organization.”
December 2020
COVID-19 and the New Death
“We may have become numb by the sheer number of deaths among the elderly,” expressed Ilene Warner-Maron, PhD. “There may have been people who covertly or overtly felt that deaths among this population were not surprising, significant, or important.”
September 16, 2020
White Coats for Black Lives
founded by Danielle Verghese, MD. Dr. Verghese is a daughter of Cherian Verghese, a board member of EPGS.
“Why outbreaks like coronavirus spread exponentially, and how to ‘flatten the curve’”
FROM THE WASHINGTON POST: After the first case of COVID-19, the disease caused by the new strain of coronavirus, was announced in the United States, reports of further infections trickled in slowly. Two months later, that trickle has turned into a steady current.
Congratulations to EPGS Board Member Najja Orr for being named Chief Strategy Officer at the Philadelphia Corporation for Aging
With Holly Lange’s retirement from PCA on April 3, 2020, Najja Orr has been named the new Chief Strategy Officer, leading the agency forward throughout COVID-19 and in the next phases of the organization’s mission.
Najja Orr is an aging-network leader who is passionate about strategic planning, project management and process improvement. He was hired by PCA in August 2017 to lead the agency’s planning department. Prior to coming to PCA, Najja had worked for the Bucks County Area Agency on Aging since 2002, serving as that agency’s director since 2011. He holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Morehouse College and an MBA from Drexel University, and is currently a doctoral candidate at Temple University.
Najja is deeply committed to ensuring that PCA continues in its mission to improve the quality of life for older Philadelphians and those with disabilities and assist them in achieving the greatest possible levels of health, independence and productivity.
EPGS wishes Holly Lange the best as she starts her new chapter.
March 26, 2020
PDF: Instructions for the Long-Term Care (LTC) Respiratory Surveillance Line List
FROM THE CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION: Using this tool will provide facilities with a line listing of all individuals monitored for or meeting the case definition for the outbreak illness.
“Preparing for COVID-19: Long-term Care Facilities, Nursing Homes”
FROM THE CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION: The general strategies CDC recommends to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in LTCF are the same strategies these facilities use every day to detect and prevent the spread of other respiratory viruses like influenza.
“Why outbreaks like coronavirus spread exponentially, and how to ‘flatten the curve’”
FROM THE WASHINGTON POST: After the first case of covid-19, the disease caused by the new strain of coronavirus, was announced in the United States, reports of further infections trickled in slowly. Two months later, that trickle has turned into a steady current.
March 14, 2020
“Recommendations to Improve EHR-Generated Discharge Summaries for Better Care Transitions to Aging Services”
by Victor Lane Rose, EPGS President
March 1, 2020
VIDEO: “How to create a better research poster in less time” by Mike Morrison
Every field in science uses the same, old, wall-of-text poster design. If we can improve the knowledge transfer efficiency of that design even by a little bit, it could have massive ripple effects on all of science.
Includes templates.
“Update on the Braden Scale” by Dr. Ilene Warner-Maron, EPGS Executive Director
Oftentimes, in order to address these needs of individuals, health care professionals use the Braden Scale for Predicting Pressure Score Risk (Braden Scale). If the Braden Scale does not capture the elements in a particular skilled nursing facility, it is important to find another risk assessment scale that will work.
Nov 25, 2019
“Incident Investigation in Aging Services, A Systems Thinking Approach” by ECRI Institute
In any healthcare management system, effective post-incident response is a critical element of a facility’s resident and patient safety program and an important part of improving risk management, quality, and safety practices. This is especially true for aging services provider organizations, given the vulnerabilities that people tend to experience as they age.
“Evacuate or Shelter in Place? Prepare Ahead for a Critical Decision” by Victor Lane Rose, EPGS President
Events that may force health care facilities to make decisions about evacuating or sheltering in place are becoming more common. Because internal or external situations may require either partial or total evacuation, health care organizations should assess their organization’s risks, devise a comprehensive evacuation plan, and test the plan.
Nov 11, 2019
“Speaking Up About Patient Safety Requires an Observant Questioner and a High Index of Suspicion” by ISMP
Healthcare practitioners are expected to speak up about patient safety concerns to help intercept errors and avoid adverse patient outcomes. By ‘speaking up,’ we mean raising concerns for the benefit of patient safety and quality of care upon recognizing or becoming aware of a risk or a potential risk.
Oct 10, 2019
“Healthcare Risk Management Week-Absence of Harm”
by Victor Lane Rose, EPGS President
There are many measures that one might use to monitor and evaluate a particular function or outcome - and in truth, some speak to us more than others. In healthcare, one measure of risk, quality, and safety efforts is the absence of harm - the harm which might have been experienced by those we serve and care for, but was lessened or prevented by action taken.
June 22, 2018