Document 6578019

Issue 61
Philadelphia Coordinated Health Care
Southeast Region Health Care Quality Unit
2014
Health Care Alert
A QUARTERLY PUBLICATION PROVIDING HEALTH CARE TIPS FOR PEOPLE WITH
INTELLECTUAL AND/OR DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES AND THEIR SUPPORT TEAMS
Dual Diagnosis Curriculum Update
As reported in the summer edition
of the Health Care Alert, PCHC has been leading a
coalition to create the Pennsylvania State Dual
Diagnosis Curriculum designed for Direct Support
Professionals (DSPs). The purpose of the
Curriculum is to enhance and build competency for
DSPs and thus, improve outcomes for people we
support who have Intellectual Disabilities and
Mental Health Challenges. The Curriculum,
created with a wide ranging group of stakeholders,
is designed to assist DSPs in seeking certification
from the National Association for Persons with Dual
Diagnosis (NADD) if they so desire or just to build
skill and understanding if certification is not sought.
The Curriculum consists of five modules
that cover 21 lessons ranging from historical
information, understanding functional behavioral
assessment and impact of health conditions, to
specifics about the diagnosis of mental health
challenges. The Curriculum also covers best and
emerging practices. All lessons will be available for
face to face training by the end of the calendar year.
Across the Commonwealth all the Health Care
Quality Units have trained staff to provide face to face
training on the various topics. PCHC will be offering
the lessons from Module three in the fall and Module
four will follow. PCHC’s intent is to cover all the
modules throughout each year. Because of PCHC
staff time limitations, the sessions will be offered in
larger venues so staff from across several providers
can attend. Included with handouts will be a
“Passport” for Dual Diagnosis Trainings that will
allow attendees to track their attendance at the
various lesson training sessions. For a full list of
training sessions currently offered and a list of the
topics covered in the Curriculum, please visit the
PCHC website: www.pchc.org . Larger agencies with
presentation space may request training on any of the
topics if they agree to allow a percentage of
participants from outside their own staff to attend.
Please contact Bonnie DiRidolfo, PCHC Education
Manager (ext. 3681) for more information or submit a
training request form found on the PCHC website.
Inside this issue:
PA Dual Diagnosis Curriculum Update
Cover
Be Disaster Aware
2
A Few Facts About Falls
3
Agency On-line Training Registration
4
PCHC On-line Trainings
4
Announcements
4
Community Connections
Page 2
National Preparedness Month:
Be Disaster Aware, Take Action to Prepare
Emergency Preparedness month takes
place every year in the month of September. This
serves as a reminder that we need to continue to
reinforce the four building blocks of emergency
preparedness: Stay Informed, Make a Plan,
Build a Kit and Get Involved. Each week in the
month of September, we recognize each
building block and the importance each has in
regards to emergency situations. This year’s
theme “Be Disaster Aware, Take Action to
Prepare” exemplified the importance of being
educated and aware of what emergencies can
take place and the different steps one can take
to ensure they are prepared by practicing drills,
discussing emergency plans and increasing
community awareness.
At PCHC, we are committed to providing
resources and relaying information that will help
individuals prepare for the hazardous situations
that can take place. This year to commemorate
our efforts to maintain up-to-date information, we
are providing an updated version of the Everybody
Ready resource to the public. The Everybody
Ready 3.0 version will be made available online
and in 3 languages (Korean, Spanish, and Russian)
in the coming year. We would like to thank the
Functional Needs Subcommittee for their efforts
in providing those within the Southeastern Region
of Pennsylvania with such an important, helpful
and irreplaceable resource.
Along with the Everybody Ready 3.0
guide, PCHC offers a “Personal Preparedness”
training which was developed in conjunction with
the Philadelphia Department of Public Health.
PCHC is able to provide agencies, staff and
individuals with information and details on how to
best prepare for emergencies through this training.
The training registration form can be located on
our website alongside additional emergency
preparedness materials. To receive monthly tips
relating to emergency preparedness text the word
PREPARE to 43362(4FEMA) or sign up for
alerts through Ready PA.
For further information and resources click on the links below:
www.ready.gov
www.disability.gov
www.community.fema.gov
Summer 2014 Issue 61
Page 3
A F
Fact Ab u F l
Every 14 seconds, an older adult is treated in the emergency room for a fall.
