Tag Archives for Victoria O’Connor

Senior Fellows Give Time to Non-Profits 

Published in RINewsToday on January 20, 2025

 By Herb Weiss

When a state law was enacted in 2024 allowing families to install monitoring cameras in the nursing home rooms of their loved ones,  Ginny Lee, one of Leadership Rhode Island’s first Senior Fellows, was among those celebrating.

Lee had spent a lot of time button-holing legislators and testifying before House and Senate committees in support of the bill, which is intended to protect nursing home and assisted living residents from physical, verbal and sexual abuse.  

By advocating for passage of the “Grammy cam” surveillance law, Lee was fulfilling the civic commitment she made in 2023 as a member of the inaugural Senior Fellows program, a joint effort of LRI and Age-Friendly RI. 

Empowering older adults to take “an active role in shaping the state’s future” is exactly what James Connell,  Age-Friendly’s executive director, had in mind when he approached LRI’s then-new Executive Director, Michelle Carr,to create the Senior Fellows program.

Though Lee was among the Senior Fellows who successfully fulfilled their commitments to improve the lives of older Rhode Islanders, some Fellows in the first cohort struggled to find a way to make good on their respective pledges.    

Feedback from the pilot program indicated that more structure would help participants carry out their civic commitments, says Lyanh Ramirez, LRI’s development manager.

That’s why the 2024 Senior Fellows program offered participants the option of  volunteering with a community organizationalready engaged in age-friendly issues and activities.          

The goal was to connect participants “to the causes and efforts they were passionate about,” Ramirez says. “There are so many wonderful initiatives already happening that we didn’t want to duplicate efforts.”                 

Participants, ranging in age from 62 to 86, attended eight sessions in May and June during which they discussed the needs and challenges of the state’s older population and many other topics.

 Of the 28 participants, five are LRI alumni:  Ray Pouliot, Barry Couto, Jodi Glass, Patricia Raskin, and Patty Cotoia.        

Intergenerational communication was the focus of one session in which LRI alumni from different generations joined a discussion on ageism.  Other sessions dealt with the value of knowing one’s strengths, and legislative activity related to healthy aging.

Participants also heard directly from each of the nine partner organizations that had agreed to work with one or more of the newly minted Senior Fellows until the end of the year.

Partner organizations included the Rhode Island affiliates of Age Friendly, the AARP,  Meals on Wheels, PACE, the Senior Agenda Coalition,  the Village Common and the United Way, along with the state Department of Health and the Coventry Human Services/Resource & Senior Center.

  Here’s a sampling of what some of the Senior Fellows accomplished:  

Five Senior Fellows are contributing in different ways to the state Health Department’s efforts to make quality-of -life-improvements for those with Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Disorders (ADRD).

 “They’ve all been very active,” says Victoria O’Connor, chair of the statewide ADRD Advisory Council that developed a five-year plan of  strategies and activities to support those with dementia and their caretakers.

 Joe McCarthy came up with the idea of finding out what other states are doing to address ADRD issues and to compare their plans with Rhode Island’s current five-year plan.  

Two others, Brian Grossguth and Roland Moussally, did some “boots-on-the-ground” research. Grossguth visited two senior centers to get a sense for what resources are needed to better serve those with dementia; Moussally met with members of a group in Pawtucket to learn how they are incorporating the needs of residents with dementia in Pawtucket’s Age-Friendly action plan.

 Meanwhile, Kathy Trier and Gary Avigne have contributed research to guide a new mini-grant program to support community initiatives for those with dementia.

 They researched other grant applications for similar amounts of funding – less than $5,000 – to inform the development of the ADRD application. Trier and Avigne also assisted in the creation of a scoring matrix to compare the responses of applicants.  

The five Senior Fellows presented their findings at the November meeting of the ADRD Advisory Council, the group that oversees progress in implementing the strategies in the 2024-2029 State plan.                  

Five other Senior Fellows volunteered at the AARP.  Four  focused on efforts to make communities age-friendly.              

 “It’s important for everyone to have a safe place to walk, ride a bike, or even push a baby carriage,” explains Ray Pouliot, 77, retired East Greenwich school teacher.       

The first hurdle for joining the AARP Network of Age-Friendly States and Communities is getting a commitment from local officials. 

 At the start of his work with AARP,  Pouliot noted that being a resident of East Providence “and personally knowing the mayor might help get this initiative up and running.”

He was right. In October,  Pouliot, Deborah Perry, also from East Providence, and a small AARP delegation, met with Mayor Roberto L. DaSilva to explain what it takes to become an Age-Friendly city.

 The mayor agreed on-the-spot to support the effort. Pouliot and Perry get “full credit” for the success, says Matt Netto, AARP’s associate state director for outreach and advocacy.

