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AOTA News
News
AOTA Part of
RT Grant
AOTA received $10,000
as part of a 3-year grant
awarded to Rebuilding
Together (RT) by the Department
of Housing and Urban
Development. Beginning May 1,
2011, the grant supports a pilot
project with four RT affiliates,
in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania;
Denver, Colorado; Tampa,
Florida; and Columbus, Ohio.
AOTA occupational therapy
staff and members will be
providing home assessments
for safety and accessibility, and
other RT staff or volunteers will
be assessing additional aspects
of a healthy home.
OT Practice
Thanks Reviewers
The staff members of OT
Practice thank the following
persons for sharing
their expertise by providing
content reviews of manuscripts
and articles from April 11
through June 20: Sue Berger,
Lenore Frost, Dottie Handley-
More, Gavin Jenkins, Deborah
Lieberman, Robyn Otty, Laurel
Radley, Shannon Radmacher,
Douglas Rakoski, Camille
Sauerwald, Sandy Schefkind,
Debee Slater, Tracy Van Oss,
and Renee Watling.
Upcoming Pediatric
Virtual Chats
Join AOTA staffers and
other occupational therapy
professionals for two
upcoming AOTA-sponsored
pediatric virtual chats: “Mealtime
and Feeding Issues for
Association updates...profession and industry news
Children With ASD,” on July
19 at 7 pm EST, and “Use of
Telehealth in Early Intervention
and School System Practice,”
on August 1 at 2 pm EST. To
listen to these upcoming chats
as well as past episodes, go to
www.talkshoe.com/tc/73733.
Industry News
Pi Theta Epsilon
Annual Business
Meeting
Pi Theta’s Annual Business
meeting this year will be
held the morning of Friday
November 11, 2011, at the 2011
AOTA/NBCOT National Student
Conclave in Providence, Rhode
Island. Delegate packets will
be sent out to Pi Theta Epsilon
members in the fall with more
details. All PTE members,
including faculty advisors, are
welcome to attend. For more
information, contact Jessica
Halterman at jhalterman@
aotf.org.
Resources
New HHS
Interactive Video
on Health Care
Infections
Health care–associated
infections harm many
patients, causing injuries
and raising costs, according to
the U.S. Department of Health
and Human Services (HHS).
At any given time, about 1 in
every 20 patients is affected by
an infection related to hospital
care. To help prevent infections
acquired in hospitals and
other health care settings, the
HHS Office to the Assistant
Secretary for Health in May
2011 released an interactive,
computer-based video-simulation
training program called
Partnering to Heal: Teaming up
Against Health Care-Associated
Infections, which permits users
to “become” one of five characters
who make decisions that
impact health risks, then examine
the results of the choices
and learn from the outcomes.
The program is designed for
students in the health professions,
early career clinicians,
other health care personnel,
patients, and families. Available
free online, the video promotes
a team-based approach to
reducing preventable infections
and deaths in the United
States. To access the Partnering
to Heal training video, visit
www.hhs.gov/partneringtoheal.
For more information about
Partnership for Patients, visit
www.healthcare.gov/center/
programs/partnership.
Consumer Guide
for Reducing
Medication Errors
with three out of four
U.S. patients failing to
follow their physician’s
advice about taking prescription
medication, according to
U.S. Surgeon General Regina
Benjamin, MB, MBA, the U.S.
Department of Health & Human
Services’ Agency for Healthcare
Research and Quality and the
National Council on Patient
Information and Education
recently released a revised
booklet for consumers on taking
medicines safely. Called
Your Medicines: Be Smart. Be
Safe, the booklet is available
in English and Spanish and
includes a detachable, walletsized
card that can be personalized
to track all medicines
patients are taking. The guide
may be downloaded at www.
ahrq.gov/consumer/safemeds/
yourmeds.htm.
STARs Come Out
The Beverly Foundation
recently announced the
winners of its 2011 STAR
Awards for Excellence, which
enable recipients to promote
and provide transportation
services to older adults. Winners
of the $20,000 STAR
awards included Community
Partners in Caring, in Santa
Maria, California; Friendship-
Works, in Boston, Massachusetts;
and Senior Services, in
Seattle, Washington. Winners
of the $15,000 STAR Special
Recognition Awards included
the College of Southern Idaho
Office on Aging, in Twin Falls,
Idaho; Elder Services of the
Merrimack Valley, in Lawrence,
Massachusetts; and the Grafton
County Senior Citizens Council,
in Lebanon, New Hampshire.
Two occupational therapists—Elin
Schold Davis,
OTR/L, CDRS, AOTA’s Older
Driver Initiative coordinator,
and Dennis McCarthy, PhD,
ORT/L, assistant professor
in the Occupational Therapy
Department at Florida International
University’s College of
Nursing and Health Sciences—
were on the review committee
this year for the Star Awards.
The Beverly Foundation
undertakes research, technical
materials development, assistance,
and program recognition
to encourage and facilitate
mobility and transportation for
2 JUNE 20, 2011 • WWW.AOTA.ORG