LTSS Center researchers will review their studies on foreign-born workers, geriatric substance abuse recovery, and housing plus services at the LeadingAge Annual Meeting in San Diego.
The LeadingAge LTSS Center @UMass Boston will present 3 research-based sessions at the 2019 LeadingAge Annual Meeting & EXPO, which takes place Oct. 27-30 in San Diego.
The sessions will explore ongoing LTSS Center projects to study the integration of foreign-born nurses and personal care assistants into the field of long-term services and supports (LTSS), a substance abuse recovery program in New York, and 2 housing plus services programs in Massachusetts.
Visit the conference website to register for the sessions.
EMPLOYING FOREIGN-BORN WORKERS
During 2017-2018, the LTSS Center worked with the Global Ageing Network to explore the role that migrant/immigrant workers can play in delivering long-term services and supports to the world’s growing older population.
Researchers performed a comprehensive environmental scan of the migrant/immigrant nurse and direct care workforce in the United States and across the globe. They also conducted telephone interviews with representatives of 20 LTSS provider organizations located in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, Ireland, France, and Australia. Findings from the research were featured in a report entitled, Filling the Care Gap: Integrating Foreign-Born Nurses and Personal Care Assistants into the Field of Long-Term Services and Supports.
Natasha Bryant, managing director and senior research associate at the LTSS Center, will present the center’s research during an Annual Meeting session entitled, “Employing Foreign-Born Workers: Legal Authorities and Hope for the Future.” The session takes place on Sunday, Oct. 27 at 3:30 p.m.
Other presenters include Ruth Katz, senior vice president of public policy/advocacy at LeadingAge; Traci Larson, senior vice president of employee engagement and HR at Presbyterian Homes and Services; and Mike Helbringer, president and CEO at The Bristol Homes in Buffalo, NY. They will share insights into:
- Visa requirements that allow various types of aging services workers to seek employment in the U.S.
- The experiences of aging services providers who have successfully hired and retained foreign-born workers and different types of visa holders.
- LeadingAge efforts to address the workforce shortage in our field, including promoting new ways to bring workers to the U.S. from other countries.
SUBSTANCE ABUSE AMONG ELDERS
The Geriatric Substance Abuse Recovery Program (GSARP) provides substance abuse counseling to older adults who come to The New Jewish Home in New York for post-acute care after a hospital stay. A 2016 study showed that the 3-year-old GSARP is effective in helping participants address their substance abuse issues.
The LeadingAge LTSS Center is conducting a new 18-month study to explore whether GSARP might also improve rehabilitation outcomes for program participants, and whether certain characteristics and health behaviors of GSARP participants make them more likely to experience successful post-acute care outcomes, to participate in the GSARP program, or to refuse participation. The project is supported by a grant to the New Jewish Home from the Catherine Weldon Donaghue Medical Research Foundation.
Both GSARP studies will be the focus of an Annual Meeting session entitled, “Substance Abuse Among Elders: Identification and Treatment in Post-Acute Care.”
The session, which takes place on Monday, Oct. 28 at 8 a.m., will describe GSARP components; explore implementation feasibility, and efficacy of the GSARP for change in alcohol- and substance-misuse; and consider factors associated with program refusal and the effects of GSRAP on post-acute rehabilitation outcomes.
Verena Cimarolli, senior health services research associate at the LTSS Center, will be joined on the panel by Orah Burack, senior research associate at The New Jewish Home, and Gregory Poole-Dayan, chief operating officer at Wartburg in Mt. Vernon, NY.
LESSONS FROM HOUSING PLUS SERVICES STUDIES
Alisha Sanders, director of housing and services policy research at the LTSS Center, and LTSS Center Co-Directors Robyn Stone and Marc Cohen, will be presenters at a conference session entitled, “Lessons from New Housing Plus Services Studies.” The session takes place on Wednesday, Oct. 30 at 8 a.m.
The session will present findings from 2 new affordable housing plus services evaluations being conducted by LTSS Center researchers:
- The LTSS Center is evaluating a new housing plus services model being piloted by Hebrew SeniorLife (HSL), a LeadingAge member in Boston. HSL obtained grant funding to create a replicable, scalable, and sustainable model of housing with support services to enable older adults to live independently for as long as possible. The LTSS Center evaluated the model’s impact on utilization of services, including hospitalization and emergency room use. Researchers also examined resident experience with the program, execution of the intervention, and the program’s collaboration with first responders.
- The LTSS Center is also working with several partners in Massachusetts to assess the impact of housing plus services programs on residents living in some of the state’s affordable senior housing properties. The study is funded through a grant awarded to 2Life Communities, a LeadingAge member in Brighton, MA, and is being conducted in collaboration with Commonwealth Medicine, the policy and research arm of the University of Massachusetts School of Medicine.
Sanders and Stone will also review implementation experiences from the 3-year Supportive Services Demonstration for Elderly Households in HUD-Assisted Multifamily Housing. The LTSS Center, The Lewin Group, and National Center for Healthy Housing were selected by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to serve as the Implementation Team for this major randomized control trial testing a service-enriched housing model for low-income older adults. Forty HUD-assisted senior housing properties are participating as intervention sites.
REGISTER TODAY
For more information about the LeadingAge Annual Meeting & EXPO, visit the conference website.