Every 29 minutes, an older adult dies following a fall.
Falls are the leading cause of fatal injury among older adults.
In 2012, the total cost of fall injuries was over $36 billion.
The financial toll for older adult falls is expected to increase and may reach $59.6 billion by
2020.
(Information taken from: http://www.ncoa.org/press-room/fact-sheets/falls-prevention-factsheet.html
F
P
n i
Res
r e:
Falls: Considerations for Risk Management: a document to assist risk managers when
reviewing incidents regarding falls.
http://pchc.org/Projects/PDFs/Falls-Consideration-For-Risk-Management.pdf
Check for Safety—A Home Fall Prevention Checklist for Older Adults: safety checklist
that asks about hazards in each room of your home.
http://www.cdc.gov/homeandrecreationalsafety/pubs/English/booklet_Eng_desktop-a.pdf
APS Healthcare’s Fall Prevention Program Resource Manual: provides information on
falls and various screening tools.
http://www.hcqu.apshealthcare.com/content/overview/
FallPreventionProgramResourceManual.pdf
Mayo Clinic Fall Prevention: simple tips to prevent falls
http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-living/healthy-aging/in-depth/fall-prevention/art20047358
All agencies requesting PCHC training will soon be able to register their own participants on-line through the
PCHC website. Stay tuned for more information about this new process and how to access it. Our hope is to
provide adequate quality training in a sufficient manner for the most amount of participants possible at one time.
Philadelphia Coordinated Health
Care (PCHC) has been hard at
work developing and updating
resources that benefit families and
individuals with I/DD. We have
currently updated the Family
Health Information Recording
System (FHIRS), both bilingual
and English versions to help
families maintain a paper record of
their health information. New
helpful documents provided by
PCHC are the Letter of Medical
Necessity Guidelines, Ebola Fact
Sheet, and Navigating the
System…Again.
The Letter of Medical Necessity
provides assistance when services
are needed, but the insurance
company has denied a request. A
letter of medical necessity is
required to repeal the denial.
The resource we have provided
discusses what is medically
necessary, covers key components
of the letter (including a sample),
and explains the appeals process.
Navigating the System…Again
is a resource that provides
information about Medicare,
Medicaid, dual eligibility and
advantage plans. It explains the
current health care insurance
system in detail, providing
definitions and resource links.
Some other useful tools on
our website are Health Promotion
Activity Plans. They provide a
definition of certain conditions,
signs and symptoms, and allows
for a plan of action to be made to
address one’s illness. There are
currently over 100 different
diagnostic examples available on
our website.
Coming Soon to the PCHC
website will be a Spanish and
English version of the Dementia
and Dysphagia checklists. Also, a
Diabetes Guide will soon be
available for distribution. Stay
Tuned…
To obtain any of the resources
stated above, please refer to our
website www.pchc.org or contact
the Outreach Department at
215-546-0300.
Regional Nurse Network Meetings - An opportunity for developmental disabilities nursing education and discussion
**If you are not on our e-mail list, or have changed e-mails, please contact Patty Graves at pgraves@pmhcc.org.
All Special Needs Unit (SNU) Meetings take place @ SE Area Staff Development Training Center (123 Boro Line Road,
King of Prussia, PA 19406) from 10am – 12noon. Please contact Melissa DiSipio (mdisipio@pmhcc.org) for more
information or to be added to the SNU Meeting list.
January 21, 2015
April 15, 2015
July 15, 2015
January 9, 2015
April 10, 2015
July 10, 2015
Please join us quarterly for updates and educational presentations
Learn more at www.pchc.org
Philadelphia Coordinated Health Care
123 S. Broad Street Philadelphia, PA 19109 215-546-0300 fax 215-790-4976
PCHC is a core program of PMHCC, Inc.
FUNDING PROVIDED BY PHILADELPHIA DEPARTMENT OF BEHAVIORAL HEALTH/INTELLECTUAL DISABILITY SERVICES, THE BUCKS, CHESTER, DELAWARE
AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY OFFICES OF INTELLECTUAL/DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES AND THE OFFICE OF DEVELOPMENTAL PROGRAMS,
PENNSYLVANIA DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WELFARE