 Mary Ann Shallcross Smith, a state representative and President of Dr. Day Care Learning Centers, chose to concentrate on sidewalk improvement efforts because “all the phone calls I get from many people in my hometown of Lincoln” are about sidewalks.

Shallcross Smith says working on the AARP initiative complements her legislative interests to ensure sidewalk safety. She introduced a bill in the 2024 legislative session  to maintain sidewalks and curbs along the state’s highways. The bill didn’t make it, but she intends to re-introduce a revised version in 2025.

“If there are no holes or cracks in sidewalks it will enable people who want to take a walk,” says Shallcross Smith.  “It’s free exercise!”

She and Netto of the AARP also plan to approach Town Administrator Philip G. Gould soon to urge that Lincoln consider joining the AARP Network of Age-Friendly States and Communities.

Senior Fellow Perry, 62, president and CEO of the YWCA, says she opted for the Livable Communities program “because it resonates with me.”  She once worked as a municipal planner.Perry, who expects to retire in August, 2025, says she will conduct  a sidewalk audit in a Providence neighborhood to fulfill her Senior Fellow pledge. After retiring, she hopes to have time to get involved in East Providence’s Age-Friendly program.

In October, Senior Fellow Janis Solomon, who retired in 2008 after 43 years as a professor of German Studies at Connecticut College, joined a sizable group of Rhode Islanders learning how to conduct a sidewalk audit. She will audit streets in a neighborhood in Providence.      

A fifth Senior Fellow, Vince Burks, 64, former communications director at Amica Insurance Company, chose to volunteer for the AARP’s public speaker’s bureau. ”I have experience with public speaking and public affairs, so I felt this would be a good fit,” he says.

The Senior Fellows program is offered tuition-free. Carolyn Belisle, vice president of Corporate Social Responsibility at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Rhode Island, says she was thrilled to join Age Friendly as a sponsor of the innovative program.

Bipartisan efforts strengthens the Dementia public health infrastructure

Published in RINewsToday on December 2, 2024

In the waning days of the Biden administration, Congress has moved one step closer to assisting states to continue to effectively implement dementia interventions.  Following passage of H. R. 7218 on Sept. 17th, by voice vote on Nov. 21st, the U.S. Senate passed S. 3775, also without objection. At press time, the bipartisan legislation now heads to President Biden’s desk to be signed into law.

Once signed, the new law re-authorizes the Building Our Largest Dementia (BOLD) Infrastructure for Alzheimer’s Act (P.L.115-406) enacted in 2018, empowering public health departments across the country to implement effective dementia interventions in their communities.

In a March 2024 fact sheet, the Alzheimer’s Impact Movement (AIM) calls for Alzheimer’s and other dementias to be considered an urgent public health issue, noting that nearly 7 million seniors across the nation are currently living with Alzheimer’s.

While partisan bickering has reduced the number of bills passed during the 118th Congress, Democratic and Republican lawmakers seek solutions for containing the skyrocketing costs of care, finding a cure for debilitating brain disorders, and supporting caregivers. 

The nation spends more than $360 billion per year, including $231 billion in costs to Medicare and Medicaid. Barring any major breakthroughs to prevent, slow down, or cure Alzheimer’s, the number of Americans with Alzheimer’s is expected to double by 2060, costing the nation more than $1.1 trillion per year, says AIM’s Fact Sheet.

Congress continues funding of Dementia effective interventions

In the Senate, S. 3775 was spearheaded by Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME) Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Tim Kaine (D-VA), and Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), and cosponsored by Sens. Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse.  It’s companion measure, H.R. 7218, was introduced in the House by Reps. Brett Guthrie (R-KY), Chairman of the Health Subcommittee of the House Energy & Commerce Committee, along with Chris Smith (R-NJ), Paul Tonko (D-NY), and Maxine Waters (D-CA).

With its enactment in 2018, P.L. 115-406 accelerated a multi-pronged public health approach to reduce risk, detect early symptoms, advance care, improve data, and ultimately change the trajectory of this devastating disease.

Headed by the Centers for Disease and Prevention (CDC), the reauthorization would authorize $33 million per year, in line with current appropriations, over the next five years to support:

1.  Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias Public Health Centers of Excellence dedicated to promoting effective Alzheimer’s disease and caregiving interventions, as well as educating the public on Alzheimer’s disease, cognitive decline, and brain health. 

2.  Public Health Cooperative Agreements with the CDC that are awarded to State Health Departments to help them meet local needs in promoting brain health, reducing risk of cognitive decline, improving care for those with Alzheimer’s, and other key public health activities. 

3.  Data Grants to improve the analysis and timely reporting of data on Alzheimer’s, cognitive decline, caregiving, and health disparities at the state and national levels.

