VDA WEEKLY E-MAILING

April 17, 2019

Table of Contents

ACL News & Information Link

NASUAD State Technical Assistance Link

VA Caregivers Can Apply for Voucher to Assist with Respite Services

FDA Recommends Only Using Cleared or Approved Medical Devices to

Help Assess or Diagnose a Head Injury

ACL: Alzheimer’s Webinar Series

ACL: New Research Funding Opportunity on Family Support

ACL: For Health Promotion Programs Developers

ACL: Introducing the Capacity-Building Toolkit for Including Aging &

Disability Networks in Emergency Planning

Virginia Center on Aging/Age in Action Newsletter

Link to DARS Independent Living Newsletter

ACL News & Information Here is a link to news & information from the Administration for Community Living (ACL):

https://acl.gov/

NASUAD Information

Here is a link to state technical assistance from NASUAD:

http://www.nasuad.org/state-technical-assistance

Family Caregivers may receive up to

$400 for Respite Care

Are you caring for a relative in your household who has a disability or chronic condition? Learn

how to apply for up to $400 in reimbursement for respite services.

The Virginia Department for Aging and Rehabilitative Services is offering up to $400 in reimbursement

per family for respite services to assist Virginians with disabilities or chronic conditions and the family

members who provide their care. Priority will be given to assisting caregivers for loved ones with

dementia, as well as helping grandparents or relative caregivers providing care to a child under age 18 or

an individual between the ages of 19 to 59 who has a severe disability.

Respite care is care provided to someone with special needs as temporary relief to a family caregiver.

Respite care can be for different periods of time, from a few hours to days or weeks.

To apply for the Virginia Lifespan Respite Voucher Program:

You must be a Virginia caregiver of a child, or an adult, who reside full-time in yourhousehold.

The primary caregiver for the person receiving care must apply for the funds. You mayreceive up to one $400.00 benefit.

You may not use voucher funds to reimburse household expenses or daycare; forexample, so that the caregiver can go to work.

Not everyone who applies will be approved and those who have benefited from theprogram in the past will be ineligible for the current program.

To learn how to apply, visit www.vda.virginia.gov, call toll free at (800) 552-3402 or send an email to nick.slentz@dars.virginia.gov for information on the Virginia Lifespan Respite Voucher Program.

A Recommends Only Using Cleared or Approved Medical

Devices to Help Assess or Diagnose a Head Injury

FDA Recommends Only Using Cleared or Approved Medical Devices

to Help Assess or Diagnose a Head Injury

Kathy B. Miller, Director of Aging Programs

MedWatch - The FDA Safety Information and Adverse Event Reporting Program

A new MedWatch Safety Alert was just added to the FDA Medical Device Safety web page.

TOPIC: FDA Recommends Only Using Cleared or Approved Medical Devices to Help Assess or Diagnose a Head Injury, Including Concussion

AUDIENCE: Consumer, Patient, Emergency Medicine and Health Professional

ISSUE: The FDA is issuing this communication to make the public and health care providers aware of the potential serious risks which may be associated with the use of unapproved or uncleared medical devices for the diagnosis, treatment or management of a concussion. The FDA reminds individuals to seek treatment by a health care provider if any head injury, including concussion, is suspected.

Read Safety Communication with Recommendations

Alzheimer's Webinar Series

The Alzheimer’s Association 24/7 Helpline, in partnership with ACL, n4a, and the Eldercare Locator, is hosting this series to ensure professionals are knowledgeable about the impact of Alzheimer’s disease and brain health on American families, and have an understanding of critical community resources and supports.

Webinar 1 | Alzheimer's Facts, Figures and Resources: Connecting people to the help they need

Thursday, April 25, 2:00-3:30 PM ET

This webinar explores critical findings from the newly released 2019 Alzheimer’s Association Facts & Figures Report, including current prevalence and impact on American families, risk factors, impact on caregivers, and national cost of care. This includes significant findings and attitudes toward annual cognitive assessment among seniors and primary care physicians. Participants will learn how to access tools and resources support families impacted by Alzheimer’s and other dementias.

Register for one event or both webinars

Webinar 2 | Alzheimer's and Brain Health: What you should know and what you can do

Thursday, May 9, 2:00-3:30 PM ET

This webinar explains the impact of Alzheimer’s disease and other dementia diseases and practical, research-based lifestyle strategies for aging with a healthy brain and reducing the risk of cognitive decline. Learn the latest Alzheimer’s and brain health research including exciting studies happening now. Receive tips for

how to be a savvy consumer of the news and detect fact from fiction when you hear amazing claims about Alzheimer’s research.

This 2019 Alzheimer’s Webinar Series is part of the National Alzheimer’s Contact Center project, supported in part by ACL grant number 90ADCC0001.

April 12, 2019

New Research Funding Opportunity on Family Support

The National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR) at ACL is announcing a funding opportunity for a new Rehabilitation Research and Training Center (RRTC) project.

