Save the Date: TB Prevention & Control and Reportable Disease Regulations for Assisted Living Communities – February 13 @ 1 p.m.

Author Archives: Rebecca Pfalzgraf

Meet PPL Therapeutic Services, PLLC

At PPL Therapeutic Services, PLLC, we are Kentucky’s premiere provider of mental and behavioral health services to residents in senior living communities such as yours. Our clinical staff includes psychiatrists, psychiatric nurse practitioners, psychologists, licensed clinical social workers, licensed marriage and family therapists, and licensed psychological clinical counselors. These practitioners provide exceptional, face-to-face care to residents in their senior living communities.

 

Unlike our out-of-state and ultra-large corporate competitors, we specialize in one thing: In-Home, Mental and Behavioral Health Services for your residents.

 

We have been sponsoring members of KSLA for several years because we recognize and support the important work you do for your residents, and we want to help you by sponsoring training opportunities and other activities such as conference events.

 

But we want to help your residents too! Some examples of how we can provide care for your residents include:

  • We can provide counseling to residents who may be experiencing feelings of depression or are struggling during the transition to their new home in senior living.
  • We can help residents who are dealing with issues of grief or the loss of a loved one.
  • We can assist residents who may feel anxious or worried and are having difficulty dealing with changes they may be experiencing.
  • We can provide medical oversight for psychotropic medications, working to ensure the resident is on the lowest dose of medication necessary.

 

But don't just take our word for it, Click Here to hear from Joe Guy, Executive Director from Magnolia Springs Florence, as he shares his experience with PPL.

 

Let's talk about how we can assist you and your residents by bringing mental and behavioral health services to your residents in 2024!

 

Jeffrey L. Hicks, PhD, HSP

President/Licensed Psychologist

Email Dr. Hicks

Phone: 502-262-2887

 

Tish Stewart, RN, Licensed Nursing Home Administrator

Vice President of Operations

Email Tish Stewart

Phone: 502-552-2962

 

Bob White

Former Kentucky Senior Living Association Executive Director

Email Bob White

502-727-7469

Meet PPL Therapeutic Services, PLLC

Meet PPL Therapeutic Services, PLLC

At PPL Therapeutic Services, PLLC, we are Kentucky’s premiere provider of mental and behavioral health services to residents in senior living communities such as yours. Our clinical staff includes psychiatrists, psychiatric nurse practitioners, psychologists, licensed clinical social workers, licensed marriage and family therapists, and licensed psychological clinical counselors. These practitioners provide exceptional, face-to-face care to residents in their senior living communities.

 

Unlike our out-of-state and ultra-large corporate competitors, we specialize in one thing: In-Home, Mental and Behavioral Health Services for your residents.

 

We have been sponsoring members of KSLA for several years because we recognize and support the important work you do for your residents, and we want to help you by sponsoring training opportunities and other activities such as conference events.

But we want to help your residents too! Some examples of how we can provide care for your residents include:

  • We can provide counseling to residents who may be experiencing feelings of depression or are struggling during the transition to their new home in senior living.
  • We can help residents who are dealing with issues of grief or the loss of a loved one.
  • We can assist residents who may feel anxious or worried and are having difficulty dealing with changes they may be experiencing.
  • We can provide medical oversight for psychotropic medications, working to ensure the resident is on the lowest dose of medication necessary.

But don't just take our word for it, Click Here to hear from Joe Guy, Executive Director from Magnolia Springs Florence, as he shares his experience with PPL.

Let's talk about how we can assist you and your residents by bringing mental and behavioral health services to your residents in 2024!

Jeffrey L. Hicks, PhD, HSP

President/Licensed Psychologist

Email Dr. Hicks

Phone: 502-262-2887

Tish Stewart, RN, Licensed Nursing Home Administrator

Vice President of Operations

Email Tish Stewart

Phone: 502-552-2962

Bob White

Former Kentucky Senior Living Association Executive Director

Email Bob White

502-727-7469

You're Invited to Participate in a University of Kentucky Study re: Supportive Care Programs for Persons with Dementia

Alaine Reschke-Hernandez, Assistant Professor of Music Therapy at the University of Kentucky, is seeking care facilities in Kentucky that provide care to persons with dementia for a qualitative research study. Alaine and her team want to improve understanding of complementary and supportive care programs (i.e., non-pharmacological), such as music therapy and rec therapy. They would like to understand clinically meaningful outcomes of these programs for persons with dementia, from the perspective of care staff. They would like your help connecting with care staff at your facility. If you agree to help, they will provide you with an advertisement to distribute to your care staff. Care staff can then volunteer by contacting Alaine’s research team. If you agree to help, a member of Alaine’s team would need to do one site observation to better understand your care environment.