Since the original Bold Infrastructure for Alzheimer’s Act passed, the CDC has made 66 awards to 45 state, local and tribal public health departments to help them implement effective dementia interventions such as reducing risk, increasing early detection and diagnosis, and supporting the needs of caregivers.

“Alzheimer’s disease is one of the greatest and most under-recognized public health threats of our time. Nearly seven million Americans—including 29,600 Mainers—are living with the disease, and that number is soaring as our overall population grows older and lives longer,” said Maine Sen. Collins, a founder and Senate co-chair of the Congressional Task Force on Alzheimer’s Disease in a statement announcing the passage of the legislation.  

“The passage of this bipartisan legislation is a tremendous victory for families and communities nationwide. By reauthorizing the BOLD Infrastructure for Alzheimer’s Act, we are reaffirming our commitments to providing the tools needed to fight this devastating disease, and to not let Alzheimer’s be one of the defining diseases of our children’s generation as it has ours,” says Collins.

“Since the original BOLD Infrastructure for Alzheimer’s Act passed, public health departments have been able to improve brain health across the life course in their communities,” said Robert Egge, Alzheimer’s Association chief public policy officer and AIM president. “The BOLD Reauthorization Act will help public health departments implement effective strategies that promote brain health, address dementia, and support individuals living with dementia and their caregivers,” said Egge. “We urge the President to support the Alzheimer’s community and swiftly sign this bipartisan bill into law,” he says.

Rhode Island response

“Getting this bill across the finish line is a win for the 25,000 Rhode Islanders living with Alzheimer’s, their adult children who work tirelessly as unpaid family caregivers, and for the health and economic needs of the next generation too.  We must continue the progress we’ve made against Alzheimer’s.  We’ve got to find better treatments for Alzheimer’s and related dementias. The federal government must do its part to reduce risk, detect early symptoms, and advance care while lifting the burden on unpaid caregivers,” said RI Sen. Reed.

Since the original BOLD Infrastructure for Alzheimer’s Act passed in 2018, Reed noted that the Rhode Island Department of Health (RIDOH) has been awarded $3.8 million in BOLD Infrastructure for Alzheimer’s Act grants from the CDC. RIDOH has used the federal BOLD grant funds to help to implement effective Alzheimer’s interventions, including boosting early detection and diagnosis, reducing risk, and preventing avoidable hospitalizations, he says.

Victoria O’Connor, program manager at the RIDOH’s Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Disorders (ADRD), who chairs the state’s Advisory Council on ADRD, agrees with Sen. Reed’s assessment about the positive impact of this federal grant on state-wide public health interventions for those caring for persons with dementia.

“The RIDOH Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Disorders Program leads a statewide Advisory Council, convening critical partners, subject matter experts, and people with lived experience to advise implementation of the BOLD funded workplan as well as oversee the Rhode Island State Plan on Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Disorders 2024-2029. This collaborative approach has led to successful implementation of public health interventions statewide that aim to empower all individuals impacted by dementia to achieve their best quality of life.” says O’Connor.

Other congressional actions to combat Alzheimer’s  

Earlier this year, Sen. Reed helped pass the National Alzheimer’s Project Act (NAPA) Reauthorization Act and the Alzheimer’s Accountability and Investment Act (AAIA).  Sen. Whitehouse was also a cosponsor of the National Alzheimer’s Project Act (NAPA) Reauthorization Act.  Both bills were signed into law by President Biden. 

The NAPA Reauthorization Act (P.L.,118-93) reauthorizes NAPA through 2035, considered a roadmap to coordinate federal efforts in responding to Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia.  Since NAPA was first passed in 2011, Alzheimer’s research funding has increased seven-fold.  Today, funding for research into Alzheimer’s and other dementias totals over $3.8 billion.

The Alzheimer’s Accountability and Investment Act (P.L. 118-93) would require the Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to submit an annual budget to Congress estimating the funding necessary to fully implement NAPA’s research goals.  This will help ensure Congress can make a well-informed decision to determine necessary Alzheimer’s research funding levels.

We have made tremendous progress in recent years to boost funding for Alzheimer’s research, which holds great promise to end this disease that has had a devastating effect on millions of Americans and their families,” said Sen. Collins, who authored NAPA and AAIA.

“These two bills will maintain our momentum and make sure that we do not take our foot off the pedal just as our investments in basic research are beginning to translate into potential new treatments. We must not let Alzheimer’s to be one of the defining diseases of our children’s generation as it has ours,” she says.

And as a member of the Appropriations subcommittee that oversees funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Sen. Reed helped provide a $275 million increase for Alzheimer’s disease research in the fiscal year 2025 Senate Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and related Agencies Appropriations bill.  In 2019, NIH awarded Brown University researchers, along with Boston-based Hebrew SeniorLife (HSL), over $53 million in federal research funds  to lead a nationwide effort to improve health care and quality of life for people living with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias, as well as their caregivers.