Nursing Resources Assessment Tools

Geriatric Nursing Resources for Care of Older Adults: Assessment Tools [pdf]

• http://www.geronurseonline.org/index.cfm?section_id=7

For nurses interested in keeping up to date with developments in geriatric treatment, this set of resources created by expert practitioners will be quite a find. The entire site was developed as part of the Nurse Competence in Aging initiative created by the American Nurses Association. Here, visitors can read over twenty-five two-page assessment tools that include such helpful titles as “Assessing Nutrition in Older Adults”, “Predicting Pressure Ulcer Risk”, and “Immunizations for the Older Adult”. Written in clear and direct language, these resources will also be of assistance for nursing educators and those who are responsible for professional development workshops. It is also worth mentioning that these short tools are designed as screening tools, and are not for diagnosis. [KMG]

From The Scout Report, Copyright Internet Scout Project 1994-2007.
http://scout.wisc.edu/

Try This, a publication of the Hartford Institute for Geriatric Nursing, is a series of assessment tools where each issue focuses on a topic specific to the older adult population. The goal of the Try This: Best Practices in Care for Older Adults series of assessment tools is to provide knowledge of best practices in the care of older adults that is:

* easily accessible
* easily understood
* easily implemented, and
* to encourage the use of these best practices by all direct care nurses

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Site Search Tags: nursing, assessment

SNAQ Assessment Tool

Here is the quick survey referred to in news reports.

http://www.slu.edu/readstory/newslink/6349

“Four Questions That May Save Your Grandma?s Life: SNAQ Screening Tool Predicts Weight Loss

ST. LOUIS — A four-question screening tool can predict which older patients with appetite problems are likely to lose weight, placing them at greater risk of death, according to Saint Louis University research.

The questionnaire is called the SNAQ (pronounced snack), the Simplified Nutritional Appetite Questionnaire, and takes less than two minutes to answer.

?This tool tells us whether a poor appetite is likely to kill you. It identifies the patients who have problems with their appetite and will go on to lose weight,? says Margaret-Mary Wilson, M.D., associate professor of internal medicine and geriatrics at Saint Louis University and lead author.

?The watch-and-wait approach is dangerous when it comes to weight loss in older adults. We?re dealing with a problem that can be fatal.? “
http://www.slu.edu/readstory/more/6348

December 13, 2005 SNAQ Assessment Tool
My appetite is
1. very poor
2. poor
3. average
4. good
5. very good

When I eat
1. I feel full after eating only a few mouthfuls
2. I feel full after eating about a third of a meal
3. I feel full after eating over half a meal
4. I feel full after eating most of the meal
5. I hardly ever feel full

Food tastes
1. very bad
2. bad
3. average
4. good
5. very good

Normally I eat
1. less than one meal a day
2. one meal a day
3. two meals a day
4. three meals a day
5. more than three meals a day

Tally the results based on the following numerical scale: a = 1, b = 2, c = 3, d = 4, e = 5. The sum of the scores for the individual items constitutes the SNAQ score. SNAQ score ?14 indicates significant risk of at least 5 % weight loss within six months.

Internet an Important Health Tool, But Not for Seniors, Study Finds

http://fconline.fdncenter.org/pnd/189/story

Even as the Internet becomes an increasingly important resource for individuals making decisions about health and healthcare options, a national survey of older Americans by the Kaiser Family Foundation ( http://kff.org/ ) finds that less than a third of seniors age sixty-five and older have ever gone online, compared to more than two-thirds of those between the ages of fifty and sixty-four. According to the report, e-health and the Elderly: How Seniors Use the Internet for Health, only 20 percent of today’s seniors have gone online to look for health information, compared to 53 percent of fifty- to sixty-four-year-olds, who rank the Internet first on a list of media sources of health information. The survey also found that seniors whose annual household income is less than $20,000 a year, including most people on Medicare, are much less likely to have gone online than those with incomes between $20,000 and $49,000.

With the passage of Medicare reform that allows recipients to choose prescrip-tion drug discount cards, the federal Web site Medicare.gov ( http://medicare.gov/ ) has become an important resource for comparing the benefits of competing cards, but the survey finds that few seniors had gone online for such information. “We know that the Internet can be a great health tool for seniors, but the majority are lower-income, less well-educated, and not online,” said Kaiser president and CEO Drew Altman. “It’s time for a national discussion on how to get seniors online.”

