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Life Expectancy Work Group

Co-Leaders and Members

Co-Leaders

Name
Co-Leader Type
Title
Organization
Heather G. Carter, M.A.
NCDHHS
Dementia Services Coordinator
NC Department of Health and Human Services
Amy Joy Lanou, PhD Organization Director, North Carolina Institute for Public Health; Professor, Public Health Leadership Program UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health
Martha Y. Zimmerman, PT, MA Ed Community Western North Carolina Falls Prevention Coalition
Liaison to the NC Falls Prevention Coalition
CHAMP Coordinator at the McDowell Senior Center		 Western North Carolina Falls Prevention Coalition
Liaison to the NC Falls Prevention Coalition
CHAMP Coordinator at the McDowell Senior Center
 
Work Group Members
Name
Title
Organization
Jenni Danai, MPH Chief Mission Delivery Officer Lung Cancer Initiative
Zenobia Edwards, MAT, EdS, EdD Executive Director Old North State Medical Society
Brandie W. Garner, MSW, CRS-A/D Aging Services Coordinator Mid-East Commission Area Agency on Aging
Phillip Gibson Division of Health Service Regulation, Radiation Protection Section NC Department of Health and Human Services
Lindsey Golden Advocacy Manager Alzheimer's Association
Mark Hensley Associate State Director of Community Outreach and Advocacy AARP NC Triad Region
Kathryn Higdon RN, MSN, NC-BN, RD, LDN Senior Director Population Health Alliance Health
Jeff Jones Project Manager, Social Bridging Project North Carolina Center for Health and Wellness
Sue Lynn Ledford, DrPH, MPA, BSN, RN Executive Director Four Square Community Action
Amy Perry Director of Pharmacy Services Alliance Health
Laura Jane Ward-Strunin Project C.A.R.E. Director/Alzheimer's Support Specialist NC Department of Health and Human Services
Divya Venkataganesan, MPH Human Services Planner/Evaluator, State Aging Plan NC Department of Health and Human Services
Tasha Woodall Co-Director MAHEC Center for Healthy Aging

Updated 4/9/2024

Priorities

2023-2024 Priorities 

  • Brain Health and Dementia Care
    • Utilize inclusive formats to educate individuals, caregivers, and healthcare providers, including direct care and community health workers, about cognitive decline risk factors, including screening for potential hearing loss and evidence-based interventions to support brain health.
    • Encourage effective screening and diagnostic assessment to identify early signs of cognitive decline risk factors and dementia to reduce risk, slow decline and manage symptoms.
    • Improve awareness and advocacy throughout North Carolina for services available for people with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD), including financial implications and options across long term-care.
  • Falls Prevention
    • Foster partnerships with traditional and nontraditional agencies and organizations to advocate and increase awareness of shared risk and protective factors of falls.
    • Promote the utilization of fall screenings, assessments, and appropriate interventions.
    • Educate individuals, caregivers, and healthcare providers about falls and associated risk factors by providing consistent and quality falls prevention information and resources for providers across the continuum of care.
  • Radon Testing and Mitigation
    • Reduce exposure to radon including through increasing grant funds to eligible homeowners for mitigation, improving access to free radon test kits and education, and requiring public schools, licensed child and adult day care facilities, and long-term care facilities to test and mitigate for high levels of radon.

Action Plan

Brain Health and Dementia Care

Policy Priority

Action Steps

Utilize inclusive formats to educate individuals, caregivers, and healthcare providers, including direct care and community health workers, about cognitive decline risk factors, including screening for potential hearing loss and evidence-based interventions to support brain health.

Support utilizing NC Caregiver Portal, https://nc-caregivers.com/.

Identify resources for screening for potential hearing loss.

Promote BOLD toolkit.

Promote dementia friends programming and opportunities to become dementia friendly businesses.

Promote inclusive formats in a variety of languages, including social media, print, radio, billboards, television advertisements, etc.

Support faith-based communities, including the North Carolina Council of Churches, in sharing this information.

Determine if the memory care unit list is available on NCCare360.

Compile a list of memory care units across the state.

Ensure DHHS websites are created with Drupal (able to be translated into other languages).

Grow dementia friendly communities and hospitals network and geriatric mental health specialty teams to provide training on mental health diagnoses and dementia.

Improve access for caregivers with patients in health care settings.

Utilize existing networks for the dissemination of information.

Educate senior centers and staff of LME/MCOs about access to care for people with dementia.

Encourage effective screening and diagnostic assessment to identify early signs of cognitive decline risk factors and dementia to reduce risk, slow decline and manage symptoms.

 

Improve awareness and advocacy throughout North Carolina for services available for people with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD), including financial implications and options across long term-care.

