THE PORCHLIGHT PROJECT: PARTNERING WITH VOLUNTEERS TO ENHANCE COMMUNITY-BASED DEMENTIA CARE AND OUTREACH

Abstract Families often remain unaware of long-term services and supports (LTSS) that could help to mitigate the negative effects of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRDs). Approaches that: a) identify community-residing older persons with potential memory impairment; b) assist their families in navigating the healthcare system; and c) facilitate the identification of appropriate community-based LTSS could result in more effective management of ADRD. The Porchlight Project is a multicomponent training approach for lay volunteers in Minnesota (i.e., Senior Companions) that enhances their capability to deliver dementia care and support to underserved older persons in need. Mixed methods analysis of qualitative and quantitative data among 20 Senior Companions and up to 25 persons with ADRD and their family caregivers suggest the potential success of the Porchlight Project, as well as areas to refine and enhance prior to large-scale evaluation throughout Minnesota.

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THE PORCHLIGHT PROJECT: COLLABORATING TO ENHANCE THE DEMENTIA CAPABILITY OF COMMUNITY-BASED VOLUNTEERS

Innovation in Aging ◽

10.1093/geroni/igz038.1326 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽

pp. S363-S363

Author(s):

Joseph E Gaugler ◽

Gabriela Bustamante ◽

Christina Rosebush ◽

Jeri Schoonover ◽

Roxanne Jenkins ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Social Services ◽

Older Persons ◽

Pragmatic Trial ◽

Healthcare Delivery ◽

Dementia Care ◽

Community Based ◽

Care And Support ◽

Training Approach ◽

Peer Intervention ◽

Novel Method

Abstract Public health efforts to address Alzheimer’ disease and related dementias (ADRD) are limited. Utilization of lay/peer intervention providers in the community to reach older persons and their families may offer a novel method to reach those in need. Such an approach may also serve as a fulcrum around which formal healthcare delivery and community-based LTSS are better integrated. This pragmatic trial, the Porchlight Project, aims to refine a multicomponent training approach for lay volunteers in Minnesota (i.e., Senior Companions) that enhances their capability to deliver dementia care and support to underserved older persons in need. This presentation will highlight the development and collaboration with Lutheran Social Services of Minnesota to refine and deliver a useful and feasible training program to enhance Senior Companions (n = 20) dementia care capability, as well as the potential and challenges of delivering a pragmatic trial of this type across the state of Minnesota.

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Follow-up services for delirium after COVID-19—where now?

Age and Ageing ◽

10.1093/ageing/afab014 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Shibley Rahman ◽

Kit Byatt

Keyword(s):

Service Utilisation ◽

Sustainable Business ◽

Community Based ◽

Care And Support ◽

Early Supported Discharge ◽

Business Cases ◽

Older Inpatients ◽

The Impact

Abstract Delirium is a common presentation in older inpatients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), and a risk factor for cognitive decline at discharge. The glaring gaps in the service provision in delirium care, regardless of aetiology, after a hospital admission pre-existed the pandemic, but the pandemic arguably offers an opportunity now to address them. Whilst a delirium episode in itself is not a long-term condition, the context of it may well be, and therefore patients might benefit from personalised care and support planning. There is no reason to believe that the delirium following COVID-19 is fundamentally different from any other delirium. We propose that the needs of older patients who have experienced delirium including from COVID-19 could be addressed through a new model of post-acute delirium care that combines early supported discharge, including discharge-to-assess, with community-based follow-up to assess for persistent delirium and early new long-term cognitive impairment. Such a drive could be structurally integrated with existing memory clinic services. To succeed, such an ambition has to be flexible, adaptable and person-centred. To understand the impact on resource and service utilisation, techniques of quality improvement should be implemented, and appropriate metrics reflecting both process and outcome will be essential to underpin robust and sustainable business cases to support implementation of delirium care as a long-term solution.

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Beyond Neo-liberalism: Research Policies and Society. The Case of Japan

The Copenhagen Journal of Asian Studies ◽

10.22439/cjas.v29i2.4027 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 29 (2) ◽

pp. 58-78 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Alain-Marc Rieu

Keyword(s):

Large Scale ◽

Social Systems ◽

Qualitative Change ◽

Economic Systems ◽

Negative Effects ◽

Science And Technology Policies ◽

Systemic Crisis ◽

Technology Policies ◽

Industrial Societies

The idea of decoupling is playing a major role in various interpretations of the present systemic crisis. This crisis is understood as an effect of neo-liberal policies, which have revolutionized economic systems since the 1980s. Decoupling indicates a qualitative change in the level of autonomy of the economic sphere in industrial societies. But a new level of differentiation also generates various types of recoupling, new forms of integration, cooperation and regulation recomposing social systems at another level. The goal of this article is first to situate the idea of decoupling within its conceptual complex. Secondly, the ecological constraint is considered the source of this intense differentiation within social systems, which has intensified since the 1970s. Finally, based on the case of Japan, this paper explains why large-scale science and technology policies developed since the 1990s have to be understood as part of a recoupling process, a project to reconstruct and reach a social and economic coherence in the long term. Similar policies are now implemented by all major industrial nations. Such policies have the potential to overcome neo-liberalism's negative effects.

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Access to community-based mental healthcare and psychosocial support within a disaster context

BJPsych International ◽

10.1192/s2056474000000295 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 12 (2) ◽

pp. 44-47 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Katherine P O'Hanlon ◽

Boris Budosan

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Large Scale ◽

Psychosocial Support ◽

Mental Healthcare ◽

Community Services ◽

Community Based ◽

Clear Vision ◽

Mental Health Interventions ◽

Mental Health Effects

After a large-scale humanitarian disaster, 30–50% of victims develop moderate or severe psychological distress. Rates of mild and moderate mental disorders increase by 5–10% and severe disorders by 1–2%. Those with such disorders need access to mental healthcare. Primary care clinics are appropriate due to their easy accessibility and the non-stigmatising environment. There is a consensus among experts that the mental health effects of disaster are best addressed by existing services, that is, through capacity building rather than by establishing parallel systems. Mental health interventions in emergencies should begin with a clear vision for the long-term advancement of community services.

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