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LTC Mental Health – Behavioral Health Virtual Symposium

IHCA’s LTC Mental Health – Behavioral Health Symposium is a premier event dedicated to advancing knowledge and practice in mental health and behavioral health in seniors. Whether you are a seasoned professional or new to the field, this training event is an essential experience for anyone dedicated to enhancing mental and behavioral health care in assisted living and nursing home settings.

Schedule

August 20, 2024

  8:55 a.m.        Access Zoom via Link Provided
  9:00 a.m.        Building Connections: Combating Loneliness and Social Isolation
10:00 a.m.        Enhancing Care: Trauma-Informed Approaches in LTC Settings
11:00 a.m.         Break
11:15 a.m.          Effective Strategies for Managing Depression and Anxiety in Seniors
12:15 p.m.         Lunch Break
12:45 p.m.        Toward Better Behavior: Caring for a New Generation in Long-Term Care
  1:45 p.m.        Break
  2:00 p.m.        Legal Requirements for Accommodations for Residents with Mental Health Issues
  3:00 p.m.        Adjourn

Topic Descriptions

Building Connections: Combating Loneliness and Social Isolation
Instructor: Kelly Pettit, Clinical Psychologist, Deer Oaks Behavioral Health
  Loneliness and social isolation are prevalent issues in LTC facilities, significantly impacting the mental, emotional, and physical well-being of residents. This session will address these challenges through evidence-based practices and innovative guidance on how to implement effective interventions to reduce social isolation and loneliness.

Enhancing Care: Trauma-Informed Approaches in LTC Settings
Instructor: Kelly Pettit, Clinical Psychologist, Deer Oaks Behavioral Health
Trauma-informed care shifts the focus from“What’s wrong with you?” to “What happened to you?”A trauma-informed approach to care acknowledges that health care organizations and care teams need to have a complete picture of a patient’s life situation to provide effective health care services. This session will address what trauma triggers are, how to identify trauma triggers, common sense interventions that work, and how to obtain needed information from the resident to develop a person-centered, individualize trauma-informed care plan.

Effective Strategies for Managing Depression and Anxiety in Seniors
Instructor: Abigail Schlitz, Physician Assistant, Des Moines University
  This comprehensive session covers the identification of symptoms, understanding underlying causes, and implementing evidence-based strategies for managing depression and anxiety within LTC settings.  Participants will learn about therapeutic communication techniques, the role of medication, and non-pharmacological interventions to enhance the well-being of residents.

Toward Better Behavior: Caring for a New Generation in Long-Term Care
Instructor: Barb Speedling, Quality of Life Specialist, Innovations of Quality Living
While long-term care facilities once cared almost exclusively for the frail elderly, many of whom had also been diagnosed with dementia, today’s populations are far more varied in age, disability, and psychosocial circumstances. That makes understanding “what makes someone tick” more complicated, at best. This session provides a framework for developing an assessment process that results in a deeper understanding of what motivates someone to do what they do. With greater understanding comes a more focused, personalized plan to accommodate the complicated needs of every individual.

Navigating the Law: Understanding Legal Obligations for Mental Health Accommodations
Instructors: Jo Ellen Whitney, Attorney, Dentons Davis Brown Law Firm
This session will provide a review of the legal frameworks governing the care of residents with mental health conditions. Participants will delve into key legislation, such as the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the Fair Housing Act (FHA), and relevant state-specific regulations that mandate reasonable accommodations and protect the rights of these individuals. Emphasis will be placed on practical compliance strategies, including documentation requirements, staff training, and policy development.

Continuing Education Credit

This conference is approved for 5.0 contact hours for the following disciplines:    

• Social Services
• Nurses (IBON Provider #166)
• Department Heads
• N.F. Administrators
• Assisted Living Managers

Registration Fees

Members:          $140 per person
Non-Members:  $420 per person

Speaker Bios

Dr. Kelly Pettit has been working as a psychologist in long-term care since 2008. She formed a private practice in 2010 in which she provided individual therapy, neuropsychological assessments, group therapy, staff presentations, and community education for residents and family in the long-term setting. Kelly has been the Upper Northwest Manager and staff psychologist at Deer Oaks since June 2023. She has presented at various national and regional conferences on topics on pain management, dementia care, the treatment of psychological disorders, mindfulness training, and ethics.

 Abigail Schiltz is a physician assistant with a certificate of added qualifications in psychiatry at Des Moines University (DMU) Behavioral Health Clinic. She earned a bachelor of science degree in human physiology at the University of Iowa and a master’s degree in physician assistant studies at DMU. She then served as a physician assistant family medicine resident at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics (UIHC), where she treated patients of all ages in the general family medicine clinic; managed patients in the geriatric, psychiatric and musculoskeletal clinic; and worked with the family medicine inpatient team to manage patients hospitalized at UIHC.

Barbara Speedling is the Quality-of-Life Specialist for Innovations for Quality Living. Barbara provides staff education and program development designed to satisfy a broad range of special needs.  Guidance is offered to community, residential and long-term care service providers in the development of programs and services to improve the care of individuals with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementia, mental illness, brain injury and complex psychosocial needs.  Barbara began her career in long-term care in recreation therapy, later specializing in the development of environments and programs for people with dementia and mental illness. 

Jo Ellen Whitney is a senior shareholder of Denton’s Davis Brown Law Firm, having obtained her degrees (B.A., magna cum laude, and J.D.) from Duke University in Durham, North Carolina.  Jo practices primarily in the areas of labor and employment law, healthcare law, privacy, and fair housing.  In the area of labor and employment, Jo assists businesses with policy and contract development, human resources planning, disciplinary and termination issues as well as regulatory compliance and litigation matters.

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