LeadingAge Florida and USF Offer New Professional ALF Core Training Course By Nick Van Der Linden, Director of Communications, LeadingAge Florida

quire wireless access to operate and to communicate with other devices and the patient’s electronic health record.

You also need a willingness of a facility’s chief executive officer to be supportive of a pilot program in a digital technology. You also have to have a cadre of people in the organiza tion who are product champions, who really want to try something like virtual reality view ers or pet robots for Alzheimer’s patients. For example, there is a good body of evidence to in dicate that robot pets calm people with dementia, and they are increasingly a feature of memory care units. So, you might initiate a pilot program where you would get five to 10 of the devices and have them available for patients. track their usage, make observations about what works and what doesn’t, and make your findings more widely known. You should keep your board fully informed and go to events like LeadingAge Florida’s convention to hear speak ers and view vendor-sponsored exhibits.

What do you think the future of elder care looks like?

There are four compelling reasons why I think technology is going play a very signifi cant role in the future of past acute care.

T he first is a concept called aging in place, and that describes staying in the home of your choice for as long as you are able. For example, my wife and I are both almost 80 years old. We prefer to stay and live independently for as long as we’re able to, and we are not alone in that desire. If technology can help us do that, we’ll adopt it.

Second, there are patients who are in nursing homes and residents in assisted living facilities, and the digital health technologies have the potential to improve the quality and quantity of their care.

Third, it isn’t unusual for parents to be in Florida and their daughter or son to be reside in a different state such as PennsylvaBy Nick Van Der Linden, Director of Communications, LeadingAge Florida nia or Michigan. How do they stay in touch with each other? How do the kids know that their folks are taking their medications on time and they’re being protected against falls? Digital health technologies which offer remote patient monitoring services will certainly help.

The fourth reason is that there aren’t enough caregivers available to meet the needs of those people requiring personal care. Not long ago, AARP had predicted that in 2020 there will be three people that need care and only one caregiver available. It’s a huge gap! And by 2030, AARP predicts that there will be four people needing care and only one person available to provide it. This huge manpower deficit cannot be resolved by hiring and training more people. If technology can do something to make the organization more efficient, effective, or safer for patients, then it’s going to play a very

LeadingAge Florida and USF Offer New Professional ALF Core Training Course

significant role.

LeadingAge Florida is proud to partner with the University of South Florida on a new professional, convenient, and online ALF Core Training course for prospective assisted living administrators, or those interested in learning about assisted living.

This one-of-a-kind course is exclusively online and provides regularly scheduled interactive discussion sessions with industry experts. Students may work at their own pace from anywhere and on almost any device to complete the 26-hour course. Students can register for this course at any time and get started immediately.

“We are very proud to partner with the University of South Florida to offer this unique, online approach to Core Training,” said Steve Bahmer, President and CEO of LeadingAge Florida. “Their depth of expertise and the quality of the programming, combined with the expertise of Susan An

derson, our Director of Assisted Living Public Policy, and the experience of our member assisted living communities make it a truly one-of-a-kind educational opportunity.”

The course instructor is approved Core Trainer Dr. Kathryn Hyer, professor in the School of Aging Studies at the University of South Florida and an international expert on long-term care. Weekly 30-minute online sessions feature Dr. Hyer, LeadingAge Florida’s Susan Anderson, ALF administrators, and specialists. They will answer questions, provide additional information, and help you in your pursuit of an assisted living license.

“I am excited to bring together the expertise of our professors at the USF School of Aging Studies with the regulatory and operations experience brought by LeadingAge Florida and its members,” said Kathy Hyer, who is also a professor and Director for the Florida Policy Exchange Center on Aging. “While all core courses must cover the same required material, we hope to differentiate our program with weekly live chat sessions, discussion board assignments, and opportunities to learn more about why things are structured the way they are. All sessions will be recorded and posted for at least two months. Our goal is to not only help you pass the exam, but to learn how to be an administrator who runs a quality assisted living program.”

The course meets the requirements established in Florida Statute 429.52 and Florida Administrative Code 59A-36.011 and prepares students to pass the core exam to become an administrator.

Upon successful completion of this 26- hour course, students will receive a certificate of completion, which will allow them to register to take the state core competency exam.