"Activities on Wheels" features a variety of activities placed on two rolling carts. The rolling carts travel throughout the nursing home and visit resident's rooms several times per day.  This allows the activities staff to interact with the residents who choose to stay in their rooms.  This also works well for residents who don't have the energy to participate in group activities after an intensive day of therapy.  Some of the activities on the carts include: CD players with a variety of music choices, books on tape, crossword puzzles, trivia sheets, word search puzzles, mini jigsaw puzzles, magazines of all types and large print books.  There are decks of cards, dominoes, and checkers for residents who wish to play board games, and water color painting for the artistic minded.  The cart also contains snacks like granola bars, cereal fruit bars, chocolate bars and cheese and crackers, for those who would like a small snack.  To read more about the program, please visit the FAHSA Innovation Exchange page on the FAHSA web site.

Older Americans Month materials from the U.S. Administration on Aging (AoA) are available online. The theme for Older Americans Month 2008 is "Working Together for Strong, Healthy and Supportive Communities." Materials include logos, posters, a sample proclamation and a sample article. Please download information in order to obtain materials for Older Americans Month.

Failure to Test Staff for TB Tops ALF Deficiency List -- The following deficiencies were the most common citations for assisted living facilities (ALFs) from July 1, 2006 through June 30, 2007. Please share with your staff so they can check for problems in these areas when doing mock surveys or a risk management review.

1. Tag 1103: The facilities failed to have staff TB annual check documentation.
2. Tag 223: The facilities failed to document the elopement drills.
3. Tag 1101: Personnel records did not contain TB verification.
4. Tag 1104: HIV and AIDS update training were not documented.
5. Tag: 1115: Employee background screening requests were not retained.
6. Tag 222: Facilities failed to conduct two elopement drills.
7. Tag 615: Facilities failed to maintain records for medications which serve as chemical restraints.
8. Tag 309: Residents' records did not include the residents' contracts and addendums.
9. Tag 511: Facilities failed to perform Level 1 background screenings.
10. Tag 509: Managers failed to attend update training (core).

Temporary Interruption in Service -- There will be a temporary interruption in the service of the Enterprise Income Verification (EIV) Multifamily Help Desk until approximately May 16, 2008, due to contractual issues.  EIV apologizes for this inconvenience and requests that all contact with the Multifamily Help Desk be by e-mail to Mf_EIV@hud.gov.  Once the contractual issues have been resolved, the Multifamily Help Desk will respond to the e-mails in the order in which they were received.

Representatives who are experienced in housing and knowledgeable about the constituency are needed to serve on the AHSC board of directors.  The open seats that are currently available include: 

Please make sure that you are in compliance with legislation in s. 553.509 that passed in 2006 and that your disaster plan includes the following information:

• Multistory affordable residential dwellings for persons age 62 and older that are financed or insured by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development must make every effort to obtain grant funding from the Federal Government or the Florida Housing Finance Corporation (FHFC) to comply with this subsection. FAHSA requested a letter from Steve Auger, Executive Director with Florida Housing Finance Corporation stating that grant funds for generators are not available at this time.  The letter is posted on the FAHSA website for your records.
  
  
• If an owner of a residential dwelling cannot comply with the requirements of this subsection, the owner must develop a plan with the local emergency management agency to ensure that residents are evacuated to a place of safety in the event of a power outage resulting from a natural or manmade disaster or other emergency situation that disrupts the normal supply of electricity for an extended period of time. A place of safety may include, but is not limited to, relocation to an alternative site within the building or evacuation to a local shelter.

Other Nursing Home News:

FAHSA Nursing Home Alert Page

Now's the Time to Enroll in AAHSA/MedAssets Group Purchasing Program --  It's no secret that AAHSA's new partnership with MedAssets means more savings for our members. Don't miss out on this expanded member benefit. Please complete, sign and return the Group Purchasing Enrollment Documents by May 31. When you enroll, you are under no obligation to use any of our contracts. All of the options are up to you. Don't leave money on the table. Enroll today. Contact: Toni Lindsay (202) 508-9494. Read More

FAHSA's Preferred Business Associates Program (PBAs) -- A list of PBAs can be found by on the FAHSA Web site www.fahsa.org and selecting Preferred Business Associates from the left side menu bar or clicking on the FAHSA Preferred Business Associates Page hyperlink. FAHSA members can also use the on-line directory to search for PBAs by specialty.

FAHSA members may use the Job Mart services at no charge. A nominal fee of $25 will be charged to nonmembers.

Your Job Mart advertisement will be displayed on our Web site for approximately three months. The FAHSA Link is published weekly and distributed to our membership which is comprised of nursing homes, CCRCs, HUD housing, assisted living facilities, independent living facilities and companies/firms.

To reserve advertisement space in our Job Mart program, please complete the application and fax it to FAHSA at (850) 671-3790 or E-mail Erin Steele at esteele@fahsa.org