Find a state-to-state comparison for caregiving.

Educate the general population on what is available for long-term care is needed.

Long-term care insurance, Opportunities for restructuring long-term care insurance (like flexible spending account- FSA).

    • Encourage employers to offer long-term care insurance for employees and their families.
    • Educate the public on when it is an appropriate time to consider long-term care insurance.

Support data modernization and interoperability of medical record systems.

Increase awareness of patient advocacy, including power of attorney education.

Educate the NC STHL (Senior Tar Heel Legislature) delegates and alternates.

Include the Secretary's Office of Health Equity in awareness and advocacy efforts.

Falls Prevention

Policy Priority

Action Steps

Foster partnerships with traditional and nontraditional agencies and organizations to advocate and increase awareness of shared risk and protective factors of falls.

Referral pathways for clients at falls risk to community evidence-based falls prevention programs, to rehab care providers, other health care providers depending on the individual’s special need to help prevent falls

Ensure all counties have access to community-based falls prevention program

Financial support for statewide falls prevention campaigns and special needs such as PACE expansion, community-based falls prevention programs: Tai Chi, A Matter of Balance, Otago, CHAMP, etc.

Make “Best Geriatric Practice” part of standard curriculum for all entry level health care providers in NC universities, community colleges and all higher education providers.

Education of PCP, Medical Office Assistants, to add more than screening; to assess for appropriate referral, based on assessments (required in Medicare’s Annual Wellness visits)

Expansion of PACE to all counties but especially to counties with high hospitalization, ED visits and deaths from falls, or high demographics of adults 65 and older, and low income

Promote the utilization of fall screenings, assessments, and appropriate interventions.

Training for providers on appropriate screening and interventions; based on CDC Steady data.

Host multi-disciplinary sessions on falls prevention at state and regional conferences.

Educate individuals, caregivers, and healthcare providers about falls and associated risk factors by providing consistent and quality falls prevention information and resources for providers across the continuum of care.

Education about falls and associated risk factors

Link information on housing and home modifications/ improvements for falls prevention to other related sites.

Radon Testing and Mitigation 

Policy Priority

Action Steps

Reduce exposure to radon including through increasing grant funds to eligible homeowners for mitigation, improving access to free radon test kits and education, and requiring public schools, licensed child and adult day care facilities, and long-term care facilities to test and mitigate for high levels of radon.

Consider recommendations from the North Carolina Cancer Control Plan.

Consider recommendations from The Andrea Harris Social, Economic, Environmental, and Health Equity Task Force.

Consider recommendations from the NC Department of Health and Humans Services priority of Child and Family Wellbeing.

Include radon testing recommendations in all tobacco cessation programs and materials.

Improve access to free radon test kits, particularly to historically marginalized populations.

Support the North Carolina Housing Finance Agency by increasing grant funds to support the installation of radon mitigation systems among homeowners financially eligible.

Encourage those providing rental housing to test for and address elevated radon levels in order to provide a safe and habitable environment.

Consider The National Comprehensive Cancer Network recommendations to begin low-dose computed tomography (LDCT) screening at age 50 for individuals with at least 20 pack-years of exposure if they have documented high radon exposure.

Consider recommendations from the North Carolina Cancer Control Plan.

Meeting Schedule

2023-2024 Life Expectancy Work Group Meeting Schedule:

  • Tuesday, October 24, 2023, from 2:00 to 4:00 pm, Microsoft Teams
  • Tuesday, January 23, 2024, from 1:00 to 3:00 pm, Microsoft Teams
  • Tuesday, April 23, 2024, from 1:00 to 3:00 pm, Microsoft Teams
  • Tuesday, June 25, 2024, from 1:00 to 3:00 pm, Microsoft Teams

Meeting Notes

Tuesday, April 23, 2024, from 1:00 to 3:00 pm, Microsoft Teams- Work Group Meeting

Attendees: Heather Carter, Dr. Zenobia Edwards, Brandie Garner, Phillip Gibson, Kathryn Higdon, Amy Lanou, Laura Jane Ward-Strunin, Martha Zimmerman; Staff: Ashley Rink