 

If interested, please contact Alaine’s research team at Alaine.ReschkeHernandez@uky.edu or 859-257-4536. They will partner with a total of 6 rural and urban for-profit and non-profit care facilities in Kentucky.

 

Before engaging in this research, you must complete a letter of agreement, which you can review at https://docs.google.com/document/d/1iaS5q8PqY6TjP2OPY29vsSSTSSRrE-m4aCgqM9V7leo/edit?usp=sharing.

 

To learn more about Alaine, visit https://imagnlab.createuky.net/.

Save the Date: TB Prevention & Control and Reportable Disease Regulations for Assisted Living Communities - February 13 @ 1 p.m.

Recently, I've been speaking with Emily Anderson, BSN, RN, TB Program Controller/Manager from the Kentucky Department for Public Health, Division of Epidemiology and Health Planning (EPI) about providing some education to KSLA providers regarding TB screening and testing requirements for Kentucky assisted living communities.

 

What has resulted from those conversations is the creation of a webinar (and breakout session at the annual KSLA Conference) that will answer all the questions you could ever think to ask about TB screening and testing, a new requirement for residents and staff of assisted living communities in Kentucky.

 

In addition to the portion about TB screening and testing, there will also be education provided in the webinar regarding the reportable disease regulations for all assisted living communities.

 

This is a CE-earning opportunity! The webinar will be held at 1 p.m. EST on Tuesday, February 13. Registration details are pending. In the meantime, you may contact Tim Raymer at Tim.Raymer@ky.gov for more information or if you have any questions.

 

And don't despair - if you can't attend the webinar, we will have a breakout session on "Everything You Need to Know about TB Screening and Testing" at this year's KSLA Conference & Exhibition!

KSLA Advocacy Day in Frankfort - Wednesday, January 31, 2024

You're invited to join us for KSLA's Advocacy Day in Frankfort! This is your opportunity to meet with key lawmakers on matters of importance to the senior living industry.

 

It's important to meet with legislators because we need them to be aware of situations where we may ask for their support - situations like the DHBC occupancy use code issue that we've been discussing with KSLA providers. This is a significant issue that will affect residents of assisted living communities that were built to "residential" occupancy use code, and who intend to license as an ALC-BH or ALC-DC. KSLA will provide a one-page talking points document for you to use when meeting with your legislators.

 

Plan to arrive at the Capitol Annex, room 125 at 8:30 a.m. And, allow extra time to get into the building - the lines can be quite lengthy. Have your ID ready.

 

We've invited Inspector General David Lovely to speak to our group to kick off our day. We may also invite a lawmaker or two to address our group - I'll keep you posted as plans progress.

 

Don't know who your lawmakers are? Go to Find My Legislator to find out! Simply type your community's address in the search bar, then scroll down and click on the blue location tag. Scroll back up and your State Representative and Senator names and photos will be listed there. Click on "View Bio Page" to read a little about them, the committees they're on, and how to contact their office to schedule a brief meeting with them for January 31.

 

For directions to the Capitol Annex, click Here. For a map of public entrances and parking, click Here.

Now Accepting Nominations for the KSLA Board of Directors

The Kentucky Senior Living Association (KSLA)’s 2024 Nominating Committee is pleased to accept nominations for six provider member seats for election to the KSLA Board of Directors:

  • President, two-year term;
  • Vice-President, two-year term;
  • Secretary, two-year term; and
  • Three Member At-Large seats, 2-year terms

 

In addition, Kentucky Senior Living Association is also accepting nominations for the Associate Board member seat, a two-year term.

 

By February 23, 2024, providers may nominate themselves or another provider member for one of the six provider member seats. Associate members may nominate themselves or another associate member for the Associate Board member seat. Elected Directors for these seven board seats begin their terms of service on July 1, 2024.

 

KSLA has eight elected Directors, each of whom shall be the owner of, or employed by, a provider member, and one associate member representative, and the immediate past president, which position shall be non-voting. Four of the elected provider member Directors shall be the officers, and four of the elected provider member Directors shall represent the membership at-large.

 

Click Here to nominate yourself or someone else for a seat on the KSLA Board of Directors by February 23, 2024. The Board election will take place at the KSLA Annual Conference, March 13-14.

Happy New Year!

Please accept our sincere gratitude for all you do, each and every day, for our senior adults! There is no doubt in our minds that the lives you impact are healthier and happier because of the love, compassion, and dedication that you pour into the population we serve.