Rehabilitation Research and Training Centers

The purpose of the RRTC program, which are funded through the Disability and Rehabilitation Research Projects and Centers Program, is to achieve the goals of, and improve the effectiveness of, services authorized under the Rehabilitation Act through well-designed research, training, technical assistance, and dissemination activities in important topic areas as specified by NIDILRR. These activities are designed to benefit rehabilitation service providers, individuals with disabilities, family members, and other stakeholders.

RRTC on Family Support: The purpose of this particular RRTC is to conduct research, training, technical assistance, and related activities to contribute to effective support of family caregivers of people with disabilities, and ultimately to improved community living, health and function, and employment outcomes of people with disabilities who are supported by family members.

Please visit the link above for more details about the grant opportunity and application process. This grant opportunity closes on June 10, 2019.

To stay current on NIDILRR grant opportunities, please visit www.grants.gov and search: NIDILRR or 93.433.

Within ACL, NIDILRR works to generate new knowledge and promote its effective use to improve the abilities of individuals with disabilities to perform activities of their choice in

the community; and to expand society's capacity to provide full opportunities and accommodations for people with disabilities. NIDILRR conducts its work through grants that support research and development.

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April 12, 2019

Health Promotion Program Developers—Is Your Program Ready for the List?

The National Council on Aging (NCOA) hosts a list of health promotion programs that meet ACL’s evidence-based program requirements for Older Americans Act Title III-D funding. This list is just a small part of the health promotion-related technical assistance NCOA offers to the network through their National Falls Prevention Resource Center and the National Chronic Disease Self-Management Education Resource Center. This list takes the guess work out of trying to find and implement a program that meets the III-D funding requirement.

Currently, a vetting initiative is underway to evaluate programs and add new evidence-based programs to this list! This vetting process is conducted regularly, in order to provide the network with current, relevant, and robust evidence-based programming options.

The University of North Carolina’s Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention is offering an opportunity for program developers to submit their programs for consideration to be added to this list. The team at the University of North Carolina has convened a Review Council of national leaders with expertise in aging programs, research, evaluation, and implementation. This independent Review Council evaluates the research base, implementation materials, and demonstrated health outcomes of programs that apply to the initiative.

The information and application for the vetting initiative can be found here: https://hpdp.unc.edu/research/acl-evidence-based-program-review/. The next round of reviews opens in May, with letters of intent requested by April 24th.

ACL Webinar: Introducing the Capacity-Building Toolkit for Including Aging and Disability Networks in Emergency Planning

Thursday, April 18, 2019 3:00-4:30 PM ET

Register for the webinar.

This is the second webinar in a series of tri-annual events for the Administration on Disabilities to provide information on disaster-related activities. Cheryl Levine, PhD, Special Advisor for At-Risk Individuals in the HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR), will describe the new Capacity-Building Toolkit that addresses:

Providing information and resources for the aging and disability networks to become more engaged in emergency planning;

Increasing community–based organization (CBO) readiness through establishing partnerships with emergency management and public health officials;

Advancing whole community/inclusive emergency planning and supporting consumers with individual preparedness; and

Ensuring equal access to our nation’s emergency preparedness, response, and recovery resources.

Background: Following the devastating 2017 hurricanes, ASPR collaborated with ACL to ensure the HHS response addressed the needs of older adults and people with disabilities. ACL subject-matter experts staffed a taskforce to assess impacts and set requirements for maintaining the well-being of people impacted by the

disasters.The resulting Capacity-Building Toolkit for Including Aging and Disability Networks in Emergency Planning provides a guide for ACL-funded CBOs, which comprise the Aging and Disability Networks, to increase their ability to plan for and respond to emergencies and disasters. It also orients emergency managers and public health officials to understand Network capabilities and expertise.

Virginia Center on Aging/Age in Action Newsletter

On behalf of Dr. Ed Ansello, Virginia Center on Aging

Dear Friends, I am pleased to send you the spring 2019 issue of our quarterly, Age in Action. It begins with a case study describing our partnership with non-profit VirginiaNavigator, a family of websites that provides older adults, people with disabilities, caregivers, veterans and others relevant information to help maintain well-being. There are also editorials on the Blue Zones and Longevity and on new legislation to Prevent Financial Exploitation. There are pieces on newly awarded projects from the Civil Monetary Penalties fund that intend to improve care in nursing facilities; the experiences and opportunities of solo agers, those growing older alone; honors from the 35th anniversary of The Shepherd’s Center; a photo array from our 33rd Annual Legislative Breakfast; notice of the upcoming conference on aging with lifelong disabilities: Disabilities-Friendly Health and Self-Care; and more. I hope you'll find it informative and even fun to read. As always, please share this issue and invite friends and colleagues to join our mailing list by signing up here. With best wishes, Ed

Read the Current Issue

Read Past Issues

Link to DARS Independent Living Monthly Newsletter

Rhonda Jeter, MS, CRC, Director of Independent Living

Past issues of IL News Notes are available on the DARS Intranet:

https://intranet/docrepo/DARSCILDocViewer.html