Conference Program

MONDAY, MARCH 20
Presenters: Caitlin Adams, MA, Staff Associate, Columbia Aging
Center; Dorian Block, MS, Senior Staff Associate, Columbia Aging
Center; Jackie Crosby, MBA, Pulitzer Prize-Winning Business
Reporter, Star Tribune (Minneapolis); Ruth Finkelstein, ScD,
Associate Director, Robert N. Butler Columbia Aging Center.
MO145 Texercise Select:
Teaming Up to Take Charge in Texas
12:30 PM | Columbus CD (East Tower, Gold Level)
Learn how the Texas Department of Aging and Disability Services
created an evidence-based program (EBP) from their Texercise
Aging and Living Well program. Texas A&M’s Program on Healthy
Aging department provided EBP development, implementation
and evaluation expertise. Texercise Select combined the best of
EB skills with established Texercise materials to create a proven
and effective physical activity and nutrition workshop.
Presenters: Doris Howell, MPH, CHWI, Assistant Director, EBP;
Cindy Quinn, EBP Coordinator; both of Center for Population Health
& Aging, School of Public Health, Texas A&M University; Holly
Riley, Manager, Aging Services Coordination, Texas Health and
Human Services Commission.
MO147 What’s Data Got to Do With It? Research
Informed Strategies to Address Senior Hunger
12:30 PM | Soldier Field (West Tower, Bronze Level)
This session will cover the prevalence, causes and consequences
of food insecurity—the lack of access at all times to enough food
to lead a healthy lifestyle—among the aging population. We will
highlight the effective ways in which Meals on Wheels America
and the Feeding America network of food banks partner to serve
older adults, and provide attendees with resources to better
understand senior hunger and nutrition assistance programs
available in their own communities.
Presenters: Ucheoma Akobundu, PhD, RD, Director of Project
Management and Impact, Meals on Wheels America; Emily Basten,
MBA, Senior Manager of Program Development; Monica Hake,
MSW, Manager of Social Policy Research & Analysis; both of
Feeding America.
Mental Health
MO149 New Strategies for Engaging Older Adults
in Behavioral Health Services
12:30 PM | Wrigley (West Tower, Bronze Level)
The session will share the results of newly implemented
programming and programs under development intended to
engage older adults in behavioral health services. Background on
the need for these services will be provided as well as discussion
of common barriers faced when attempting to provide behavioral
health services that are specific to older adults. Lessons
learned and a variety of program models will be shared.
Presenters: Shannon Baggerman, MSW/LCSW, Older Adult
Program Coordinator, Washington County Disability, Aging &
Veteran Services; Stephanie Barnett-Herro, MA, Older Adult
Systems of Care Coordinator, Clackamas County Behavioral Health;
Lauren Fontanarosa, MPH, Regional Coordinator, Older Adult
Behavioral Health, Multnomah County Aging, Disability and
Veterans Services; Kim Jackson, MA, Older Adult Behavioral Health
Program Coordinator, Washington County Behavioral Health.
Policy, Advocacy & Ethics
MO151 Case Study of Minnesota’s Efforts to
Reform Long-Term Care Financing
12:30 PM | Atlanta (West Tower, Gold Level)
12:30–2:00 PM
The session will discuss a case study of the efforts of Minnesota
to reform its long-term care financing system. It will focus on the
process and the results of Minnesota’s activities to achieve reform,
and review and comment on its activities and outcomes. The
workshop will assess Minnesota’s movement toward its vision of
a system that is universal, stable, includes public and private roles
and affordable for middle income households.
Presenters: John Cutler, JD, Senior Fellow, National Academy of
Social Insurance; LaRhae Knatterud, MAPA, Director, Aging Transformation,
Minnesota Department of Human Services, Aging Division;
John O’Leary, MBA, President, O’Leary Marketing Associates LLC;
Eileen Tell, MPH, Principal and CEO, ET Consulting LLC.
Symposium
MO153 Identifying and Reporting Elder Abuse
in Primary Care Settings
12:30 PM | Michigan 3 (East Tower, Bronze Level)
The WellMed healthcare system partnered with Texas Adult
Protective Services (APS) to identify and report abuse of older,
primary care patients. Two APS caseworkers embedded in
WellMed trained 826 clinicians in 63 clinics on abuse and its
screening using the Elder Abuse Suspicion Index (EASI);
12,000+ EASIs were completed and 578 suspected abuse
victims were reported to APS. Findings from APS worker
interviews, clinician training, EASI screenings, and a caregiver
intervention will be described.
Presenters: Deborah Billa, Grants Manager, WellMed Charitable
Foundation; Ann Cortez, District Director, Texas Department of
Family and Protective Services; Farida Ejaz, PhD, LISW-S, Senior
Research Scientist II; Miriam Rose, MEd, Senior Research Analyst;
both of Benjamin Rose Institute on Aging; Carol Zernial, MSG,
Executive Director, WellMed Charitable Foundation.
Religion, Spirituality & Meaning
MO155 Bringing Religious and Caregiver Perspectives
to Health and Wellness Programs
12:30 PM | Water Tower (West Tower, Bronze Level)
In 2016, NCOA collaborated with two nationally renowned rabbis
to develop a Jewish-focused Aging Mastery Program to introduce
faith-based perspectives to its rapidly growing health and
wellness program. This session will describe the rationale,
experience and results so far of a multi-community pilot program
to test Jewish-focused AMP and will discuss implications and
opportunities for a Christian AMP. We will also report initial
findings from an AMP for a caregivers pilot program in Pittsburgh.
Presenters: Richard Address, DMin, Founder and Director, Jewish
Sacred Aging; Emily Dessem, MSW, Director, Aging Mastery
Program Community Partnerships, National Council on Aging; Alexis
Winsten Mancuso, MPM, Assistant Executive Director, Jewish
Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh.
62 2017 Aging in America Conference