Agency Meetings & Activities in February

GWAAR Leadership Institute

GWAAR staff Bob Kellerman, Lyndsay Dekeyser, and Valeree Lecey attended the February session of the GWAAR Leadership Institute. This month participants focused on building and leading high-performance teams.

Care Transitions

Janell Keeter participated in a Health Care Transitions meeting in Eau Claire on February 23.

Supporting an Aging LGBT Community 

2012 Aging Network Conference

Volunteerism
Staff:  Janell Keeter & Lyndsay DeKeyser

February Activities:  

Visit GWAAR's website for more information on Plans, Amendments, and Assessments

February Activities:

Carrie participated in the second LogistiCare Advisory Council meeting that was convened in Wausau on February 23, 2012. Several policy issues were discussed including the policy about meals and lodging for MA members with long-distance medical appointments. Input on this potential policy change will be taken at the May meeting. An update on this and other Medicaid and transportation issues was sent out at the end of February.

Carrie is actively providing technical assistance in the areas of Transportation Coordinating Committees and  regional public transit.  She is also member of an advisory committee for a grant project in Portage County -- one of four awarded nationally - to address rural transportation needs.

Carrie was a co-presenter for a webinar about partnership-building and lessons from Wisconsin Mobility Management Program that was hosted by MinDOT. She also attended the Wisconsin Association of Mobility Management (WAMM) training session.

Medicare Education & Counseling

Staff: Peg Nugent (Statewide Medicare Trainer & Counselor/MIPPA Coordinator), Jane Mahoney (Eau Claire, Clark, and Dunn Counties), Debbie Bisswurm (Waukesha County)

February Activities: 

Peg Nugent consolidated and reported Medicare Improvements for Medicare Improvement for Patients and Providers Act (MIPPA) outreach and enrollment efforts through 2011. Over 18,000 people on Medicare in Wisconsin have been helped to save at least $51 million over the course of this outreach.  See more
  

Peg also trained eight additional benefit specialists or MIPPA outreach specialists on strategies and requirements for successful MIPPA outreach and enrollment efforts and, along with Debbie Bisswurm,  conducted the quarterly conference call for MIPPA awardees.

At the request of State Health Insurance Program (SHIP) Director Rita Cairns, Peg convened and facilitated a strategic planning meeting for SHIP outreach efforts in Milwaukee County.

Peg presented to Tribal Benefit Specialists and health center professionals at the Tribal Benefit Specialist Training on February 24.

As the GWAAR contact for Virtual PACE, Peg continued to participate in conference calls with n4a, Medicare Rights, the national SHIP agency, and statewide advocates.  She compiled a comprehensive list of concerns and questions with input from aging and disability advocacy agencies throughout the state and submitted this for consideration to the Virtual PACE team at DHS.  She also attended the Wisconsin Aging Network Advocacy meeting and drafted a letter of concerns from that group to DHS Secretary Dennis Smith and the Virtual PACE team.

In addition, Peg was recommended to represent GWAAR and agencies on the Stakeholder Advisory Committee to guide the development and possible implementation of Virtual PACE.  

Jane Mahoney did a "Medicare and You" presentation at the May Health System in Menomonie.  In addition, she did a presentation about the Affordable Care Act and ADRC services at senior apartments in Eau Claire and had a Medicare/MIPPA vendor booth at a senior event in Menomonie.  

Jane wrote an article for distribution titled, "Medicare's Annual Wellness Visit" and created placemats with Medicare and MIPPA information to be used at local church fish fries. 

Debbie Bisswurm began the process of updating the Medicare Resource Kits that are located throughout the county, with the most current Medicare materials including the MIPPA brochure and the Low Income Subsidy (LIS)/Medicare Savings Program (MSP) and SeniorCare sheet reflecting the new income limits. She continued outreach to the area churches by distributing materials, meeting with staff, and discussing possible presentations to senior groups.

Debbie also distributed Medicare materials and met with social service staff at a local hospital and clinics.  She also provided materials and met with the coordinator of senior programs at a local YMCA.

Find more information about GWAAR's Medicare Counseling and Training project. 

 

February Activities:

The team participated in a National Family Cargiver Support Program (NFCSP) training planning committee conference call on February 6.  The NFCSP Trainings will be held May 24 (Rice Lake), June 5 (Appleton), July 12 (La Crosse), and August 9 (Jefferson). 

The team also met via conference call on February 21 to discuss the group's upcoming American Society on Aging (ASA) Conference presentation titled, "Coalitions:  The Wave of the Future in a Poor Economy."  Also on the agenda were website updates, a review of the 2011 Caregiver Coalition Grant reports, a National Alliance for Caregiving n4a Conference update, and a protocol for tracking technical assistance interactions.

Jane Mahoney presented a workshop titled, "Positive Caregiving," at the St. Croix Tribal Caregiver Conference on February 15.

Claire Culbertson formed a Caregiver Coalition Advisory Group (composed of representatives from four counties) to identify best practices and projects of the 29 Wisconsin coalitions that received GWAAR Caregiver Coalition grants.

Claire identified four additional counties interested in developing Share The Care Stations in their area: La Crosse, Monroe, Marinette, and Ashland. She continued to work with the existing Stations - Waupaca, Racine, Rock County, and Appleton - to provide supportive materials to advertise the Stations. She continues to work with Kris Krasnowski to develop the promotional materials.

Claire initiated  a handout to accompany her ASA poster session highlighting GWAAR's work with Share The Care Station development.

Learn more about GWAAR's Family Caregiver Support Program activities and technical assistance 

Team:  Jill Ballard, Lyndsay DeKeyser, Janell Keeter, Valeree Lecy, Pam VanKampen

February Activities:

The team is part of the Prevention Summit Planning Committee and met twice in February (on the  13th and 20th).  Titled "Collaborations in Healthy Aging," the  Summit will be held June 12-13, 2012, at Bridgewood Resort and Conference Center in Neenah. 

The team is also part of the Evidence-Based Prevention Program Planning Coordinating Committee (EBPPCC) and met on February 14. Items discussed included updates on Living Well and Stepping On classes, funding updates, WIHA's website and newsletter, and an EBPP local technical assistance plan flow chart.

The team had two conference calls in February (13th & 27th) to discuss these topics:  American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) grant, website updates, Living Well coordination efforts with the Tribes, 2012 Employee Wellness initiatives, team goal updates, the possiblity of a 2012 III-D carry over project, the Leader Coaching technical assistance  process, National Wellness Conference proposals, Dr. Mahoney's work group request, and Living Well refresher trainings.

Valeree worked with Dr. Jane Mahoney (Community-Academic Aging Research Network), Sherri Ohly (Milwaukee Area Health Education Center), and others in activities aimed at translating the Stepping On program into Spanish.

Valeree continued participation in the Centers for Health Enhancement System Studies (CHESS) activities related to Stepping On with Dr. Mahoney through the Active Aging Research Center housed at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Living Well

Several Living Well Leader Trainings took place in February.   Jill Ballard, Valeree, and Joyce Lubben (Rock Co.)  facilitated a leader training in Monroe where nine new Living Well leaders were trained; an additonal nine new leaders were trained in Green Bay by Janell and Tina Pospychala (Oneida Tribe); and Pam VanKampen and Leslie Fijalkiewicz (Barron Co.) facilitated a training in Maple producing 11 new leaders.   

Pam conducted a Living Well Fidelity Coaching Session in Douglas County.