  • Welcome and Agenda Overview
    • Heather Carter welcomed everyone and asked for introductions.
  • Priority Review
    • At the work group meeting on January 23, 2024, the first priority under Falls Prevention was revised to:
    • Foster partnerships with traditional and nontraditional agencies and organizations to advocate and increase awareness of shared risk and protective factors of falls.
    • Phillip Gibson shared legislation passed that now requires the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction to test all schools for radon and carbon monoxide.
    • Laura Jane Ward-Strunin shared key data points and statistics related to Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD) for North Carolina.
    • The group began action planning for the priorities related to Brain Health and Dementia Care.
  • Action Planning
    • The group reviewed updates and identified next steps for the action steps for the priorities related to Brain Health and Dementia Care and Falls Prevention. 
  • Review of Action Steps
    • Action steps with next steps are included on pages 2 to 4 in red. Refer to linked documents for all action steps, notes/ updates, and next steps.
  • Plan for the next meeting June 18, 2024, from 1:00 to 3:00 pm
    • At the next meeting the group will focus on action planning for the  priorities related to Falls Prevention and Radon.
  • Adjourn
    • The NC SHIP Community Council Annual Meeting will be held in July 2024. The date should be saved within the next month or so. Additional guidance will be provided prior to the meeting with talking points highlighting the work done across the Community Council.
    • The meeting ended at 2:28 pm.

Tuesday, January 23, 2024, from 1:00 to 3:00 pm, Microsoft Teams- Work Group Meeting

Attendees: Heather Carter, Dr. Zenobia Edwards, Brandie Garner, Phillip Gibson, Scott Herrick, Amy Lanou, Laura Ward, Martha Zimmerman; Staff: Ashley Rink

  • Welcome and Agenda Overview
    • Heather Carter welcomed everyone and asked for introductions.
  • Priority Review
    • The group reviewed the priorities identified at the work group meeting on October 24, 2023. Additional revisions to the priorities are included in red.
    • Falls Prevention
      • Foster partnerships with traditional and nontraditional agencies and organizations to advocate and increase awareness of shared risk and protective factors of falls
      • Promote the utilization of fall screenings, assessments, and appropriate interventions
      • Educate individuals, caregivers, and healthcare providers about falls and associated risk factors by providing consistent and quality falls prevention information and resources for providers across the continuum of care
    • Radon Testing and Mitigation
      • Reduce exposure to radon including through increasing grant funds to eligible homeowners for mitigation, improving access to free radon test kits and education, and requiring public schools, licensed child and adult day care facilities, and long-term care facilities to test and mitigate for high levels of radon
    • Brain Health and Dementia Care
      • Utilize inclusive formats to educate individuals, caregivers, and healthcare providers, including direct care and community health workers, about cognitive decline risk factors, including screening for potential hearing loss and evidence-based interventions to support brain health
      • Encourage effective screening and diagnostic assessment to identify early signs of cognitive decline risk factors and dementia to reduce risk, slow decline and manage symptoms
      • Improve awareness and advocacy throughout North Carolina for services available for people with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD), including financial implications and options across long term-care
    • The following updates were shared.
      • Phillip Gibson shared legislation passed that now requires the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction to test all schools for radon and carbon monoxide. The legislation does not mention radon mitigation. There are resources available to them with their process.
      • Laura Ward shared key data points and statistics related to Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD) for North Carolina.
  • Action Planning
    • The group began discussing action steps related to brain health and dementia care priorities.
  • Plan for the next meeting April 23, 2024, from 1:00 to 3:00 pm
    • At the next meeting the group will review the action plans from the 2022-2023 Life Expectancy Work Group. The group will narrow down action steps to identify what needs to happen and what organization/ how could the action steps be implemented.

Tuesday, October 24, 2023, from 2:00 to 4:00 pm, Microsoft Teams- Work Group Meeting

Attendees: Heather Carter, Martha Zimmerman, Divya V., Laura Ward, Philip Gibson, Dr. Zenobia Edwards, Scott Herrick; Staff: Hannah McDiarmid and Ashley Rink

  • Welcome and Agenda Overview
    • Heather Carter welcomed everyone and asked for introductions. The icebreaker question was what their favorite thing about fall was.
    • Grounding and Level Setting
    • The Year of Action asks, roles and expectations, timeline, Indicator 21: Life Expectancy were reviewed. 
  • Priority Review
    • The purpose of the priority review was to determine if the priorities were clearly stated, were actionable, were resourced, and if they would continue to be a priority.
    • Refer to the priority section for the work group's updated priorities for 2023-2024.
  • Action Planning
    • The next steps for the work group were as follows.
      • Martha will share a link to the updated Falls Coalition Action Plan.
      • Heather will email DPI contact about radon testing.
      • Heather, Martha, and Amy have a planning meeting on January 16, 2024.
      • Laura will gather specific measures and data related to Alzheimer’s Disease and related dementias (ADRD) to start the list.
  • Closing
    • At the next meeting the group will discuss continuing education training for providers, including family practice physicians (NC Academy of Family Physicians) about life expectancy elements, fall prevention, brain health, and radon. This could be an opportunity to engage MAHEC/ AHEC.

Readings/Listenings

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