5A: Everybody’s Job and Nobody’s Job: Documenting Caregiver Information in the Electronic Medical Record

Formal and informal caregivers are crucial for many older adults, yet information detailing their roles and relationships are not systematically documented in many electronic health records (EHRs). The Caregiver Advise, Record, Enable [CARE] Act, adopted by over 40 states including Minnesota, underscores the importance of those in caregiving roles.

The CARE Act requires that when hospitalized people depend on others for assistance, those caregivers should be named, informed of hospital discharge, and educated on home care needs. However, how best to document this information and establish processes across healthcare settings to ensure communication and education, remains an important implementation question. In prior quality improvement work, our team faced barriers to identifying a Veterans™ support community efficiently and accurately, including their caregivers. Similar to others, we found a lack of systematic documentation in the electronic medical record impedes interventions with Veterans-caregiver dyads.

We convened an interdisciplinary team to gain input from potential users, develop a documentation solution, and facilitate initial roll out. We found that healthcare professionals deemed documentation of caregiver information important as they obtain, record, and use caregiver information in diverse ways. The ability to update changing care needs and maintain current contact information were discussed as crucial for clinical decision making, planning, and communication. Yet, there was a lack of consensus on who was primarily responsible for this task and what information should be included. Entry of caregiver information into the EHR can be conceptualized as both everybody's job and nobody's job.

In other words, documenting caregiver information do not fit obviously into an assigned workflow. A full picture of a Veteran's support community is collaboratively assembled and evolves unpredictably through time. To address this, we co-created a note title and template that included both free text and structured elements. The template was designed to create a shared area in which crucial contact information and soft™ data about care needs and social support can be documented by any member of the healthcare team. We tested the perceived utility of this note by alerting clinical champions that it is available, rather than requiring or assigning completion. We report on reach, adoption and nature of content recorded during implementation.

Learning Objectives:

• Describe current, multi-disciplinary practices for retrieving and documenting caregiver information from and in the Electronic Health Record (EHR).
• Understand the gaps in current documentation practices and the impact on care. 3. Outline our processes for co-developing a solution to caregiver documentation practices and sharing of information across the EHR.

5B: Improving Quality in Assisted Living: Findings from Resident and Family Surveys in Minnesota

In 2019, Minnesota enacted new legislation resulting in the creation of an online Assisted Living Report Card. As part of this work, two surveys, the Resident Quality of Life and Family Satisfaction Surveys, were developed to assess assisted living (AL) residents’ quality of life (QoL) and family satisfaction. Our study presents the development and analysis of these surveys in Minnesota AL communities from 2022-2024. Resident and family respondents were predominantly female and White. Overall, resident quality of life and family satisfaction scores were high. The highest and lowest rated domains for residents were environment and overall, respectively. Families also rated the environment domain as the highest and finances domain as the lowest for the 2022-23 survey period. We will also present resident and family scores by facility characteristics, discuss differences between survey years, and detail experiences surveying smaller facilities.

Learning Objectives:

• Define supported decision making from legal and practical perspectives
• Discuss the practical application of assisting people living with vulnerabilities to balance their goals and wishes with need for safety and basic needs utilizing supported decision making
• Explore replicability in findings from agencies providing SDM services in Minnesota

5C: Bringing Light to the Darkest Side of the Digital Divide

Isolation and loneliness are serious health concerns of the older adult population. Technology can alleviate some of the concerns by bringing connection, learning and resiliency. However, there is a segment of the older adult population where technology has been out of reach and unaffordable. This is the darkest side of the digital divide. How do you bring light to thie population? In this session, you will learn how Tech for Seniors, a program of Gifts for Seniors, provides free tablets and learning using a tablet through our eight week program. We will openly share the resources, content and approaches that caregivers and aging professionals are free to access while helping isolated older adults stay connected and engaged.

Learning Objectives:

• Learn the challenge of social isolation and the modest way that technology can help. Tablets can bring spark and resiliency to the lives of these older adults.
• Explore the guiding principles and approaches used to bring learning to our clients. We will share our experiences and learning.
• Understand how you can participate to take advantage of the materials, apps and methods used in the program. We make our resources available to caregivers and aging professions anywhere in Minnesota.

5D: Age Well, Age Strong in Aitkin County

Learn how Aitkin County CARE, Inc. provides services to older neighbors through care consultations and homemaking & respite services, hosting 55+ Pop-Up Centers throughout the county meeting people where they live, facilitating support groups & educational trainings for Caregivers, collaborating with school districts on the Grand Friends Program-an intergenerational connectivity initiative, providing transportation for health related appointments & meals on wheels delivery 5 days a week with the assistance of a robust volunteer staff and managing a very popular Toenail clinic on site.

CARE's Vision is to be the leader in providing innovative and quality services to older adults and adults managing disabilities living in Aitkin County. CARE's Mission is to enhance and promote the independence, dignity, value and well-being of older adults & adults managing disabilities and those who care for them. CARE's Strategy is to partner with local government, businesses, nonprofits and the communities we serve to become a County for a Lifetime.

Learning Objective:

• Attendees will learn about important services and be able to replicate aspects of them in their own communities. Objective
• Attendees will learn about funding streams which CARE utilizes to support services which help people age well and age strong in their homes.

5E: Homelessness Among Adults Age 55 and Older in Minnesota

Homelessness is a result of multiple system failures, including shortages of affordable housing and inadequate systems to support complex, interrelated needs. It can also be caused and sustained by trauma, systemic racism, unemployment, or personal health challenges. Issues facing all older adults in Minnesota, are magnified for those who are experiencing homelessness due to the difficult circumstances and conditions associated with being homeless. As our older adult population continues to grow, so does the number of homeless older adults. While the population is growing, there continues to be a lack of homeless services focused on the unique needs of older adults. With data from the 2023 Minnesota Homeless Study, Wilder Research will present key findings about older adults experiencing homelessness that can point to the policies and unique services that can best support this population.

Learning objectives:

• How the population of older adults experiencing homelessness has changed over time.
• The unique experiences of homeless older adults, prior to losing housing and while navigating homelessness.
• Where to find and how to use data from the Minnesota Homeless Study