“Online Health Information Poised to Become Important Resource for Seniors, But Not There Yet.” Kaiser Family Foundation Press Release 1/12/05. http://kff.org/entmedia/entmedia011205nr.cfm

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Site Search Tags: Internet, healthcare, information

Grants, fellowships– caregivers, planning, poetry

Health and Aging Policy Fellows Program
Supported by The Atlantic Philanthropies and administered by Columbia University, this national program seeks to provide professionals in health and aging with the experience and skills necessary to make a positive contribution to the development and implementation of health policies that affect older Americans. Deadline extended: May 27, 2008. For more information, see http://www.healthandagingpolicy.org/apply/index.html

The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation Family and Informal Caregiver Support Program
The Weinberg Foundation will help community partnerships develop innovative ways to support these devoted caregivers. Available Funding: Up to $9 million over three years, the Family and Informal Caregiver Support Program will support from 12 to 20 community-based Projects with grants ranging from $100,000 to $300,000 per year. Deadline: Letters of Inquiry: Thursday, June 12, 2008 http://www.epa.gov/aging/grants/grant-list/2008_0612_grant_ofo_1.htm

Elder Care Initiative Long-Term Care Grant Program
The Indian Health Service announces the availability of grants to support planning and implementation of sustainable long-term care services for American Indians and Alaska Native elders. Deadline: June 20, 2008.
http://www.ihs.gov/NonMedicalPrograms/gogp/index.cfm?module=HHS-2008-IHS-LTC-0001

2nd Annual Rachel Carson Intergenerational Poetry, Essay and Photo Contest
The EPA Aging Initiative, in partnership with Generations United and the Rachel Carson Council, Inc., is inviting submissions for its Second Annual Rachel Carson Sense of Wonder Intergenerational Poetry, Essay and Photography Contest. The contest’s intergenerational approach reflects Carson’s desire to have adults and children share a sense of wonder about nature to discover nature’s gifts. Entries must be an intergenerational project. The deadline for entries is Monday, June 16, 2008. For more information see http://www.epa.gov/aging/resources/thesenseofwonder/index.htm

revised 2008-04-19
[from BHIC. See sidebar. Because so many older people are now raising their grandchildren, this program may be of interest.]

Mentoring Children of Prisoners: Caregiver’s Choice Program
Caregiver’s Choice makes it possible for many more kids across the country to have mentors, and for many more families to enjoy all the benefits of mentoring. This program is unique because it gives the child’s caregiver the power to choose—to look at the possibilities and decide on the best mentoring program to meet their needs and the needs of the child. Through Caregiver’s Choice, you can: – Access funding to serve more children; – Tap into federal funds; – Manage your participation level; – Leverage national efforts to recruit children of prisoners; and – Benefit from cutting-edge training and tools. For more information visit, http://www.mentoring.org/find_resources/caregiverschoice/

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Site Search Tags: grants, funding, awards, fellowships, aging, children, environment, caregivers, respite, CBR, EPA, IHS, aging_initiativ, prison, grandchildren, revised

Alaska senior center blogroll addition

Thank you to Charles Osborne for letting us know about the Anchorage organization for older people. Mr Osborne is their Programs Coordinator and invites everyone to stop by to visit when in Anchorage.

There are several interesting things about the non-profit compared to Bethel’s–

• the senior center is run by the organization which is composed of those over 55 years of age

In Bethel, older people were not allowed to participate in the senior center transfer from City to tribe (both groups said elders are unable to run their own center).

• their operating budget is about half of Bethel’s

Their By Laws and Policies are on-line as are the extensive membership benefits, staff list, events, dance bands (including KOLIGANEK RIVER BAND), etc. They even have a nonagenarian club.

Anchor-Age Center is a non-profit corporation. Anchor-Age Center was incorporated effective August 31, 1981 with the State of Alaska.

Mission Statement

Anchor-Age Center is a non-profit organization that operates the Anchorage Senior Center. The Anchorage Senior Center enhances the quality of life for people 55 years old and older in the Anchorage Bowl and serves as a resource:

1. To encourage independence through socialization and the promotion of healthy lifestyles;
2. To assure that all seniors in the Community are aware of the various services for seniors at the Center and in the community; and
3. To provide a central meeting place for senior organizations and others.

Operations

Anchor-Age’s purpose is to improve living conditions for elderly. To advance that purpose Anchor-Age Center operates the Municipality of Anchorage’s Senior Center by providing seniors with access to services and information key to senior living, health and housing. Anchor-Age members enjoy other benefits such as instruction in crafts, arts, computers, and fitness. Members can also take advantage of recreational pursuits such as billiards, cards, dancing, monthly birthday party, and other social events.

A voting member of Anchor-Age must be 55 years old or more. Associate members can be any age. Dues are paid annually.

Anchor-Age Center must engage in fund raising activities to cover the approximately $350,000 annual operating obligation. Anchor-Age operates a restaurant, a gift shop, catering services, individual room and facility rental as funding raising tools. Anchor-Age also sponsors fund raising with annual community events such as the fall bazaar, spring plant sale, book sales, raffles, and monthly events such as dances.

http://anchorageseniorcenter.org/aacpage.htm