 

We’re pleased to share that we closed 2023 with 132 provider members, and a diverse mix of 40 companies included in our membership as associate members. We appreciate the trust that each of you place in KSLA and look forward to serving seniors with you for a long, long time!

 

Our 2023 Annual Conference was held on May 17-18 in Louisville. Our events included ten excellent education sessions, two informative general sessions, and an amazing awards luncheon with 26 nominees, including our six winners. Each nomination was inspiring and gave indisputable evidence of the dedicated, compassionate, and amazing heroes who serve our seniors every day! We received a dynamite keynote address given by Kim Becking that included strategies for shifting our mindset from a place of burnout and stress to putting intentionality behind how we show up every single day. Kim had our attendees on their feet, shouting, and rocking out to Guns & Roses! My favorite takeaway from her talk was that we need to resign as the “General Manager of the Universe,” and she wasn’t wrong!

 

We held regional workshops on the new ALC regulations, in four areas of the Commonwealth, in July and August. In total, 166 providers attended these all-day workshops, which were led by Mark Lee, Paragon Development Group and Sheila Carter, Heartsong Memory Care. We’d like to thank everyone who participated in the workshops, and extend special thanks to our leaders, Mark & Sheila, for their willingness to plan and lead those important sessions for us.

 

The work to modernize Kentucky Assisted Living that began in 2019 continued throughout 2023. As of this date, we’re waiting for the enforcement of the ALC regulations, and anticipate that to begin sometime in Q1, 2024. We’re awaiting final approval of the Kentucky Board of Nursing regulations regarding the training and credentialing of Certified Medication Aides I & II, and our work to resolve occupancy use code issues with existing AL buildings is ongoing. There was a proposed amendment to the Personal Care regulations, filed on December 6, 2023, that we don’t expect to affect KSLA providers, as it isn’t expected to go into effect until after the new ALC regulations are being enforced. As always, we’ll keep you informed as things develop.

 

Looking ahead to 2024, mark your calendars for our KSLA Advocacy Day in Frankfort on January 31, 2024. We expect this to be a significant opportunity for us to visit with lawmakers and ask for their support on matters that are vital to senior living; specifically, the occupancy use code issue for current assisted living providers who intend to license as an ALC-BH or ALC-DC community. There is no better way to effect change than through grassroots efforts! Make sure you know who your senators and state representatives are, and plan to join us in January at the Capitol! More information to come …

 

Also, please mark your calendars for KSLA’s Annual Conference & Exhibition March 13-14, 2024. Another “first” for us is that the 2024 Conference will be somewhere other than Louisville. This year, we’ll explore a new venue, The Campbell House in Lexington! Planning has already begun for this event, and we hope you’ll join us at this beautiful boutique hotel. Our keynote speaker will be “The Iron Jen,” an Ironman triathlete, winner of two U.S. Olympic Festival Medals, a Minnesota Hall of Fame inductee, and a fire service captain, safety office, firefighter and first responder, with over 20 years in hospital administration. Jen has a deep appreciation for those working in high stress environments and we can’t wait to hear the message she brings to this year’s conference! Watch your eBlasts in January for more information. Our conference dates were selected with the anticipated enforcement date of the ALC regulations in mind, so there will be a quick turnround on registration, and be ready to submit your nominations for our awards program and the KSLA Board of Directors in January and early February!

 

We hope you’ve been receiving eBlasts from us. These emails include information relevant to our members and the senior living industry in Kentucky and we hope you’re finding them useful. If you’re not receiving these regular communications, please contact Rebecca at Rebecca@KentuckySeniorLiving.org and she’ll make sure your contact information is current and that you begin receiving them as soon as possible.

 

And finally …

 

You should have received the invoice for your annual membership dues investment for 2024 yesterday via email. As in the past, your dues investment provides you access to KSLA benefits such as advocacy support, regulatory updates, opportunities to serve on leadership committees, timely communications, educational opportunities, consumer referrals, and more. Attached to yesterday's email was a copy of KSLA's W-9 for 2024 as well as this letter, and a new policy regarding the establishment of rates for, and payment of, membership dues, conference & workshop registrations for 2024. You can access copies of the W-9 and the policy by clicking the buttons below.

 

On behalf of KSLA’s elected leadership and fellow members, thank you for the trust you place in us, and for your continued membership and support. We pledge to serve you well in 2024!

 

All the best,

 

Susan Matherly, President & Rebecca Pfalzgraf, Executive Director

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