Our Hartford Center receives two free registrations to the National Hartford Centers of Gerontological Excellence Leadership Conference as a benefit of membership. This year we supported two students' attendance.

Carly Hernandez Kadell, PMHNP, RN, BSN, BA, (pictured above) is our current Hearst Endowed Scholar. She presented a poster titled, "Screening for Depression Suicidal Ideation in Older Adults: A Review of the Evidence", that summarized the evidence and recommend best practices for screening for depression and suicide ideation in older adults. Prevention of suicide in older adults is a growing health priority in the U.S. Carly's clinical DNP project will investigate this health care crisis. 

Carly wrote, "The conference was a wonderful experiencefor me…The poster session was really helpful - I gained some solid feedback about directions I can go from here, as well as some offers for mentorship. It really was a priceless experience."

Kalisha Bonds, PMHNP-BC, PhD Candidate, attended both the Leadership Conference and Gerontological Society of America (GSA) Annual Scientific Meeting. This year she gave her first GSA podium presentation focused on factors that influence quality of life of both the African American person with dementia and their caregiver.

Kalisha, "love[s] how NHCGNE provides a safe and welcome space to interact with the "who's who" of nursing research. My first publication was through a connection made at NHCGNE."

Attendance at these conferences is an opportunity to learn about the latest research, network with peers, and contribute to strategies that focus on aging well. Our Hartford Center is honored to support our students, the next generation of nurse-leaders.

Congratulations to Hiroko Kiyoshi-Teo on her most recent HARP!

Her study, "Fall Prevention in Community-Based Care Facilities: An academic-community partnership", has aims to: identify characteristics of falls and fall-related Emergency Medical Service (EMS) calls from partner residential care facilities (RCF); reduce falls and non-urgent fall-related EMS calls of older adults in RCFs through stakeholder engagement, staff training, and care management; and evaluate feasibility and acceptability of stakeholder involvement with the study process.  

Hiro's research will address two risk factors associated with falls: the relationship between medications and falls, and the relationship between nutrition and falls. This pilot project's interprofessional approach to falls prevention, built upon existing community-academic partnerships, has potential to strengthen those relationships while addressing two significant falls risk factors: polypharmacy and nutrition.

"Falls are not a normal part of the aging process, and most falls can be prevented. Yet, falls are the leading cause of fatal and non-fatal injuries among older adults, causing hip fractures, head trauma, and death (https://www.giaging.org/issues/evidence-based-health-promotion-and-disease-prevention)."

Interprofessional HARP Awarded to Allison Lindauer

Congratulations to Allison Lindauer, Ph.D., N.P., on her Interprofessional Hartford Award for Research and Practice (HARP). Allison, Principal Investigator on the award, is an Assistant Professor at the School of Nursing and the Layton Aging and Alzheimer's Disease Center, where she is also the Director of Outreach, Recruitment, and Education. 

For this project, Layton Center faculty will team up with co-investigators Deb Messecar, Ph.D., M.P.H.,R.N., from the School of Nursing, and Andrew Natonson, M.D., from the School of Medicine. In conjunction with the Oregon Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes (ECHO) Network, they will provide technology-based mentoring for primary care providers across Oregon. The overarching goal of this interprofessional improvement project is to reduce barriers to diagnosis and care for patients and families living with Alzheimer's Disease or a related dementia (ADRD), especially those in rural or underserved areas.

Titled, "Dementia 360", this 10-session ECHO series will help clinical teams build or improve systems of care to effectively diagnose and treat dementia in the primary care setting. Sessions for this cohort will occur on Wednesdays, noon-1 p.m., from January 16 through March 20, 2019. Click for more info on Dementia 360.

Dementia Diagnosis

At least 65,000 Oregonians carry a diagnosis of ADRD, and over 186,000 spouses, children, and kin provide care for them. However, up to 50% of those with dementia do not know it because under-diagnosis of ADRD is common. Few studies address the ramifications of not knowing a diagnosis. Intuitively, those who do not know their diagnosis can't engage in strategies to delay cognitive impairment and sustain their quality of life. Additionally, families who do know of the diagnosis can receive education and support from their providers, nurses, and peers, and thus, may fare better emotionally and physically. 

Dementia is a growing issue and will continue to be so over the coming decades, especially in rural areas where access to care can be a barrier. The ECHO model is an excellent method through which to educate providers in the optimal care of people with dementia. As the interprofessional team works together, this project has the potential to improve health outcomes for Oregonians living with dementia.