General News

LeadingAge Florida’s Leadership Academy, presented by UnitedHealthcare – Applications are now being accepted for Class V of LeadingAge Florida’s Leadership Academy. The Leadership Academy, presented by UnitedHealthcare, offers a challenging and engaging 10-week learning experience, designed to help aging services professionals at any level in their organization accelerate their leadership development so they are better equipped to serve our field. This dynamic program is led by University of Florida Leadership Development Institute professors in partnership with UF Division of Continuing Education (DOCE) specifically for LeadingAge Florida members. The mission of LeadingAge Florida’s Leadership Academy is to develop the next generation of leaders who will transform the aging services field and fulfill the leadership needs of LeadingAge Florida members. LeadingAge Florida’s Leadership Academy is not directed towards individuals who are currently in leadership roles, unless they would like to participate in a refresher leadership course.

Live session classes will be held Wednesday, September 19, 2012 – 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. and Thursday, September 20, 2012 – 8:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. at member community, Sandhill Cove, in Palm City and Thursday, November 29, 2012 – 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. at member community, The Estates at Carpenters, in Lakeland. Online Modules and Discussion will be held September-November 2012.

Thanks to a generous grant from UnitedHealthcare, the cost of this unique educational program has been reduced to only $500 per attendee.

For more information and to view the application, please click here. The application deadline is Friday, August 17, 2012. 

Risk Of Dying May Increase With Lower Vitamin D, Especially For Frail, Older Adults – A new study concludes that among older adults - especially those who are frail -low levels of vitamin D can mean a much greater risk of death.

The randomized, nationally representative study found that older adults with low vitamin D levels had a 30 percent greater risk of death than people who had higher levels.

Overall, people who were frail had more than double the risk of death than those who were not frail. Frail adults with low levels of vitamin D tripled their risk of death over people who were not frail and who had higher levels of vitamin D.

"What this really means is that it is important to assess vitamin D levels in older adults, and especially among people who are frail," said lead author Ellen Smit of Oregon State University.

Smit said past studies have separately associated frailty and low vitamin D with a greater mortality risk, but this is the first to look at the combined effect. This study, published online in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, examined more than 4,300 adults older than 60 using data from the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.

"Older adults need to be screened for vitamin D," said Smit, who is a nutritional epidemiologist at OSU's College of Public Health and Human Sciences. Her research is focused on diet, metabolism, and physical activity in relation to both chronic disease and HIV infection.

"As you age, there is an increased risk of melanoma, but older adults should try and get more activity in the sunshine," she said. "Our study suggests that there is an opportunity for intervention with those who are in the pre-frail group, but could live longer, more independent lives if they get proper nutrition and exercise."

Frailty is when a person experiences a decrease in physical functioning characterized by at least three of the following five criteria: muscle weakness, slow walking, exhaustion, low physical activity, and unintentional weight loss. People are considered "pre-frail" when they have one or two of the five criteria.

Because of the cross-sectional nature of the survey, researchers could not determine if low vitamin D contributed to frailty, or whether frail people became vitamin D deficient because of health problems. However, Smit said the longitudinal analysis on death showed it may not matter which came first.

"If you have both, it may not really matter which came first because you are worse off and at greater risk of dying than other older people who are frail and who don't have low vitamin D," she said. "This is an important finding because we already know there is a biological basis for this. Vitamin D impacts muscle function and bones, so it makes sense that it plays a big role in frailty."

The study divided people into four groups. The low group had levels less than 50 nanograms per milliliter; the highest group had vitamin D of 84 or higher. In general, those who had lower vitamin D levels were more likely to be frail.

About 70 percent of Americans, and up to a billion people worldwide, have insufficient levels of vitamin D. And during the winter months in northern climates, it can be difficult to get enough just from the sun. OSU's Linus Pauling Institute recommends adults take 2,000 IU of supplemental vitamin D daily. The current federal guidelines are 600 IU for most adults, and 800 for those older than 70.

"We want the older population to be able to live as independent for as long as possible, and those who are frail have a number of health problems as they age," Smit said. "A balanced diet including good sources of vitamin D like milk and fish, and being physically active outdoors, will go a long way in helping older adults to stay independent and healthy for longer."

This article first appeared July 30, 2012 on the Medical News Today website. 

Annual Report – LeadingAge Florida’s Annual Report for 2011 is now available. To view it, please click here.

Host Legislators at your Community – Now that the 2012 election season is in full swing, legislators will be spending time in their districts. This is the perfect time for communities to host them for a Town Hall Meeting. It is important for legislators to see your communities, observe the quality care your residents receive, and hear your stories. These grassroots and relationship-building activities are critical elements of effective advocacy work.

For more guidance on bringing legislators to your communities, please read LeadingAge’s Congress to Home Program Guide.

If you are interested in hosting a legislator at your community, please contact Tom Randle, Vice President of Public Policy and Government Affairs, at (850) 702-0307. If you already have plans to host a session, please let us know how our advocacy team can assist you.

Medicaid Workshop Update – On Thursday, August 2, 2012, The Agency for Health Care Administration held a workshop to discuss the Medicaid reimbursement for institutional providers such as inpatient and outpatient hospitals, nursing homes and Intermediate Care Facilities for the Developmentally Disabled. The discussion revolved around developing “a plan to convert Medicaid inpatient hospital rates to a prospective payment system that categorizes each case into diagnosis-related groups (DRG) and assigns a payment weight based on the average resources used to treat Medicaid patients in that DRG. To the extent possible, the agency shall propose an adaptation of an existing prospective payment system, such as the one used by Medicare, and shall propose such adjustments as are necessary for the Medicaid population and to maintain budget neutrality for inpatient hospital expenditures.” The members of the workshop spent their time reviewing a PowerPoint on DRG Payment Implementation by AHCA staff. Please click here to review the PowerPoint. 

In sum, before the final system is implementation; ACHA will go through a number of steps to receive input from health care consultants, providers, and community forums.  

The next workshop is scheduled for August 29, 2012. 

New Pictures from LeadingAge Florida’s 49th Convention and Exposition! – Thank you to all who attended our 49th Annual Convention & Exposition! We hope you were following us via social media, but if not, please check us out on Twitter and Facebook. If you don’t have social media accounts, please visit the social media feed on our homepage. You can also view pictures from the event on Flickr, sponsored by RXPERTS Pharmacy Services.