St. Joseph of the Pines will welcome regional health care professionals across multiple disciplines when it hosts the annual Patient Centered Care for the Older Adult conference in March.
“It is an opportunity for health care providers to come together and learn how to better care for older adults,” said Kimberly Morton, a registered nurse who is Director of Assisted Living at St. Joseph of the Pines. “Our main goal is to provide these professionals with the knowledge and skills to improve health outcomes and the quality of care for older adults.”
The two-day event will be conducted by the Southern Regional Area Health Education Center in Fayetteville with partial support from a federal grant secured by the Center for Aging and Health at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
“We are honored to partner with Southern Regional AHEC on this leading-edge conference and have the opportunity to hear experts in the field present on some of the most relevant topics in health care delivery to the geriatric population,” Morton said.
Those topics include Care Management: Navigating the System, GEMS Brain Change Model, Patient Centered Brain Health, End of Life Issues for the Older Adult, Chronic Care Management, Health Literacy for the Older Adult, and Hospital Elder Life Program (HELP).
Dr. Andrea Novak, administrator of nursing, allied & public health continuing education at Southern Regional AHEC, said “a holistic approach” will be utilized.
“Our population is aging and we must be able to provide our health care professionals with the knowledge and skills to effectively care for and meet their unique health care needs,” said Novak, who is also the conference coordinator.
The conference will be held March 8-9 in the Fordham Room at Belle Meade in Southern Pines. Attendees who register by Feb. 28 will pay $180 for both days, and $110 for one day. Group discounts are available.
“We strongly encourage any health care provider working with older adults to attend the conference because it will help them better assess and address the needs of older adults and their families or caregivers,” Morton said. “It is also a great opportunity for providers to obtain continuing education credits.”
Novak agreed, saying, “This continuing educational activity takes a holistic approach to caring for the older adult and the nuances of their healthy lifestyle. It also gives providers the ability to learn from, with and about each other and the opportunities to improve the health of the older adult.”
For more information, please contact Novak at (910) 678-7216 or andrea.novak@sr-ahec.org.
St. Joseph of the Pines is an aging services network offering a full continuum of retirement housing, health care and community-based services for older adults as well as community outreach to those in need. It is a Trinity Health Senior Community continuing the legacy of the Sisters of Providence.
Southern Regional AHEC provides health care to the Cumberland County community and training to medical students and health care professionals. Chartered in 1974 as a nonprofit corporation, SR-AHEC’s regional education and information services provides continuing professional development programs to health care organizations, hospitals, public health departments, long-term care facilities, and mental health centers in public and private practices in a nine-county region of south-central North Carolina.
